382 Part 4 Public SpeakingIntroduce Your Purpose and Thesis
Whether you capture your audience’s attention with
stories, questions, or quotations, it is essential that your
introduction also clearly establishes what your speech
is about and what you hope to achieve by speaking.
You do this by incorporating your thesis statement.
Imagine that you just caught your audience’s atten-
tion with the description of a fun-filled and active day:
kayaking on a pristine lake, hiking in a rain forest,
rock climbing on a craggy coastline, and so on. You
would then introduce your thesis: “All of these activi-
ties—and many more—are available to you in one of
our nation’s most diverse protected spaces: Olympic
National Park. I hope to persuade you to visit and to
take advantage of all this park has to offer.”Preview Your Main Points
Another key goal for your introduction is to provide a preview of the main
points that will be covered in the body of the speech, in the order that you will
talk about them. For example, if you are giving a speech about why students
should enroll in an art course, you might say: “There are two reasons why every
college student should enroll in an art course. First, it provides students with a
creative outlet, and second it teaches students useful and creative ways of think-
ing about their own subjects of study.” Audiences prefer to listen to speakers who
are prepared and have a plan the audience can follow; by previewing, you offer a
mental outline that your listeners can follow as they attend to your speech.Connect with Your Audience
Another goal for your introduction is to establish a relationship with your listen-
ers, providing them with a sense of who you are and why they should listen to
what you have to say. Like participants in an interview, the members of your
audience will come to your speech with three points in mind. They will be curi-
ous about the nature of your speech—will it be boring, interesting, or inspiring?
They’ll also be wondering what they will get from it— will the speech be worth
their time and attention? Finally, they will be curious about you as a speaker—
will they like and trust you? Your introduction should provide enough informa-
tion to allow the audience to make accurate assumptions about your speech and
about you.
One way that a speaker can establish a relationship with the audience is to
demonstrate why listeners should care about the topic. First, make sure that you
verbally link the topic to the audience’s interests. You should also try to appeal to
your listeners’ personal needs—let them know what’s in it for them. For exam-
ple, a college recruiter speaking at a high school might talk about what his school
offers prospective students. He might also touch on recent local or national
events to show the relevance of the school’s curriculum.YOU DON’T HAVE TO
TURN YOUR SPEECH
into a stand-up comic perfor-
mance, but a good opening
joke will pique the audience’s
interest. Digital Vision/Getty Images