I have to agree with Kathy Sierra that you should NEVER start at your pre-planned beginning. Well at least for the most of us. Like the advice given to first-time novelists, they should throw away their first chapter and start with the second chapter… coz’ that’s where the action is! Like any good hollywood movie, the viewers are usually thrown straight into the midst of action. Recall the famous Tarantino’s films like Kill Bill. The movie started at a local church. Everything was in black and white which hinted that a massacre has already happened. The camera then skilfully zoomed in onto the bride as the music plays on “Bang bang, he shot me down…” And then we see a pair of shiny black shoes walking towards the blood drenched bride. Before she can beg for sympathy, he shot her… And before we catch our breath, the scene switched to the hospital where we see the bride again… this time in colour…

I would imagine you to be extremely curious as to what has happened. But in that short three mins introduction, you would have already guess the main character (i.e. the bride) and the general plot (i.e. bride takes revenge on that guy who shot her. You will even make another guess that he is Bill since the title is Kill Bill)

Three things to note here:

1. Writing a speech is similar to writing a hollywood script or a thriller novel
2. Don’t waste time… start where the action is!
3. Let the audience do the figuring out - they like it.

Most people’s introductions are downright predictable. It starts either with a good morning, good afternoon or a good evening (depending on time of the day). You hear niceties and really lame remarks like “How are you doing?” (when you don’t really care) or “I am happy to be here” (when the audience don’t really care either) You will also have speakers going around the bush at their topic and after ten minutes, you still have the no clue as to what he or she is going to talk about. Or worse, the speaker will start off by apologizing that he is having a bad throat or he is not prepared. And the list goes on.

Ok don’t despair. Here’s something for you to try. Take out one of your scripts and remove the first paragraph. How does your speech sounds now?

Different? Absolutely! Weird. Probably. But here’s the thing. You have unknowingly created curiosity among your audience simply by removing the first para. My guess is you probably have started on the juciy part of your speech, which sets up the listening. Furthermore, your audience will now want to hear the rest of your speech in order to resolve any questions they may have at the start. Won’t that be better than your typical introductions which makes you one of those typical speakers too?

Let me give you a recent example. This speaker was giving an inspirational speech titled “The only way to conquer your fear is to face it”. She started with a question “Do I look composed?” and then went on to explain that she wasn’t really like that at first. We later learnt that she had a road accident a few years back which had impacted her a great deal. And then she started narrating the story.

What could have added more omph into her speech was to start with the story coz’ that’s where the real juice is! Take us into the moment where it all happen! Not only will her story create suspense, it will also keep us at the edge of our seats as we guess how this story relates back to her message. This is what I got ENGAGEMENT and AUDIENCE’S INOVLEMENT! To bring this further, I thought she should change the title of her speech coz it gives away the plot. Instead, come out with a title that subtley hints her message. Maybe a title that centers around her story like “A Drive to Remember” or “Fear’s Biggest Fear”

There are of course many more interesting ways to start an introduction. For more details on how to create a “Hollywood” rendition of an introduction, read

This article was inspired by Kathy’s article: Better Beginnings. Go check out her article! She has more good stuff to share about creating better beginnings.
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Any burning questions to ask? Send them to eric@ericfeng.com and I will get back to you asap. Meanwhile, enjoy the articles at Public Speaking for All!
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