Creating the Introduction & Conclusion

Introductions and Conclusions:

Primacy-Recency effect: The audience is more likely to remember the first and last items conveyed orally in a series than the items in between.

Goals of the Introduction: (page 287)

I. Attention GetterII. Listener RelevanceIII.Speaker CredibilityIV.Preview of Main Points

(thesis)The introduction is usually only 10-15%

of the length of your entire speech.

Attention Getters:Create an opening that will win your

audience’s attention: (page 287)

Use of startling fact or statisticAsk a rhetorical question (question seeking

a mental response rather than a direct response)

Use a quotationTell a short storyUse humor (not reccommended……)Perform a task (action, video clip, etc.)

Listener Relevance: (page 289)

A Listener relevance link is a statement of how and why your speech relates to or might affect your audience.

Sometimes, your attention getter will serve this function. Therefore, it might not be necessary to include an additional listener relevance statement.

Speaker Credibility: (page 290)

This builds your authority on the subject and convinces your audience that you are a reliable and credible speaker.

Sometimes, your attention getter will serve this function. Therefore, it might not be necessary to include an additional speaker credibility statement.

Anytime you use a statistic, fact, or quotation (and provide citations), you are proving that you researched your topic.

Preview of Points (Thesis)

You must preview your main points. Be straightforward! This also serves as your thesis statement.

Goals of the Conclusion: (page 291)

I. Signal Conclusion / Review main points

II. Clincher / call to action

The introduction is seldom no more than 5% of the length of your entire speech.

Signal Conclusion / Review Main Points:

Signal conclusion verbally and nonverbally:

Verbally – Simply say “In conlcusion.”Nonverbally – Slow speech rate. Pause. Step

closer to audience.Remind your audience of your main points:

So, in conclusion, we have discussed the three most common types of eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia, and obesity.

Clincher:A one to two sentence statement that

provides a sense of closure. This is usually accomplished by providing one of the attention getters discussed earlier. You can also refer back to your attention getter to give a nice “book-end” effect.

If doing a persuasive speech, you can leave your audience with an “call to action” that describes the behavior you want your listeners to follow.

Introduction example:I. (Attention Getter / Listener Relevance / Speaker

Credibility) Take a moment and think about 5 women in your life. Now imagine one of them having an eating disorder. This information came Paula Kruger’s July 20, 2007 article titled “1 in 5 girls display eating disorder behavior: study” found on the ABC news website.

II. (Listener Relevance / Speaker Credibility) Learning about common eating disorders is crucial, because according to the same article, the number of teenage girls with eating disorders has doubled in the past six years.

III. (Preview of Points / Thesis) So, today, we will take a closer look at three common eating disorders facing our nation: anorexia, bulimia, and obesity.

Conclusion example:I. (Signal Conclusion / Review of Main

Points) In conclusion, today we have examined three common eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia, and obesity.

II. (Clincher) Take a moment and think back to those five women in your life. How can use the information learned today to hopefully identity and combat this growing problem?