introduction speech for talent show

anchoring script

Anchoring Script For a Talent Show at School – Hosting Talent Hunt Program

An anchor is a person who hosts a show, program, or function on the stage. Indeed, everything is under the control of the anchor or host that is why it is very essential for them to be fully prepared. So if you are the one who is going to host the show or program, then you have to be fully prepared to host the function from the beginning to the end. You will find some best lines, for anchoring script for a talent show at school to help you go with the flow of the function.

How to Start the Program

First of all the anchor must start by the name of God. They can include some lines for that. For instance, you can say the following lines:

To start with the great name of God who is the king of the kings, who is the lords of the lords, who is mine who is yours, and who is everyone’s.

To commend with the greatest name of Almighty Allah, who is omnipotent and merciful. Who only deserves the prayer and love, he is the one.

How to Welcome the Audience

Good morning everyone! I am……………. and my co-host……………..weare hosts for today’s program. We warmly welcome you all to today’s function with a heart full of love. We are really honored to have our chief guests, respected chairman, and respected parents among us. I and my co-host are very glad to welcome you all to our today’s talent show where students of different classes will perform on the stage and will be rewarded. We are really thankful to our chief guest( Mr…….and Mrs………….)that participated in our function. Today you all will witness great performances from your children. So stay tuned and cooperate with us till the end of the event.

Calling Tableau Performers

And now we are going to welcome the first little and cute fairies of our school on the stage to perform their amazing tableau. They are really talented and have excellent qualities in them. Please give a big round of applause for giving motivation to these little fairies of the class……….

How to Praise the Performers?

This performance was mind-blowing. Even I don’t have a word to express how they performed and It was just amazing. Wasn’t it? Yes, it was an outstanding performance. They made our day.

Sports Skills

Great students are trained by great teachers. Therefore, teachers are the candles who brighten the way for their students and lead them. Similarly, we have such talented and great students who are going to come on the stage and perform in front of you all. We request from the students of class…………. to come on the stage and perform their amazing sports skills. So please give a big round of applause to motivate them.

How to Praise Students

First anchor: I did not imagine that they could perform this way outstanding and very well. Second anchor: Yes you are right Mrs. They performed so well and it was unbelievable. So let’s move ahead and see what other performers will do.

Calling the Debate/Speech Competitors

As we said before that we have a lot of talented students who can perform everything from the tableau to presenting a speech. We have such super talented students among all of the students who have participated in this event to show their talents and this program is specially arranged for them. So now we are going to call such a talented student who is going to present his speech on the stage. So please put your hands together for the student of class…………. Mr………….. to come upon the stage and express his opinions on the given topic.

First Anchor: Thank you, Mr………………. Your speech was speechless. Second Anchor: I do not have a word to express how you performed that was just mind-blowing. Your opinions were based on reality and I know that all of the audience loved your speech.

We will not make you all feel bored so that’s why we will not make this program lengthy and will not make you all wait for the results. So moving ahead, we would like to call upon the stage the most decent and intelligent student of class…….Mrs…………. to come and make our day with her speechless words. So please give a big round of applause for her.

First Anchor: Amazing! Her expressions were just wow. I loved the way she was expressing her words with very different expressions. She must be winning. Second Anchor: I am proud of her. At such a young age, she has learned a lot. I know that one day she will make all of us and her academy proud. Let’s see what will happen next.

You can add here more performances like singing, drama, poetry, and many more depending on your function theme.

How to Call the Principal Upon the Stage.

And now, we are going to call the one on the stage that doesn’t need any introduction because every individual knows him for the things that he has done for us. He is the one who has always encouraged us and has reached us here. The one who has made the weapon of knowledge for those who didn’t have any. We request from our respected principal to come upon the stage and address the students with his speech. We hope that all of you will cooperate with us and will listen the precious sentences. Please a big round of applause for respected sir to come and say some few words.

Recommended:

Sample Speech for Principal
Welcome Speech for School Opening Day in English

How to Thank the Principal?

Thank you so much, sir, for such a great and inspirational speech. It was really beneficial and extremely motivating. We hope that students have learned something out of it and will put these sayings in practice.

Award Distribution Script

Ladies and gentlemen, now this is the time to announce the results of this show and distribute their awards. Now it is the time to motivate our students to move ahead, do their best, and win every day like today they did. We know that right now everyone’s heart beats so fast and all of the performers are nervous and excited about their results.

The wait is over, we would like to call upon the stage the respected chief guest Mr……………to come and give the award to the winner of the tableau/dance performers. So the winner of the dance competition is class………………… we request from them to come on the stage and get their awards.

Congratulations!

Thank you sir for distributing the prize. And now we would like to call upon the stage the honorable chief guest Mrs……..on the stage to come and distribute the award to the winner of the speech competition. And the winner of the speech competition is Ms……………… Please put your hands together for her. Congratulations!

Thank you very much miss.

We congratulate the winners and their family members for the achievement. And we want to say some words for those participants who didn’t receive awards.

You all are also winners, never give up because failing doesn’t mean that you are weak, in fact, it means that you have become stronger than before. So doesn’t matter, try harder the next time.

Also Read: Prize Distribution Script in English

How to End up the Program? And it is time to say goodbye to you all. Your presence made this day and program way more amazing and interesting for us. Thank you for all encouragement, for listening to us, bearing us, and most importantly for giving us your precious time. We hope that we have been good and bearable hosts. And lastly, we would like to thanks the honorable chief guests, respected chairman, respected principal, and our staff members who made this all possible. This all happened because of their hard work and effort. Thank you all once again. Note: The script is just to give you a clue of the function, it all depends on your program theme. You can take this script and edit according to your function theme and contents. Moreover, please comment down below what you all want to read next. For further articles and updates please stay tuned.

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How To Introduce A Performance On Stage 2024 [Tips & Tricks]

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Most people do not know this, but the manner of introduction a performer receives is vital to their performance quality. Indeed, their introduction essentially sets the tone for their performance. Sadly, many hosts manage to overlook how important an entertainer’s introduction is and just ‘wing’ it.

But, the truth is there may be no better way to ruin a stage performer’s session than to mess up their introduction.

Thankfully, you don’t have to make that mistake ever again (if you’ve already done so). In this article, we’ll share some tips on the best way to introduce the best performance on stage. No doubt, with the insight you’ll gain from this blog post, setting the perfect mood for your performer with your introduction will be relatively straightforward.

That said, let’s jump right into it. Here are some tips on how to introduce a performance is the best way possible:

Tips and Techniques To Introduce and Welcome A performance or Performer Up On Stage

When presenting a performance live on stage, briefly thank the audience for coming and quickly introduce yourself before talking about the performer’s background, achievements, and what they’re about to perform. Introduce the artist, then bring them out on stage. Keep the intro short and sweet, fun and engaging, and avoid improper comments.

The performance introduction is a crucial aspect of every show. A well-executed opening can do wonders for the performance’s mood, the audience’s expectation level, and the connection between the artists and the audience. That’s why it’s crucial to master the art of opening a show.

In this article, we’ll share our best secrets for a captivating introduction that keeps your audience interested throughout your whole presentation. So let’s get started!

Learn about Your Performer

If you want to give your performer and audience an unforgettable good introduction, you need to do proper and thorough research about the performer’s work, achievements, and history. Imagine introducing Adele on stage without knowing she’s an Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy award-winning artist, which is extremely impressive and not something you want to skip mentioning.

You MUST do your homework before giving your speech in front of hundreds if not thousands of people. Go online and simply find their bio on Wikipedia, their official website, and social media accounts. Read as much as you can and absorb all the important points and impressive info about the artist. Check out some of their performances, read up on their history, and triple-check your facts before committing anything to paper. You don’t want to be introducing your performer using outdated or wrong information, leaving both your artist and the audience confused.

If you have the opportunity to speak with the artist, feel free to ask them all the questions you may have to ensure that all your information is accurate. If you can’t get in touch with the artist and have doubts about certain information, it’s best to scrap them and go with something else. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Ask for a Written Introduction from the Performer or Singer, If You Can

It’s a no-brainer that you can’t introduce a person you do not know. Besides, even if you do, chances are the performer knows the most appealing way to introduce themselves. Indeed, they may want information about their skills, qualifications, and achievements to feature in their good introduction. So, why not ask them what they’d like?

It is usually best to ask a performing artist for a written introduction of themselves . This way, when they get on stage, they don’t have to struggle for their audience’s attention due to a lousy introduction, or worse, none at all.

Besides, having a written introduction means you don’t have to scramble around for the right thing to say . Also, the entertainer knows what to expect and prepares to take it from there.

However, here is something you should note. If your performer does provide a written introduction of themselves, read it precisely as they give you. Understandably, there is always a temptation to ‘put your spin on it.’ Try to resist this temptation. If it’s what the entertainer wants, then try to oblige.

Doing this not only shows that you respect them as artists, but you also contribute to making their best performance as smooth as possible!

Write Down the Introduction

After you have researched the artist thoroughly, write it all down on a piece of paper, and practice delivering it. Rather than winging it and cramming all the info in your head, it’s always better to have a written introduction prepared.

Writing it down can help you organize your ideas and ensure you cover everything you want to say about the artist. You won’t have to worry about losing your train of thought or fumbling over your words while you’re up there on stage.

If you forget at any point, the written introduction is right there for you to read and help you get back on track. Remember that even if you think you have your speech memorized well, the pressure of delivering it in front of a live audience might cause you to forget it, no matter how confident you were beforehand. So make sure you have the introduction ready at all times.

It’s also best to practice the introduction ahead of time so that you are familiar with the content and can deliver it fluently and confidently. By doing so, you can ensure that your on-stage presentation is flawless.

Read James Mann’s article on what to wear on stage when singing.

Confirm Unfamiliar Pronunciations

Nobody can claim to know everything. But, what we can do is find out the things we do not know.

Look up any names (of people or places) in the performer’s introduction that you are unfamiliar with or are unsure of how to pronounce. You could either use Google to help you or watch YouTube videos that show you how to pronounce certain words.

This way, you won’t have to worry about disappointing (or embarrassing) any performers (and yourself) who were expecting to hear a perfect introduction.

Study Your Audience

Your audience plays a crucial role in determining how you introduce a performer on stage . If the audience contains proud, excited parents, you’d want to steer your introductions in the direction of things they’d like to hear about their kids.

If the kids make up the general audience population, you must ensure your introduction captures their attention by using simple and fun words that are easy to understand. If scouts are in the audience, you’d want to drop impressive facts about the artist and bits of information that could spark their interest.

Therefore, before you decide how to introduce a performer on stage, think about who you’ll be speaking to and tailor your words accordingly.

Welcoming The Performer On Stage

After introducing your performer, the next step is to welcome them on stage.

It’s crucial to greet the artist with warmth and excitement when they first time the stage or the first performance. Something as basic as “Please give it up for [performer’s name]!” might do the trick. This should let your audience know that they should be ready to enjoy the show. You can also try to get the audience riled up by inviting them to clap or sing along during the performance.

Now that the spotlight is on the performer, you can finally sit back and enjoy the show.

You can also visit Become Singers article on How to Sing When Nervous .

Let the Performer Take It From You

Finally, after introducing your performer, you want to ensure that they can come up on stage and seamlessly carry on the show. An excellent way to do is to be ready for your audience’s reaction to your introduction .

Sometimes, they applause thunderous while other times the reception is less than enthusiastic.

If the applause is relatively silent, quickly move on and introduce what the performer will be doing and let them come on stage.

However, here’s something you should always keep in mind – once your performer gets on stage, they are in charge already. Let them do or say their important thing!

Common Mistakes to Avoid While Introducing a Performance on Stage

Now that you have some insight into how to introduce a performance on stage , let us examine three critical errors you should try to avoid.

Do Not Make Your Introduction Too Casual

Naturally, cracking a joke or two is a useful tool that lightens the mood before a performer comes on stage. However, moderation is key.

You see, having a great introduction not only helps the audience get ready for the show but also boosts your entertainer’s confidence, which is why you should avoid making inappropriate jokes when introducing the performer (especially at their expense) and using inappropriate language. This can make the audience and performer uncomfortable and reflect poorly on you as the host.

If you are a singer then you can visit this guide to get over stage fright while singing.

Never Make Jokes at the Expense of the Performer

Good-nature ribbing and jokes can be so fun in a classroom or similar environment . But, if you are introducing a performance, try not to crack jokes at your performer’s expense.

Otherwise, your audience may not take your performer seriously. Or worse, you may demoralize the entertainer before they get on stage.

Avoid Rambling

When introducing a performance on stage, it’s crucial to be well-prepared and to keep it brief. You don’t want to drag out your introduction and start going off-topic and rambling about unnecessary facts that’ll only bore your audience and distract them from the upcoming performance.

If you normally have a hard time staying focused, cue cards can help you stay on track so that you can give your full attention to the artist and their performance. A quick but engaging introduction can do wonders for setting the stage for a fantastic show.

Improper Body Language

When introducing an act on stage, it’s not just about what you say but also how you say it and how you carry yourself. When a performer uses poor body language , not only does it give a bad impression to the audience, but it can also make the performer feel awkward.

To avoid improper body language while introducing a stage performance , be conscious of your posture, gestures, and movements to avoid sending the wrong message .

Keep your chin up and shoulders back to project an open, inviting vibe. You can use hand gestures while talking but don’t overdo it, as it can be a bit distracting for the audience. Focus on the crowd, try to keep your cool, and always remember to smile.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should my introduction be scripted or spontaneous when introducing someone on stage.

Intros can be planned out in advance or left to the whim of the presenter. Although spontaneous introductions might have more of a genuine, natural vibe, scripted ones guarantee a clean and crisp delivery. They could even work better when used together, you can prepare an introduction in advance and then throw in some extra jokes on stage.

How long should a performance introduction last?

It's important to tailor the introduction time to the type of event you're presenting at. The standard length for an introduction is no more than 10-20 seconds. Although a longer introduction might be needed if that's what the artist or event organisers are asking for. In that case, anything from 30 seconds to one minute is OK.

If something goes wrong during the show's introduction or performance, how do I handle it?

If something unexpected happens during a show, it's important to stay calm and professional. Keep your cool and engage with the audience to divert their attention from whatever is going wrong. You can even joke about the mishap and keep a positive attitude until a solution is found.

To sum up, creating an unforgettable performance starts with a captivating introduction, which can be achieved by learning about your performer, staying calm under pressure, and keeping the audience engaged. There’s a certain skill required to introduce a performance on stage that is a bit tricky since it calls for both meticulous planning and spontaneous creativity. For those who are truly skilled, though, the stage can come to life, and you can transport the audience to another place and time.

Remember to be confident and keep smiling (even if mishaps happen), and we guarantee that the crowd will be impressed with your captivating introduction. We hope that we’ve answered all your questions today, and we promise that if you take our recommendations to heart, you’ll do great!

18: Write Your On-Stage Introduction

The full process I use with my clients is to first discover your greatest accolades (an accolade is an accomplishment or honor you’ve received) in each area of the wheel of life…I’ll explain that a bit later. Then, we choose the ones that are the most important to you and would have the most impact on the audience. Finally, we find the common element of each of these – I call it the thread – and we find a unique, fun, educational, or funny way to tie them all together.

When you’re ready to sit down and create your introduction, I recommend downloading the guidesheet to help you through this process. You can get it now for FREE here: Download Free Guidesheet.

The first step is to discover your greatest accolade in every area of the wheel of life. The wheel of life is a concept commonly used in psychology and personal development. It is essentially a circle cut into pie pieces with each equal piece representing a different area of life, like Family, School, Career, Personal Development, Spirituality. Go through each area of life and write only 1 awesome thing you’ve accomplished in that category. If two come up, write them both, but choose the one you are most proud of or that would be the most impressive to others.

For example, in the career area, you may mention the internship you got at a highly respected management consulting firm. For school you may mention that you were valedictorian. For personal development you may mention that you can solve a rubrics cube (I can! My brother taught me several years ago – that’s a great party trick!) For spirituality, you may say you first heard God’s voice stand out from other forms of intuition after a 3-day fast (that’s another one I can proudly claim). There are a few other areas like Health, Fitness, Finance, so be sure you get the guide online.

The second step is to choose the top 5 accolades – these could be the most impressive, the most unique, the most important to you. Don’t over-think this part, you can always interchange them later.

The third step is to analyze these 5 accolades and discover a common thread that runs through each of them. Maybe each of these accolades proves your commitment to helping others. Or, they are all examples of you thinking outside of the box. Maybe you have overcome challenges in every area. You must dig until you come up with at least one common thread. Usually, my clients and I are able to come up with at least 2, sometimes up to 4 very obvious commonalities of the top accolades.

The fourth step is to create a brief paragraph mentioning each accolade by highlighting the common thread. This is the secret sauce. This gives your introduction a theme that can be remembered even when all the other introductions and faces get all jumbled up in a judges’ mind. This step will take any old introduction and turn it into something memorable. And, if delivered with zest, this can make or break your first impression. You have to get creative here. Usually, I write a phrase or sentence for each accolade and then put a cute beginning and ending to the paragraph and weave the mandatory components (like name, age, hometown) in at the end.

Let me give you an example.

“I’m always one step ahead of the crowd. I finished high school one year early, which allowed me to spend my summer before college learning Spanish abroad. I started my freshman year as the first female on the soccer team. Believe me, it’s harder than it sounds. That prepared me to live in Anaheim, CA and at age 19 be the youngest paid intern at Disney. I hope to be the first female President. But first, I’d like to stand out as Miss Titleholder. With one foot forward, I’m Rachel McKinley.”

After you’ve crafted the initial draft, the fifth step is to trim out the connecting statements and repetition or any unimpressive or unrelated accolades. This is the part that you’ll practice reading the statement to be sure it meets the time limitations.

Finally, you’ll practice HOW you say the statement to infuse your personality and make it more engaging and entertaining to listen to. Always rehearse with 10-times more energy than the normal human interaction. On a big stage with bright lights, everything has to be over-done to communicate your energy. Theater participants are great at this. If you find this difficult, it would be great to join the drama club or take an acting or improve class to learn some basics.

