2. What is the best way
to start your speech?
a. Start with your name
b. Start by greeting the audience
c. Start with your topic
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3. “You have just 30 seconds to convince
your audience that it’s worth listening
to you”
Patricia Fripp
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4. 4 steps for a good
introduction
1. Start with a hook
2. Transit to the topic
3. Introduce yourself and preview your
topic
4. State the benefit of your topic to the
audience
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5. What are good hooks?
• Personal story
• Rhetorical thought-provoking
questions
• Provocative statement
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6. 1. Tell a Story
Use personal experience and
funny anecdote to make your
points.
“Today I want to tell you three
stories from my life.”
Steve Job | Stanford University
How to live before you die
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7. 2. Ask a question
Ask rhetorical questions or
start with “Why” or “How”.
“How do you explain when things
don’t go as we assume? “
TedTalk by Simon Sinek
How great leaders inspire action
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8. 3. Shock the audience
Use a provocative statement,
or a surprising statistics.
“You will live 7.5 minutes longer than
you would have otherwise, just
because you watched this talk.”
TedTalk by Jane McGonigal
The game that can give you 10 extra years of life
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10. Use Comparison
A metaphor, an analogy ...
“You and I are not very different from
this flower. Just like this flower is
unique, you are unique.”
Dananjaya Hettiarachchi,
2014 World Champion of Public Speaking
I see something
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11. Start with a Prop
Demonstrate, or get
the audience to
laugh
Mohammed Qahtani,
2015 World Champion of
Public Speaking
Power of Words
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12. Quote an influential person
“Life is like a box of chocolates,
you never know what you
gonna get”
Jack Ma
“When you are talking about
fire extinguishers, open with a
fire”
Atere Oluwashina
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13. …and more hooks
• Open with a you-focused
question
“Can you remember a moment when a
brilliant idea flashed into your head?”
Darren LaCroix’s speech
• Use the word “Imagine”
Ask the audience to visualize
something
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