Opening the Speech
Having a well-thought-out speech opening is vital for success because this is when you create your first impression, and you want it to be a good one. It is time to appear confident, trustworthy, and honest all the characteristics associated with credible speakers. As well it is during the opening that you set the tone for your presentation. This helps the audience understand how they are to interpret your message. Some speakers like to begin with an incentive. They reason that if you tell the audience what is in it for them, they are more likely to listen to you.
You can achieve all of this by organizing your introduction in a way that slows you to make and maintain a connection with the listeners. Below is the magic recipe the outline, blueprint, or key to successful opening. Your job is to fill it in so that your introduction is unique and engaging. Each of these steps is discussed in the section of the chapter.
1. Provide a good strong attention getter to grab the audiences interest.
2. Create a favourable impression of you as a speaker, thus establishing your credibility.
3. Direct the audience toward the purpose of your speech.
4. State the goal of the speech (your thesis statement).
5. Present an overview of what you are going to speak about (your enumerated preview).
6. Provide a smooth transition into your first major topic.
(adapted from Ayers, J., Miller J.)
Attention Materials
Once the audience is settled and you are ready (the clean beginning), your primary concern in your opening remarks is to arouse the audiences interest specifically in the subject; while some techniques, such as irrelevant jokes, insults, silly behaviour, or a statement or action which is too startling, might attract the attention, but actually direct it away from the subject of your speech. Sometimes your listeners are already so strongly interested that you can begin immediately by announcing your topic. But most often, you will have the task to motivate your audience to pay attention. The audience must become involved; they must be convinced that this subject is important to them and one they want to hear about at this time. Some commonly used methods for arousing audience attention are
novelty (innovative uses of your body or the space around you)
stories (anecdotes, narratives and illustrations)
quotations
questions
statistics
songs
references to the audience or occasion
visual aids
suspense.
Below is an overview of typical attention getters that can be used to get your listeners to tone in to you and your presentation.
Novelty
Psychologists have demonstrated that people become oriented to unique features in their environment. If someone yells in the hall while you are reading this, you will probably stop reading to listen intently to learn what the yelling is about. This human tendency to respond to novelty can be very important: if a person in the hall is yelling Fire!, responding would be very important to your very survival. In order to capitalize on the natural response to novelty, a speaker may begin his or her speech by saying or doing something out of the ordinary, one fellow student appeared before one of the classes with sheets draped around him to pique interest in his speech, The Real Story behind Halloween, another student arrived at class with a ball and a chain strapped to her ankle as a means of graphically illustrating How These Extra Pounds Drag You Down. Another example: the student whose speech goal was to inform the class about tae kwon do began by breaking a block of wood in half with his bare feet. Clearly, the audience pays attention to such stunts. Compare that type of opening with a more staid question, such as How many of you exercise regularly? Surely, most listeners would be more attracted by an initial kick-start demonstration.
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It is important, though, that in being novel you dont become outlandish. One student was deeply concerned over the increasing incidence of cigarette and marijuana smoking among young people. In his zest to convince people of the folly of smoking, he overstepped the bounds of propriety (acceptable behavior) and enraged people rather than simply capturing their attention. He opened his speech by taking a small white mouse from a cage and injecting the mouse with nicotine, the mouse went into convulsion and died. Students in the class were so angry that hardly allowed him to speak. In the comments afterwards, the only thing that the class wanted to talk about was how someone who cared so much about life could so callously take it. In this case, the student got attention but couldnt direct that attention to the main thesis of the speech. He could have led up the mouse, told the class what would happen of he injected it with nicotine, and then put the mouse back in the cage unharmed; this would have aroused the classs attention and directed it appropriately. If using a novel approach to gain attention, be careful not to do something that command such attention itself and detracts from your thesis rather than leading into it.
Stories
Everyone likes to listen to a good story, and consequently stories make excellent attention getters. Stories can be about things that have happened to you or something you have read; they can be humorous or serious. Story is a broad term that covers anecdotes, narratives, and illustrations. Anecdotes are usually humorous stories; narratives are stories about personal experience and illustrations are more detailed examples of the point being made.
Anecdotes and Narratives are particularly useful for attracting attention. And, because most people enjoy a good story, especially a personal one about the speaker, using one lures the audience into listening to you. Further, listeners tend to remember anecdotes far better than the theoretical perspectives these stories support.
However a few cautions regarding the use of narratives are in order:
They should be relevant to your topic.
You should point out to the audience the connection between your story and the point you are making. While the correlation between the two may be obvious to you, it may not be so clear to some listeners.
