Connect with Your Audience

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Another goal for your introduction is to establish a relationship with your listeners, providing them with a sense of who you are and why they should listen to what you have to say. Like participants in an interview, the members of your audience will come to your speech with three points in mind. They will be curious about the nature of your speech: will it be boring, interesting, or inspiring? They’ll also be wondering what they will get from it: will the speech be worth their time and attention? Finally, they will be curious about you as a speaker: will they like and trust you? Your introduction should provide enough information to allow the audience to make accurate assumptions about your speech and about you.

One way that a speaker can establish a relationship with the audience is to demonstrate why listeners should care about the topic. First, make sure that you verbally link the topic to the audience’s interests. You should also try to appeal to your listeners’ personal needs—let them know what’s in it for them. For example, a college recruiter speaking at a high school might talk about what his school offers prospective students. He might also touch on recent local or national events to show the relevance of the school’s curriculum.