Speech Introductions

Speech introductions are powerful. A great one will grab the audience's attention, a bad one will ruin your presentation.

Speech introductions are powerful. A great one will grab the audience's attention and focus them on the upcoming speech. Since they are so influential, prepare them with care.

If you are the speaker, you want to ensure you get the best possible start .You do not want your audience to be bored before you've begun. The best way to know that you are going to get the welcome you deserve is to write your own.

Writing your own is simple, just follow the same rules as for your main presentation. Break it into 3 parts: a beginning, middle and end.

Beginning

The beginning should make your audience sit up and take notice. A great one-liner or a few sentences will capture their attention. For example, if you are talking to accountants an amazing financial fact should jerk them awake, whereas it would probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow for an audience of fire-fighters. So do some research, understand your audience.

Middle

After grabbing the audience's attention, maintain it by establishing your credibility. Your audience will warm to you once they learn more about you but don't over do it. Keep it brief and relevant.

Credibility topics you may wish to include:

Achievements,
Awards,
Publications,
Media Interest,
Qualifications,
Experience,
Personal details

Think about your audience, what are their needs? Include items that will only meet their needs. If you are worried about including accolades, remember they do sound better when someone else is giving them, so if they help establish your credibility, include some.

Why should the audience listen to you? – What is in it for them? It may be knowledge from a demonstration, laughs from a roasting, opportunity to well wish in a toast or something else. Make them eager to hear more by selling the upcoming speech to them.

Introduce yourself – don't naturally assume that people know who your are. They may have booked your presentation a while back, or come as a supportive friend. They may have such a busy schedule that you are just another speaker to them. So tell them your name. This can be incorporated in the middle section or as part of final section.

End

A warm and sincere welcome to the speaker brings the introduction speech to a perfect conclusion. Keep it short such as ‘so let's welcome to the stage Jack Foster'. The handover should flow smoothly keeping the audience's attention.