Preview Your Main Points
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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 thinking 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.
Pick a general topic, and try to come up with several different attention getters for it. Here’s an example for the topic “dogs”:
Tell a funny story about your dog.
Did you know that the human mouth contains more germs than a dog’s mouth?”
In my hometown, there is a dog that walks upright like a human because he does not have any front legs.”
Did you know that approximately ten million unwanted dogs are euthanized annually in the United States?”
Try this with a topic such as your favorite food, favorite vacation spot, or some other appealing subject.