Watch that your stories are not too personal because you do not want to disclose something you may later regret.
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Narratives should not be too long. Even though they may be interesting and provocative, keep them in proportion to your speaking time. A narrative that takes up half of your time is definitely too long.
Finally, because narratives work so well in the opening, some students insert several throughout the presentation and thus overdo it. Keep in mind that stories should supplement the main point, not become them.
As attention getters, stories must be carefully used. Certainly, the story should be in good taste and not be offensive to any member of the audience; the story should also be entirely relevant to the subject and purpose of your speech. Once your story has gained attention you should be able to transfer the audiences attention to the subject of your presentation.
Amy Blalock, a student from Duncanville, Texas used this technique very effectively in a speech she entitled MacBeths Legacy:
There is a tale told about a man who so very badly wanted to be king, he dedicated he would stop at nothing to achieve this objective. So, he promptly set about slaying all those who stood in his way. He felt some remorse at the beginning of his bloody odyssey but he was gradually overwhelmed by this desire, this ambition to be king. He in time did become king. But William Shakespeares tragic drama MacBeth depicted a man who was not satisfied by his achievements, but who was destroyed by an obsession. Excessive ambition is a quality and frame of mind that is certainly as real today as it was in William Shakespeares era. Some people argue that it is acceptable to be ambitious, for it compels men to achieve. I agree, I do contend, however, that excessive ambition is dangerous and destructive. Today I will examine and clarify the inherent flaws in the quality of ambition. Initially, I will observe the relationship between excessive ambition and the truth. Next I will be looking at whether or not ambition is fair to all concerned and then, the ways ambition affects relationship. Finally, I will question how ambition is or is not beneficial to individuals and society as a whole.
(Ayers, J., Miller J. 126)
In addition to telling the story, Amy links the story to what is to come. In so doing she prepares us for the remainder of her speech subtly building her credulity by revealing a knowledge of Shakespeare. Every introduction should do this gain attention, establish speakers credibility and function as a transition to the body of your speech.
Quotations
Provided that they are relevant and provocative, quotations from individuals or from articles recounting recent events can also be used as effective ways of getting audience members to pay attention. Moreover, when you quote a famous and respected person, you are also psychologically associated with this person, which in turn can actually elevate your status in the eyes of the audience. When beginning with a quotation, try to provide a clear transition from the quotation into your opening remarks. This will ensure that the relationship between them is apparent to all listeners.
Quotations should also gain attention in a manner that allows the speaker to arouse interest in his or her topic. Care needs to be taken to avoid using quotations that are so interesting in themselves that the audience continue to dwell on them long after the speaker has moved on.
Questions
Posing questions is another possible way to get the audiences attention. Questions can be rhetorical which usually does not require a response or common which is about to elicit possible answers. Questions work because they engage the audience. Listeners respond either loud or in their heads. Either way, you have got into their heads and pulled their minds toward you.
The questions must be one to which the audience wants to know the answer and of course, one had to capitalize on the attention that has been gained by adding additional material to maintain the audience interest level.
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However, questions also have to be thoughtful. What do you think of the following as an attention getter? How many of you went to the womens baseball game last night? (Pause for a show of hands.) Thats just what I expected. Today I am going to encourage you to support our womens team. I will discuss As a listener I just do not find the one question opener is much of an attention getter because there is not enough time to become engaged. However, for some subjects the right question one that has some emotional impact and that relates precisely to that particular audience just might do the trick.
The more developed and descriptive the questions are, the more listeners are forced to psychologically and cognitively identify with the process and, hence, to provide a thoughtful response. For instance, How many of you have experienced feelings of nervousness or insecurity before you had to make a major presentation. How about psychological symptoms of nervousness? How many of you have experienced butterflies of fears of forgetting irrational thoughts like Everyone knows exactly how I feel? Compare this with the lone naked question How many of you feel nervous before you do a speech? It is obvious that the first longer opening with multiple questions gathers more interest on the listeners part.
Statistics
Statistics are most effective as attention getters when they are extreme or staggering, when they are unknown to the audience members, and when they relate specifically to the listeners. Just starting your presentation with one line that includes a statistic will not be enough to engage your audience. Nor will bombarding the audience with so many facts that they cannot possibly process that amount of information. When you use statistics, you must include your source, for instance: According to Statistical data of the Ministry for Science and Education of Ukraine, presently seven out of ten schoolleavers seek for high education. Note that information presented in the ratio is more comprehensive than precise figures.
