TYPES OF INTRODUCTIONS

1. STARTLING STATEMENT
Take a moment and think of the three women closest to you. Who comes to mind? Your mother? Your sister?
Your girlfriend? Your best friend? Now guess which one will be sexually assaulted during her lifetime. It’s not a
pleasant thought, but according to the U.S. Department of Justice, one of every three American women will be
sexually assaulted sometime during her life.

2. RHETORICAL QUESTION
Have you ever spent a sleepless night studying for an exam? Can you remember rushing to finish a term paper
because you waited too long to start writing it? Do you often feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to
get done at school? At work? At home?
If so, you may be the victim of poor time management. Fortunately, there are proven strategies you can follow
to use your time more effectively and to keep control of your life.

3. STORY
I can visualize the scene again and again: 11.30 p.m., Saturday night, the 15th of August, Mumbai International
Airport, India. I was leaving home for the University of Richmond. And as I said that final goodbye to my parents,
my family, and my friends; and as I saw hope, expectation, even a tinge of sadness, in their eyes; and as I
stepped aboard the Boeing 747 in front, I knew my life had changed forever.

(More appropriate for a longer speech, but can be effective to arouse emotion if the right story is picked.)

4. PERSONAL REFERENCE
Were you panting when you got to the top of those four flights of stairs this morning? I’ll bet there were a few
of you who vowed you’re never going to take a class on the top floor of this building again. But did you ever
stop to think that maybe the problem isn’t that this class is on the top floor? It just might be that you are not
getting enough exercise.
Today I want to talk with you about how you can build an exercise programme that will get you and keep you
in shape, yet will only cost you three hours a week, and not one cent!

5. QUOTATION
“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities…” These words from poet and writer
Maya Angelou could apply easily to the dedicated researcher Jonas Salk, who created a vaccine for polio. A half
century ago this crippling disease struck indiscriminately, but today widespread use of the vaccine has virtually
wiped out polio. I my talk, I would like to…………….

6. SUSPENSE
It is the most common chronic disease in the United States. Controllable but incurable, it is a symptomless
disease. You can have it for years and never know until it kills you. No wonder it is known as the ‘silent killer’.
Some 40 million Americans have this disease, and 300,000 will die from it before the year is out. Odds are that
five of us in class have it.
What am I talking about? Not cancer. Not AIDS. Not heart disease. I am talking about hypertension-high blood
pressure.
 TYPE OF CONCLUSIONS

1. SUMMARY
So I hope that you now understand that three techniques for helping you improve your grades are to attend
classes regularly, to develop a positive attitude toward the course, and to study systematically

(appropriate for very short speeches, only achieves first goal, so need to develop it to achieve second goal)

2. APPEAL TO ACTION
We have to stop thinking someone else will change the world. We’ve got to get it that we are the ones. As
you drive home tonight, remember to lift while you climb and outstretch that hand to help another woman,
another girl. Let’s be women who are agents of change. Will you be that woman?

3. EMOTIONAL IMPACT
I ask again, how long could you take walking into that hospital room and looking at your brother or father
in a coma, knowing he would rather be allowed to die a natural death than be kept alive in such a degrading
manner? I’ve crossed that doorstep – I’ve gone into that hospital room, and let me tell you, it’s hell. I think
it’s time we reconsider our law concerning euthanasia. Don’t you?

4. STORY
It is now more than three years since Greg received his bone marrow transplant. In that time, he has
changed from a very sick young boy to a busy, healthy, active young man. Greg says of his donor: ”Without
her, I wouldn’t be here today. I owe my whole life, and everything I ever accomplish, to her.” Through bone
marrow donation, all of us have the opportunity to make that kind of contribution.

(good if the story is a follow up of the one used in intro)

CONCLUDING WITH A CALL FOR A CHANGE IN BELIEF

In conclusion, we must realize that capital punishment is discriminatory. We must realize that capital
punishment is immoral. And finally, we must realize that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent
to crime. I would urge all of you who support capital punishment to reassess your views and to see its
injustice, its immorality, and its ineffectiveness as a deterrent to crime.

CONCLUDING WITH A CALL FOR ACTION

So, I encourage you to enroll in a self-defense curse, whether it be through a physical education class or
through a private organization and whether you do it here or back in your hometown. Even if you do not
enroll right away, I encourage you to do so in the near future. Taking such a course could mean keeping
your money, protecting your property, defending yourself, your family or friends. It could even mean the
difference between life and death.
Don’t ever think, “It could never happen to me.” Why not be prepared? As Patrick Lee said, “Ask yourself,
do you want to be the victim or the survivor?”