Now, you have a perfectly timed, entertaining, and memorable introduction. I recommend choreographing some introductions, especially for small children, because it can help them to communicate the emotional inflection of their words, plus, it’ll help you remember what you mean to say. Don’t over-do this, but a few gestures at the start of each phrase could be useful.

That, ladies, is how you win a pageant.

Check out my new course, the “Pageant Interview Game Plan” for this guidesheet and my sought-after interview strategy training. Click HERE to learn more.

Contact Information

@AlyciaDarby
WinAPageant Facebook

For more great pageant training, enroll in the Free Pageant Course

How To Write A Professional Emcee Opening Script In 10 Minutes: The WAVE Framework

Emceeing . 9 Min. Read . By: Devon Brown

S taring at a blank page, with the clock ticking and your event just around the corner, can feel like standing on the edge of a high dive — terrifying.

This is especially true when you're grappling with how to write an emcee opening script , a task that can seem daunting even to the most experienced speakers.

You know you need to make a splash with your opening words, but the fear of falling flat feels heavy. Welcome to the all-too-familiar world of what I call 'The Opening Script Limbo,' where your best intentions for a powerful speech opener are trapped in feelings of doubt and anxiety.

You're not alone in this.

The struggle to script an engaging, timely, and effective opening is a common struggle for thousands of emcees and public speakers.

The weight of creating that perfect start can be overwhelming.

Get it wrong, and you risk not just a momentary hiccup but a ripple effect that could dampen the entire event — and your confidence as a speaker.

But what if you could turn that apprehension into anticipation?

What if you could transform those nerves into a confident, commanding presence the moment you step up to the microphone?

Well, that's exactly what my WAVE framework is designed to do.

It's your lifeline out of 'The Opening Script Limbo.'

With this 4-step framework, you're about to discover a straightforward path to crafting an opening script that not only engages your audience but also makes sure you’re the event emcee everyone remembers!

Better yet, you can use it to write your script in less than 10 minutes!

Here are the 4-steps to writing your next opening script fast.

Step 1: Welcome… The Gateway To Your Introduction

The first step of the W AVE framework is the W elcome.

Now, let me be clear, this is more than just a greeting; it's your golden opportunity to create a connection with every single person in the room.

Imagine walking into two different events.

At the first event, you're met with a generic, monotone 'Good evening, everyone' from the emcee. It's bland and forgettable, and you blend into the crowd, feeling more like a ticket number than a valued attendee.

Now, picture the second event.

As you enter, the emcee glows, saying something like, ' Welcome, friends! Whether it’s your first time joining us, or you’re a familiar face in our community, we’re thrilled to have each of you here. Together, we're about to embark on a remarkable journey where you’’ discover…. ’

This time, you feel seen, acknowledged, and part of something special.

That’s the power of a well-scripted welcome.

When you script the welcome for your next event, do:

1. Be Inclusive: Recognize the diversity of your audience. Whether they are seasoned attendees or first-timers, local guests, or international delegates, make sure each person feels specifically addressed and welcomed.

2. Show Genuine Enthusiasm: Your energy sets the event's energy. A warm, enthusiastic welcome can energize the audience and build anticipation for what's to come. Let your tone convey your excitement about the event and its value to attendees.

3. Create a Sense of Belonging: Use your welcome to foster a community feeling. Phrases like "We're thrilled to have you here," or "We're in this together" can go a long way in making your audience feel like they're part of something special.

Step 2: Appreciation… Show Heart By Acknowledging Those Behind The Event

After your warm welcome, it's time for the 'Show A ppreciation' step of the W A VE framework. This is where you acknowledge those unsung heroes who've worked tirelessly to bring the event to life.

This not only creates a positive atmosphere but also demonstrates your leadership and gratitude, qualities that resonate strongly with both your audience and your event team, right?

When you script the appreciation, do:

Be Specific and Personal: Mention individuals or teams by name, if possible. For example, "A big thank you to our event planner, Jane, and the entire catering team for their exceptional work."

Highlight Their Efforts: Briefly describe what they've done. This helps the audience understand the magnitude of their contributions. "For the past seven months, these incredible people have been planning, organizing, and ensuring everything you see tonight comes together seamlessly."

Encourage Audience Participation : Invite the audience to show their appreciation. A round of applause or a moment of acknowledgment can create a strong sense of community.

Step 3: Visualization… Clarify the Theme/Purpose of The Event and Set the Stage

Now, let's focus on V isualization, the third vital step in the WA V E framework. This is where you bring the event's purpose to the forefront, showing your audience the journey they're about to go on.

More than anything, you’re showing them “ what’s in it for them ”.

No one attends an event just for the sake of it; they come with specific goals in mind, like boosting their revenue or scaling their tech business.

Your job is to vividly paint a picture of how this event will help them achieve those goals and ignite their enthusiasm for the journey ahead.

When you script the theme discussion, do:

Be Clear and Concise: Tailor the theme into a straightforward, compelling message. For instance, "Today, we're diving into Strategies to 10x Your Tech Business in 2024' – giving you a roadmap for unprecedented growth and success."
Relate to the Audience: Connect the theme to your audience's aspirations and business objectives. "You, as tech entrepreneurs and innovators, are here to discover and implement strategies that will catapult your businesses into new heights and successes."
Build Anticipation: Highlight what they can look forward to throughout the event. "Prepare to learn from industry giants who will unveil their little known secrets you need to instantly drive more leads, customers, and profits into your business, 24/7, like clockwork!”

Step 4: Exit… Transition From Your Opening Speech with Passion and Purpose

The final part of your opening speech is the ' E xit,' a pivotal step in the WAV E framework. This is where you transition from your introduction to introducing your first speaker, with enthusiasm, energy and passion.

When crafting your exit, do:

Build the Excitement: Use your closing words to build the audience's anticipation. Imagine ending with a burst of energy, "So, are you pumped up!? Are you ready to discover how to add hundreds more customers to your business in the next 30 days, without spending an extra dollar on advertising?! Give me a “HELL YES!” if you’re ready for that!"
Introduce with Impact: Seamlessly introduce the next speaker in a way that maintains the momentum. Picture yourself saying, "Because our very first speaker is a true game-changer in the tech industry, and now, they're about to reveal strategies that will skyrocket your business revenue in 2024! Get ready to have your mind blown and your bank account swollen with strategies never revealed before on stage – please welcome…"

This Exit strategy isn't just a mere transition.

It's your job to make sure the audience is on the edge of their seats!

In summary, the WAVE opening speech framework looks like this:

A ppreciate
E xit

This is the fastest, easiest, and most stress-free way for you to write an opening speech that captivates your audience from the get-go and sets you up as the unforgettable emcee they'll be talking about for years.

And better yet, with WAVE, you can write an opening speech in minutes.

No more staring at a blank page for hours, no more doubts about hitting the right note; with WAVE you can script a powerful opening speech fast.

But don’t just take my word for it…

Let me show you, with a sample opening speech, using WAVE.

Sample Opening Speech Using The WAVE Framework

Scenario: Imagine you're about to open a tech conference. The auditorium is packed with eager entrepreneurs, investors, and tech enthusiasts. Now you need an opening script to set the stage.

Let’s try that with the WAVE framework:

{W} "Good evening, visionaries, innovators, and trailblazers of the tech world! Welcome to the 2024 Tech Titan Summit, where the brightest minds converge to redefine the future! Whether it's your first time here or you're a seasoned attendee, know that your presence is what transforms this event from ordinary to extraordinary.

{A} I want to take a moment to express my profound gratitude to those who've made this event possible – the tireless team, our dedicated sponsors, and every one of you here today. Your passion and commitment bring this vision to life. Let's give them all a thunderous round of applause!

{V} Now, let’s dive into why we're all here. This isn't just another tech conference; it's a launchpad for exponential growth. The theme for this summit, '10x Your Tech,' is not just a catchy phrase – it's a commitment, a challenge to each of us to push beyond the boundaries, to not just grow, but to multiply our impact, our reach, our revenue! Today, we're not just sharing ideas but sparking a revolution in the tech industry.

{E} So, are you ready to be part of this extraordinary journey? Let's set this stage on fire with our first speaker, a true maverick in tech innovation, someone who’s reshaped the industry as we know it. Get ready to learn exactly how our first speaker has taken her start-up from a humble home office to a global tech empire, growing their revenue from $1 million to $50 million, without any external funding... and how you can do the same… Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage…"

Is this script perfect?

No, of course not – but it's highly effective, incredibly engaging, and it took less than 8 minutes to put together.

This is the power of the WAVE framework.

It’s designed to help you quickly craft an opening that resonates with your audience's aspirations and sets the tone for a successful event.

Never Get Stuck In “Opening Script Limbo” Again

Say goodbye to the dread of scripting your event's opening.

No more second-guessing what to say, worrying if it’s good enough, or wondering how to keep your audience captivated.

Not when you have the WAVE framework in your toolkit:

Welcome: Create a genuine connection right from the start.
Appreciate : Acknowledge the team and audience, fostering a sense of community.
Visualize: Set the stage for the event's theme, aligning it with audience goals and aspirations.
Exit : Seamlessly transition with energy and purpose, leaving the audience desperate for more.

With WAVE, you’ll not only be able to write an opening speech script in minutes, but you’ll write one that has your audience engaged from the first word, and your event organizers begging you to be their host again!

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Anchoring Script: Speech Competition

Anchoring a speech competition is akin to conducting an orchestra; the anchor is the maestro ensuring every part of the event flows in harmony. The key to a successful anchoring script is to balance formality with engagement, providing a structure that enhances the experience for participants and the audience alike. Here’s a step-by-step guide to crafting a script that will resonate and keep the event moving smoothly.

Table of Contents

Know Your Event

Before you draft the script, gather all the necessary information about the competition:

Theme : What is the central idea or topic of the competition?
Participants : How many speakers are there, and what are their backgrounds?
Judges : Who are they, and what credentials do they bring to the event?
Schedule : What is the timeline for the event, including breaks and intermissions?
Audience : Who will be attending, and what is their interest in the competition?

Armed with this information, you can tailor your script to the specifics of the event.

Crafting the Opening

The opening of your script should be welcoming and set the tone for the event.

“Good evening, and welcome to the [Event Name], a showcase of talent where words become the bridge between minds and hearts. I am [Your Name], and I have the pleasure of guiding you through this journey of oratory excellence.”

Introducing the Competition

Provide a brief overview of the competition, highlighting its importance and the skills it celebrates.

“Tonight, we come together to celebrate the power of speech. Our speakers are ready to take the stage, their words a testament to the profound impact of articulate expression. They have been carefully selected and are poised to share their insights on [Topic/Theme].”

Acknowledging the Judges

Introduce the judges, noting their expertise and importance to the event.

“Our esteemed judges for the evening are individuals of notable repute in the realm of public speaking. [Introduce Judges]. Their discerning eyes and ears will guide us in recognizing the prowess our speakers exhibit tonight.”

Participant Introductions

Before each speaker, offer a brief and neutral introduction. Avoid commentary that could influence the audience or judges.

“Taking the stage is [Speaker’s Name], who will be enlightening us with their perspective on [Speech Topic].”

Transition and Engagement

Use transitions to keep the event flowing and engage the audience between speeches.

“As we ponder the insights from that powerful presentation, let us reflect on the impact such ideas can have on our world.”

Incorporating Humor

Appropriate humor can help maintain a relaxed atmosphere but should be used sparingly.

“They say a good speech should be like a comet: dazzling, eye-opening, and over before you know it. Let’s see which of our speakers tonight will shoot for the stars.”

Pacing the Event

Your script should include notes on timing, allowing for pauses and audience reactions.

“Let’s take a brief moment to collect our thoughts before we proceed to the next speaker.”

Announcing Breaks

Clearly communicate any intermissions or breaks, providing directions as necessary.

“We will take a short 10-minute break. Please feel free to stretch your legs and enjoy the refreshments provided in the lobby.”

Closing Remarks

Offer a reflective closing statement before the winners are announced.

“As the judges deliberate, let’s applaud the bravery and eloquence of all our speakers. Each has shared a part of themselves with us, and for that, they are all champions.”

Announcing the Winners

Build anticipation but remain considerate of all participants when announcing the results.

“The wait is over, and the results are in. But before we unveil our winners, let’s give one more round of applause for all our speakers tonight.”

Concluding the Event

End on a high note, celebrating the event’s success and thanking everyone involved.

“What a remarkable evening it has been! We have witnessed the transformative power of speech, and our spirits have been uplifted by the passion and dedication of our participants. Thank you to everyone who made this event a resounding success. Good night, and let the power of words continue to inspire us all.”

Speech Competition Anchoring Script Example

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the grand finale of the [Name of Speech Competition], where eloquence and flair meet the fierce spirit of competition. I am [Your Name], your host for this evening, and together we’ll embark on a journey through the power of words.

Without further ado, let’s commence an evening of articulate expression and intellectual stimulation.

Welcoming the Audience

“Ladies and gentlemen, I extend a warm welcome to each one of you who has gathered here to witness the power of words. Your presence is a testimony to the timeless art of oration.”

Introducing the Event

“Today, we stand on the precipice of discovery, as young minds come forth to challenge themselves and each other in the noble pursuit of excellence in speech. The [Name of Speech Competition] is not just a contest but a celebration of the persuasive power of language.”

Acknowledging Dignitaries and Judges

“Before we dive into the heart of the competition, let us acknowledge the esteemed presence of our distinguished judges, [Judge 1 Name], [Judge 2 Name], and [Judge 3 Name], who bring with them wisdom and insight to the formidable task of adjudication.”

Rules and Criteria

“As we stand on the cusp of the competition, let me apprise you of the rules. Each speaker will be given [Time Limit] minutes to present their speech on [Topic/Theme]. Judges will evaluate based on clarity, delivery, content, and engagement.”

Introducing the First Speaker

“Kicking off the event, please join me in welcoming our first speaker, [Speaker 1 Name], who will delve into the intricacies of [Speech Topic]. Let’s give a round of applause as they take the stage.”

After the speech

“Thank you, [Speaker 1 Name], for that insightful presentation. As we let those profound words sink in, let’s gear up for our next speaker.”

Transition Between Speakers

After each speech

“Ladies and gentlemen, that was [Previous Speaker Name] with a compelling take on [Previous Speech Topic]. Moving forward, let’s invite [Next Speaker Name] to the stage to share their perspective on [Next Speech Topic]. Please give them a warm welcome!”

Audience Engagement

“As our judges jot down their invaluable insights, let’s turn to our audience. What are your thoughts so far? The power of speech is in not just the speaking, but also the listening and reflecting.”

Humorous Interlude

“It’s said that after a good speech, you should feel enlightened, and after a great speech, you should feel entertained. Well, I hope we’re ticking both boxes tonight!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s take a brief intermission. Stretch your legs, grab a refreshment, and we’ll reconvene in [Break Time] minutes for the continuation of this oratory feast.”

Preparing for the Results

“As our judges retire to deliberate, let’s acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all our speakers. Each word spoken tonight was a thread in the beautiful tapestry of dialogue and debate.”

Building Anticipation

“The moment of truth approaches. The air is thick with anticipation. Remember, in the realm of speech, there are no losers; every speaker has triumphed over silence.”

“And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The winners of the [Name of Speech Competition] are ready to be unveiled. But first, a resounding round of applause for all our participants!”

Closing the Event

“As the evening draws to a close, we reflect on the eloquence and passion we’ve witnessed. Congratulations to the winners, and heartfelt thanks to the participants, judges, and you, our wonderful audience. Until next time, keep speaking, keep inspiring!”

Final Words

“Good night, everyone! May the power of words continue to be the catalyst for change and understanding in our world. Drive safely, and take care of each other.”

Remember, the script should serve as a guideline and you must be prepared to adjust based on the flow of the event. Engage with the audience, maintain a lively pace, and above all, ensure that every participant feels valued and appreciated for their effort.

Clarity : Ensure your script is clear and concise, avoiding overly complex language.
Tone : The tone should be formal but warm, creating a welcoming atmosphere.
Flexibility : Be prepared to adapt your script on the fly if there are any changes or delays.
Rehearsal : Practice delivering your script to familiarize yourself with the flow and timing.
Respect : Always show respect for the time and effort of the participants, judges, and audience.

A well-crafted anchoring script is the backbone of a successfulspeech competition. By being prepared and personable, you can elevate the experience for all involved and ensure the event is remembered for its professionalism and positive atmosphere. Remember, the goal is to keep the audience engaged and the event moving smoothly, all while honoring the hard work and talent of the speakers.

About Mr. Greg

Mr. Greg is an English teacher from Edinburgh, Scotland, currently based in Hong Kong. He has over 5 years teaching experience and recently completed his PGCE at the University of Essex Online. In 2013, he graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a BEng(Hons) in Computing, with a focus on social media.

Mr. Greg’s English Cloud was created in 2020 during the pandemic, aiming to provide students and parents with resources to help facilitate their learning at home.

Whatsapp: +85259609792

[email protected]

Speech Writing

Introduction Speech

Introduction Speech - A Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

11 min read

What is an Introduction Speech?

An introduction speech, or introductory address, is a brief presentation at the beginning of an event or public speaking engagement. Its primary purpose is to establish a connection with the audience and to introduce yourself or the main speaker.

This type of speech is commonly used in a variety of situations, including:

Public Speaking: When you step onto a stage to address a large crowd, you start with an introduction to establish your presence and engage the audience.
Networking Events: When meeting new people in professional or social settings, an effective introduction speech can help you make a memorable first impression.
Formal Gatherings: From weddings to conferences, introductions set the tone for the event and create a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

In other words, an introduction speech is simply a way to introduce yourself to a crowd of people.

How to Write an Introduction Speech?

Before you can just go and deliver your speech, you need to prepare for it. Writing a speech helps you organize your ideas and prepare your speech effectively.

Here is how to introduce yourself in a speech.

Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience is crucial. Consider their interests, backgrounds, and expectations to tailor your introduction accordingly.

