How to get audience attention in a speech

1. Career development
2. 11 Best Attention Getters For a Captivating Speech

By Indeed Editorial Team

Updated July 7, 2022 | Published June 29, 2021

Updated July 7, 2022

Published June 29, 2021

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.

Related: 13 Types of Speeches

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

Related: How To Start a Speech

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

Related: How To Give a Memorable Speech

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.

Related: The Key To Successful Speech Writing

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.

Related: How To Write a Five-Minute Speech

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.

Related: 5 Presentation Topic Ideas for a Powerful Speech

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.

Related: How To Create an Audience-Centered Speech

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.