Visual Aids
Visual aids that are professionally prepared and used well can be very effective. They give the audience something to focus on. In a discussion among communication scholars about whether PowerPoint or other computer-mediated devices should be used in introductory speech courses, one professor argued strongly that the visual presence of key words on an outline reinforces the speakers message. This, in turn, enabled listeners to follow more easily the arguments being presented. Thus, visual aids can support and enhance your verbal message and make relevant attention getter.
Reference to the audience
Speeches can be opened by saying something positive about the audience. A speaker at a speech convention might begin by saying that she or he was somewhat uncomfortable accepting an invitation to speak to people who are so skilled in detecting faults in delivery, but after thinking about it decided that skilled though they were, there probably was no group more understanding of a speakers problems. We all like to hear good things about ourselves, and such references make the group more receptive to the speakers later comments. In some situations, usually relatively formal ones, the gathering and the speech are prompted to a specific occasion, and the speaker will make reference to this common interest.
By minimizing distracting differences and establishing a common ground you can develop a bond of goodwill between you and your audience when you speak. Point out or imply as many similarities as possible between yourself and the audience, especially your common interest in the subject of your speech. Sincerity plays an important part in establishing goodwill with the audience. You should look the listeners directly in the eye and take on an attitude appropriate to the subject dont joke if the subject is serious, or make apologies for being unprepared. In essence, you need to act in a manner that convinces the audience of your concern for its welfare.
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Suspense
The use of suspense may be quite an effective way to develop interest in topics an audience has heard before or would rather not attend to. Consider the following:
Twenty five million Americans will cause more than two hundred million others to shed tears during their lifetime. Two thousand students here in this university will cause eight thousand of those people to cry. Five people in this room will be the cause of some of those tears. No, I cant tell you which five, but I can tell you that on average one out of every five people die from cancer, bringing grief to their family and friends. I want to talk about what you can do to diminish this problem.
(Ayers, J., Miller J. 129)
By withholding an indication of intent until the end, the speaker builds interest in the specific purpose.
Establishing Credibility
Basically, credibility rests on a perception of the speaker as competent, trustworthy, and having an attitude of goodwill toward the audience.
Competence
If the introduction given you by the chairperson of a meeting before which you are speaking had not done so, you might establish your competence by briefly stating your qualification to speak on this topic. This should be done tactfully not to sound too self-confident. Consider the following:
Bragging: I spent ten years working with the best flyers in the world, so I know what Im talking about.
Tactful: During my ten years in the Navy, I had the opportunity to work with the Blue Angels, the Navys crack precision-flying team.
Competence is also established as you continue with your speech. If you are organized, present some in-depth information, and use documentation, you will add to the perception of yourself as being competent.
Trustworthiness
To determine whether you are trustworthy, an audience will observe your behaviour. If you speak in an open and direct manner, show a clear interest in and warmth toward your listeners, and deal honestly with them, the audience sill consider you to be trustworthy.
Much also depends on the background knowledge of the audience. If the audience already knows some information about the speaker, it will treat his or her statements accordingly. It may also be guided by the person who gives the introduction. If the speaker is introduced warmly by someone the audience trusts, some of that trust will transfer to the speaker. The audience also watches carefully those speakers whom they do not know and who are introduced by someone that they do not know. If the speaker says things that are in accord with what the audience knows to be true, it will begin to develop a basic trust of the speaker. This is, of course, one of the reasons a good speaker sets out to establish common ground with an audience as early and often as possible.
Thesis statement
Another vitally important element of an introduction is a clear and strong thesis statement which is a complete declarative sentence reflecting the main idea of your speech. Being clear means that the main idea should embody the essence of your speech, in other words, it should carry the clear message you are going to convey to your audience. Being strong implies that the listeners will retain this message long after hearing the speech, or should be able to easily explain if being asked what the speech was about.
Preview of main points
Unlike the thesis statement, the preview is a combination of several complete declarative sentences which represent the main points of your speech is a successive order. By doing this, you briefly outline your speech, thus preparing your audience for effective comprehension.
Thesis statement: Yet being invented to take care of our hair, many shampoos contain ingredients with the potential for hair loss or health hazards.
Preview: Today I am going to tell you about some harmful shampoo ingredients. First, Ill define what a hair shampoo is. Then Ill move to the most common components of hair shampoos that may be harmful for you. And finally, Ill concentrate your attention on few strategies for choosing safer hair care products.
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Thesis statement: Once each great company was just a little startup.
