First, please create an account

Already have a Sophia account?

The Role of the Introduction

Author: Sophia

what's covered

In this lesson, you will learn about why it's important to have a strong introduction to your speech. Specifically, this lesson will cover:

1. Role of the Introduction
2. The Road Map
3. Writing the Introduction
4. Getting Attention and Interest
5. Strategies for the Opening
6. Repetition

1. Role of the Introduction

The introduction is the best opportunity to convince your audience that you have something worthwhile to say.

An introduction can accomplish this by fulfilling five critical responsibilities:

Get the audience's attention.
Introduce the topic.
Explain its relevance to the audience.
State a thesis or purpose.
Outline the main points.

By the end of the introduction, the audience should know where you're headed and what your speech will cover. If you are giving a persuasive speech, state your thesis in the introduction. If you are giving an informative speech, explain what you will be teaching the audience.

As you write your introduction, try to answer these questions:

What is the scope of your presentation—how narrow or broad is your topic?
How does it relate to the audience?
What is at stake for the audience?
Do you have any new insights or unique perspectives to add to the existing discussion of your topic?
Why should the audience listen to you instead of someone else?
Will you be informing the audience or making an argument?

term to know

Introduction

A way to engage the audience and preview the topic.

2. The Road Map

You should provide a road map of your speech for your listener in your introduction.

By the end of the introduction, you should also provide a brief overview of your main points. This "road map" will help the audience understand the main points in the context of your larger purpose.

Without a good map to follow, the audience is liable to get lost along the way. A good introduction is the best way to make sure your message gets through.

In sum, the introduction should:

Hook the audience.
Describe your topic.
Explain how your topic is relevant to the audience.
Explain the stakes at hand.
Establish credibility: What authority do you have to discuss this topic?
State your innovation: What is new or special about your perspective?
Lay out a road map of your speech.
Outline your main points.
State your thesis or purpose.

3. Writing the Introduction

If you have an anecdote, quote, question, or some other "hook" that inspires you to start writing the introduction, go for it.

Don't take inspiration for granted! In some cases, the right story will set up a natural sequence for your main points, launching the speech effortlessly.

Otherwise, it may be easier to begin the introduction after you write about your main points. Working through the main points will set the destination of the speech, and it doesn't hurt to have a clear idea of where you're going before you set out.

4. Getting Attention and Interest

Gaining the attention of your audience is essential for an effective speech.

Public speaking is essentially the art of convincing an audience to listen to you against all odds. How can you pry your listeners away from their day-to-day concerns? What would make you the most interesting person in their lives—at least until you finish your speech? You need to act fast since first impressions tend to overshadow all other impressions. The opening of your speech will determine the audience's willingness to listen. Learn how to deliver a dynamite opening, and you can make that fact work in your favor.

5. Strategies for the Opening

Here are eight ways to open a speech with panache:

Strategy	Example
Make a provocative or controversial statement. You can back down from an extreme position later, but controversy is an effective way to capture the audience's attention.	The United States should control its population growth by imposing fines on parents who have more than one child.
State a surprising or little-known fact.	Did you know that eating blueberries can actually make you smarter by boosting neurotransmitters in your brain?
Open with a quote. If you can't think of an attention-grabbing sentence yourself, get some outside assistance (with proper attribution, of course).	Oscar Wilde once said, "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Open with a brief anecdote.	I was driving home from work on a cold, rainy day when I saw a scrawny cat by the side of the road. Her ribs were sticking out under her filthy, matted fur; she was clearly starving. I made the split-second decision to find a home for this cat, pulled over, lifted her up into the passenger seat, and began a journey that would change my life in ways I could never have imagined.
Make a case for your topic's relevance to the reader.	Genetically modified foods are filling grocery stores all over the country; they are unavoidable at this point. If you've eaten something today, you've eaten something genetically modified today.
Take a stand against something. Don't attack a "straw man," or a vague, made-up antagonist—be specific.	The hazing rituals of this university's fraternities and sororities are getting worse, not better.
Stake a position for yourself within an ongoing debate.	Corporate culture is evolving toward workspaces that encourage collaboration, such as open floor plans and inviting communal areas. Our company has resisted that trend. We still have an old-school lineup of offices with closed doors surrounding a honeycomb of high-walled cubicles, and guess what? The employees never mingle! I believe it is time to give the new workplace order a chance.
State a question.	When was the last time you donated money to charity?

term to know

Anecdote

An account or story which supports an argument but is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis.

6. Repetition

Repetition is boring, right? Who wants to hear the same thing more than once? Actually, experienced public speakers learn that repetition doesn't have to be redundant—there's more to it than saying the same thing twice. In this culture of distraction, choosing an anchoring word, phrase, or idea and returning to it periodically throughout your speech can help the audience find the connection between different points. Think about how it feels to listen to a good song: Each verse builds the story with new lyrics, and then the chorus comes back to ground the song and bring it back home.

summary

In this lesson, you learned that the role of the introduction is to function as a sales pitch and a useful outline in one. Therefore, it should maintain a good balance of hype and content. The introduction has five important responsibilities: get the audience's attention, introduce the topic, explain its relevance to the audience, state a thesis or purpose, and outline the main points. By the end of the introduction, you should provide a road map that outlines your main points. Sometimes you may find it easier to write the introduction after you have written about your main points. You also learned that the opening of a speech is the most important time to get the audience's attention and generate interest. There are many methods to grab the audience's attention in your opening. Using repetition can also help hook your audience.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

Terms to Know

Anecdote: An account or story which supports an argument but is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis.
Introduction: A way to engage the audience and preview the topic.