For instance, the audience members could be your colleagues, new classmates, or various guests depending on the occasion. Understanding your audience will help you decide what they are expecting from you as a speaker.

Start with a Hook

Begin with a captivating opening line that grabs your audience's attention. This could be a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or a thought-provoking question about yourself or the occasion.

Introduce Yourself

Introduce yourself to the audience. State your name, occupation, or other details relevant to the occasion. You should mention the reason for your speech clearly. It will build your credibility and give the readers reasons to stay with you and read your speech.

Keep It Concise

So how long is an introduction speech?

Introduction speeches should be brief and to the point. Aim for around 1-2 minutes in most cases. Avoid overloading the introduction with excessive details.

Highlight Key Points

Mention the most important information that establishes the speaker's credibility or your own qualifications. Write down any relevant achievements, expertise, or credentials to include in your speech. Encourage the audience to connect with you using relatable anecdotes or common interests.

Rehearse and Edit

Practice your introduction speech to ensure it flows smoothly and stays within the time frame. Edit out any unnecessary information, ensuring it's concise and impactful.

Tailor for the Occasion

Adjust the tone and content of your introduction speech to match the formality and purpose of the event. What works for a business conference may not be suitable for a casual gathering.

Introduction Speech Outline

To assist you in creating a structured and effective introduction speech, here's a simple outline that you can follow:

Here is an example outline for a self-introduction speech.

Outline for Self-Introduction Speech

7 Ways to Open an Introduction Speech

You can start your introduction speech as most people do:

“Hello everyone, my name is _____. I will talk about _____. Thank you so much for having me. So first of all _______”

However, this is the fastest way to make your audience lose interest. Instead, you should start by captivating your audience’s interest. Here are 7 ways to do that:

Quote

Start with a thought-provoking quote that relates to your topic or the occasion. E.g. "Mahatma Gandhi once said, 'You must be the change you want to see in the world."

Anecdote or Story

Begin with a brief, relevant anecdote or story that draws the audience in. It could be a story about yourself or any catchy anecdote to begin the flow of your speech.

Pose a rhetorical question to engage the audience's curiosity and involvement. For example, "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel back in time, to experience a moment in history?”

Statistic or Fact

Share a surprising statistic or interesting fact that underscores the significance of your speech. E.g. “Did you know that as of today, over 60% of the world's population has access to the internet?”

“What If” Scenario

Paint a vivid "What if" scenario that relates to your topic, sparking the audience's imagination and curiosity. For example, "What if I told you that a single decision today could change the course of your life forever?"

Ignite Imagination

Encourage the audience to envision a scenario related to your topic. For instance, "Imagine a world where clean energy powers everything around us, reducing our carbon footprint to almost zero."

Start your introduction speech with a moment of silence, allowing the audience to focus and anticipate your message. This can be especially powerful in creating a sense of suspense and intrigue.

Introduction Speech Example

To help you understand how to put these ideas into practice, here are the introduction speech examples for different scenarios.

Introduction Speech Writing Sample

Short Introduction Speech Sample

Self Introduction Speech for College Students

Introduction Speech about Yourself

Student Presentation Introduction Speech Script

Teacher Introduction Speech

New Employee Self Introduction Speech

Introduction Speech for Chief Guest

Moreover, here is a video example of a self introduction. Watch it to understand how you should deliver your speech:

Want to read examples for other kinds of speeches? Find the best speeches at our blog about speech examples !

Introduction Speech Ideas

So now that you’ve understood what an introduction speech is, you may want to write one of your own. So what should you talk about?

The following are some ideas to start an introduction speech for a presentation, meeting, or social gathering in an engaging way.

Personal Story: Share a brief personal story or an experience that has shaped you, introducing yourself on a deeper level.
Professional Background: Introduce yourself by highlighting your professional background, including your career achievements and expertise.
Hobby or Passion: Discuss a hobby or passion that you're enthusiastic about, offering insights into your interests and what drives you.
Volunteer Work: Introduce yourself by discussing your involvement in volunteer work or community service, demonstrating your commitment to making a difference.
Travel Adventures: Share anecdotes from your travel adventures, giving the audience a glimpse into your love for exploring new places and cultures.
Books or Literature: Provide an introduction related to a favorite book, author, or literary work, revealing your literary interests.
Achievements and Milestones: Highlight significant achievements and milestones in your life or career to introduce yourself with an impressive track record.
Cultural Heritage: Explore your cultural heritage and its influence on your identity, fostering a sense of cultural understanding.
Social or Environmental Cause: Discuss your dedication to a particular social or environmental cause, inviting the audience to join you in your mission.
Future Aspirations: Share your future goals and aspirations, offering a glimpse into what you hope to achieve in your personal or professional life.

You can deliver engaging speeches on all kinds of topics. Here is a list of entertaining speech topics to get inspiration.

Tips for Delivering the Best Introduction Speech

Here are some tips for you to write a perfect introduction speech in no time.

Now that you know how to write an effective introduction speech, let's focus on the delivery. The way you present your introduction is just as important as the content itself.

Here are some valuable tips to ensure you deliver a better introduction speech:

Maintain Eye Contact

Make eye contact with the audience to establish a connection. This shows confidence and engages your listeners.

Use Appropriate Body Language

Your body language should convey confidence and warmth. Stand or sit up straight, use open gestures, and avoid fidgeting.

Mind Your Pace

Speak at a moderate pace, avoiding rapid speech. A well-paced speech is easier to follow and more engaging.

Avoid Filler Words

Minimize the use of filler words such as "um," "uh," and "like." They can be distracting and detract from your message.

Be Enthusiastic

Convey enthusiasm about the topic or the speaker. Your energy can be contagious and inspire the audience's interest.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Rehearse your speech multiple times. Practice in front of a mirror, record yourself, or seek feedback from others.

Be Mindful of Time

Stay within the allocated time for your introduction. Going too long can make your speech too boring for the audience.

Engage the Audience

Encourage the audience's participation. You could do that by asking rhetorical questions, involving them in a brief activity, or sharing relatable anecdotes.

Mistakes to Avoid in an Introduction Speech

While crafting and delivering an introduction speech, it's important to be aware of common pitfalls that can diminish its effectiveness. Avoiding these mistakes will help you create a more engaging and memorable introduction.

Here are some key mistakes to steer clear of:

Rambling On

One of the most common mistakes is making the introduction too long. Keep it concise and to the point. The purpose is to set the stage, not steal the spotlight.

Lack of Preparation

Failing to prepare adequately can lead to stumbling, awkward pauses, or losing your train of thought. Rehearse your introduction to build confidence.

Using Jargon or Complex Language

Avoid using technical jargon or complex language that may confuse the audience. Your introduction should be easily understood by everyone.

Being Too Generic

A generic or uninspiring introduction can set a lackluster tone. Ensure your introduction is tailored to the event and speaker, making it more engaging.

Using Inappropriate Humor

Be cautious with humor, as it can easily backfire. Avoid inappropriate or potentially offensive jokes that could alienate the audience.

Not Tailoring to the Occasion

An introduction should be tailored to the specific event's formality and purpose. A one-size-fits-all approach may not work in all situations.

To Conclude,

An introduction speech is more than just a formality. It's an opportunity to engage, inspire, and connect with your audience in a meaningful way.

With the help of this blog, you're well-equipped to shine in various contexts. So, step onto that stage, speak confidently, and captivate your audience from the very first word.

Moreover, you’re not alone in your journey to becoming a confident introducer. If you ever need assistance in preparing your speech, let the experts help you out.

MyPerfectWords.com offers a custom essay service with experienced professionals who can craft tailored introductions, ensuring your speech makes a lasting impact.

Don't hesitate; hire our professional speech writing service to deliver top-quality speeches at your deadline!

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Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

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How to write a script for a speech contest or a talent competition

Winning a talent show speech or a speaking contest begins with good writing. So does any speech where you hope to change attitudes, entertain or lead people to action. Here is how to write a winning speech competition script.

Are you planning to vie for the coveted Miss Universe title? Perhaps not, but there is a lot to be learned from “talent competitions” and speech contests about being an effective speaker. A well-crafted speech can win speaking contests at Toastmasters. It can win a seat on the school board or town council. Or it can win people to your cause.

I will share two example speech competition scripts with you, along with some analysis. You might notice a few (or several) things that I don’t cover. Feel free to add them in the comments.

Then I will share a sample talent competition speech we wrote for a client, as an example of a good speech competition script.

Talent show speech contest examples

Here is a quick navigation to the two competition speech sample videos. These might even give you some good talent show speech ideas. Then follows the speech analysis, the client’s speech script and the advice I gave for the sample speech.

VIDEO: Sydney Park’s speech example, “Sit Like a Lady”, 100th Anniversary Miss America competition

Analysis of sydney park’s speech example, “sit like a lady”, 100th anniversary miss america competition, video: miss colorado kelley johnson, nurse speech example, 2016 miss america competition, analysis of kelley johnson’s nurse speech example, 2016 miss america competition, thgm’s unperformed sample script for a talent competition speech, advice for thgm’s unperformed sample script for a talent competition speech.

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Poet Sydney Park made great use of the stage, flowing on and off her chair fluidly. She was in command. She was in control. She did not have to physically go to every corner of the stage to own it all. Follow her gestures, follower her eyes. Wow!

She also excelled with her speaking pace. Sometimes slow. Sometimes fast. Pauses at the right moments to give the audience time to process what she says. Always in control, and the speed changes reflect the purpose of her words.

Of course, this is poetry. For some other types of speech, this might be overdone. In other words, pay attention, follow her style, but moderate as appropriate for your material and your venue.

The topic was safe. In today’s world, a woman speaking up for equal treatment is a “world peace” topic. Everybody can agree on it, nothing controversial or original there. The delivery was original, but not the topic.

Kelley Johnson delivered a strong speech, a safe speech for a talent show. It wasn’t poetry, so she did not have as much opportunity to change pace and volume and add variety to her voice as much as Sydney Park.

Although the speech clearly was solid and did her well, It could have been delivered better. She made good use of her pauses, but she spoke fast throughout. You can read below how I analysed that for our client. And her voice stayed even, almost monotonous.

Here, too, the topic was safe. Self-esteem and nurturing the infirm are both “world peace” topics. Everybody can agree on them, no controversies or originality there.

That being said, I found the self-congratulatory tone to be awkward. A good summary of the speech would be: “I discovered how awesome I am.” However, the crowd ate it up, so I might be an outlier on that point.

Is your mind brimming now with talent show speech ideas? Here is a short competition speech sample we wrote for a client. This example might help you learn how to write a speech for a competition, too.

This one was never used, because she came up with an even better idea. Note that the contestant is seated in a chair near the edge of the stage.

BELL RINGS OPENS BOOK Good morning, children. We have a lovely story to read today. OFF-STAGE: Miss Student Teacher, Jenny hit me yesterday, but mommy says I can’t hit her back. Is that fair? CLOSES BOOK, FIXES EYES ON THE CHILD AND LEANS FORWARD Is that fair? Oh my goodness – of course it’s not fair, dear. No, it’s not fair at all. Do you know what it is? It’s kind. PAUSES Kindness is better than fairness. Kindness is better than being right. LOOKS AROUND AT THE CHILDREN And children – do you know what my mommy told me when I was your age? She told me that kindness is even better than winning. PAUSES You can’t always be fair. You can’t always be right. And you can’t always win. But you can always be kind, because your heart is big enough for all the kindness in the world. STANDS UP, FIXES EYES SOMEWHERE ABOVE THE AUDIENCE Oh, children! Can you imagine a world full of kindness? FIXES EYES ON THE CHILD Maybe you could give Jenny a hug. Or a smile. And next time, instead of hitting you, maybe she will play with you. BENDING DOWN TO TALK WITH HANDS ON KNEES The world is yours. Will you help me fill it with all the kindness in your heart?

First, let me acknowledge that the staging – the chair, the off-stage recorded question and the imaginary children at “Student Teacher’s” feet – were the client’s suggestion. Clearly, she gets staging.

But this setup created some logistical limitations. For instance, she could not just stand up and step forward on all the imaginary children at her feet. She had to show intimacy with the kids at her feet, at the same time commanding the stage. Here is what I advised her:

You can’t do what Parks did. You can’t walk around without stepping on imaginary children. But you can’t just sit in the chair, either. You need to stand up to take control, and you can use your eyes to control the whole stage from where you stand. I’ve written those directions into the speech.

How to pace her speech was another concern. One does not talk to imaginary kids – obviously very young – as one would normally address the live audience of adults. And I especially did not want our client to be cornered into speaking too fast. For this, I turned to Kelley Johnson’s nurse speech, and said:

As for overall speed, I thought at first that Johnson was nervous, because she was speaking just a bit too fast the whole way through. But when she ran a couple seconds overtime, I realized she just had 20 too many words to say. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to you. I’ve already cut a lot of what I wrote on the first draft, but let me know your real-life timing after practicing a few times. We can always cut.

Speed is not the only consideration when speaking. Volume and pitch are, too. Here is some advice I gave on that, which might also be helpful when you speak:

You can speed up at a couple select moments when you get passionate – the audience should feel your heart beat faster as you speak faster, speak louder and if your voice is in a low to middle register, speak with a slightly higher pitch. If you have a high-pitched voice, best not to increase the pitch, as it could come across as squeaky. But you do need the audience to feel your passion.

I had some final words of advice that apply to any speech, even a best man speech or a maid of honor speech .

Since you’ll have a mike, no need to speak louder than natural, except when you raise your voice to convey passion. But I’ve seen mikes and speaker systems malfunction, so be prepared with a louder Plan B. Nothing impresses judges more than someone unfazed by a tech issue who goes on to perform smoothly anyway.

That last note applies to anything in life, whether it is a speech or a dance competition, or even a job interview. When the hall goes dark, light them up with your brilliance.

Are you ready to write your next speech for a talent show – or for any occasion? If you need help, our speech writers can script you up.

David Leonhardt is President of The Happy Guy Marketing, a published author, a "Distinguished Toastmaster", a former consumer advocate, a social media addict and experienced with media relations and government reports.

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Chapter 9 Introductions Matter: How to Begin a Speech Effectively

One of the most common complaints novice public speakers have is that they simply don’t know how to start a speech. Many times speakers get ideas for how to begin their speeches as they go through the process of researching and organizing ideas. In this chapter, we will explore why introductions are important and various ways speakers can create memorable introductions. There may not be any one “best” way to start a speech, but we can provide some helpful guidelines that will make starting a speech much easier.

9.1 The Importance of an Introduction

Learning objectives.

Explain the general length of an introduction.
List and explain the five basic functions of an introduction.
Understand how to use three factors of credibility in an introduction.

The introduction for a speech is generally only 10 to 15 percent of the entire time the speaker will spend speaking. This means that if your speech is to be five minutes long, your introduction should be no more than forty-five seconds. If your speech is to be ten minutes long, then your introduction should be no more than a minute and a half. Unfortunately, that 10 to 15 percent of your speech can either make your audience interested in what you have to say or cause them to tune out before you’ve really gotten started. Overall, a good introduction should serve five functions. Let’s examine each of these.

Gain Audience Attention and Interest

The first major purpose of an introduction is to gain your audience’s attention and make them interested in what you have to say. One of the biggest mistakes that novice speakers make is to assume that people will naturally listen because the speaker is speaking. While many audiences may be polite and not talk while you’re speaking, actually getting them to listen to what you are saying is a completely different challenge. Let’s face it—we’ve all tuned someone out at some point because we weren’t interested in what they had to say. If you do not get the audience’s attention at the outset, it will only become more difficult to do so as you continue speaking. We’ll talk about some strategies for grabbing an audience’s attention later on in this chapter.

State the Purpose of Your Speech

The second major function of an introduction is to reveal the purpose of your speech to your audience. Have you ever sat through a speech wondering what the basic point was? Have you ever come away after a speech and had no idea what the speaker was talking about? An introduction is important because it forces the speaker to be mindfully aware of explaining the topic of the speech to the audience. If the speaker doesn’t know what her or his topic is and cannot convey that topic to the audience, then we’ve got really big problems! Robert Cavett, the founder of the National Speaker’s Association, used the analogy of a preacher giving a sermon when he noted, “When it’s foggy in the pulpit, it’s cloudy in the pews.”

As we discussed in Chapter 6 "Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic" , the specific purpose is the one idea you want your audience to remember when you are finished with your speech. Your specific purpose is the rudder that guides your research, organization, and development of main points. The more clearly focused your purpose is, the easier your task will be in developing your speech. In addition, a clear purpose provides the audience with a single, simple idea to remember even if they daydream during the body of your speech. To develop a specific purpose, you should complete the following sentence: “I want my audience to understand that…” Notice that your specific speech purpose is phrased in terms of expected audience responses, not in terms of your own perspective.

Establish Credibility

One of the most researched areas within the field of communication has been Aristotle’s concept of ethos or credibility. First, and foremost, the concept of credibility must be understood as a perception of receivers. You may be the most competent, caring, and trustworthy speaker in the world on a given topic, but if your audience does not perceive you as credible, then your expertise and passion will not matter. As public speakers, we need to make sure that we explain to our audiences why we are credible speakers on a given topic.

James C. McCroskey and Jason J. Teven have conducted extensive research on credibility and have determined that an individual’s credibility is composed of three factors: competence, trustworthiness, and caring/goodwill. McCroskey, J. C., & Teven, J. J. (1999). Goodwill: A reexamination of the construct and its measurement. Communication Monographs, 66 , 90–103. Competence The degree to which an audience member perceives a speaker as being knowledgeable or expert on a given topic. is the degree to which a speaker is perceived to be knowledgeable or expert in a given subject by an audience member. Some individuals are given expert status because of positions they hold in society. For example, Dr. Regina Benjamin, the US Surgeon General, is expected to be competent in matters related to health and wellness as a result of being the United States’ top physician.

Figure 9.1 Regina Benjamin

Source: Photo by Lawrence Jackson, White House photographer, http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/images/surgeon_general-0075.jpg .

