In public speaking, as in many other situations in life, first impressions are vital. Your introduction creates a first impression of you as a speaker and of your message. For as long as people have discussed speechmaking, scholars have recognized the importance of the introduction: Cicero included the introduction as one of six essential parts of a speech,1 and contemporary scholars note that the introduction is a key opportunity for the speaker to build a bond with the audience.2

A good introduction thus accomplishes a number of important purposes:

Your introduction must accomplish all this in a brief period of time. For example, in a five- to ten-minute speech, the introduction should take no more than one minute. With these kinds of time constraints, there’s no doubt about it: your introduction needs to be efficient and effective. Let’s look more closely at each of the objectives your introduction must achieve.

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