Preview: At first, I will describe the situation on the modern web. Then I will inform you about three helpful rules for a web startup. Finally, I will tell you how to realize your idea, even if you know little about web development.
Thesis statement: The Constitution of Ukraine is recognized as one of the most democratic in the world, but at the same time, the electoral process in our country is corrupted and counterfeited.
Preview: In order to explain voters how to defend their right to authority through a fair vote, firstly Ill identify the participants of the electoral process. Secondly, Ill describe the most common violations during the elections. And thirdly, Ill suggest the ways to deal with violations and violators will be shown.
Consider the organization of introduction to the speech informing the listeners how to make effective presentations:
| Attention material: the speaker opens the speech with a series of questions | Have you ever been in a situation when you had to speak in public? Im sure most of you have. Do you remember your feelings? Have you felt those butterflies in your stomach because of panic that you may do something wrong? Were your limbs, voice and whole your body trembling? Did you feel as though being naked in front of all this audience? Nothing surprising about this state, as the fear of public speaking, which is called glossophobia, is considered to be one of the most persistent human fears. |
| Establishing credibility: | But dont get discouraged and depressed! I myself used to be in the same desperate situation, but after Ive attended the course in Public Speaking I feel much more confident about appearing in front of the audience. Apart from increasing my confidence, I also picked up some valuable knowledge and I believe Ive got something useful to share with you. |
| Thesis statement | To impress your audience and provide a lasting effect, one should thoroughly follow generally recognized rules of public speaking which consist of such main stages as Research, Preparation and Delivery. |
| Preview: | So, in my speech, Im going to inform you about some basic stages of making effective presentations. At the beginning, Ill tell you how to conduct the topic research; then Ill concentrate on preparation and finally, Ill share some tips on efficient speech delivery. |
| Transition | Lets investigate what research means. |
I. Doing research implies choosing the topic for your future presentation and analyzing the audience you are supposed to speak to.
A. The topic youve decided to speak about should be interesting for you.
1. Think what fascinates you: your hobby, the trends of latest fashion, or the asteroid that is reported to be approaching the Earth.
2. If you are still at a loss, brainstorm for fresh ideas: watch the news, ask your friends, consult your teacher at least.
3. Choose those topics you can easily find materials to develop your speech.
(Transition: It seldom happens when you have no subtle idea who you are going to speak to. The audience, its number, age, and status are usually more or less predictable.)
B. But to be on the safe side, youd better do some further analysis of the audience, which will be necessary for adjusting your speech to their needs and ensuring yourself against different what ifs.
(Transition Now that youve successfully coped with the first stage, lets consider what the preparation involves.)
II. When I mean preparation, I also split this process into three directions: preparing your speech, preparing the place, and preparing yourself.
A. For speech preparation you will need to find enough supporting materials to provide proper substantiation and illustration to your ideas.
1. Structure the materials youve found into some logical sequence.
a) Make an outline that mentions your main point. When doing that, care about proper sequencing: distinguish between main points and supporting materials, avoid single subdivision.
b) Write a good introduction to your speech, following the general rules: begin your speech with attention material, establish credibility with the listeners and preview main points.
c) Finish with a strong conclusion that summarizes your main points, restates central idea; also make a final appeal to the listeners to leave a remarkable impression in their minds.
2. Prepare visual aids to provide better illustration to your ideas. The findings of the previous stage will help you decide on the type and design of your visuals.
B. If necessary, take preparations of the place where you are supposed to speak. See the room in advance to get used to its size and make sure the equipment works properly.
C. Finally, prepare yourself both mentally and physically for such an important event.
1. Mental preparation will involve practicing your speech as many times as possible. I suggest doing it in this way.
a) First, read the speech to yourself, this will help you define how long your speech will take. Trim it out or grow on where possible to allot the time limit.
b) Rehearse your speech in front of your friends or any other pleasant audience. Ask for feedback. Probably, they will supply you with some valuable advice.
2. On the day of presentation have a good sleep, refresh yourself with meals, and by all familiar means set yourself in a good mood.
(Transition: So, the headache of research and the worries of preparation are behind, and now you are about to face the last challenge, delivery.)
III. Perfect art of delivery implies sounding as extemporaneously as possible (hope you remember what it means).
A. Try to control your nervousness. It would be useful to know that usually the signs of nervousness are not so visible. Even if they are visible, never apologize for it as it threatens your credibility.
