Public Speaking Techniques - Introductions

Purpose

There are three main objectives to aim for when preparing your introduction: capturing the attention of your audience; clearly identifying your subject matter; and establishing why this subject is of value to your listeners.?

You may choose to vary how you approach each objective depending on the structure of your presentation, the subject being discussed, and the make-up of your audience.

Capturing Their Attention

One of the most effective ways of quickly capturing someone’s attention is by using well-chosen questions. If you can engage your listener in a dialogue they will naturally be more invested and more inclined to listen. Even in the case of a presentation to a large group where no audience participation is expected, rhetorical questions can be very useful in stimulating thinking, and thereby help your listeners to feel more involved.

A personal experience or an interesting metaphor can also be a great way to start, as they prompt your listeners to paint a mental picture. The former is helpful in establishing a common perspective, while the latter can peak their curiosity to see how the metaphor will be applied to your subject matter.

Identifying Your Subject

In an effort to make our introduction as interesting and thought-provoking as possible, we may actually end up losing sight of the main theme. One way of ensuring that the subject is clearly identified is to simply restate the title of our presentation. Ideally though, there would be a coherent, progressive build-up towards our main subject. Rather than an abrupt transition, our introduction should segue smoothly into the body of our presentation, with our main subject already firmly in the minds of our audience.

Establishing The Value of Your Subject

In order to establish the value of the subject you’re discussing, you first need to have a reasonable understanding of your audience. What are their problems and their needs? What questions or doubts are they likely to have regarding your subject matter?

It can be tempting to make your presentation applicable to everyone by speaking in broad general terms, but to truly resonate with your audience requires specific application. Your introduction should be used to build their anticipation to see how you’ll develop your theme in greater detail, specifically relating to their viewpoint.

Additional Tips

Carefully balance your preparation time. If the introduction is the first part that you prepare, you may find that you spend a disproportionate amount of time writing and rehearsing it, leaving insufficient time to fully prepare the body and conclusion of your talk.

Be careful to avoid questions or anecdotes that may cause embarrassment or offense. Questions should be thought-provoking, but without putting your listeners on the spot. The audience should always feel at ease and respected by the speaker. Even a perfectly structured introduction is no substitute for genuine friendliness.