What is the Introduction for a Persuasive Speech?

The introduction is the very start of your speech, so use humor, have energy, identify with the audience, build common ground, and maybe include some visuals! It is important to start with a good hook that is complementary to your topic and immediately engages your audience. The introduction is important,as it serves as the means for the speaker to communicate the purpose of their speech. It is when they reveal and discuss the exigence (the problem) and first declare the action statement (the solution/remedy to the exigence). The introduction then provides the audience with a survey of the points to be covered, followed by a smooth transition into your first point to be covered.

Be sure to practice, but not memorize your speech, remembering that delivery, including balanced ethos, logos, and pathos appeals for your audience, is very important.

The introduction should be about 1 to 1-1/2 minutes long.

What is the Structure for the Introduction?

The introduction should start with a really good hook. It is the place to establish the audiences interest in the topic. You should also make the topic and exigence pressing and relevant to your audience. The action should be established and clearly defined, and provide the remedy or solution to the exigence. A survey of the points you will be coving in your speech is given in your introduction. It is also important to have your first transition statement here to lead you into your first point you are going to cover. 

• Good, strong hook
• Exigence= Factional Condition + Related Interest
• Begin making exigence pressing, urgent, and relevant to audience
• Action/remedy to exigence
• Survey/forecast of what’s to come
• First transition/signpost into first point covering

Hooks

A good hook is a very strong element of an introduction, and it can immediately help strengthen the overall speech. Start your speech off with an attention grabbing hook in order to engage your audience right at the start of your speech.  This will cause the audience to be more enthused with your topic and want to continue listening to your speech. It is important to make sure your hook is relevant and links to the topic you are talking about. Some good examples of hooks are:

Attention Grabbers:

• An interesting fact or statistic. For example if you are talking about recycling, you could make your hook an interesting fact and visually appealing: “Did you know that in Canada enough plastic bottles are thrown in the garbage every year to wrap around The Earth four times”.
• A quote. However make sure the quote actually relates to your speech.
• A question. Make the question effective enough to make your audience think about the answer. A question like “How many people drink water?” or “Who here has ever felt tired?” is to general and the answer is already known, of course everyone drinks water. Make the question interesting and still relevant to your topic.
• A scenario. A good example of this can be found in Alex’s speech above. She gave us a scenario that made the audience think about how it would feel to be a soldier waiting for mail but never receiving any. This type of hook really gets the audience picturing what it would be like to be in someone else’s and gets there mind thinking about your speech as well as makes the exigence more relevant to the audience.
• A personal story regarding your speech topic. This kind of hook shows good ethos and credibility towards the topic of your speech. For example, if your topic was eating a healthy breakfast you could make a strong pathos appeal as well as reveal ethos by telling a story about how your mom used to make you healthy breakfasts every morning.
• A list. This list must be pertaining to anything in your speech for example in Allex’s speech above her hook was a list of previous speeches done in the class that were asking the audience to do a random act of kindness.
• A joke relating to your topic. For example, if your speech is on washing your fruits and vegetables, you could say “I would like to start off with a bit of a dirty joke: why was the tomato blushing? Because he saw the salad dressing!” It is a great way to get your audience listening- make sure the joke is appropriate and relevant to your topic.

Less Effective Hooks:

• Webster’s Dictionary introduction. Although a relevant and meaningful definition is not an awful hook, it is not as strong as some of the other suggestions listed above.
• Placeholder introduction. This kind of introduction is a series of vague sentences that don’t say much, these sentences are used to fill up the introduction part of the speech.
• The “dawn of man” introduction. This type of hook tells the relevance of this topic since the beginning of time. Very general and fails to really big, pressing impact on the audience.
• The book report introduction. This is the kind of hook you would see an elementary student giving. You basically get right into your topic and do not make an effort to engage your audience

For more information regarding effective/non-effective hooks please click the link: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/introductions/.

Some key things to remember when preparing a hook:

When preparing your hook first consider your audience and the impact you want them to feel in the first 20 or so seconds of your speech. Your hook is the first thing that should be said and should be well thought out in order to really engage and grab your audience’s attention. Second, make sure your hook is clear, precise, and practiced beforehand. This will make it more effective when you give your speech and can help make you feel more confident and less nervous. Third, consider changing it up when preparing your hook; the best hooks are the ones that are different and stand out to the audience! Fourth, never apologize or say you’re nervous in your hook.  Most of the time, even if you feel nervous, your audience cannot tell, so do not make it known to them! The last thing to remember is that your hook sets the tone of your speech.  A good hook sets you on the right path to have a successful speech!

