Top Ten Best Ways to Start Off a Speech

Speeches can make enormous changes in the world. They can save or harm lives, change laws, overthrow corrupt governments, cause riots, and much more. These speeches can’t be the usual, dull, monotone you will probably think of when you hear the word. You need to start it off with something that immediately draws your audience in and keeps there attention, gets them thinking, and fully entraps them. So here are the top ten ways to start off a speech. Enjoy!
The Top Ten
1 Statistic

Starting off with a statistic is one of the smartest and best ways to start off a speech. Take this scenario as an example: for a speech talking about how all cars should be electric by 2035, you could say "by 2030, assuming we don't cut down on gas cars, tens of thousands of people will die every year due to poor air quality that gas cars cause." (That's true, by the way). That will make the audience go "oh, really!" And think in the same way about the rest of your speech. It shows that you mean business.

2 “What if” scenario

This is perhaps the greatest way ever to start off a speech. It's making people work their imagination in a less lucrative way than just telling them to imagine being something. Saying something like "what if the world was just a million kilometres closer or further away from the sun? It would become inhabitable" that right there gets right into your speech, right into what you're going to be talking about in your speech. After the "what if" is over and you continue through the speech, the listeners feel like they're been a part of the speech for a while already.

3 A question

Now, do note that this doesn't mean that you want them to answer it out loud, it's just a way of getting into their minds and making them think. For example: "have you ever lost a competition right when you thought the win was yours?" Assuming that the question relates to the topic of your speech, asking a question will get everyone thinking about what you have to say, and after thinking something for you (because it's human nature to think about the answer when asked a question) they'll be more obliged to listen to what you have to say.

4 A powerful statement or phrase

This can cause your speech to seem like it has more meaning to the people listening to it. It will immediately wrap their minds around it and if you fill the phrase with emotion and meaning, it will make the rest of your speech seem like it has a lot of emotion and meaning too. For example, if even in school (excuse me if this example isn't a good one in your eyes) you were doing a speech on Martin Luther King Jr., you could say "I had a dream. Those were the words Martin Luther... etc." It's to the point, relates to your speech, and it's something everyone knows.

5 Imagine scenario

I'll use a sloth speech as an example. You could say "Imagine that you were one of the slowest animals in the world, dangling from the high trees of Costa Rica-" etc. It makes the listeners instantly know what you're talking about, gets them thinking about your speech, just as you want them too, and is a perfect way to draw them in before continuing by introducing yourself or stating a fact about sloths or whatever else you want to say next.

6 Quote

A great way to start off a speech would be by quoting somebody. It can get the audience thinking, make you seem smart, and also just give them the topic of your speech in a good and intelligent way. Some of the most famous speeches ever have been started off with a quote, and less famous speeches directed at perhaps a smaller audience such as a school or class may start by quoting another speech. Quotes, in conclusion, are basically an intelligent relate and way to hook the audience into the topic of your speech.

7 A problem

Saying something like "the Covid-19 pandemic is still causing tons of problems throughout the world" will get the audience hooked immediately, because we all know how terrible the pandemic has been. And that's just an example. Starting off with something you want to solve throughout your presentation or theorize on will be a great way to start, because the whole rest of the speech will be relating to your first words.

8 Compliment the audience

Saying something like "thank you all for being here" may make people criticize your speech later on, but it's true that if you're trying to address the audience and the audience alone this is quite a good way of doing so. It gets them hooked on what you're saying and believe that you are a nice guy (or girl). This will make them even want to believe you, by thinking that you're a good guy, which is always good when tackling a difficult or unbelievable subject.

9 Refer to something

Referring to something will make your next words easier to understand, by causing them to know what the rest of your speech will be related too. It will also capture your audience's attention immediately.

10 A joke
The Contenders
11 Address an event or person

Addressing an event or person will make your speech seem more meaningful and important, and it will let people know you mean business because you get straight to the point.

12 Something that happened

Like: The COVID-19 has been released. We need to get the vaccines as soon as possible.

13 A demonstration

Ever heard the story of the person who did a speech on clumsiness and pretended to drop all their note cards at the beginning and then revealed the real cards in their pocket and said "If you're going to be clumsy, it helps to be prepared"?

14 Involve the audience
15 Thesis statement
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