But what if you do not possess a fancy title that lends itself to established competence? You need to explain to the audience why you are competent to speak on your topic. Keep in mind that even well-known speakers are not perceived as universally credible. US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin may be seen as competent on health and wellness issues, but may not be seen as a competent speaker on trends in Latin American music or different ways to cook summer squash. Like well-known speakers, you will need to establish your credibility on each topic you address, so establishing your competence about the energy efficiency of furnace systems during your informative speech does not automatically mean you will be seen as competent on the topic of organ donation for your persuasive speech.

The second factor of credibility noted by McCroskey and Teven is trustworthiness The degree to which an audience member perceives a speaker as being honest. , or the degree to which an audience member perceives a speaker as honest. Nothing will turn an audience against a speaker faster than if the audience believes the speaker is lying. When an audience does not perceive a speaker as trustworthy, the information coming out of the speaker’s mouth is automatically perceived as deceitful. The speaker could be 100 percent honest, but the audience will still find the information suspect. For example, in the summer of 2009, many Democratic members of Congress attempted to hold public town-hall meetings about health care. For a range of reasons, many of the people who attended these town-hall meetings refused to let their elected officials actually speak because the audiences were convinced that the Congressmen and Congresswomen were lying.

In these situations, where a speaker is in front of a very hostile audience, there is little a speaker can do to reestablish that sense of trustworthiness. These public town-hall meetings became screaming matches between the riled-up audiences and the congressional representatives. Some police departments actually ended up having to escort the representatives from the buildings because they feared for their safety. Check out this video from CNN.com to see what some of these events actually looked like: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/08/07/ldt.sylvester.town.hall.cnn?iref=videosearch . We hope that you will not be in physical danger when you speak to your classmates or in other settings, but these incidents serve to underscore how important speaker trustworthiness is across speaking contexts.

Caring/goodwill is the final factor of credibility noted by McCroskey and Teven. Caring/goodwill The degree to which an audience member believes that a speaker has the audience member’s best interests at heart. refers to the degree to which an audience member perceives a speaker as caring about the audience member. As noted by Wrench, McCroskey, and Richmond, “If a receiver does not believe that a source has the best intentions in mind for the receiver, the receiver will not see the source as credible. Simply put, we are going to listen to people who we think truly care for us and are looking out for our welfare.” Wrench, J. S., McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (2008). Human communication in everyday life: Explanations and applications . Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, pp. 33–34. As a speaker, then, you need to establish that your information is being presented because you care about your audience and are not just trying to manipulate them. We should note that research has indicated that caring/goodwill is the most important factor of credibility. This means that if an audience believes that a speaker truly cares about the audience’s best interests, the audience may overlook some competence and trust issues.

Provide Reasons to Listen

The fourth major function of an introduction is to establish a connection between the speaker and the audience, and one of the most effective means of establishing a connection with your audience is to provide them with reasons why they should listen to your speech. The idea of establishing a connection is an extension of the notion of caring/goodwill. In the chapters on Language and Speech Delivery, we’ll spend a lot more time talking about how you can establish a good relationship with your audience. However, this relationship starts the moment you step to the front of the room to start speaking.

Instead of assuming the audience will make their own connections to your material, you should explicitly state how your information might be useful to your audience. Tell them directly how they might use your information themselves. It is not enough for you alone to be interested in your topic. You need to build a bridge to the audience by explicitly connecting your topic to their possible needs.

Preview Main Ideas

The last major function of an introduction is to preview the main ideas that your speech will discuss. A preview establishes the direction your speech will take. We sometimes call this process signposting because you’re establishing signs for audience members to look for while you’re speaking. In the most basic speech format, speakers generally have three to five major points they plan on making. During the preview, a speaker outlines what these points will be, which demonstrates to the audience that the speaker is organized.

A study by Baker found that individuals who were unorganized while speaking were perceived as less credible than those individuals who were organized. Baker, E. E. (1965). The immediate effects of perceived speaker disorganization on speaker credibility and audience attitude change in persuasive speaking. Western Speech, 29 , 148–161. Having a solid preview of the information contained within one’s speech and then following that preview will definitely help a speaker’s credibility. It also helps your audience keep track of where you are if they momentarily daydream or get distracted.

Key Takeaways

Introductions are only 10–15 percent of one’s speech, so speakers need to make sure they think through the entire introduction to ensure that they will capture an audience. During an introduction, speakers attempt to impart the general and specific purpose of a speech while making their audience members interested in the speech topic, establishing their own credibility, and providing the audience with a preview of the speech structure.
A speaker’s perceived credibility is a combination of competence, trustworthiness, and caring/goodwill. Research has shown that caring/goodwill is probably the most important factor of credibility because audiences want to know that a speaker has their best interests at heart. At the same time, speakers should strive to be both competent and honest while speaking.
What are the five basic functions of an introduction? Discuss with your classmates which purpose you think is the most important. Why?
Why is establishing a relationship with one’s audience important? How do you plan on establishing a relationship with your audience during your next speech?
Of the three factors of credibility, which do you think is going to be hardest to establish with your peers during your next speech? Why? What can you do to enhance your peers’ perception of your credibility?

9.2 The Attention-Getter: The First Step of an Introduction

Understand the different tools speakers can use to gain their audience’s attention.
Name some common mistakes speakers make in trying to gain attention.

As you know by now, a good introduction will capture an audience’s attention, while a bad introduction can turn an audience against a speaker. An attention-getter The device a speaker uses at the beginning of a speech to capture an audience’s interest and make them interested in the speech’s topic. is the device a speaker uses at the beginning of a speech to capture an audience’s interest and make them interested in the speech’s topic. Typically, there are four things to consider in choosing a specific attention-getting device:

Appropriateness or relevance to audience
Purpose of speech

First, when selecting an attention-getting device, you want to make sure that the option you choose is actually appropriate and relevant to your specific audience. Different audiences will have different backgrounds and knowledge, so you should use your audience analysis to determine whether specific information you plan on using would be appropriate for a specific audience. For example, if you’re giving a speech on family units to a group of individuals over the age of sixty-five, starting your speech with a reference to the television show Gossip Girl may not be the best idea because the television show may not be relevant to that audience.

Second, you need to consider the basic purpose of your speech. As discussed earlier in this text, there are three basic purposes you can have for giving a speech: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. When selecting an attention-getter, you want to make sure that you select one that corresponds with your basic purpose. If your goal is to entertain an audience, then starting a speech with a quotation about how many people are dying in Africa each day from malnutrition may not be the best way to get your audience’s attention. Remember, one of the basic goals of an introduction is to prepare your audience for your speech. If your attention-getter differs drastically in tone from the rest of your speech (e.g., dying in Africa when you want your audience to laugh), the disjointedness may cause your audience to become confused or tune you out completely.

Your third basic consideration when picking an attention-getting device is your speech topic. Ideally, your attention-getting device should have a relevant connection to your speech. Imagine if a speaker pulled condoms out of his pocket, yelled “Free sex!” and threw the condoms at the audience in the beginning of a speech about the economy. While this may clearly get the audience’s attention, this isn’t really a good way to prepare an audience for a speech about bull and bear markets. Not every attention-getter is appropriate for a given topic. Instead, a speaker could start this speech by explaining that “according to a 2004 episode of 60 Minutes, adults in the United States spend approximately $10 billion annually on adult entertainment, which is roughly the equivalent to the amounts they spend attending professional sporting events, buying music, or going out to the movies.” Leung, R. (2004, September 5). Porn in the U.S.A.: Steve Kroft reports on a $10 billion industry. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com Notice how effective the shocking statistic is in clearly introducing the monetary value of the adult entertainment industry.

The last consideration when picking an attention-getting device involves the speech occasion. Different occasions will necessitate different tones, or particular styles or manners of speaking. For example, a persuasive speech about death and dying shouldn’t be happy and hilarious. An informative speech on the benefits of laughing shouldn’t be dull, dreary, and depressing. When selecting an attention-getter, you want to make sure that the attention-getter sets the tone for the speech.

Now that we’ve explored the four major considerations you must think of when selecting an attention-getter, let’s look at a range of different attention-getters you may employ. Miller (1946) Miller, E. (1946). Speech introductions and conclusions. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 32 , 181–183. discovered that speakers tend to use one of eleven attention-getting devices when starting a speech. The rest of this section is going to examine these eleven attention-getting devices.

Reference to Subject

The first attention-getting method to consider is to tell your audience the subject of your speech. This device is probably the most direct, but it may also be the least interesting of the possible attention-getters. Here’s an example:

We are surrounded by statistical information in today’s world, so understanding statistics is becoming paramount to citizenship in the twenty-first century.

This sentence explicitly tells an audience that the speech they are about to hear is about the importance of understanding statistics. While this isn’t the most entertaining or interesting attention-getter, it is very clear and direct.

Reference to Audience

The second attention-getting device to consider is a direct reference to the audience. In this case, the speaker has a clear understanding of the audience and points out that there is something unique about the audience that should make them interested in the speech’s content. Here’s an example:

As human resource professionals, you and I know the importance of talent management. In today’s competitive world, we need to invest in getting and keeping the best talent for our organizations to succeed.

In this example, the speaker reminds the audience of their shared status as human resource professionals and uses the common ground to acknowledge the importance of talent management in human resources.

Another way to capture your listeners’ attention is to use the words of another person that relate directly to your topic. Maybe you’ve found a really great quotation in one of the articles or books you read while researching your speech. If not, you can also use a number of sources that compile useful quotations from noted individuals. Probably the most famous quotation book of all time is Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations ( http://www.bartleby.com/100 ), now in its seventeenth edition. Here are some other websites that contain useful databases of quotations for almost any topic:

http://www.quotationspage.com
http://www.bartleby.com/quotations
http://www.quotationreference.com
http://www.moviequotes.com
http://www.quotesandsayings.com
http://www.quoteland.com

Quotations are a great way to start a speech, so let’s look at an example that could be used for a speech on deception:

Oliver Goldsmith, a sixteenth-century writer, poet, and physician, once noted that “the true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.”

Reference to Current Events

Referring to a current news event that relates to your topic is often an effective way to capture attention, as it immediately makes the audience aware of how relevant the topic is in today’s world. For example, consider this attention-getter for a persuasive speech on frivolous lawsuits:

On January 10, 2007, Scott Anthony Gomez Jr. and a fellow inmate escaped from a Pueblo, Colorado, jail. During their escape the duo attempted to rappel from the roof of the jail using a makeshift ladder of bed sheets. During Gomez’s attempt to scale the building, he slipped, fell forty feet, and injured his back. After being quickly apprehended, Gomez filed a lawsuit against the jail for making it too easy for him to escape.

In this case, the speaker is highlighting a news event that illustrates what a frivolous lawsuit is, setting up the speech topic of a need for change in how such lawsuits are handled.

Historical Reference

You may also capture your listeners’ attention by referring to a historical event related to your topic. Obviously, this strategy is closely related to the previous one, except that instead of a recent news event you are reaching further back in history to find a relevant reference. For example, if you are giving a speech on the Iraq War that began in 2003, you could refer back to the Vietnam War as way of making a comparison:

During the 1960s and ’70s, the United States intervened in the civil strife between North and South Vietnam. The result was a long-running war of attrition in which many American lives were lost and the country of Vietnam suffered tremendous damage and destruction. Today, we see a similar war being waged in Iraq. American lives are being lost, and stability has not yet returned to the region.

In this example, the speaker is evoking the audience’s memories of the Vietnam War to raise awareness of similarities to the war in Iraq.

Another device you can use to start a speech is to tell an anecdote related to the speech’s topic. An anecdote A brief account or story of an interesting or humorous event. is a brief account or story of an interesting or humorous event. Notice the emphasis here is on the word “brief.” A common mistake speakers make when telling an anecdote is to make the anecdote too long. Remember, your entire introduction should only be 10 to 15 percent of your speech, so your attention-getter must be very short.

One type of anecdote is a real story that emphasizes a speech’s basic message. For example, here is an anecdote a speaker could use to begin a speech on how disconnected people are from the real world because of technology:

In July 2009, a high school girl named Alexa Longueira was walking along a main boulevard near her home on Staten Island, New York, typing in a message on her cell phone. Not paying attention to the world around her, she took a step and fell right into an open manhole. Whitney, L. (2009, July 13). Don’t text while walking? Girl learns the hard way. CNET News Wireless . Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10285466-94.html

A second type of anecdote is a parable or fable. A parable or fable An allegorical anecdote designed to teach general life lessons. is an allegorical anecdote designed to teach general life lessons. The most widely known parables for most Americans are those given in the Bible and the best-known fables are Aesop’s Fables ( http://www.aesopfables.com ). For the same speech on how disconnected people are with the real world because of technology, the speaker could have used the Fable of The Boy and the Filberts:

The ancient Greek writer Aesop told a fable about a boy who put his hand into a pitcher of filberts. The boy grabbed as many of the delicious nuts as he possibly could. But when he tried to pull them out, his hand wouldn’t fit through the neck of the pitcher because he was grasping so many filberts. Instead of dropping some of them so that his hand would fit, he burst into tears and cried about his predicament. The moral of the story? “Don’t try to do too much at once.” Aesop (1881). Aesop’s fables . New York, NY: Wm. L. Allison. Retrieved from http://www.litscape.com/author/Aesop/The_Boy_and_the_Filberts.html

After recounting this anecdote, the speaker could easily relate the fable to the notion that the technology in our society leads us to try to do too many things at once.

While parables and fables are short and entertaining, their application to your speech topic should be clear. We’ll talk about this idea in more detail later in this chapter when we discuss how to link your attention-getter explicitly to your topic.

Startling Statement

The eighth device you can use to start a speech is to surprise your audience with startling information about your topic. Often, startling statements come in the form of statistics and strange facts. The goal of a good startling statistic is that it surprises the audience and gets them engaged in your topic. For example, if you’re giving a speech about oil conservation, you could start by saying, “A Boeing 747 airliner holds 57,285 gallons of fuel.” You could start a speech on the psychology of dreams by noting, “The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year.” A strange fact, on the other hand, is a statement that does not involve numbers but is equally surprising to most audiences. For example, you could start a speech on the gambling industry by saying, “There are no clocks in any casinos in Las Vegas.” You could start a speech on the Harlem Globetrotters by saying, “In 2000, Pope John Paul II became the most famous honorary member of the Harlem Globetrotters.” All four of these examples came from a great website for strange facts ( http://www.strangefacts.com ).

Although startling statements are fun, it is important to use them ethically. First, make sure that your startling statement is factual. The Internet is full of startling statements and claims that are simply not factual, so when you find a statement you’d like to use, you have an ethical duty to ascertain its truth before you use it. Second, make sure that your startling statement is relevant to your speech and not just thrown in for shock value. We’ve all heard startling claims made in the media that are clearly made for purposes of shock or fear mongering. As speakers, we have an ethical obligation to avoid playing on people’s emotions in this way.

Another strategy for getting your audience’s attention is to ask them a question. There are two types of questions commonly used as attention-getters: response questions and rhetorical questions. A response question A question that the audience is expected to answer in some manner. is a question that the audience is expected to answer in some manner. For example, you could ask your audience, “Please raise your hand if you have ever thought about backpacking in Europe” or “Have you ever voted for the Electoral College? If so, stand up.” In both of these cases, the speaker wants her or his audience to respond. A rhetorical question A question for which no actual response is expected. , on the other hand, is a question to which no actual reply is expected. For example, a speaker talking about the importance of HIV testing could start by asking the audience, “I have two questions that I’d like you to think about. How many students on this campus have had sexual intercourse? Of those who have had sex, how many have been tested for HIV?” In this case, the speaker does not expect the audience to give an estimate of the numbers of students that fit into each category but rather to think about the questions as the speech goes on.

Humor is another effective method for gaining an audience’s attention. Humor is an amazing tool when used properly. We cannot begin to explain all the amazing facets of humor within this text, but we can say that humor is a great way of focusing an audience on what you are saying. However, humor is a double-edged sword. If you do not wield the sword carefully, you can turn your audience against you very quickly. When using humor, you really need to know your audience and understand what they will find humorous. One of the biggest mistakes a speaker can make is to use some form of humor that the audience either doesn’t find funny or finds offensive. Think about how incompetent the character of Michael Scott seems on the television program The Office , in large part because of his ineffective use of humor. We always recommend that you test out humor of any kind on a sample of potential audience members prior to actually using it during a speech.

Now that we’ve warned you about the perils of using humor, let’s talk about how to use humor as an attention-getter. Humor can be incorporated into several of the attention-getting devices mentioned. You could use a humorous anecdote, quotation, or current event. As with other attention-getting devices, you need to make sure your humor is relevant to your topic, as one of the biggest mistakes some novices make when using humor is to add humor that really doesn’t support the overall goal of the speech. So when looking for humorous attention-getters you want to make sure that the humor is nonoffensive to your audiences and relevant to your speech. For example, here’s a humorous quotation from Nicolas Chamfort, a French author during the sixteenth century, “The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless.” While this quotation could be great for some audiences, other audiences may find this humorous quotation offensive (e.g., religious audiences). The Chamfort quotation could be great for a speech on the ills of modern society, but probably not for a speech on the state of modern religious conflict. You want to make sure that the leap from your attention-getter to your topic isn’t too complicated for your audience, or the attention-getter will backfire.

Personal Reference

The tenth device you may consider to start a speech is to refer to a story about yourself that is relevant for your topic. Some of the best speeches are ones that come from personal knowledge and experience. If you are an expert or have firsthand experience related to your topic, sharing this information with the audience is a great way to show that you are credible during your attention-getter. For example, if you had a gastric bypass surgery and you wanted to give an informative speech about the procedure, you could introduce your speech in this way:

In the fall of 2008, I decided that it was time that I took my life into my own hands. After suffering for years with the disease of obesity, I decided to take a leap of faith and get a gastric bypass in an attempt to finally beat the disease.

If you use a personal example, don’t get carried away with the focus on yourself and your own life. Your speech topic is the purpose of the attention-getter, not the other way around. Another pitfall in using a personal example is that it may be too personal for you to maintain your composure. For example, a student once started a speech about her grandmother by stating, “My grandmother died of cancer at 3:30 this morning.” The student then proceeded to cry nonstop for ten minutes. While this is an extreme example, we strongly recommend that you avoid any material that could get you overly choked up while speaking. When speakers have an emotional breakdown during their speech, audience members stop listening to the message and become very uncomfortable.

