8) How to Start the Speech

The beginning of the speech should be brief and bright. It must evoke instant interest. This is very important, as the audience will be comparatively receptive in the beginning, eager to know what you will be saying. It is very easy to impress at this stage. But this has to be carefully worked out in advance. The introduction ought to be short. Even it can be dispensed with altogether and you can go straight into the heart of your topic.

You will be able to win the immediate attention of the audience by:

Arousing their curiosity.
Narrating a human-interest story.
Beginning with a specific illustration.
Using an exhibit.
Posing a question to the audience.
Opening with a striking quotation.
Giving out startling facts.

But never attempt to start the speech with a joke or humor unless you are well conversant with the narration. Only a few are gifted with this talent. Please be aware that humor is a hair-trigger affair. One should have the basic ability to make the audience laugh. The story by itself may not be funny; but the way in which it is said makes it a success.

Never open the speech with an apology. If you have not prepared to deliver the speech well, the audience will find this out in no time. They have not assembled to hear your apologies.

Beginning of a speech can be compared to the techniques that writers use to hook the reader's interest at the commencement of a story or article.

You can learn more from them on to how to open a speech than your trying to study a collection of delivered speeches.

Do not make your opening too formal. Make it appear to be normal, interesting and casual. The easiest way to do this is to refer to something that has just happened or something that just has been said or published.