How to Give Engaging Introductions for High School Speeches: Tips and Examples
By Anna Cox
Picture this: Your student steps in front of the classroom, all eyes are on them. In those critical but fleeting opening moments, they have their audience’s undivided attention, the toughest challenge is keeping it. Introductions are a delicate crossroad that decide if the audience will fight or take flight; speakers either intrigue them or leave them disinterested. A compelling introduction is the prerequisite to a speech that demands to be listened to, teaching our students how to craft one is the simplest way to take their speeches to the next level!
See what I did there? I wrote an introduction that made sure that you wanted to read the rest of this blog. If you want to know how you can make sure that your students can do the same for their next speeches, keep reading to learn more about
The Seven 'S' Model we developed!
The most classic mistake we see is that introductions over-prioritize grabbing the audience's attention; it is more nuanced than that. Grabbing their attention is useless if you aren’t able to retain that attention throughout your speech. Therefore the priority is not grabbing their attention, rather to captivate their interest, this way you are significantly more likely to keep them listening. However, balancing between grabbing the audience’s attention, interest, and still familiarizing them with what you’ll be discussing is a difficult goal to achieve; we have assembled five different ways to start a speech that tick all these boxes! You can kick-off your speech with stylistic devices, you can reference statistics, tell a story, deliver a shocking statement, create suspense, survey the audience, or steal an introduction!
1.Stylistic Devices:
There are dozens of stylistic devices that can elevate the quality of your introduction and capture the interest of your audience. Below we have provided examples for the 3 that we use most often!
Rhetorical Questions
Asking the audience a question in order to make a point is a great way to get your audience to infer the answer and think for themselves! Assume you are delivering a speech with the goal of raising awareness on climate change; here is a sample of how to start your speech with two rhetorical questions:
“How many people need to die before we finally take action to save the planet that has given us life? Who knows?”
Rhetorical questions can sometimes be unintuitive to non-native English speakers, who often struggle to distinguish between literal and figurative commands. This means it is important to make a clear distinction between direct questions and rhetorical questions; one way in which you can do this is to use examples of questions for which it would be silly to expect an answer. Here’s an example introduction to a speech about charity:
“Would it kill you to donate money to those in life-threatening conditions? So many of us indulge in more than we need, when others don’t even have enough to get by…”
Below is an example of Wendy Suzuki’s TED Talk on the brain-changing benefits of exercise. She uses a rhetorical question at the start of her speech to intuitively get her point across:
Hypophoras
Asking the audience a question and then answering it immediately is an engaging way to invite your audience to think about a topic before presenting them with information. A rhetorical question is asked to get your point itself across, in contrast, the question you ask in a hypophora is one to build-up to the point you are making in your answer. This helps the audience feel more involved, while the speaker still takes charge of the narrative!
Hypophora add a lot of dimension an introduction, assume you are delivering a speech about cultural norms a Indian weddings, here is an example of an introduction that sparks your audience’s curiosity:
“A bride would never want to wear anything other than white on her wedding day right? Well this is not how Indian weddings work…”
See below an example of Simon Sinek’s TED Talk on how great leaders inspire action; in this speech they make use of multiple hypophoras in their introduction to get the audience thinking and invoke curiosity about the point they are trying to get across.
Imagery
Descriptive language is an effective way to paint a picture in the audience’s minds to set the tone for your speech. This type of language helps your audience immerse themselves into the content of your speech, and feel like they are living through it! Below is an example of an introduction to a speech about the rich history behind China’s Lunar Festival:
“Hundreds of red lanterns hang above the rivers, swaying gently in the breeze. The warm glow from the lanterns reflect on the surface of the water, shimmering to everyone walking along. The air is filled with the rich, inviting aroma of freshly baked mooncakes. The joyous chatter of family, strangers, friends in the background comforts you while looking over the vibrant red lake. This is China’s Lunar Festival.”
Metaphor
This figure of speech directly compares two different things by stating that one is the other, thus highlighting a specific quality or aspect they share. Metaphors are highly effective at simplifying complex concepts, making them easier to relate to by comparing them to simpler things. This can help the audience understand the topic even if it's unfamiliar to them, because they can link that to a familiar thing they do understand.