Reference to Occasion

The last device we mention for starting a speech is to refer directly to the speaking occasion. This attention-getter is only useful if the speech is being delivered for a specific occasion. Many toasts, for example, start with the following statement: “Today we are here to honor X.” In this case, the “X” could be a retirement, a marriage, a graduation, or any number of other special occasions. Because of its specific nature, this attention-getter is the least likely to be used for speeches being delivered for college courses.

In developing the introduction to your speech, begin by deciding upon a statement to capture the audience’s attention.
Attention-getters can include references to the audience, quotations, references to current events, historical references, anecdotes, startling statements, questions, humor, personal references, and references to the occasion.
Make a list of the attention-getting devices you might use to give a speech on the importance of recycling. Which do you think would be most effective? Why?
You’ve been asked to deliver a speech on the use of advertising in children’s media. Out of the list of ten different possible attention-getting devices discussed in the chapter, how could you use four of them to start your speech?

9.3 Putting It Together: Steps to Complete Your Introduction

Clearly identify why an audience should listen to a speaker.
Discuss how you can build your credibility during a speech.
Understand how to write a clear thesis statement.
Design an effective preview of your speech’s content for your audience.

Once you have captured your audience’s attention, it’s important to make the rest of your introduction interesting, and use it to lay out the rest of the speech. In this section, we are going to explore the five remaining parts of an effective introduction: linking to your topic, reasons to listen, stating credibility, thesis statement, and preview.

Link to Topic

After the attention-getter, the second major part of an introduction is called the link to topic. The link to topic is the shortest part of an introduction and occurs when a speaker demonstrates how an attention-getting device relates to the topic of a speech. Often the attention-getter and the link to topic are very clear. For example, if you look at the attention-getting device example under historical reference above, you’ll see that the first sentence brings up the history of the Vietnam War and then shows us how that war can help us understand the Iraq War. In this case, the attention-getter clearly flows directly to the topic. However, some attention-getters need further explanation to get to the topic of the speech. For example, both of the anecdote examples (the girl falling into the manhole while texting and the boy and the filberts) need further explanation to connect clearly to the speech topic (i.e., problems of multitasking in today’s society).

Let’s look at the first anecdote example to demonstrate how we could go from the attention-getter to the topic.

In July 2009, a high school girl named Alexa Longueira was walking along a main boulevard near her home on Staten Island, New York, typing in a message on her cell phone. Not paying attention to the world around her, she took a step and fell right into an open manhole. This anecdote illustrates the problem that many people are facing in today’s world. We are so wired into our technology that we forget to see what’s going on around us—like a big hole in front of us.

In this example, the third sentence here explains that the attention-getter was an anecdote that illustrates a real issue. The fourth sentence then introduces the actual topic of the speech.

Let’s now examine how we can make the transition from the parable or fable attention-getter to the topic:

The ancient Greek writer Aesop told a fable about a boy who put his hand into a pitcher of filberts. The boy grabbed as many of the delicious nuts as he possibly could. But when he tried to pull them out, his hand wouldn’t fit through the neck of the pitcher because he was grasping so many filberts. Instead of dropping some of them so that his hand would fit, he burst into tears and cried about his predicament. The moral of the story? “Don’t try to do too much at once.” In today’s world, many of us are us are just like the boy putting his hand into the pitcher. We are constantly trying to grab so much or do so much that it prevents us from accomplishing our goals. I would like to show you three simple techniques to manage your time so that you don’t try to pull too many filberts from your pitcher.

In this example, we added three new sentences to the attention-getter to connect it to the speech topic.

Reasons to Listen

Once you have linked an attention-getter to the topic of your speech, you need to explain to your audience why your topic is important. We call this the “why should I care?” part of your speech because it tells your audience why the topic is directly important to them. Sometimes you can include the significance of your topic in the same sentence as your link to the topic, but other times you may need to spell out in one or two sentences why your specific topic is important.

People in today’s world are very busy, and they do not like their time wasted. Nothing is worse than having to sit through a speech that has nothing to do with you. Imagine sitting through a speech about a new software package you don’t own and you will never hear of again. How would you react to the speaker? Most of us would be pretty annoyed at having had our time wasted in this way. Obviously, this particular speaker didn’t do a great job of analyzing her or his audience if the audience isn’t going to use the software package—but even when speaking on a topic that is highly relevant to the audience, speakers often totally forget to explain how and why it is important.

Appearing Credible

The next part of a speech is not so much a specific “part” as an important characteristic that needs to be pervasive throughout your introduction and your entire speech. As a speaker, you want to be seen as credible (competent, trustworthy, and caring/having goodwill). As mentioned earlier in this chapter, credibility is ultimately a perception that is made by your audience. While your audience determines whether they perceive you as competent, trustworthy, and caring/having goodwill, there are some strategies you can employ to make yourself appear more credible.

First, to make yourself appear competent, you can either clearly explain to your audience why you are competent about a given subject or demonstrate your competence by showing that you have thoroughly researched a topic by including relevant references within your introduction. The first method of demonstrating competence—saying it directly—is only effective if you are actually a competent person on a given subject. If you are an undergraduate student and you are delivering a speech about the importance of string theory in physics, unless you are a prodigy of some kind, you are probably not a recognized expert on the subject. Conversely, if your number one hobby in life is collecting memorabilia about the Three Stooges, then you may be an expert about the Three Stooges. However, you would need to explain to your audience your passion for collecting Three Stooges memorabilia and how this has made you an expert on the topic.

If, on the other hand, you are not actually a recognized expert on a topic, you need to demonstrate that you have done your homework to become more knowledgeable than your audience about your topic. The easiest way to demonstrate your competence is through the use of appropriate references from leading thinkers and researchers on your topic. When you demonstrate to your audience that you have done your homework, they are more likely to view you as competent.

The second characteristic of credibility, trustworthiness, is a little more complicated than competence, for it ultimately relies on audience perceptions. One way to increase the likelihood that a speaker will be perceived as trustworthy is to use reputable sources. If you’re quoting Dr. John Smith, you need to explain who Dr. John Smith is so your audience will see the quotation as being more trustworthy. As speakers we can easily manipulate our sources into appearing more credible than they actually are, which would be unethical. When you are honest about your sources with your audience, they will trust you and your information more so than when you are ambiguous. The worst thing you can do is to out-and-out lie about information during your speech. Not only is lying highly unethical, but if you are caught lying, your audience will deem you untrustworthy and perceive everything you are saying as untrustworthy. Many speakers have attempted to lie to an audience because it will serve their own purposes or even because they believe their message is in their audience’s best interest, but lying is one of the fastest ways to turn off an audience and get them to distrust both the speaker and the message.

The third characteristic of credibility to establish during the introduction is the sense of caring/goodwill. While some unethical speakers can attempt to manipulate an audience’s perception that the speaker cares, ethical speakers truly do care about their audiences and have their audience’s best interests in mind while speaking. Often speakers must speak in front of audiences that may be hostile toward the speaker’s message. In these cases, it is very important for the speaker to explain that he or she really does believe her or his message is in the audience’s best interest. One way to show that you have your audience’s best interests in mind is to acknowledge disagreement from the start:

Today I’m going to talk about why I believe we should enforce stricter immigration laws in the United States. I realize that many of you will disagree with me on this topic. I used to believe that open immigration was a necessity for the United States to survive and thrive, but after researching this topic, I’ve changed my mind. While I may not change all of your minds today, I do ask that you listen with an open mind, set your personal feelings on this topic aside, and judge my arguments on their merits.

While clearly not all audience members will be open or receptive to opening their minds and listening to your arguments, by establishing that there is known disagreement, you are telling the audience that you understand their possible views and are not trying to attack their intellect or their opinions.

Thesis Statement

A thesis statement A short, declarative sentence that states the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech. is a short, declarative sentence that states the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech. A strong, clear thesis statement is very valuable within an introduction because it lays out the basic goal of the entire speech. We strongly believe that it is worthwhile to invest some time in framing and writing a good thesis statement. You may even want to write your thesis statement before you even begin conducting research for your speech. While you may end up rewriting your thesis statement later, having a clear idea of your purpose, intent, or main idea before you start searching for research will help you focus on the most appropriate material. To help us understand thesis statements, we will first explore their basic functions and then discuss how to write a thesis statement.

Basic Functions of a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement helps your audience by letting them know “in a nutshell” what you are going to talk about. With a good thesis statement you will fulfill four basic functions: you express your specific purpose, provide a way to organize your main points, make your research more effective, and enhance your delivery.

Express Your Specific Purpose

To orient your audience, you need to be as clear as possible about your meaning. A strong thesis will prepare your audience effectively for the points that will follow. Here are two examples:

“Today, I want to discuss academic cheating.” (weak example)
“Today, I will clarify exactly what plagiarism is and give examples of its different types so that you can see how it leads to a loss of creative learning interaction.” (strong example)

The weak statement will probably give the impression that you have no clear position about your topic because you haven’t said what that position is. Additionally, the term “academic cheating” can refer to many behaviors—acquiring test questions ahead of time, copying answers, changing grades, or allowing others to do your coursework—so the specific topic of the speech is still not clear to the audience.

The strong statement not only specifies plagiarism but also states your specific concern (loss of creative learning interaction).

Provide a Way to Organize Your Main Points

A thesis statement should appear, almost verbatim, toward the end of the introduction to a speech. A thesis statement helps the audience get ready to listen to the arrangement of points that follow. Many speakers say that if they can create a strong thesis sentence, the rest of the speech tends to develop with relative ease. On the other hand, when the thesis statement is not very clear, creating a speech is an uphill battle.

When your thesis statement is sufficiently clear and decisive, you will know where you stand about your topic and where you intend to go with your speech. Having a clear thesis statement is especially important if you know a great deal about your topic or you have strong feelings about it. If this is the case for you, you need to know exactly what you are planning on talking about in order to fit within specified time limitations. Knowing where you are and where you are going is the entire point in establishing a thesis statement; it makes your speech much easier to prepare and to present.

Let’s say you have a fairly strong thesis statement, and that you’ve already brainstormed a list of information that you know about the topic. Chances are your list is too long and has no focus. Using your thesis statement, you can select only the information that (1) is directly related to the thesis and (2) can be arranged in a sequence that will make sense to the audience and will support the thesis. In essence, a strong thesis statement helps you keep useful information and weed out less useful information.

Make Your Research More Effective

If you begin your research with only a general topic in mind, you run the risk of spending hours reading mountains of excellent literature about your topic. However, mountains of literature do not always make coherent speeches. You may have little or no idea of how to tie your research all together, or even whether you should tie it together. If, on the other hand, you conduct your research with a clear thesis statement in mind, you will be better able to zero in only on material that directly relates to your chosen thesis statement. Let’s look at an example that illustrates this point:

Many traffic accidents involve drivers older than fifty-five.

While this statement may be true, you could find industrial, medical, insurance literature that can drone on ad infinitum about the details of all such accidents in just one year. Instead, focusing your thesis statement will help you narrow the scope of information you will be searching for while gathering information. Here’s an example of a more focused thesis statement:

Three factors contribute to most accidents involving drivers over fifty-five years of age: failing eyesight, slower reflexes, and rapidly changing traffic conditions.

This framing is somewhat better. This thesis statement at least provides three possible main points and some keywords for your electronic catalog search. However, if you want your audience to understand the context of older people at the wheel, consider something like:

Mature drivers over fifty-five years of age must cope with more challenging driving conditions than existed only one generation ago: more traffic moving at higher speeds, the increased imperative for quick driving decisions, and rapidly changing ramp and cloverleaf systems. Because of these challenges, I want my audience to believe that drivers over the age of sixty-five should be required to pass a driving test every five years.

This framing of the thesis provides some interesting choices. First, several terms need to be defined, and these definitions might function surprisingly well in setting the tone of the speech. Your definitions of words like “generation,” “quick driving decisions,” and “cloverleaf systems” could jolt your audience out of assumptions they have taken for granted as truth.

Second, the framing of the thesis provides you with a way to describe the specific changes as they have occurred between, say, 1970 and 2010. How much, and in what ways, have the volume and speed of traffic changed? Why are quick decisions more critical now? What is a “cloverleaf,” and how does any driver deal cognitively with exiting in the direction seemingly opposite to the desired one? Questions like this, suggested by your own thesis statement, can lead to a strong, memorable speech.

Enhance Your Delivery

When your thesis is not clear to you, your listeners will be even more clueless than you are—but if you have a good clear thesis statement, your speech becomes clear to your listeners. When you stand in front of your audience presenting your introduction, you can vocally emphasize the essence of your speech, expressed as your thesis statement. Many speakers pause for a half second, lower their vocal pitch slightly, slow down a little, and deliberately present the thesis statement, the one sentence that encapsulates its purpose. When this is done effectively, the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech is driven home for an audience.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

Now that we’ve looked at why a thesis statement is crucial in a speech, let’s switch gears and talk about how we go about writing a solid thesis statement. A thesis statement is related to the general and specific purposes of a speech as we discussed them in Chapter 6 "Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic" .

Choose Your Topic

The first step in writing a good thesis statement was originally discussed in Chapter 6 "Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic" when we discussed how to find topics. Once you have a general topic, you are ready to go to the second step of creating a thesis statement.

Narrow Your Topic

One of the hardest parts of writing a thesis statement is narrowing a speech from a broad topic to one that can be easily covered during a five- to ten-minute speech. While five to ten minutes may sound like a long time to new public speakers, the time flies by very quickly when you are speaking. You can easily run out of time if your topic is too broad. To ascertain if your topic is narrow enough for a specific time frame, ask yourself three questions.

First, is your thesis statement narrow or is it a broad overgeneralization of a topic? An overgeneralization occurs when we classify everyone in a specific group as having a specific characteristic. For example, a speaker’s thesis statement that “all members of the National Council of La Raza are militant” is an overgeneralization of all members of the organization. Furthermore, a speaker would have to correctly demonstrate that all members of the organization are militant for the thesis statement to be proven, which is a very difficult task since the National Council of La Raza consists of millions of Hispanic Americans. A more appropriate thesis related to this topic could be, “Since the creation of the National Council of La Raza [NCLR] in 1968, the NCLR has become increasingly militant in addressing the causes of Hispanics in the United States.”

The second question to ask yourself when narrowing a topic is whether your speech’s topic is one clear topic or multiple topics. A strong thesis statement consists of only a single topic. The following is an example of a thesis statement that contains too many topics: “Medical marijuana, prostitution, and gay marriage should all be legalized in the United States.” Not only are all three fairly broad, but you also have three completely unrelated topics thrown into a single thesis statement. Instead of a thesis statement that has multiple topics, limit yourself to only one topic. Here’s an example of a thesis statement examining only one topic: “Today we’re going to examine the legalization and regulation of the oldest profession in the state of Nevada.” In this case, we’re focusing our topic to how one state has handled the legalization and regulation of prostitution.

The last question a speaker should ask when making sure a topic is sufficiently narrow is whether the topic has direction. If your basic topic is too broad, you will never have a solid thesis statement or a coherent speech. For example, if you start off with the topic “Barack Obama is a role model for everyone,” what do you mean by this statement? Do you think President Obama is a role model because of his dedication to civic service? Do you think he’s a role model because he’s a good basketball player? Do you think he’s a good role model because he’s an excellent public speaker? When your topic is too broad, almost anything can become part of the topic. This ultimately leads to a lack of direction and coherence within the speech itself. To make a cleaner topic, a speaker needs to narrow her or his topic to one specific area. For example, you may want to examine why President Obama is a good speaker.

Put Your Topic into a Sentence

Once you’ve narrowed your topic to something that is reasonably manageable given the constraints placed on your speech, you can then formalize that topic as a complete sentence. For example, you could turn the topic of President Obama’s public speaking skills into the following sentence: “Because of his unique sense of lyricism and his well-developed presentational skills, President Barack Obama is a modern symbol of the power of public speaking.” Once you have a clear topic sentence, you can start tweaking the thesis statement to help set up the purpose of your speech.

Add Your Argument, Viewpoint, or Opinion

This function only applies if you are giving a speech to persuade. If your topic is informative, your job is to make sure that the thesis statement is nonargumentative and focuses on facts. For example, in the preceding thesis statement we have a couple of opinion-oriented terms that should be avoided for informative speeches: “unique sense,” “well-developed,” and “power.” All three of these terms are laced with an individual’s opinion, which is fine for a persuasive speech but not for an informative speech. For informative speeches, the goal of a thesis statement is to explain what the speech will be informing the audience about, not attempting to add the speaker’s opinion about the speech’s topic. For an informative speech, you could rewrite the thesis statement to read, “This speech is going to analyze Barack Obama’s use of lyricism in his speech, ‘A World That Stands as One,’ delivered July 2008 in Berlin.”

On the other hand, if your topic is persuasive, you want to make sure that your argument, viewpoint, or opinion is clearly indicated within the thesis statement. If you are going to argue that Barack Obama is a great speaker, then you should set up this argument within your thesis statement.

Use the Thesis Checklist

Once you have written a first draft of your thesis statement, you’re probably going to end up revising your thesis statement a number of times prior to delivering your actual speech. A thesis statement is something that is constantly tweaked until the speech is given. As your speech develops, often your thesis will need to be rewritten to whatever direction the speech itself has taken. We often start with a speech going in one direction, and find out through our research that we should have gone in a different direction. When you think you finally have a thesis statement that is good to go for your speech, take a second and make sure it adheres to the criteria shown in Table 9.1 "Thesis Checklist"

Table 9.1 Thesis Checklist

Preview of Speech

The final part of an introduction contains a preview of the major points to be covered within your speech. I’m sure we’ve all seen signs that have three cities listed on them with the mileage to reach each city. This mileage sign is an indication of what is to come. A preview works the same way. A preview foreshadows what the main body points will be in the speech. For example, to preview a speech on bullying in the workplace, one could say, “To understand the nature of bullying in the modern workplace, I will first define what workplace bullying is and the types of bullying, I will then discuss the common characteristics of both workplace bullies and their targets, and lastly, I will explore some possible solutions to workplace bullying.” In this case, each of the phrases mentioned in the preview would be a single distinct point made in the speech itself. In other words, the first major body point in this speech would examine what workplace bullying is and the types of bullying; the second major body point in this speech would discuss the common characteristics of both workplace bullies and their targets; and lastly, the third body point in this speech would explore some possible solutions to workplace bullying.

