6 Chapter Six

Start to Finish: Introductions & Conclusions

Introductions and Conclusions

Given the auditory and live nature of speeches, in the beginning, speakers must prepare their audiences for the information they are about to hear. At the end, speakers must remind their audiences about the information they just heard. Formally known as introductions and conclusions, these short speech sections have the important role of providing audiences with a “preview/review” of a speech.

The general rule is that together, the introduction and conclusion should together comprise no more than 20% of your total speech, leaving 80% for the body section. Longer introductions can be tempting. However, longer introductions often result in a speaker having less time to effectively discuss the main points, which support the central idea (main argument of a speech). We recommend waiting until after you have a substantial amount of the speech’s body (main points) constructed before writing the introduction and conclusion.

Structuring the Introduction

Have you ever listened to a speaker begin a speech and wonder what they were talking about? An introduction should make the topic, purpose, and central idea of a speech clear. Many speakers struggle with how to start their speech because they are often worried that their words won’t be memorable, attention-capturing, and clever enough for the audience. This is a problem for many of us because the first words you say, in many ways, set the tone for the rest of your speech. Let’s take a closer look at how to effectively start a speech.

The introduction, which makes up approximately 10% of the speech, must accomplish the following four important tasks to effectively prepare the audience for main points.

• Grab the audience’s attention!
• Establish/Enhance credibility (why the audience should listen to you)
• Establish relatability (relate the topic to your audience)
• Preview the main points

Task 1. Grab the Audience’s Attention (reveal topic)

The first major purpose of an introduction is to grab your audience’s attention and make them interested in what you have to say. The first few words of a speech should be something that will perk up the audience’s ears making them want to hear more using an attention getter. For example, beginning a speech with “Hey everybody. I’m Tim. Today, I’m going to talk to you about soccer” is not an effective way to engage the audience about the topic of soccer.

To create interest, the key is selecting an attention getter that’s appropriate and relevant to your specific audience. You will also want to choose an attention-getter appropriate for your speech topic. Ideally, your attention-getting device should have a relevant connection to your speech and in the end, reveal your speech topic to your audience in a creative way. Below are several possibilities for creating an attention getter.

Anecdotes and Narratives

An anecdote is a brief account or story of an interesting or humorous event. Notice the emphasis here is on the word “brief.”

Notice that the anecdote is short and has a clear point. From here the speaker can begin to make their point about how technology is controlling our lives.

A narrative (personal story) is another option here. You may consider starting your speech with a story about yourself that is relevant to your topic. Some of the best speeches are ones that come from personal knowledge and experience. If you are an expert or have firsthand experience related to your topic, sharing this information with the audience is also a great way to show that you are a credible speaker.

This story will not only grab your audience’s attention, but it will help them to imagine what the experience was like and pull them into the narrative.

Startling Statement/Statistic/Fact 

Another way to start your speech is to surprise your audience with startling information about your topic. Often, startling statements come in the form of statistics and strange facts. The goal of a good startling statistic is to surprise the audience and get them engaged in your topic. For example, if you are giving a speech about oil conservation, you could start by saying, “A Boeing 747 airliner holds 57,285 gallons of fuel.” You could start a speech on the psychology of dreams by noting, “The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year.”

A strange fact, on the other hand, is a statement that does not involve numbers but is equally surprising to most audiences. For example, you could start a speech on the gambling industry by saying, “There are no clocks in any Las Vegas casino.”

Although startling statements are fun, it is important to use them ethically. Make sure that your startling statement is factual, and that it is relevant to your speech and not just thrown in for shock value.

Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question to which no actual reply is expected, and is a good option for starting a speech. For example, a speaker talking about the history of Mother’s Day could start by asking the audience, “Do you remember the last time you told your mom you loved her?” In this case, the speaker does not expect the audience to shout out an answer, but rather to think about the question as the speech goes on.

Quotation

Another way to capture your listeners’ attention is to use the words of another person that relate directly to your topic. Maybe you’ve found a really great quotation while researching your speech. If not, you can also use a number of Internet or library sources that compile useful quotations from noted individuals.

Task 2. Establish Your Credibility (relate the topic to yourself)

Whether you are informing, persuading, or entertaining an audience, the audience will expect you to know what you’re talking about. The second element of an introduction is to let your audience know that you are a knowledgeable and credible source for this information. To do this, you will need to explain how you know what you know about your topic.

For some people, this will be simple. If you are informing your audience about a topic that you’ve researched or experienced for years, that makes you a fairly credible source and you probably know what you are talking about. Let the audience know! For example, “I’ve been serving with Big Brothers Big Sisters for the last two years.”

