Page 266 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 9 Organizing Messages 233

Story
A brief story, real or hypothetical, is often a good way to begin. For example, one
of our students began her speech by describing the strange behavior of a person
who was staggering and incoherent, and fi nally collapsed. The quick conclusion
of most of her audience was that the person was drunk. Not only was this con-
clusion wrong, the truth startled the class. The person was diabetic and suffer-
ing from insulin shock. Needless to say, the class became far more interested in
hearing the speech about diabetes than if the speaker had simply begun, “Today
I’m going to tell you about diabetes.”

Quotation

As we pointed out in Chapter 7, there are numerous sources of quotations, in-
cluding those online. If we are having trouble deciding how to begin a speech,
we often can fi nd a quotation that will captivate the audience and reinforce our
main ideas.
Sometimes a quotation can provide a vivid description of the very topic we
are speaking about. Mary Schoenthaler, one of our former students, began her
speech with this quotation: “Don’t mind the burning smell. It reminds most peo-
5
ple of chicken left in the oven too long.” The signifi cance of the quotation is that
it was from Bill Hatfi eld, a salesman for laser equipment used to remove tattoos.
This quotation helped make Mary’s point that one should not make the decision
to get a tattoo lightly, since removal is both expensive and unpleasant.

Startling Statement
Humans are attracted naturally to surprising, startling, and unusual events. A
surprising or startling statement will provoke the audience’s undivided atten-
tion. For example, a student in our class began her speech by announcing that
her sister had died of toxic shock syndrome. As you’d expect, her audience was
startled and paid rapt attention to the speech that followed.

Reference to the Audience, Occasion, or Current Events
Professional speakers often tailor their speeches to a specifi c audience and situa-
tion, saying such things as “I’m so happy to be here at [fi ll in the blank] college”
or “I join with you in praising your football team’s come-from-behind victory
last night.”
Some speakers also refer to a previous speaker. Consider an instance where
two students chose to speak on gun control, each taking the opposite side of the
topic. The second speaker wisely incorporated a reference to the prior speech in
her introduction. To ignore a speech on the same topic, particularly one at odds
with your own speech, is likely to turn off an audience. Without attempting to
refute the other speaker, she acknowledged those opposing views but also stated
that she would present the other side of the issue.
Finally, current events may spark interest and controversy with an audience.
We recall a student who spoke on binge drinking who began the speech by re-
ferring to the recent tragic death of a student on our campus.