#Attention grabber examples for speeches series#

This speaker opened a speech on geographical illiteracy with a series of question: Questions prompt the audience's thinking process. Nevertheless, your listeners will probably try to answer mentally. When raising a question to open a speech, you will generally use a 'rhetorical question,' the kind you don't expect an answer to. But what they do most of all-in all circumstances-is establish a warm bond between you and your audience. Personal references, then, can serve a variety of purposes. 'After 20 years in the army during peace and war, and after having made master sergeant twice and been busted back to buck private three rimes, I think I learned something about military discipline. In another example, a speaker draws on his military experience to establish his credibility: The third type of personal reference, that which establishes your authority, was illustrated earlier in this chapter by the introduction to the speech on Boy Scouting. Up to that rime, I had never been asked to say a word in front of anyone, and, more importantly, had never been taught anything about verbal communication skills.' It seemed at the rime to be the perfect solution to a very scary and very real problem. When the day finally arrived, I stayed home. Me? In front of thirty other fourth graders giving a speech? For the next five days I lived in dreaded anticipation of the forthcoming event. And, then, the boom lowered: 'Attention class-your next assignment is to present an oral report at your paper in front of the class next week.'

I could read and write, and add and subtract-yes, all of the essentials were there. 'As I was working my way through the public school system, I, like my peers, believed that I was receiving a fine education. Here is an example of a personal anecdote meant to arouse audience empathy: Reminding his audience of his own American roots helped Churchill to establish a strong common bond on which he drew as he urged the cooperation of Congress in the war effort. So perhaps things are better as they are.' In that case, I should not have needed any invitation but, if I had, it is hardly likely that it would have been unanimous. In that case, this would not have been the first time you would have heard my voice. By the way, I cannot help reflecting that if my father had been American and my mother British, instead of the other way around, I might have got here on my own. I wish indeed that my mother, whose memory I cherish across the vale of years, could have been here to see. The fact that my American forebears have for so many generations played their part in the life of the United States, and that here I am, an Englishman, welcomed in your midst, makes this experience one of the most moving and thrilling in my life, which is already long and has not been entirely uneventful. 'Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives of the United States, I feel greatly honored that you should have invited me to enter the United States Senate Chamber and address the representatives of both branches of Congress. Congress shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941: Or you may reveal your authority on the subject of your speech.īritish statesman Winston Churchill, whose mother was American, used this personal statement of appreciation to open his address to the U.S. You may express appreciation at having been asked to speak.

A reference to yourself can take several forms.

Attention grabber examples for speeches