Whether you capture your audience’s attention with stories, questions, or quotations, it is essential that your introduction also clearly establishes what your speech is about and what you hope to achieve by speaking. You do this by incorporating your thesis statement. Imagine that you just caught your audience’s attention with the description of a fun-filled and active day: kayaking on a pristine lake, hiking in a rain forest, rock climbing on a craggy coastline, and so on. You would then introduce your thesis: “All of these activities—and many more—are available to you in one of our nation’s most diverse protected spaces: Olympic National Park. I hope to persuade you to visit and to take advantage of all this park has to offer.”