Speech Structure: Mastering the Introduction

Good evening! I'm glad to see you there again!

Today we’re studying how to make the introduction more effective. My task is to watch five public speakers perform and understand what attention-getters are used in each speech and then evaluate the transition between the attention-getter and the thesis.

I.  Attention-getters:

Speech 1: Asking a question (How are we, “homo sapience” doing as a species?)

Speech 2: Acting as an illustration of the speech (= Life will sometimes feel like a fight) + questions (Can you think of a time when life tried to knock you down?)

Speech 3: Telling a story + the quotation (George Washington Cavers says all learning is understanding relationships)

Speech 4:  Questions (How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? How do you explain when other are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?)

Speech 5: Making a reference (I feel there is uncomfortable tension in the room…I shouldn’t have worn this dress) + asking the question (So, why did I do that?)

II. The thesis statements and evaluation of the transition:

1.  “Outbreaks of nature don’t end well”. I’d give 2 pts for the transition. I liked the transition between the 1^st question to the statement because it was logic and laconic but at the same time the introduction seems quite long and “heavy”. I think the reason of this is that the speaker used too much scientific terms.

2.  “Our most challenging opponent is ourselves”. I’d give 3 pts to this speaker. The attention-getter was impressive because you can’t get tired of somebody who performs on stage.  The transition was simple but relevant – the speaker asked the question and the answered it with the statement thesis.

3.  I liked the way the speaker used the quotation and made it a statement thesis(George Washington Cavers says all learning is understanding relationships). The transition is not evident but it’s a laconic one – I believe, it’s the strongest introduction from all the speeches. Without a doubt, the speaker scores 3 pts.

4.  Asking a number of questions is always a winner as you involve the listeners in your speech and make them think, too. The transition is done well, in the logic of the speech. Then, I’d give him 3 pts.

5.   "Image is powerful but also, image is superficial". Personally, I don’t like the transition of the last speech. I’m afraid, the actions (and some sentences, too) were distractive and confusing, and some of them were not to the point. Because of this, is seems that the statement thesis I separated from the whole text. I’d give 1 pt.


Thank you for your attention!