According to The Writing Center by The University of North Carolina College of Arts and Science, when creating an effective hook it is important to

“think about how you can relate to these listeners and get them to relate to you or your topic. Appealing to your audience on a personal level captures their attention and concern, increasing the chances of a successful speech. Speakers often begin with anecdotes to hook their audience’s attention. Other methods include presenting shocking statistics, asking direct questions of the audience, or enlisting audience participation.” ([http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/speeches/)

Planning an introduction

When planning an introduction there are a few elements you need to consider:

• Grab the attention of the audience – As mentioned above, it is imperative to have a good, solid hook.
• Introduce the topic – Don’t leave the audience hanging.  Let them know what you are going to talk about so they are not questioning it. Your audience is potentially starting from a place of zero experience/knowledge in your topic area, so  you need to provide enough information to get them on the same page as you. Make it clear to them what the exigence is, the solution to the exigence through your action, and clearly survey what it is you are going to be discussing.
• Give the audience a reason to listen – Immediately people think “What’s in it for me?” (WIFM) or “Why should I do that?”.  It could include a positive, negative, or a combination of both WIFM appeals. Make sure they know how they are directly affected by your topic.

    Some examples of reasons for them to listen and do your action might be (WIFM):

 It might save them money

 It may be vital (life or death)

 It might benefit their job or school

 It might boost their confidence

 It might benefit their health

 It might make them feel good

The list of possible ways to make the audience understand what is in it for them is infinite. Make it clear and obvious why they should do your action and how it will affect them.

• Establish credibility– If the audience does not know your personal interest in the topic or personal credentials, you should make it obvious to them why you are talking about this topic. Establish ethos as soon as you can. Credibility does not only come from knowledge, but can also be established through your delivery techniques and personal investment in the topic.
• Establish common ground– How are your like your audience and how are you different? It is good to establish common ground right away, but not 100% necessary as long as you do it at some point in the speech. However the introduction is generally a good place for it if it can logically be done!

Remember to:

• Look at audience
• Speak up
• Be energetic and enthusiastic
• Smile, if appropriate
• Be personal

• Preview main points– People get lost without maps. It is hard for an audience to listen to a speech that is all over the place.   A good survey forecasting what is to come and a solid logical structure can help your audience easily follow along as well as keep them engaged. Usually the preview/survey is placed towards the end of your introduction and acts as a map to help your audience follow along.  This will make your speech stronger and can subtly strengthen your ethos and logos appeals!

Introduction Checklist:

Checklist to Evaluating your Introduction

DO:

            Make sure it’s simple, clear, and easy to follow

          Find a happy medium between too brief and too long

          Link your introduction directly to the rest of your speech and survey your points in a logic order

          Plan your introduction last.  Do it after you know the body of your speech

            Jump right in!  You don’t need to introduce your introduction.  Start with your hook right away, whether it’s a joke, story, quote, or question

          Memorize your first sentence if needed – this helps you to get over the first few seconds of nerves allows you to relax

          BE ENTHUSIASTIC and HAVE FUN

DON’T:

            Use expressions such as “My speech is..”, “The purpose of my speech is..”, or “My speech assignment is…”

            Apologize

          State that you are nervous- you may feel it but others might not notice if you do not point it out.

          Write and re-write your introduction- This may cause you to memorize sentences, resulting in a memorized introduction

          Use a hook that is unrelated to your speech

Example

If video above does not automatically load, click link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOX6BpYABrA

• This video illustrates an example of a effective introduction where the speaker has credibility from passion and investment in the topic.
• An imaginative story was used to grab the audience’s attention.  For this hook to be more impacting the speaker could have asked audience to close eyes and re-open once story was complete.
• Great pace and tone used throughout introduction.
• This introduction was missing a survey and from an RCM 401 speech was too long.

The introduction has a big impact on your persuasive speech. The introduction is the first chance you have to grab your audience’s attention. A sloppy introduction with a poor hook and no survey or structure could lose your audience’s attention and result in a loss of credibility. Once you have establish an introduction for your speech, have a friend evaluate you based on the checklist we have provided.

We hope this wiki helps and persuades you to consider these introduction techniques for your success in RCM 401!

Resources

Below are resources we found useful to use.  We also strongly encourage others to check out the links when planning a strong introduction for a persuasive speech.

• This link provides information on public speeches in general and how to aim your speech to your specific audience: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/speeches/
• This link explains what a good introduction is and the strategies involved in making one” http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/introductions/
• A PowerPoint presentation of how to plan a speech which provides details for the introduction.  Focuses specifically on building a strong introduction with a video at the end for the audience to critique.  This powerpoint builds on concepts we have talked about in RCM 401: http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=SPH2601
• Great guidelines, step by step instructions.  Provides a nice outline from the start to finish of your speech.  Provides great tips on how to build ethos, logos, and pathos appeals starting from the introduction to the conclusion: http://www.persuasive-speechesnow.com/persuasive-speech-OUTLINE.html
• Things to do and not do when planning or speaking during an introduction: http://www.wittcom.com/newsletter_how_to_start_a_speech.htm