Linking the attention-getter to the speech topic is essential so that you maintain audience attention and so that the relevance of the attention-getter is clear to your audience.
Establishing how your speech topic is relevant and important shows the audience why they should listen to your speech.
To be an effective speaker, you should convey all three components of credibility, competence, trustworthiness, and caring/goodwill, by the content and delivery of your introduction.
A clear thesis statement is essential to provide structure for a speaker and clarity for an audience.
An effective preview identifies the specific main points that will be present in the speech body.
Create a thesis statement for a speech related to the topic of collegiate athletics. Make sure that your thesis statement is narrow enough to be adequately covered in a five- to six-minute speech.
Discuss with a partner three possible body points you could utilize for the speech on the topic of volunteerism.
Fill out the introduction worksheet to help work through your introduction for your next speech. Please make sure that you answer all the questions clearly and concisely.

9.4 Analyzing an Introduction

See what a full introduction section looks like.
Distinguish among the six parts of an introduction.

Thus far, this chapter has focused on how to create a clear introduction. We discussed why introductions are important and the six important functions of effective introductions. In this section we’re going to examine an actual introduction to a speech. Before we start analyzing the introduction, please read the introduction paragraph that follows.

Smart Dust Introduction

In 2002, the famed science fiction writer Michael Crichton released his book Prey , which was about a swarm of nanomachines that were feeding off living tissue. The nanomachines were solar-powered, self-sufficient, and intelligent. Most disturbingly, the nanomachines could work together as a swarm as it overtook and killed its prey in its need for new resources. The technology for this level of sophistication in nanotechnology is surprisingly more science fact than science fiction. In 2000, three professors of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley, Professors Kahn, Katz, and Pister, hypothesized in the Journal of Communications and Networks that wireless networks of tiny microelectromechanical sensors, or MEMS: sensors, robots, or devices could detect phenomena including light, temperature, or vibration. By 2004, Fortune Magazine listed “smart dust” as the first in their “Top 10 Tech Trends to Bet On.” Thus far researchers have hypothesized that smart dust could be used for everything from tracking patients in hospitals to early warnings of natural disasters and as a defense against bioterrorism. Today I’m going to explain what smart dust is and the various applications smart dust has in the near future. To help us understand the small of it all, we will first examine what smart dust is and how it works, we will then examine some military applications of smart dust, and we will end by discussing some nonmilitary applications of smart dust.

Now that you’ve had a chance to read the introduction to the speech on smart dust, read it over a second time and look for the six parts of the speech introduction as discussed earlier in this chapter. Once you’re done analyzing this introduction, Table 9.2 "Smart Dust Introduction" shows you how the speech was broken down into the various parts of an introduction.

Table 9.2 Smart Dust Introduction

Need More Speech Examples?

The following YouTube videos will show you a wide range of different speeches. While watching these videos, ask yourself the following questions: How have they utilized various attention-getting devices? Have they clearly used all aspects of an introduction? Do they have a strong thesis and preview? How could you have made the introduction stronger?

Animal Experimentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4yYDt4di0o

Life after Having a Child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7-DhSLsk1U

Pros and Cons of Cholesterol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7VIOs6aiAc

On Being a Hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYtm8uEo5vU

LASIK Eye Surgery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YWy8CXoYk

9.5 Chapter Exercises

Speaking ethically.

Imagine that you are preparing a speech on the benefits of a new drug, and you find a direct quotation that clearly establishes your argument. Unfortunately, you soon realize that the source of your quotation is actually a lobbyist who works for the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the drug. You really want to use this quotation as your attention-getter, but you realize that the source is clearly biased. Which of the following options do you think is the most ethical? Why?

Disregard the quotation and find another way to start your speech.
Use the quotation, but acknowledge that the source comes from a paid lobbyist of the pharmaceutical company who manufactures the drug.
Use the quotation and just give the name of the source. If your audience is interested in your topic, they’ll do their own research and make informed decisions for themselves.

End-of-Chapter Assessment

During a keynote presentation, the speaker mentions that she is the head of neurology at a major medical center. The speaker then goes on to discuss why wearing helmets is important for bicyclists of all ages. What factor of credibility has the speaker attempted to establish?

caring/goodwill
extroversion
trustworthiness

A kid perched on the roof of his house one day notices a wolf walking by. The kid yells at the wolf, “Evil, vile creature! Why have you come near honest folks’ homes?” The wolf quickly replied, “It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.” What type of attention-getting device does this represent?

personal reference
personal anecdote
parable or fable

During an introduction, a speaker says, “I realize that many of us disagree on the use of corporal punishment in public schools. I just ask that you listen to my arguments with an open mind.” Which aspect of credibility is the speaker attempting to enhance?

Which of the following is a function of a thesis statement?

It provides a clear ending point for your speech.
It helps to organize your introduction.
It enhances your language usage.
It expresses the body points in your speech.
It clarifies your perspective about your topic.

What part of an introduction does the following sentence represent? “Today we’re going to examine the video gaming industry by first discussing the history of video games, then by examining the current trends in video gaming, and lastly, by discussing the future of video games.”

attention-getter
link to topic
significance of topic

Introduction Worksheet

Directions: Use this worksheet to map out the introduction to your next speech. A copy of this worksheet suitable for editing in a word processing program can be downloaded from http://www.gone.2012books.lardbucket.org/sites/all/files/wrench_1.0-09ws.doc .

What is your general purpose? (circle one)

What is your specific purpose?

____________________________________________

Which attention-getting device do you plan on using?

How will you link your attention-getting device to your actual topic?

Why should your audience listen to your speech?

How will you establish your credibility during speech?

Trustworthiness

Caring/goodwill

What is your thesis statement?

What are your three main body points?

Body point 1

Body point 2

Body point 3

Write a preview of your three main body points.

English Compositions

Anchoring Script for Song Performance [With PDF]

In this session, you will learn how you can write an anchoring script for any song performance. Let’s get started.

Welcome speech (for local clubs / small events), welcome speech (for big events), honouring the chief guests (for both small and big events), song performance (for local clubs/small events).

Song Performance (For Big Events)

Ending Speech (For Both Small And Big Events)

Feature image of Anchoring Script for Song Performance

Good morning/ good afternoon/ good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am [name], your host for today’s/ tonight’s event. On the behalf of [name of the organising committee], I warmly welcome you all to this beautiful event.

We are really honoured to have the Honourable [full name], M.L.A., and his wife, Mrs [full name], as our chief guests today. Dear chief guests, special invitees and everyone in attendance, I am very glad to have you all with us today/ tonight and I welcome you with all my heart to witness and enjoy the event.

Today/tonight is going to be a day/night full of music, happiness and joy. We have many wonderful performances lined up. Let us all look forward to the performances with a lot of excitement and anticipation. Thank you.

Hello and a warm good morning / good afternoon / good evening to all! What a beautiful day it is today! The weather is pleasant and the breeze is gentle. We truly couldn’t have chosen a better day for this magical event! People say that music is one of the most magical things in the world. If that is so, we can say that we have some of the best magicians here with us today! From award-winning local bands to renowned folk singers to world-famous playback singers, today our line-up is star-studded.

And I, [name], on behalf of [organising committee name], heartily welcome you all to enjoy this magnificent event. I would like to especially welcome our chief guests, Mr [name], chairman of [company name] and Ms [name], CEO of [company name] to this event. Sir and ma’am, thank you so much for joining us today!

Before we commence the event, we would like to honour our chief guests and offer them a token of our appreciation. I request our committee head, Mr [name] to please come up on the stage. Now I would like to invite our chief guests to please come up on the stage as well. Thank you, sir and ma’am. I would now request Mr [committee head’s name] to honour our chief guests with the bouquets and mementoes prepared for them. Thank you. [As the ceremony is taking place – everyone claps].

After the Ceremony:

Thank you so much. Respected sirs and ma’am, you all may now take your seats. Please enjoy the rest of the event. Thank you.

Our first performers of today/tonight are [name 1] and [name 2]. These talented youngsters took the nation by storm when they posted their self-written, self-composed, self-shot music videos online. It was viewed millions of times and it made them household names. Today, they will be performing some of their latest compositions. So, let’s put our hands together and welcome them on the stage!

After the Performance:

Oh my! That was magnificent! Such a beautiful melody! You both are truly gifted. Thank you so much. Everyone, please give these talented kids a huge round of applause. Thank you.

Our next performer is someone you already know and love! She is also known as the nightingale of [the locality name] and has been singing since she was 5! Today, our nightingale, [singer name], will be singing [track name 1] and [track name 2] for us. Let’s welcome her on the stage with a huge round of applause!

Wow! No wonder she is called the nightingale! What a melodious voice and what a beautiful performance! [Singer name], you did amazing, as always! Thank you so much. Everyone, please give her a huge round of applause! Thank you.

[The anchor can similarly welcome different acts on the stage and carry on with the show.]

Now, it is time for the final performance of the day/night. Our renowned folk singers, [names], will be singing [folk song names] for us today. Let’s give it up for them!

What a beautiful performance! Folk songs truly make our soul dance! Thank you so much. Everyone, please give these amazing singers a huge round of applause! Thank you.

Song Performance (For Big Events)

“Life is a song. Your thoughts are the music. Now play beautiful music and sing a wonderful song.” – Debashish Mridha

It is now time for the opening act. And for that, we have someone special! The pride of our city, the one who brought so much glory to [city name] by representing us countless times on the national stage – he/she is none other than [singer name]. So, put your hands together and let’s welcome him/her onto the stage with a huge round of applause!

What a soulful performance! Your voice is a gift! Thank you so much for such a lovely performance. Everyone, please give [singer name] a huge round of applause! Thank you.

Now, moving on to the next performance we have here with us our beloved Ustaad [name]. Ustaad [name] has been performing for the past 45 years, since the age of 6. It is a pleasure to be able to watch him perform with such intricacy and grace. Today, he will be performing [song name] on his veena. So, please put your hands together and warmly welcome him onto the stage.

Wow! What a spellbinding performance! You are truly a gift to us! Thank you so much, master. Everyone, please give him a huge round of applause. Thank you.

Now, it is time for the act all of us have been waiting for with bated breath. Finally, the time has come! The singer known for his divine vocals, the one who is world-renowned for his melodious songs, the one without whose songs a movie is said to be incomplete – with a huge round of applause, let’s welcome the singer, the legend – [singer name]!

Oh my! So ethereal! I am at a loss for words. What a beautiful performance! You are truly our shining star! Thank you so much! Everyone, please give him a huge round of applause! What a performance!

Now we have come to the final act of the day/night. This is for all the rock lovers out there! We have here with us the [band name]! I can see your excitement! Yes! It is going to be awesome! So, let’s put our hands together and warmly welcome [band name] onto the stage!

What an energetic performance! I am sure everyone present here enjoyed it to the core! It was fabulous! Thank you so much, team! Everyone, please give these talented men a huge round of applause! Thank you.

We have now come to the conclusion of the event. I hope that everyone enjoyed the various song and musical performances. Thank you for attending this event and making it successful. Thank you all for your time, encouragement, enthusiasm, love and support. I would like to especially thank our chief guests who took time out of their extremely busy schedules to attend this event and grace us with their presence.

Thank you so much. Also, a huge thank you to all our singers, musicians and performers. It is you guys who made this possible! To our organisers and sponsors, without you, we wouldn’t have been able to organise this event – Thank you!

Thank you, everyone! Have a good day/night!”

Note: This is a sample script meant to provide you with a basic idea of how to write an anchoring script for a song performance. Feel free to use this script and edit it as per your needs.

Introduction Speech Examples That Increase Speaker Credibility

Introduction speeches examples - Main speaker

You may be called upon to introduce yourself in a speech or introduce a speaker, a guest, an employee, a product, or a concept. Your job is to grab the audience’s attention so that they are ready to receive the main message. Here are some introduction speech examples to help you.

Table of Contents

What Is A Speech Of Introduction?

In public speaking, a speech of introduction introduces someone to the audience members. It can also be a self-introduction speech wherein the speaker does the introduction.

Whether the speaker will deliver an informative speech, persuasive speech, or any type of speech, the speech of introduction aims to help establish the speaker’s background. Who are they? What do they do? What makes them credible to talk about the topic they will discuss?

How Do I Start A Speech To Introduce Someone?

If your job is to introduce someone before their speech or presentation, the first fundamental thing to remember is to keep things short and sweet. Your goal is to set the tone and entice the crowd to listen to the rest of the speech the speaker will deliver.

When writing such a speech, you must bear in mind the following:

You must grab the audience’s attention. Though it depends on the setting and theme of the occasion, the general rule is to have an upbeat opening that will help you grab the audience’s attention. You can begin with a simple “Good morning/Good evening, ladies and gentlemen”; then state the purpose of your speech — introducing the topic, the purpose of the speech, and the guest speaker.
You must effectively establish the speaker’s qualifications. Introduction speeches are considered commemorative speeches in the sense that they celebrate the achievements and milestones of someone. In your speech, you must concisely provide an overview of the qualifications, expertise, and relevant accomplishments of the individual you’re introducing. This is a way to establish credibility and entice the audience to listen attentively.
You must make the speaker welcome. As someone tasked to introduce the speaker, you serve as the bridge that helps connect them with the audience. However, your goal isn’t just to prepare the audience for the speech. You must make the speaker also feel welcome with an enthusiastic tone and body language. If you have personal anecdotes or connections to share, you can do so — briefly and with the utmost authenticity.

Introduction speeches examples - introducing the speaker

What Is A Welcome Speech, And Can It Be Used to Introduce Someone?

A welcome speech or address is a type of speech that sets the mood for a specific event.

While it can serve as an excellent introduction to the guest speaker, it’s also an opportune time to emphasize what the event is all about and acknowledge the organization or individual behind the occasion. An excellent welcome speech can also preview what the attendees can expect — apart from the remarks by the speaker.

How Do You Introduce Yourself In Speech Examples?

In speech writing and public speaking, knowing how to introduce the speaker properly is essential. In some instances, speakers briefly introduce themselves before their speech proper. They can also incorporate it into their speech opening.

In any self-introduction speech example (check out this TED Talks compilation of intros), you will observe that there are common ingredients behind an effective self-introduction speech.

This speech must help the audience get to know you, showcase your qualification (without sounding boastful), establish connections with and create value for your listeners, and introduce your speech topics and main points. This portion aims to give your audience a reason to stick with you and hear the rest of your speech. Also, note that first impressions last, so you must ensure your intro is impactful and engaging.

See the examples below to give you an idea of how to introduce yourself while still having effective attention-getters (e.g., a rhetorical question, an anecdote, a statistic, or a bold statement).

“Good morning/afternoon/evening. I’m X, and I’m here to talk about Y. To begin, I’d like to share a story…”
“Have you heard about X? I’m Y, and today, I’ll share with you my thoughts about…”
“What if overcoming your biggest fear doesn’t have to be as hard as you thought it would be? My name is X. And I’m a testament to how….”
“Hi, I’m X, and I wanted to know: How many of you have experienced Y?”
“Did you know that X? My name is Y, and I was asked to discuss…”

What Are Introduction Speech Examples For?

When you look for speech examples for a short introduction of speech or a self-introductory speech, you’ll find that this type of speech has a great variety.

You can use it to introduce a public speaker and a guest. In a business setting, you can also use an introduction speech to introduce an employee or present a product. Even in academe or civilian environments (e.g., you’re a high school public teacher or a personal development coach), you can count on an introduction speech to introduce a concept.

Here’s a template you can follow.

A public speaker or a guest

Attention-getter
State your role
Introduce the speaker/guest
Note the speaker/guest’s credibility and contributions
State the topic
A personal connection, story, or experience
What can the audience expect/ how can the speaker provide value
Transition to the speaker

An employee

Introduce the employee
Highlight their tenure/experience, achievements, skills, and qualities
State what the employee will be discussing
State the significance of the employee’s work/impact on the audience
Transition to the employee

A product or a concept

Attention-getter
State the purpose of your speech
Introduce the product or concept
Share its significance
Share its benefits
Showcase the key features
Do a demonstration
Explain the potential impact
Cite supporting facts
Deliver a strong call to action
Transition to the next phase or proportion of the event

No matter who or what you’re introducing in your speech, the key is to create a concise yet comprehensive one. Your speech must prepare the audience and make the speaker feel welcome. While remaining factual and genuine, you must write and deliver this piece in a way that generates interest and sets an excellent tone for the speech proper — and the rest of the event.

How to dazzle any audience with an entertaining introduction

Published on: February 2018

Written by: Surendra Tibrewala

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At some point in our career, most of us will be asked to introduce a speaker, often at a major event where our clients, customers, prospects and other influential people will be.

If you’re smart, you realize this is an opportunity to showcase not only the speaker, but your own command of the platform.

It’s tempting to rip the bio off a website and run through it briefly before the event, but doing an introduction “off the cuff” is a recipe for disaster. Whether you’re giving an award, acknowledging a retiring professional, or bringing up the keynote speaker for the main event that evening, your role is an important one.

Every speech has a purpose, and needs to be planned. There is nothing worse than watching someone slog through a list of a person’s accomplishments, without regard to length or significance.

Bios are not written to be read. No one cares about all that detail. Your job is to capture the essence of the person and share with the audience a few important memorable facts that will get them excited about meeting the featured speaker.

Even the most seasoned speakers can fail the job of introductions. One of the greatest public speakers of our time, Bill Clinton, first gained national recognition with a huge flop.