Here is an example of a metaphor being used to simplify a complicated concept:
“DNA is a blueprint; it contains all the instructions, codes, and layouts to construct a living organism”
or
“The immune system is your body’s army; they patrol and defend it against invading pathogens. They fight against bacteria.”
Additionally, metaphors can make your point more intuitive and stylistic, here is an example of an introduction about why it is important to be able to articulate yourself through speech:
“The ability to speak your mind is a breath of fresh air; without strong oracy skills, our thoughts & feelings are trapped inside of us, unable to be let out to others.”
See an additional example below:
2. Statistics
Presenting facts and figures relating to your topic and the point you are making gives you credibility amongst your audience, this will make them eager to learn from you and provide the necessary contexts the audience must understand before you present your subtopics. Statistics appeal to both ethos (how the audience perceives your credibility) and logos (the logic & reason behind our opinions), which is an effective way to make your point before even having explained anything!
Let’s assume you are delivering a speech about gender inequality, a great way to get your audience to recognize how bad the problem is by telling them factually what the current situation is:
“In the Netherlands,
there are more CEOs named Peter than there are CEOs who are women. Women are being denied positions of power, which is a self-fulfilling prophecy that discourages women from climbing the ladder in the first place.”
Sometimes facts & figures can come across boring; a great way to circumvent this while still providing your audience with information is to combine statistics with stylistic devices! Let’s say you’re delivering a speech about traffic safety, examine the following fact combined with a hypophora:
“How many times does the average drunk driver drive under influence before being arrested for the first time? Over 80 times. That is 80 trips that endanger souls on the road. That is 80 trips too many.”
See below an example of how using statistics can empower an introduction:
3. Stories
Humans have been telling stories ever since the inception of language; this is what has enabled us to connect with each other, live in each others’ shoes, and understand lives beyond the scope of our own. Making use of stories in your introduction invites your audience to connect with the scenario and care about the outcome. There are two subcategories that stories can fall under; true stories, and hypothetical stories. Both can be effective at achieving your goals; below we have outlined what effect they can help achieve
You can start your introduction by telling a personal story or anecdote relating to the contents of your speech to invite your audience to live in your shoes and connect with the topic emotively! Assume you are delivering a speech about remembrance day, here is a sample introduction to demonstrate how adding a personal element can engage your audience:
“When I was 6, my grandmother held my hand as the whole nation went silent for 2 minutes. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to speak. When the 2 minutes were over, she told me it was remembrance day”
See below another example of how personalizing a story can make an introduction more compelling:
Not everyone has a personal anecdote that relates to every topic that could be presented in a speech, fortunately, compelling stories can still be told through hypothetical situations! Here is an example of a scenario you can sketch to engage your audience for a speech raising anti-bullying awareness:
“Imagine every step you take down the school corridors, is a step in fear of someone pushing you down, yelling something hateful, or even just the sight of someone who does everything they can to make you feel worthless. We need to take a step in the opposite direction, towards ensuring the feeling of safety and comfort in our own bodies.”
Personally I loved crafting the 7S model based off of the introductions I have given over the past few years; outlining them to you in this blogpost has given me a newfound appreciation for the importance of introductions. I truly believe they are the decisive factor in how audiences interpret the entirety of my speeches! When I speak at debate tournaments, I place heavy focus on my introductions because it is crucial to set the right frame from the start and play into the listeners’ intuition. If you like this blog or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out!
4.Shock
From what we see on YouTube, news outlets, and politicians; clickbait works. In our world where information is saturated, thousands of speeches are delivered each day, and most introductions start the same; shocking statements stand out! Start your speech with something shocking to grab the audience’s attention and intrigue them in what you have to say next! Let’s look an an example of a speech aimed at encouraging people to use paper straws instead of plastic straws, you can start your speech with the following shocking introduction:
“I SUCK. I suck on paper straws because they’re better for the environment”
There are varying degrees to which you can shock your audience, some implementations of the shock factor are more subtle than others, see the example below where the shocking elements are clearly
figurative, and not
literal, yet still grab your intrigue:
“I’m about to drop a bomb on you; planting trees is not as eco-friendly as you think. So forget everything you know, cause this is the real deal”
Sometimes in the process of making shocking statements, especially when overdone, we come across as un-nuanced and less credible in our speeches . This is why the shock factor is most effective when used in combination with other introduction techniques that add substance to the introduction. Below is an example of a shocking introduction that also introduces statistics and stylistic devices to further highlight the importance of using paper straws:
“I need to make a confession, I am a murderer. I used to use plastic straws, straws that murder over 1,000 sea turtles every year. This should be your final straw, switch to paper now.”
