Gain the Audience's Attention
Use an illustration, a startling fact or statistic, a quotation, humor, a question, a reference to a historical event, a personal reference, a reference to the occasion, or a reference to a preceding speech.
Give the Audience a Reason to Listen
Tell your listeners how the topic directly affects them.
Reveal the Topic
Present your central idea to your audience.
Establish Credibility
Offer your credentials. Tell your listeners about your commitment to your topic.
Preview Your Main Ideas
Tell your audience what you are going to tell them.
Signal the End of the Speech
Verbal techniques include using such transitional words and phrases as "finally," "for my last point," or "in conclusion.
Summarize Main Ideas
Reemphasize the central idea in a memorable way and restate the main ideas.
Closure
The quality of a conclusion that makes a speech "sound finished".
Anecdotes/Illustrations
An illustration or story. Can be a good speech introduction.
Rhetorical Question
A question intended to provoke thought, rather than elicit and answer.
Five Purposes of an Introduction
� Get the audience's attention
� Give the audience a reason to listen.
� Introduce the subject.
� Establish credibility.
� Preview main ideas.
Purposes of a Conclusion
� Summarize the speech
� Provide closure