Clinton’s introduction of Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic National Convention was so long and boring that people actually cheered at its conclusion! Johnny Carson spoofed the speech on the Tonight Show, and most political commentators at the time agreed that this was a major blow to the then Governor’s future political plans. One disgruntled delegate observed, “He wrote eight drafts, but forgot to throw out the first seven!” (Sam Smith, Shadows of Hope).

Constructing a brief yet interesting introduction is an extremely difficult task for any speaker. The first thing you should know is that it takes time to write a brief introduction. You have to learn about the person, and then capture their essence.

Alan Perlman, author of Writing Great Speeches, says the goal of any introduction is three-fold:

1. First, it should give the audience a sense of the upcoming speaker’s topic.

2. Secondly, it should make known the speaker’s personality and major accomplishments, especially those relevant to the speaking topic.

3. And, lastly, and perhaps most importantly, an introduction should create a sense of audience enthusiasm for the both the speaker and topic.

Here are four helpful tips to consider when constructing your next relevant introduction:

Finesse the obvious. Many times, important details of the person’s biography are already well-known to the audience. Preface these facts with phrases such as “As we all know…” or “most of us are probably aware…”
Watch length. If you’re having trouble keeping length to a minimum, try to remember the task at hand – you are to introduce another speaker, not give a speech of your own. We usually recommend one to two minutes.
Stay positive. Introductions should never include anything that could be construed as derogatory, condescending, or otherwise uncomplimentary. Even if it is a roast, be careful with seemingly humorous anecdotes – do they reflect positively on the speaker, as well as you?
Build anticipation! With all of the above said, don’t forget to have some fun with your introduction! Test out new techniques to build the audience’s anticipation of the speaker’s arrival. Try to discover something interesting or quirky about your speaker, then generalize that information to everyday life. Make the audience momentarily wonder where you’re going and then swiftly close in on the speaker and their topic.

Clients often ask us, “are great speakers born to greatness, or did they learn this skill?” And, we always answer in the same way – you are as good as you decide to be! Follow the above simple guidelines when planning your next introduction, and you’ll certainly avoid the embarrassment that Bubba experienced in 1988.

To learn more specialized techniques for writing great speeches, including introductions, the staff and consultants of Bates Communications recommends Alan Perlman’s “Writing Great Speeches from The Essence of Public Speaking Series.”

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3 Tips for Introducing Your Event’s Performer

Perhaps the most neglected part of an evening’s entertainment is the introduction of your entertainer. However, that’s one detail that shouldn’t be overlooked! It sets the mood for what’s to come for the rest of the night. While it should not be a long introduction, it should be prepared. Here are some tips to help you make the most of this introduction, and avoid some common pitfalls we often see!

Keep it short and aim for a laugh: Try to think of something brief to say that also lends itself easily to making the audience laugh. This sets the tone for the performance, and make it a smooth transition into the show for both the audience as well as the performer. For example, my personal introduction is three sentences: “Please welcome the world’s greatest magician….in his price range…Bill Herz.”
Ask the entertainer for a written introduction: Every entertainer I know has horror stories of how they’ve had redirect the audience’s attention after little or no introduction … or even worse, a bad introduction. I strongly suggest that you ask the entertainer for a written introduction. That way, you’re off the hook for thinking of the right thing to say, and the performer isn’t thrown off if your intro isn’t what he/she expected.
If they do provide an introduction, read it exactly!: I always ask the host introducing me to read exactly from the card I give them, and not to change the wording. If that’s what your performer prefers, it’s best for everyone if you oblige! For example, I’ve had plenty of hosts who, after looking at the intro I provided, say that they “get it but are going to put their own spin on it.” In thirty years of performing, I can’t remember when their “spin” got a better laugh than what was written. In fact, I recently had an executive introduce me with his spin, by saying, ” And now it’s time for the best magician….and he isn’t expensive….Bill Herz.” Not exactly a crowd-pleaser!

While not the world, when someone messes up a line or two in the introduction, it makes it more challenging for the entertainer to get the ball rolling. That’s why following these tips can help you and the performer start the night off on the right foot.

For your entertainment, here are a few more horror stories we’ve heard throughout the years of introductions gone wrong:

“A moment of silence for our dear employee who passed away recently,..”and now for your entertainment pleasure….”
The employees of two merging companies were having a welcome dinner, meeting each other for the first time. Right before the introduction, the executive said “and tomorrow morning we’ll find out which of you still have a job, and now for….enjoy the magician.”
Almost as bad as these is having no introduction at all. Many times we’ve all had the host get up, deliver some housekeeping notes to the audience, and then look off stage at the entertainer and say “go.”

While not a problem akin to world hunger, a little attention to the introduction can start your entertainment program off with a bang instead of a thud …. No one wants an uphill battle to get the audience on their side. Looking for more tips to make the most of your event? Give us a call today!

Talk to our experts

1800-120-456-456

Welcome Speech For Dance Performance

Introduction

Dance performances attract a lot of energy in large crowds, and it's a widely adored artistic expression. We have thus presented here both a long and short welcome speech for dance performance along with 10 lines for writing an anchoring script for dance performance, taking into account the importance of art and how it is still relevant in today's events. Dance performances are a part of every cultural programme in our country, whether in schools, colleges, weddings, or other events.

A welcome speech is very important for cultural functions, and it should be as simple and formal as the function dictates. The dance performance is a part of any cultural program, whether it is in school, college, school, or any wedding function, and many more. While giving a welcome speech for a dance performance, it is essential to express your opinions and view. To help students with this, Vedantu has provided here Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in English that students can easily use.

Long and Short Anchoring Speech For Dance Performance

These welcome speeches for dance performance provide insight on how to introduce a dance performance on stage for students of Classes 1 to 12.

Long Anchoring Script For Dance Performance

Greetings to all! I am ABC and I am fortunate to have this opportunity to present the welcome speech for dance performances lined up for today’s event. As a nation and as a country, culture is an important part of our upbringing and who we are today. Our country's culture is something we will be buried with when we die, and we will have to live with it for the rest of our lives.

What could be more wonderful than children representing our cherished culture? That's right, today the teachers and students have decided to give the audience something to remember for the rest of their lives, something that will bring smiles to their faces and help them go home with a flood of feelings, a river of patriotism coursing through their veins, and their hands on their beating hearts.

We Indians have a long and illustrious history of dance and music. Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Sattriya (Assam), Mohiniyattam (Kerala), Chhau (West Bengal, Jharkhand), Gaudiya Nritya, Ghoomar (Rajasthan), and others are examples of classical or semi-classical dance. We should consider ourselves fortunate that we are able to showcase our country's cultural glory through these events, and on top of that, we have children performing dance performances that represent Indian art forms.

Our students have been working extremely hard for the past two months on their preparations. They want to make sure that every move is flawless, and that every dance performance receives a standing ovation from our audience.

But, before we begin the performance, I'd like to welcome on stage our honorable chief guest, who has taken time out of his busy schedule to attend our event. On this particular day, we couldn't have asked for anything more. I am confident that our students will benefit greatly from their presence. I'd also like to invite our dance teacher to come on stage and welcome our guest for the occasion.

Now, Brace yourself for a high-octane dose of entertainment. I'd like to invite all of our students backstage to prepare for their turn.

Our ancient scholar Bharatmuni may not have imagined that the Rasa and Bhava of his writing would last for millennia when he wrote the "Natya Shastra." Our first performance is just a small step toward carrying on his legacy. Please welcome the students of class 8, who have come up with this beautiful opening performance. They have won several awards for their mesmerizing performances and are here to steal your heart. So, hold your breath and welcome them with a big round of applause.

With this, I conclude my speech. I hope you all have a wonderful evening ahead.

All the best to all the performers!

Short Anchoring Speech For Dance Performance

Greetings everyone! Today, we all are present here to celebrate our identity and our heritage. I am ABC, your host and I am glad to have this opportunity to deliver the welcome speech for dance performances.

Our nation's way of life and ethnicity is something we identify throughout our lives and until we die. Therefore we should count ourselves as blessed that we are getting a chance to showcase our country's cultural splendor through these events and that we have youngsters that can represent Indian artistic expression through their strong dance performances.

I am pretty sure these performances will be considerably more outstanding than what we have witnessed in the past few years. We will give our guests something that they will not easily forget. I'm sure all of you will feel extraordinarily devoted vibes after seeing these performances, and our hearts will palpitate with powerful and strong positive emotions for our country's culture and heritage.

Our students have put in a lot of effort into their preparations, which have been ongoing for several months. The goal was to ensure that each dance is perfect and that each dance performance results in thunderous applause from our audiences. Our students have worked hard every day on their dance performances in order to meet this wish.

I'd like to express my gratitude in particular to our team, which provided invaluable assistance in the planning of all such events. They are our pillars of support, or in other words, a solid backbone, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to them.

Dance is, in my opinion, one of the holiest art forms. It entails far more than simply shaking your hands and legs. Dance allows you to express your thoughts and emotions without having to speak. Dancers were once thought to be God's messengers because they could convey a wide range of emotions and narrate history or a story in an engaging way. Music plays an important role in bringing this art form to life, and it is an integral part of the dance.

So get ready for a whirlwind of joy and excitement. Without further ado, let us prepare for a spectacular start to the function.

On that note, I'd like to conclude my remarks and unveil today's event.

Welcome Speech For Bollywood Dance Performance in English

Deepika and Priyanka rocked the silver screen with this song and made history. Our girls ABC and XYZ, not an inch short of that. Let’s welcome ABC and XYZ to set a stage on the fire. They are going to make you guys crazy with their bollywood signature steps.

Welcome Speech For Punjabi Dance Performance in English

They are strong, they are synchronous, and they have a shiny outfit and lots of martial art tricks up their sleeve. Please welcome one and only “ABC '' Dance group on the stage… Oye, DJ Wale Inka Gaana Chalade…. Chak De Phatte..

Welcome Speech For Lavani (Maharashtrian Folk Dance) Dance Performance in English

Well boys, don’t go crazy on the next dance performance as ABC is coming up with a sensational Lavani performance on Ajay- Atul’s epic song “Jaudya Na Ghari” from the movie “Natrang”. So give it up for ABC.

Welcome Speech For Western Dances- Hip Hop, Krumping, Break Dance Performances in English

They got the moves, they got the attitude and they have rocked the stage before too. They were the winners of last year’s inter-college group dance competition, any guesses?…… Yes, you are right, they are no other than “ABC”.

Welcome Speech For Classical Dance Performance in English

While writing the “Natya Shastra”, our ancient scholar Bharatmuni might not have thought that the Rasa and Bhava of his writing will last for millennia. Our next performance is a tiny step to continue his legacy. Please welcome, ABC Group, presenting XYZ performance. They will be expressing PQR in their XYZ performance.

10 Lines For Writing a Welcome Speech For Dance Performance

Students of Classes 1 to 4 can refer to these lines for writing an introduction for dance performance to be performed in their schools.

Good Evening Vice Principal, Beloved Teachers, Parents and My Dear Students– Warm welcome to everyone!

On behalf of our school, I extend a very sincere welcome to all of you present here for the Annual Cultural Night which we have been hosting for ten years now.

Completing ten years gives us an occasion to celebrate it with great pomp and show and that is the main reason for the enormous gathering present here.

Indian Culture is an important part of our lives; it not only helps in the growth of our personality but also strengthens our roots and helps us remain grounded.

The main event of today's function is the "Cultural Dance Performance" which will be performed by students from all classes.

Dance, as a special art form, knows no bounds and can be understood and felt by everyone.

Dance performances, whether team-based or individual, are a fun activity for students that offer them a variety of benefits in addition to inner satisfaction.

Participating in a dance competition will help students develop self-esteem and confidence, as well as inspire them to achieve their goals and improve their social skills.

It allows students to learn and practise the skill of goal setting and practise.

Please give the children a standing ovation, which they deserve after months of hard work.

Dance is a divine art form that allows people to express a wide range of thoughts and emotions. Several people use dance to alleviate stress, while others see it as an opportunity to express feelings to their loved ones. The heart of dance is considered to be the soul, while the soul of music is considered to be the heart. You might be curious about a dance form that has nothing to do with music and is solely based on beats. In contrast to dance forms that include music, this type of dance takes more energy and effort.

FAQs on Welcome Speech For Dance Performance

1. Why is Welcome Speech For Dance Performance essential?

A welcome speech is essential to welcome all guests, professors, teachers, and students in any cultural event. A dance performance without a welcome speech is like a dance performance without a program. Framing a dance performance is important for any culture event be it college, school or wedding function. It gives events a beginning, middle and end. Adding a welcome speech or introduction for dance performance creates the feeling of a common experience with such a variety of ages, styles of dance and audiences in attendance.

2. What should you deliver in the Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in school event?

The Welcome Speech For Dance Performance should deliver the introduction of the group, style of dance, song, etc. Dance performance acquires huge power for the gathering of people, and it is the art that everyone prefers. The welcome speech is the best way to set the tone for such events. Students should make sure that they do not mug up every line from Vedantu’s Welcome Speech For Dance Performance. They should get an overall feel about it and speak from their heart.

3. How to welcome guests in a cultural event?

There are few ways to welcome the guests in the cultural event like I am glad to invite Mr. ABC, or It is my privilege to call Mr. ABC on to the stage, or may I invite our guest of honor on the stage and many more. If you have a co-anchor then have a natural conversation which should take place ahead. Be sure not to force conversation. It should sound and look natural and genuine. Students should also keep in mind that the first row is not the only audience. The rest of them are as important as the first row hence try to address both the types of audiences.

4. What are the tips for Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in English?

The following are some of the tips for Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in English.

First, get a list of planned dance performances

Talk to performers, and ask them what is special about their dance performance.

Use that material and prepare a piece of introduction

If possible avoid cliche Shayari and poems. If it suits the theme/subject, then students can use it.

If you are not confident and then refer to Vedantu’s Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in English For Students

5. Why should students refer to Vedantu’s Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in English For Students?

In the event that students need to speak a welcome speech and they don't have the idea how to express their group of audience in a welcome speech, that’s where Vedantu’s Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in English For Students comes in. Welcome Speech For Dance Performance in English For Students provided on Vedantu are composed comprehensively and in a simple language. Students should also add things that are specific to their school or college and performing team or individual and then present it.

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How to Host a School Talent Show

Last Updated: April 5, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 50,503 times. Learn more...

Hosting a talent show is a great way to bring students, teachers, and parents together for a night of entertainment! The children will relish the opportunity to compete and cheer one another on, and the buzz generated by your talent show can open the door to being able to host similar events in the future. You might even make it an annual tradition.

Getting Approval

As teachers are already engaged in the creative arts, it's natural for them to be involved in your show.
In addition, students can see by their instructors' enthusiasm that their school is committed to developing their overall quality of life, as well as their curriculum. [1] X Research source

Step 2 Highlight the benefits of the creative arts to the student body.

Research shows that pursuing an interest in creative arts reduces feelings stress and anxiety and increases positive emotions. [2] X Research source
Children are more likely to score higher on college entrance exams if they participate in four or more years of artistic study outside of their regular classes. [3] X Research source

Step 3 Be sure that the show participants follow school rules.

Each school's code of conduct differs, but mature content and dress will probably be prohibited.
You may also have to obtain permission for utilizing school grounds after hours for planning, rehearsing, or putting on the show.

Make a list of everything you need help with and assign volunteers to work on each item. This can be everything from selling tickets to promotions, set-building, lighting, stewarding, and backstage logistics.
If a role is particularly vital, have a back-up person to help if something goes wrong at the last minute.
Don't be afraid to delegate. Trust your volunteers and assign them enough help to accomplish their tasks. [4] X Research source

Setting the Date and Location

Step 1 Allow plenty of time to plan the show.

If RSVP's are required, you'll need to determine a timeline for that as well, as the RSVP date will need to be included on the flyers and invitations.

Step 2 Avoid scheduling the show on or near holidays and weekends.

Some students might not have transportation during the evenings or weekends, so it's crucial to keep the show as close to school hours as possible.

Step 3 Avoid double-booking with other school events.

Coordinate with the school's administrators to avoid conflicts with other school events such as athletics, other performances, or faculty meetings.

An auditorium or gym are large enough for a sizable audience and have plenty of room for a make-shift stage.
The parking lot, school grounds, or a sports field can be used as long as weather permits.

Step 5 Ask local businesses or public spaces for help.

Raising Funds

Include any assets you are able to gain either from the school or from outside donations.
Allocate the right amount of funds for each budget item. If any one item is significantly more expensive than the others, you may need to review whether it is necessary. [5] X Trustworthy Source Official UK government website Official website for the public sector of the UK government Go to source

Place donation jars in the school's main offices, classrooms, or cafeteria.

Publicizing the Show

Include clear information about the dates for the auditions, RSVP, and the show itself. Also highlight the location, theme, and contact information, and give credit to sponsors or donors.

Not only students, but parents, are active on social media. Instead of parents having to ask what their children are up to on a daily basis, it's more effective to show them. [10] X Trustworthy Source Edutopia Educational nonprofit organization focused on encouraging and celebrating classroom innovation Go to source

Organizing the Acts

Once you've seen the acts for yourself, you can suggest modifications to their performances or costumes to ensure that they conform with school rules and time restrictions.
Doing this early in the process allows for plenty of time to make any necessary modifications.

Consider the flow of the acts. Is it a good idea to put a rock band on after a romantic monologue from Shakespeare? Also, try to schedule a high-energy performance to end the show.
You can use the schedule as the basis for a program to pass out to audience members at the beginning of the show.

Step 3 Select a Master of Ceremonies (MC).

Consider a principal or teacher. If the school has a drama or performance program, a student not involved in one of the acts might be a good choice.
Make the MC's duties clear from the outset. They will need to make an opening speech and introduce each act, so provide them with a copy of the schedule as soon as it is available.

Step 4 Decide if there will be a competition element to your show.

Running the Event

Remember that you can delegate any of these tasks to volunteers, instead of trying to do them all yourself.

Step 4 Give a pep-talk before the show starts.

