“Look with favor on bold beginnings.”

-Virgil

• Gain the attention of the audience

• Create rapport between the speaker and the audience

• Provide reasons for the audience to listen to the speaker

• Set the expectations of the audience.

set the audience’s expectations…and then surpass them!

The audience has several questions that they want answered within the first few minutes of your talk…1.Who are you? (experience)2.What are you going to talk about?3.When will you be through?4.Where is this talk going?5.Why should I listen?6.How are you going to make this interesting?

8 Types of Openers

Start with a quote from a

famous person, inspirational

source, or lyrics from a

song. Keep it short but

powerful. Pause briefly for effect

when you are done.

Offer a proverb. Folk

sayings, old wives' tales, or

words of wisdom from your

country or that relate to

your experience with the

project that people can

relate to provide a meaningful bridge to your

speech.

Ask a rhetorical question..

Make sure the question is an

interesting or startling one to

catch the attention of your

audience. Perhaps even one

that is the opposite of what

the audience would expect.

Issue a challenge. Riddles,

puzzles, case studies, and other

problem solving activities grab

hold of listeners' minds. Promise

to deliver suggested options by

the end of your presentation.

Create a word picture.. Using

sensory imagery, describe a heart-

tugging or mind-teasing scenario that

immediately engages the audience.

Bringing real or imaginary characters

or a scene to life in a verbal sketch

that takes just a minute or so can

have a powerful effect on drawing in

your listeners.

Quote STARTLING statistics and

facts - hard evidence that cannot be

debated because it is proven by logic

and science. Audiences are apt to

believe a speaker who uses credible

facts as evidence. They tend to listen

to a speaker who opens with this type

of information, especially if it is

unusual information.

Tell a story or anecdote - Everyone

loves stories, especially if they’re real,

personal, and relevant. Paint a

picture, but keep the story fairly short

and make it connect to your speech.

Using a historic event. Historical

references make you look smart and

put your topic in perspective. Make

sure that the event connects to your

speech and that you have your facts

RIGHT!

• In 1875, the former slave opened his talk to the business establishment of Atlanta with this line:

“Gentlemen, one-third of the population of the South is of the Negro race.”

• On July 4, 1852, he opened an address in Ohio by saying:

“Pardon me—why did you ever invite me? I and the people I represent have no reason to celebrate this day.”

• First radio addreess as Prime Minister

“I speak to you for the first time as Prime Minister in a solemn hour for the life of our country, of our Empire, of our allies and, above all, for the cause of freedom.”

Winston Churchill

• The Baruch Plan was a proposal by the United States government, written largely by Bernard Baruch but based on the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC) in its first meeting in June 1946. The United States, Great Britain and Canada called for an international organization to regulate atomic energy and President Truman responded by asking Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson and David E. Lilienthal to draw up a plan.

“We are here to make a choice between the quick and the dead.”

Bernard Baruch

• On March 7, 1850, Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster (pictured) rose in the Senate chamber to stake his career, his reputation, and perhaps the nation's future on the success of a speech that he hoped would unite moderates of all sections in support of Kentucky Senator Henry Clay's proposed "Compromise of 1850."

“Mr. President, I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United States. . . . I speak for the preservation of the Union……”

Daniel Webster

• At one time, when Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were "stumping" Illinois, they met at a certain town, and it was agreed that they would have a joint debate.

““It is true what Mr. Douglas said, that I did run a grocery store and I did sell goods including whiskey. But I remember that in those days that Mr. Douglas was one of my best customers. Many a time have I stood on one side of the counter and sold whiskey to Mr. Douglas on the other side. But the difference is that I have left my side of the counter, but Mr. Douglas still sticks tenaciously to his.”

Abraham Lincoln

• Statement by the President Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima

“Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima….”

Harry S. Truman

• He opened his address to a white audience in 1854 with these remarks:

“There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea covered its shell-paved floor. Now that is a memory, a mournful memory.”

• August of 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:

“Fivescore years ago, a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…”