11 Best Attention Getters For a

Captivating Speech
Public speaking is an important skill that can help you advance
through your career and reach more audiences with your message.
Having a powerful message is important to speech writing, but you
need an engaged audience to get your message across. Getting the
audience's attention at the beginning of your speech is one of the best
indicators of a strong public speaker.

In this article, we discuss why attention getters are important in a

speech and we provide a list of attention getters with explanations on
how to use them.

Why are attention getters for speeches

important?
An attention getter for a speech is a statement or question you can
use at the top of your speech that helps immediately engage your
audience. Attention getters mitigate the risk of an audience losing
focus during long speeches, as they may generate enough interest at
the beginning of the speech to captivate the audience throughout the
statements that follow.

How to create an attention-getter for your

speech
When writing an attention-getter for your speech, there are a few
things to keep in mind about your topic:

 The tone of your speech

 Your audience
 The speech's topic
 The speech's purpose
 What you're willing to share about yourself
18 attention getters for effective public
speaking
An audience may remember a successful attention getter as an
important part of your speech, so picking the right attention-getter is
key. Here's a list of attention getters that you can use at the beginning
of a speech to generate your audience's interest:

1. Jokes

Speechwriters often use humor to stimulate an audience's interest.

Speakers can use humor to make audiences laugh, which can indicate
the rest of the speech is going to entertain the audience. This can
make an audience more willing to listen to your speech because they
may enjoy it. When starting your speech with humor, it's important to
strike the right tone. For instance, if you're speaking on a serious
topic, opening with humor can ease some tension, but it is important
to be considerate about what jokes you choose to make.

Starting with a joke can also be a great opportunity to tailor the

beginning of your speech to your audience. For example, if you're in a
new location or speaking to a specific group of people, you can insert
a joke that your audience can identify with. Tailoring your opener to
your audience can signal to them you care about their attention and
are speaking on an issue that affects them. If you're going to use jokes
as your opener, use one that meets these three requirements:

 Funny
 Relevant to the presentation
 Tasteful

2. Funny true stories

A funny true story can be an easy way to endear yourself to your

audience. As long as it is humorous, relevant to your speech and
inoffensive, a story can establish real-world context for your topic,
make you seem approachable and put your audience at ease. It can
also establish your topic as relatable and interesting because you may
be able to present a situation that audience members have also
encountered.

For example, if you're giving a speech to customer service

representatives about client relations, you can share a funny anecdote
about a strange customer request. Starting your speech by sharing a
funny story shows you can identify with the topic, understand how it
relates to your audience and build credibility before you begin.

3. Quotations

You can start your speech with a quote to connect with your audience.
A quote that most people are familiar with or a quote by a popular
figure can give people an idea of the theme of your speech at the start,
allowing them to determine whether the topic interests them. If you
present a quote that creates an emotional response in the audience
because of the speaker or the content of the quote, audience members
may listen to your speech even if they aren't familiar with the topic,
because the quote interests them by association.

4. Statistics

Statistics build credibility for your topic. Audiences may feel they can
trust facts more than opinions, so opening your speech with a statistic
can indicate you're providing your audience with the information they
can trust. If you offer a figure that presents unexpected information,
this can also help drive home the importance of your topic. A statistic
that seems unlikely or surprising can contextualize the significance of
your topic for people by establishing something that seems unlikely as
true.

5. Bold statements

You can use a bold statement to surprise your listeners and solicit
their attention at the beginning of your speech. A bold statement
contains information that contradicts assumptions people may make
about a topic or contains information that someone may find difficult
to believe. Starting your speech with a bold statement immediately
engages your audience as they attempt to figure out if you're right or
wrong. This can encourage them to explore a topic they may have
otherwise not been interested in. It is important to support your bold
statement with evidence to maintain your credibility.

A bold statement can take the form of an uncommon opinion or an

intriguing fact. This strategy is fitting for speeches that provide a
unique outlook a topic. For example, if you're giving a speech about
coral reef preservation, start with a fact about a rare coral reef
organism that contradicts a commonly held belief, or is obscure and
fascinating. It may interest your audience and help them become more
invested in preserving the coral reefs.

6. Questions

Starting with a question can engage the curiosity of your audience.

Your audience may focus on answering the question you posed and
become invested in what you have to say about it. They may want to
hear what you suggest the answer is, come up with their own answer
or compare the answer to the evidence that you're presenting. With
this, a question engages their mind and keeps them focused on your
speech as you provide reasoning and evidence. There are two types of
questions that you can incorporate into the beginning of your speech:

 Rhetorical question: A rhetorical question is a question

that the speaker asked the audience to make a point or
create a dramatic effect. Rhetorical questions don't need
an answer. If you ask your audience this question, there's
no need to pause for a response or to call on an audience
member.
 Response question: A response question is a question
that a speaker can ask directly to the audience to further
support the speaker's position or to provide more
information about the audience that is specific to their
needs.

7. Analogies

An analogy is a comparison between two things that is used to further

describe them both. You can create an analogy by using metaphors or
similes to compare a technical or complex topic to something else
that is more commonly understood. You can also use an analogy to
bring context to your topic. For example, if you're speaking about a
very technical subject your audience may not be familiar with, using
an analogy can explain your topic in a way your audience can
understand. It can also be a way to generate interest in a topic.

8. Visualizations

Visualizations refer to the act of creating a scene for your audience to

help gain a better understanding of your perspective. To present a
visualization, describe a familiar situation to the audience or one that
engages their imagination. For example, if you're giving a speech on
space travel, you may have to communicate numbers and equations
that are challenging to understand. You can engage a non-expert
audience by having them imagine a future colony on the moon. This
can entice them to pay attention and give them a greater
understanding of the purpose behind your speech.

9. Captivating story

A captivating story is a narrative that your speech begins with to

establish anticipation in your audience. A captivating story can be
emotional or shocking. This can allow your audience to engage with
your topic and motivate them to listen until the end to hear the
resolution. You can either use a story to introduce your topic at the
beginning of the speech or you can increase anticipation by waiting
until the end to finish the story.

For example, if you're making a speech about a list of safety rules in

state parks, you can begin with a story about hikers who were
behaving dangerously in the park. To keep your audience members
captivated through a list of the rules, you can save the information
about whether the hikers were safe until the end of the speech.

10. Mutual understanding

People feel more connected to topics that have a direct impact on

their life. If you can establish a mutual understanding with your
audience, they may feel they have similar characteristics to you and
the capacity to accomplish the things you have accomplished. For
example, if you are giving a speech about how to start your own
business, you may establish common ground with your audience by
telling them that a few years ago, you were in their position of having
an idea but not knowing where to start.

You can share a personal experience that may resonate with your
audience to establish a mutual understanding. By sharing a story that
you're comfortable with other people knowing, you can create an
emotional connection between yourself and your audience and keep
them invested in your speech. For example, if you're giving a speech
about raising awareness for a disease, you can start by explaining
your own connection with the disease to identify with audience
members who may also have a personal connection to it.

11. Audience involvement

Audience involvement is when you ask the audience to become a part

of your speech. You may ask for a response or have audience members
perform a task. By creating an experience with your audience, you can
connect with them and encourage them to listen to the rest of your
speech. They can feel as if they're actively a part of the event and
invested in the outcome. For example, if you're giving a speech about
self-improvement, you can ask the audience to repeat self-affirming
mantras with you.