See below a speaker who starts their speech by shocking their audience:
The shock factor can also be combined with rhetorical questions, just as this speaker has done:
5.Suspense
As both the teacher and presenter, it is frustrating when students don’t pay attention to what is being said and are constantly distracted. What if I told you this complicated problem has a simple solution? What if I told you there is a silver bullet that will get students listening irrespective of whether or not they like the topic? There is an easy way to turn a simple speech into a compelling narrative that keeps the audience hanging on every single one of the speakers’ words; the solution is more simple than you think.
See how you were eager to read the next paragraph to find out what the trick is? You are witnessing the trick itself; generating suspense to keep the audience fixed on getting the answer. In order for speakers to be able to retain their audience’s attention; they must give listeners something to stay around for; speeches should be an exploration of new information the audience is eager to uncover, rather than a lecture your audience has to sit through. Creating a mystery at the start of a speech keeps the audience at the edge of their seats, waiting for the resolution to come throughout the speech.
Speakers should be encouraged to add a bait-and-hook element when constructing their speeches; there must be something to entice the audience (the bait) and it must be followed with a mechanism to secure their interest (the hook). The bait could be an intriguing statement, challenge to the existing beliefs of the audience, a compelling story, question, or a fascinating fact that draws the audience in; this sets the scene for the “hook” which is the follow-up content that keeps them engaged and committed to the material the speaker is about to present.
Below are 2 examples of speakers creating suspense to keep their audience interested:
Suspense can also be combined with the shock factor for an even more dramatic effect!so be combined with rhetorical questions, just as this speaker has done:
6.Survey
Audiences are most engaged with a speech when they feel involved; what is the best way for speakers to make the audience feel involved? The answer is very straightforward, involve them directly! By interacting with the audience, both the speaker and listener are an active part of the speech. This compels the audience to follow the train of thought the speaker is bringing them through, as well as pave way for their own individual thoughts on the matter. There are many ways to survey the audience, here are a few examples:
Show of hands
Let’s assume you are delivering a speech on wheelchair accessibility, you can involve your audience by surveying them with a show of hands:
“Raise your hand if you immediately notice when a building or shop does not have an elevator! That’s not many hands; most of us do not have the lived-in experiences of those who are mobility impaired. Wheelchair users are a minority in our society, and thus are often deprioritized and unfortunately not always taken into account when building roads, malls, and schools.”
Rhetorical Quiz
Interacting with the audience can also create new dimensions in how you are making your point which enhance your persuasiveness. Let’s assume you want your audience to feel surprised with how many drunk drivers there are who don’t get caught, instead of simply telling them:
“a really big amount of drunk drivers don’t get caught”
your point can come across as more persuasive and shocking when you use a rhetorical quiz, for example:
“How many times does the average drunk driver drive under the influence before being arrested for the first time? Who thinks it’s over 5 times? Who thinks it’s under 5 times? The correct answer is: over 80 times.”
For more inspiration watch the example below!
7. Steal:
Sometimes it is difficult to come up with what you believe to be the best introduction, because someone else has already put it perfectly. Having big shoes to fill can seem daunting, we tell you you can use this to your advantage! What can you do when the perfect words have already been spoken? Steal it!
Using someone else’s quote in your introduction can be a great way to reference other speakers to make you sound more credible, but be sure to give them credit for their own words & intellectual property! Let’s assume you are delivering a speech about colorism, you can use powerful quotes from talented speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr. to elevate the persuasiveness of your speech! Here is an example:
“The discrimination dark-skinned women face by light-skinned women is counterproductive to the fight for equality. The wise words from Martin Luther King Jr. still ring true today, he said “we may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Here is another example of this powerful speaker being quoted in a speech:
Stealing an introduction doesn’t have to be an entire quote; it can also be used to reference other phrases, see here an example below of the Olympic motto being used to set the scene for this speakers’ content:
Do you feel like you know more about different introductions techniques now? Try to deliver an introduction using the 7S model at the start of your next lesson, and watch your students’ side conversations turn to silence! Want to know more about other steps in the speech structure?
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