However, you may be speaking on a subject with which you have no history of credibility. If you are just curious about when streetlights were installed at intersections and why they are red, yellow, and green, that is fine. However, you still need to give your audience some sort of reason to trust your knowledge. Since you were required to do research, you are at least more knowledgeable on the subject than anyone else in the class.

Being curious about a topic and then doing your own research is a great start, and will likely provide your audience with enough evidence to find you credible and trustworthy to give your speech.

Task 3. Establish Relatability (relate the topic to your audience)

The next element of your introduction will be to relate to your audience by establishing a relationship or connection with them and help them to connect to your topic. In any given audience, it is likely there will be people who have not experienced or are unfamiliar with your topic. This step helps the audience gain an understanding about why the topic is important or relevant to them. Essentially you are answering the unstated question looming in the audience, “Why should I care about this topic?” By indirectly answering this question, you will be making a connection to the audience about how the information you will share is relevant to and benefits them.

In this example, notice how the speaker found a relatable way to make the topic of soccer relevant to their audience by simply mentioning that if we think about it, we all have been influenced by something we love.

Task 4. Preview Your Main Points 

The last task of the introduction is to preview your main points. This step helps your audience know what to expect throughout the course of your speech. The preview of main points should be clear and easy to follow. Long, complicated, or verbose main points can get confusing. Be succinct and simple: “Today, in our discussion of Abraham Lincoln’s life, we will look at his birth, his role as a president, and his assassination.” From that, there is little question as to what specific aspects of Lincoln’s life the speech will cover. However, if you want to ensure the audience is prepared, you can always enumerate the main points in the preview by using words/phrases called signposts that let the audience know where you are (Chapter 7 discusses signposts in more detail):

“In discussing how to make chocolate chip cookies, first we will cover what ingredients you need, second we will talk about how to mix them, and third we will look at baking them.”

Overall, these four tasks are all a part of the introduction and prepare your audience for the body of the speech by letting them know why they can trust you as a speaker, why they should listen, and what they can expect.

Below are some common errors to avoid in the introduction.

Now that we have established how to prepare the audience for a speech with the introduction, let’s see how we can wrap up with the conclusion.

Structuring the Conclusion

Have you ever heard a speaker conclude a speech and thought to yourself, “That’s it?” For example, “That’s it” is not a memorable way to close out a speech. Like the introduction, the conclusion comprises 10% of a speech. However, unlike the introduction, the conclusion is designed to reiterate everything the audience heard in the speech while leaving a positive impression. A conclusion has the following three elements that should be incorporated sequentially:

• Signal the conclusion
• Restate the main points
• Clincher/strong ending

Element 1: Signal Conclusion

Remember, speeches are auditory and live, so the audience has no way of knowing when a speaker is about to conclude. Therefore, it is important for speakers to prepare their audience for the conclusion by providing a simple signal phrase. A common phrase that speakers use when they are signaling to the audience that their speech is almost over, is “in conclusion…”. If you do not speak like this in real life, then why would you speak like that in your speech? Consider creative ways that you can use language to signal the end of your speech. Below are some ideas that were generated by ChatGPT. Can you think of others?

These phrases can help make your conclusion more engaging and memorable, leaving a strong final impression on your audience.

Element 2: Restate the Main Points

Introductions preview your main points, and conclusions provide a review, or a summary. One of the biggest differences between written and oral communication is the necessity of repetition in oral communication. Your audience will have listened to a lot of information during the speech, so the review repeats key ideas for greater retention. Given that you are reminding the audience of your main points, the conclusion is not the place to introduce any new material or ideas. For example, if you said, “There are several other issues related to this topic, such as………….,” that could confuse the audience. Additionally, the audience may question your credibility as they wonder why you did not address those issues in the body of the speech. Chapter 7 covers speech organization and outlining in greater detail, but the major facts and content belong in the body of the speech, and not in the introduction.

Student Shout-Out:

“If you took my advice and built out your three-point preview at the beginning, you’ve already got a great place to start your conclusion summary—but don’t just copy and paste it. Find a fresh way to bring those points back around and tie everything together” (Kuehner, 2025).

Element 3: Clincher/End Strong

The third element of your conclusion is the clincher, or something memorable with which to conclude your speech. Like the attention getter provides a good first impression, the clincher leaves a lasting one. The clincher is sometimes referred to as a concluding thought. These are the very last words you will say in your speech, so you need to make them count.

In many ways the clincher is the inverse of the attention-grabber. You want to start the speech off with something strong, and you want to end the speech with something strong. To that end, similar to what we discussed above with attention grabbers, there are a number of ways you can make your clincher strong and memorable.

For the conclusion, make sure to honor your purpose, whether it is to inform, persuade, or entertain your audience. Stay true to your purpose to the end!

References

Sandberg, S. (2010, December). Why we have too few women leaders. TEDWomen.
https://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders