"Say, why not open with a joke?"
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Yup, it's one of the
most common misconceptions in speechwriting; opening with
a joke is not the way to an audience's good graces
and rapt attention. Don't get me wrong - I'm the
greatest proponent of oratorical humor you'll ever find!
However, the use of humor demands more care than a single
punchline cut-and-pasted at the beginning, especially
since such jokes tend to not fit. All too often,
introductory jokes clash with a speech which turns dry and
conspicuously humorless post-punchline. Read on for
some intro tips to keep 'em listening like no one-liner
The Introductory Scenario - Jokes
are out, but stories, original stories,
are undoubtedly in. Whereas a joke that fits a
speech well is quite a rarity, humorous,
intriguing, and appropriate tales can be tailored for
any occasion. Of course, this is option is great
for anyone who wants to let the laughs roll - an
uproarious story beats a one-liner any day. And
it's especially effective when it's wrapped around the
speech - that is, write your scenario with two parts,
one serving as the introduction to the speech and the
other as the ending. It provides a level of
continuity and closure in the speech that's tough to
meet with other methods. Check Rally 'Round
Raleigh and CyberLife (both in the "Samples"
section) for examples of the intro/closing scenario;
they each use a humorous second-person narrative in
The Reality Check - An audience
subconsciously expects certain things from any
speaker; for example, the speaker is expected to give
a practiced, relatively inflexible and detached
performance. They expect the speaker to be
delivering lines rather than actually speaking with
the audience; they expect an acted script instead of
reality. The result: it's verrry easy to mess
with people by not conforming to these expectations!
Start with conversation with the audience; step down
from the spotlight and do the speech while sitting
with the people... do anything that makes people
wonder, "Is this a speech or is this guy being real???"
(Hence, the reality check.) The most
effective use of this introduction I've seen was a
competitive original oratory where the speaker
pretended - very believably - that she had
forgotten the introduction to her speech.
Coupled with expertly feigned embarrassment and
emotional distress, this routine never failed to dupe
the audience. On several occasions, judges even
stopped the round and asked if she needed "some
time to collect herself!"
Nonverbal Openings - These
are often the most attention-grabbing introductions;
since an audience will always expect a speaker to at
least speak, a verbal silence inevitably draws
the audience to whatever else you are doing!
I've seen people start speeches in pantomime, by
mutely straightening the clothing of an audience
member (it was a speech on superficiality), by moving
their lips without sound (a speech on deafness), and
by shooting the audience with a ping-pong-ball gun (a
speech on violence, done by my father in high school).
Be careful with the use of nonverbal openings, though
- if what you do doesn't work with the content of your
speech, it's at very high risk of seeming like a gag
or a stunt. Also, be aware of your audience;
from what I heard, the shooting-the-audience bit
didn't go over well with teachers and the toy gun was
confiscated. Other than that, go nuts - the more
creative and unexpected, the better!
for all the good ways there are to intro a speech, there
are just as many BAD ways. Let's check some of those
out on Page