Page 44 - PUBLIC SPEAKING_Neat

Telling a story There I stood, wearing a surgical mask,

We all enjoy stories—especially if they in the middle of a large, brightly lit room.
are provocative, dramatic, or suspenseful. In the center of the room were five
You can also use stories based on your figures huddled over a table. I found it
personal experience. difficult to see since everything was
draped in blue sheets, yet I didn’t dare
take a step toward the table. Then one of
the figures called to me, “Angela, get over
here and take a closer look.” My knees
buckled as I walked through the sterile
environment. But eventually I was there,
standing over an unconscious body in the
operating room.
Telling a joke “Don’t you think it’s amazing that 200 of

Humor is effective only when done well. us all came together tonight and we all
It should flow naturally out of the speech chose the same meal?”
content rather than being contrived. If -- you’re at a formal dinner setting, and
you are not normally a funny person, you everyone’s getting the same meal or
are better off giving a sincere, they have two alternating meals,--
enthusiastic speech and leaving out the
jokes.

Taken and adapted from: The Art of Public Speaking 11 Edition
th
3. Revealing the topic of the speech and mentioning the thesis
statement
After listening to the attention grabber, the audience will be eager to hear more
about our secret. In addition to gaining attention and interest, the introduction should
orient our listeners toward the subject matter of our speech. This is the moment when
we reveal the topic and mention the thesis statement of our speech. In this part, we
state the title or the purpose of our speech (revealing the topic) as well as our stance
or position about the topic (thesis statement). Thesis statement is the specific
purpose of a speech or the major thought. It is also our promise to the audience
because we can’t discuss other things beside our thesis statement. Other rasons why
thesis statement is importants are:
 Not only will we use it in the introduction, it will also be stated in the
conclusion.
 It will help the audience remember overall idea of our speech.
In revealing the topic of the speech and mentioning the thesis statement, we will
usually need to provide an explicit preview statement that identifies the main points to
be discussed in the body of our speech.
For example:

38 | Public Speaking