B. Speak clearly, slowly, and loudly enough. Make pauses. Vary your intonation.
C. Pay attention to your body language. Remember that non-verbal messages are more convincing than words. Moreover, keep in mind that the meaning of some gestures can be different in various cultures.
(Transition: Thats the science of being a good speaker. Before I finish I would like to remind you about the main points of my speech.)
Concluding the Speech
Though the introduction and conclusion are at opposite ends of the speech, they actually have much in common. The speaker begins on a general note in the introduction, narrows the topic to the specifics he or she wants to discuss in the body, and then again broadens the theme to make a general wrap-up and application in the conclusion. All of the techniques discussed for gaining interest in the introduction are useful in the conclusion as well an illustration or story, quotation, question, a startling statement, or statistics. The two important functions of a conclusion are (1) to remind the audience of the basic purpose of the speech, and (2) to bring the speech psychologically to close for the speaker and the audience. The most common tried-and-true methods for accomplishing those goals are a summary, emotional appeal, logical appeal, and challenging. Most conclusions will employ more than one of these techniques.
(Ayers, J., Miller J. 135)
Summary
In the final moments of your speech you briefly restate the central idea of your speech and sum up the main points that clarify or prove that idea. These points may be covered in the same order as before or in reverse order.
This summary conclusion is one of the most effective in all kinds of speeches, and every informative speech should have a summary element, perhaps together with another device. You need to keep the summary rather brief. It is easy to get carried away at the stage and go right on past a good potential ending: such tangents confuse and frustrate your audience.
Emotional appeal
If you want to leave your audience in a particular mood angry, fearful, anxious, or happy you might choose to conclude with an emotional appeal. In using this kind of ending, you emphasize feelings over reasons as a means of influencing the audience.
Logical appeal
In ending with logical appeal, you stress how reasonable your case is. This type of ending stresses the reasoning that was developed in the speech. Conclusions of this nature are usually most effective when briefly presented. If you plan to use a logical conclusion, be sure to identify your reasoning clearly and work on presenting it simply and directly. It is quite possible that you will want to add an interest-arousing emotional element as well.
Other considerations
It was mentioned earlier that introduction and conclusion have much in common. You can often use that fact to good advantage by pointing out that relationship for the audience. You may restate or answer a rhetorical question; or finish a story that was begun in the introduction.
All of these techniques for concluding a speech are aimed at leaving the audience with favourable impression, persuading them to think as you do on the issue, and causing them to remember what you have said. After all this effort to finish on a strong note, dont weaken it by saying, Thank you, or Are there any questions? If youve done your job well, they should thank you with their response and applause, and if there are questions, theyll ask them.
In talking about how to make an effective informative presentation, you might end with the following:
| Summarize main points | Overall, there are three things to do in making presentations, which are Research, Preparation and Delivery. Doing research, you have to choose a good topic interesting both for you and your audience, which will demand doing some audience analysis, As for preparation, you will have to fill your speech with right supporting materials, paying attention to proper structuring the speech and prepare relevant visual aids. Finally, you need to care about effective delivery, which includes verbal and non-verbal aspects. |
| Make an emotional appeal Speaker refers to introduction to provide a sense of framing | So what, you are still trembling and your voice goes husky of nervousness when you anticipate facing the audience? Never mind, its also normal. Even highly experienced speakers feel pangs of fright when appearing in public. They just can direct their nervousness to their benefit. So, be reasonably nervous, make speeches and receive gratification of a well-done job! |
Introduction and Conclusion: Don'ts
1. One of the worst mistakes is talking too long. Say what you have to, and sit down. Before you do, give a well thought out closing.
2. The last thing you say may be the most remembered. Put into it as much time as you did into any other part of your speech.
3. Like openings, closings don't have to be humorous. They could be motivational, challenging, thoughtful, or they could restate your point in a different way.
4. If the subject is appropriate, give a humorous closing.
5. If humour is not appropriate, give a touching story or a quotation that leaves the audience thoughtful and quiet.
6. Ending a humorous speaking engagement, have the audience laughing all along while you make your points. Then finish seriously. This contrast will create a great impact. It will convey the fact that you believe in a light-hearted approach to the subject, but the results are very serious to you.
Using Transitions
Transitions serve as markers that will further help to keep the listeners on course. They are employed through the speech each time you segue into a new topic or subtopic. It means that transitions are used to indicate the completion of one idea and the start of another idea. They also serve to remind you of your sequence of thoughts. Good transitions help the audience to anticipate and to remember. In particular, they are required between the opening and the body, between the topic within the body, and between the body an the conclusion.