Make sure that members of upcoming acts are ready and waiting to go on.
Make a plan with the MC to provide support for students who forget lines or get stage fright.
If any of the student performers are too frightened to go onstage at their scheduled time, move their act to later in the show and bring on the next act. While the student waits to go on, give them a pep talk, remind them of how well they did in the audition or rehearsal, and make sure that their friends encourage them.

You might consider presenting volunteers with a small gift or flowers, or asking them to come on stage at the end of the show for a round of applause.

Expert Q&A

Keep a sign-in book, where attendees can provide their email, and create a contact list for future events Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Send out thank you notes about 2 weeks after the show, and use them as a reminder for the next big thing you have planned! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

↑ https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/63-get-teachers-on-your-side
↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/make-more-art-the-health-benefits-of-creativity_b_8868802.html
↑ https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/multiple_intelligences/the-importance-of-the-creative-arts-for-children-and-teens/
↑ https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/1285-stage-a-successful-talent-show
↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/can-do-guide-for-organisers-of-voluntary-events/the-can-do-guide-to-organising-and-running-voluntary-and-community-events
↑ https://www.pta.org/members/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1329
↑ https://blog.volunteerspot.com/volunteer_guru/2009/05/talent-shows-ideas-for-fun-and-fundraising.html
↑ https://www.edutopia.org/blog/making-case-social-media-in-schools-jim-asher
↑ https://www.pta.org/members/content.cfm?ItemNumber=2136

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Best Introduction or Starting Lines for TV Presenters

Who is a TV Presenter?

A TV presenter is a person who introduces or host a television program. Being a Television presenter you required the following skills:

Excellent communication and presentation skills
The ability to improvise when necessary
Research and interviewing skills
Calmness under pressure
A good memory for recalling scripts and facts
The ability to work on more than one task at a time

The TV presenter is one of the most exciting fields to work in and if you are one of the volunteers and wanting to be present on TV on a regular basis. here I am giving you the 5 best introduction or starting lines for TV Presenter.

Whether you are a beginner or a professional, the following 5 best introductions or starting lines for TV presenter will help you to make a good first impression and gain the attention of your audience.

10 Best Introduction or Starting Lines for TV Presenters

1. Good morning/afternoon/evening, welcome to your number one TV station news and updates. I am your host/anchor (Name here) taking you through this session. Stay tuned…

2. Good Evening and welcome to our TV show. Our guest tonight is Mr./Ms. (Name here) who is a well-known personality because of his/her (tell about achievements), so let’s welcome him/her with a big round of applause.

It’s an honor for us to have with us a great personality, who has consumed himself/herself to light the society. Thank you, Sir. for accepting our invitation.

3. Good Morning, My name is (Name here) and I am the (Name of the channel) Weather Woman. Put your coats away because the weather has given us the perfect mix of heat and wind. These cloudy skies cast beautiful outside weather while…

4. Hello everyone and welcome to _____sports! I am_______ with my co-anchorr_____. Happy to have you here (co-worker’s name) looking back on this week’s highlights of sports.

5. Hello, it’s_______________ and you are watching the_____________ bringing you the “eye on the news” for Thursday, 30 May 2019. Today we have 3 different stories which are…

Newscasting Script for The Introduction

Questions to Ask a Guest in the session

You can ask 5-10 of the following questions form your guest or make up your own questions.

What is your most extreme fear?
Where do you want to live after you graduate?
What is your favorite type of music? Who is your favorite singer? What is your favorite song?
What is your favorite book? Who is your favorite author?
If you could be anyone or anything for 1 day, who or what would it be? Why?
If you had money to help anyone or any group of people in the world, who would you help and how would you help them?
What are your 3 big wishes?
If you had 1 day that you could do absolutely anything that you wanted, what would you do?
What is your favorite TV show? Why? Who is your favorite actor or actress?
Where would you go if you could travel anywhere in the world? Why?
What do you think you will be doing in 20 years?
If you could meet anyone living now or in the past, who would that be? Why?
What is your favorite place to go out to eat?
How to Prepare a Report for News

Importance of Voice and Speech of TV Presenter/host

Voice and speech are two important factors that a TV presenter must have, the ability to communicate effectively in all areas of the program and it depends on how confident you are. Presence of a camera may make anyone a bit nervous which is called “Stage Fright”, but this can be overcome when you trust the information, news or knowledge you are delivering to your audiences and of course the way you are presenting it.

Voice and speech are two different things. Voice is something which depends on our anatomy. And a speech, on the contrary, is an acquired characteristic which depends on our method of the deliverance of voice. Remember through your speech, you are supposed to deliver information, knowledge or emotion.

There are many reasons that a good voice and speech are needed and the most important factors are as follow:

perception of credibility
Emotion Connection
Comprehension

Qualities of a TV Presenter

Outstanding presenters always pursue the following qualities:

Adept Nnonverbally: Which includes clear communication with body language and body language includes your body movements, gestures, posture, and facial expression.
Adept Verbally: Fully speaking a command and use great words. Your verbal communication, the way you speak can carry an audience. Also your tone, inflection, volume, and how your pace, pause and enunciate.
Animated: Full of life and excitement and act alive!
Assertive: Being strong and forceful but not overbearing. This is between the bookends of aggressive and passive.
Astute: Keen ability to accurately assess a situation or person and turn it into an advantage.
Cheerful: Noticeably happy and optimistic and simply smile while you present.
Clearance: Easy to perceive, leaving no doubt and attain clarity by testing your message beforehand.
Commanding: Being authoritative and you should own the room while enabling your audience to freely participate.
Confident: Confident is being self-assured and a quality that is catchy.
Credible: Convincing and believable that seems inherently obvious.
Dynamic: Stimulating and make your audience think and it’s one way to garner participation.
Effective: Successful in producing the desired result. Ultimately this is what your presentation is all about, and ensure your audience gets what they expect and want.
Energetic: Demonstrating vitality and pace yourself as you move about the room.
Engaging: Attracting and occupying interest and another key quality is connecting individually with both large and small audiences.
Engrossing: Absorbing all attention and keep eyes up not down on any devices.
Enthusiastic: Showing intense and eager enjoyment.
Focused: Paying particular attention to the topic at hand and keeping on the point and don’t allow your audience to take control.
Innovative: Original and creative thinking and give your audience more than what they expect.
Knowledgeable: Intelligent and well-informed and knowing the concept well enough to explain it to the uninitiated.
Logical: Clear and sound reasoning. What you present must make immediate sense.
Memorable: Easily remembered and worth remembering. Make sure your audience takes something away with them.
Natural: Smooth and polished and all this takes is a bit of concentrated practice.
Organized: Structured and in control also respect your audience by taking the time to adequately prepare.
Passionate: Showing strong feelings of interest. If you are not passionate, how can you expect your audience to follow suit?
Poised: Graceful and elegant. Indeed, this is the quality that encompasses many of the others. All the synonyms apply here: self-assured, composed, dignified and in complete control.
Present: Fully focused and engaged in the current situation and focus on what is happening, as it happens.
Relaxed: Being comfortable, not tense or anxious and set a calm tone for your presentation.
Understandable: Easily understood by your audience, which is the critical part.
Investigative: You need solid investigative skills. Get relevant information and ask the right questions to get the answers you need from your audience.
Humanity: don’t forget your integrity or your humanity.

So these are the 28 important qualities for TV presenters, anchors or host, now it is up to you. All it takes is to practice and perform it practically to master these skills.

Emcee Script

Each and every event you do as an Emcee will be different, so it’s almost impossible to give an actual Emcee Script that you can use for every occasion.

However, we have assembled the next best thing!

A huge collection of lines, phrases and words that you can use to slot in to any Emcee Script! There are also 4 Videos to help you create a Structure for each task. We have also provided links to several other popular articles here on the website that will help you write specific sections of your Master of Ceremony Script!

So, whatever it is you are writing, be it …

Emcee Script for School Program Emcee Script for Seminar Emcee Script for Opening Ceremony Emcee Script for Event Emcee Script for Wedding you’ll find some useful bits here.

In the Resource you will find snippets that can be used for …

Emcee Greetings Emcee Opening Remarks Introducing Speakers Thanking Speakers Emcee Closing Comments

We also include my personal collection of Power Words . Use these to beef up any Emcee Script you are writing.

Treat this as an ideas source rather than a finished script. Like a buffet meal, select little bits from each section, watch the Videos and put them together like a Jig Saw Puzzle!

We strongly suggest you Bookmark this page . We will be adding to it over time.

Now, what are you trying to write?

Is it an Opening Speech? An Introduction for a Speaker A Speech to Thank a Speaker? or do you just need some Funny Lines to use in your Emcee Script Watch a Video for each of those topics here OR Scroll down for further resources.

If you would like a more in depth article on each of these topics, please follow these links OR Scroll down for the Collection of Words & Phrases and Power Words.

Writing a Great Opening Speech

How to Introduce any Speaker

How to Thank a Speaker

Funny Lines & Quotes – Resource Book

The Emcee Script Source Files

Greetings & Welcomes

Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening

Dear Friends Dear Customers Dear Members Dear Delegates

Welcome to the … It is my pleasure to welcome you to the ….. You are about to … Come with us … Get ready to enjoy … It is my pleasure to welcome you to the … Let me begin by giving you a warm welcome to the… Thank you so much for being here …

Opening Questions

Wouldn’t you like to …? Are you ready for …? Don’t you wish …? Are you interested in …? Will you be ready for …? Isn’t it time you…?

Opening Grabbers

It’s not every day that … You’ve probably noticed that … Think about this … Believe it or not … It’s never too late to … First of all …

Challenge the Audience

Do something extraordinary! Delve into … Sample the … If you think you’re good enough … If you’re seriously interested in …

Introduction of Speakers / Entertainers

Mr/Mrs …, the floor is yours. Would you please welcome Would you please join me in welcoming .. It is my pleasure to welcome …

To show us how to …. It’s an absolute honour to bring to the stage … To get some of his insights into the topic

At last Now for the first time You’ll love … Sit back and enjoy

Renown Acclaimed Legendary Sensation Phenomenally successful

No-nonsense Dependable Proven techniques Carefully tested Precision Heavy-duty

Transitions between Speakers and Activities

All this and more! If questions like these intrigue you … And that’s not all And there’s more Last but not least Now there’s an even better way You’ll be glad to know that…

And we don’t stop there … And that was only the beginning And if that wasn’t enough … Now that, was only part of the story

We have a very special guest … To show you what we mean Now for the surprise

Thanking Speaker

We know you are a busy person Thankyou for taking time out of your busy schedule Thanks for sharing with us Thankyou for the insights Plenty of food for thought Your thought provoking Revealing The truth about Your frank discussion Eye-opening Enlightening Your valuable insights

Closing Words

I thank you for coming … We hope that the programme … Have a nice day Have a great weekend We look forward to seeing you at next years event Hope you will travel safely home Hope you will put into practice the lessons from this event There’s no point in coming to an event like this unless you do something with the lessons We hope you achieved what you came here to achieve We hope you met some interesting people

201 Power Words

Why use ordinary words in your Emcee Script when you can use Power Words?

Add these into Openings , Intros, Calls to Action and Thank You’s.

I started putting this list together when I had to Emcee some Talent Shows and wanted different words to use each time.

I’ve subsequently used the list at Product Launches, Trade Shows Exhibitions etc.

Delightful Memorable Captivating Moving Important

Honest Realistic The One & Only

Spectacular Packed with Bucket loads of Information A wealth of … Bonanza Chock full of Loaded with Extravaganza Celebration

Long awaited Long overdue It’s finally here Just when you thought … At last there’s

In depth Ultimate Complete Everything you wanted to know about … Extensive

Respected Influential Celebrated Renowned Most Distinguished Acclaimed Prominent Esteemed

Ingenuity Proficiency Ingenious Imagination

Practical Adaptable Designed to suit your needs Created especially for you Suited to your purpose

Magnificent Dazzling Sensational Incredible Amazing Unforgettable Terrific Fantastic

First-rate First-class Outstanding Incomparable Brilliant Excellent Unbeatable

The latest State of the art Brand new Bold new Revolutionary Latest Technology Designed for today’s … The … of the future Introducing

Mind-blowing Electrifying Masterful Mesmerizing Dynamite Raw Power High-voltage

An investment in your future Skills you will use your whole life long Gives you a competitive edge A clear advantage The road to success Invest in yourself

Don’t hesitate You’ve waited long enough Don’t miss this opportunity Take this important next step

Please help us We cannot continue our work without your help A future filled with hope and promise Help us reach our goal I hope you will join us in contributing

Note – The full Expert MC Toolkit & Resource manual has an additional 100 pages of material specifically for MCs. Lines, Openings, Thank You’s Stories, Jokes & Quotes. Check it out here.

Timothy Hyde

Widely acknowledged as one of Australia's busiest & best MC's and a global authority on the MC Industry, Timothy Hyde shares his expertise and insights into this fascinating Professional Speaking niche via this site and a dynamic YouTube channel. His best selling book The ExpertMC Toolkit and Resource Manual has helped thousands of people worldwide improve their Emcee skills and in many cases, start earning a living by taking on the role.

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Watch CBS News

Duke University graduates walk out ahead of Jerry Seinfeld's commencement address

Updated on: May 13, 2024 / 2:40 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Dozens of students walked out of Duke University's commencement ceremony on Sunday as actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld was about to give his address, according to videos posted on social media.

In a video posted on X, people were seen waving Palestinian flags and filing out of the crowd of graduates at the North Carolina university's football stadium.

Duke University President Vincent Price's introduction to Seinfeld was drowned out by some people chanting "free Palestine," while others shouted "Jerry! Jerry!"

The 70-year-old Seinfeld, who has supported Israel since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, recently sparked controversy over his comments on what remains acceptable fodder for comedy today.

On Sunday, he received an honorary degree from Duke and delivered the commencement address without major interruptions, a livestream of the ceremony showed. The livestream did not show the students walking out.

His speech largely steered clear of politics and instead focused on jokes about the students, artificial intelligence and privilege.

"A lot of you are thinking, 'I can't believe they invited this guy.' Too late," he said, after vowing to "defend" the concept of privilege.

"I say, use your privilege. I grew up a Jewish boy from New York. That is a privilege if you want to be a comedian," he added.

As Seinfeld spoke, the departed graduates chanted, "Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest" from the parking lot, The New York Times reported.

The actor has not commented publicly on the walkout.

In a statement to CBS News, Frank Tramble, vice president for marketing, communications and public affairs at Duke, said: "We're excited and delighted for the Class of 2024 and their families. We understand the depth of feeling in our community, and as we have all year, we respect the right of everyone at Duke to express their views peacefully, without preventing graduates and their families from celebrating their achievement."

The demonstration by students is the latest manifestation of protests that have roiled U.S. campuses for several weeks as students call for universities to divest from arms suppliers and other companies fueling and profiting from the war.

The protests prompted universities such as Columbia and the University of Southern California to cancel or restructure their main graduation ceremonies.

At the University of Michigan, students briefly interrupted the ceremony earlier this month .

"Peaceful protests like this have taken place at U-M commencement ceremonies for decades," university spokesperson Colleen Mastony said after the ceremony.

This week, Xavier University of Louisiana and the University of Vermont rescinded a commencement invitation to United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield because of student outcry over the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Administrators at both universities cited pressure from students and the community over the Biden administration's support for Israel in its war with Hamas.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a small group of demonstrators staged what appeared to be a silent protest during commencement at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday. A photo posted by the Wisconsin State Journal showed about six people walking through the rear of the stadium, with two carrying a Palestinian flag.

Marc Lovicott, a spokesperson for campus police, said the group, which he believed were students because they were wearing caps and gowns, "was kind of guided out but they left on their own." No arrests were made.

Dozens of graduating students at Virginia Commonwealth University walked out on an address by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. While some of the estimated 100 students and family members who left during the Republican governor's speech showed support for Palestinians, others held signs signaling opposition to Youngkin's policies on education, according to WRIC-TV .

At the University of Texas, Austin, a student held up a Palestinian flag during a commencement ceremony and refused to leave the stage briefly before being escorted away by security.

And at the University of California, Berkeley, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators began waving flags and chanting during commencement and were escorted to the back of the stadium, where they were joined by others, according to the San Francisco Chronicle . There were no major counterprotests, but some attendees voiced frustration.

Jerry Seinfeld

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A mystery illness stole their kids’ personalities. These moms fought for answers.

Their children’s decline was precipitous and dramatic, with patients losing function in days or weeks, including the ability to talk, move or take care of themselves.

Before Sara Smythe began to disappear, she was thriving.

The youngest of four sisters, Sara was born with Down syndrome and lived the life of an active teen. At 13, the Toledo student was heading to middle school and loved soccer and swim practice, took dance and karate classes, and was a Girl Scout.

But in 2011, everything changed in a matter of weeks. Sara morphed from a sociable teen to a person who stopped talking and engaging with other people, and, at her worst, had full-blown catatonia.

Sara’s doctors were at a loss, but her mother, Eileen Quinn, wasn’t giving up. She embarked on what would become a 13-year quest, harnessing the power of a mother’s love to push the scientific community to pay attention to the mysterious regressions that some young people with Down syndrome were experiencing.

“I think people just might have a bias that, well, this person already has a disability, so it’s not as important,” Quinn said. “It was just devastating to think that I had lost Sara. I mean, this kid who made us laugh out loud every single day was totally gone. And there was just a shell left.”

As she searched for treatments for her daughter, Quinn , a developmental pediatrician at the University of Toledo, spoke at medical conferences and co-wrote research to spread the word. Through social media, Quinn galvanized other parents who also had seen their once-thriving children disappear. Quinn’s advocacy, combined with the efforts of another mother whose daughter had regressed, helped spur the first clinical trial of treatments for the regression disorder.

“She really gets a lot of credit shaking the consciousness of the community and saying, ‘There’s something new out there that we really need to target,’” said Brian Skotko , the director of the Down syndrome program at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.

A mystery condition that could hold clues to aging

Regression symptoms in patients with Down syndrome were identified as early as 1946 , but the condition was often misdiagnosed as either early-onset Alzheimer’s disease or late-onset autism.

Its effects can be devastating. When someone with Down syndrome regresses, the decline can be precipitous and dramatic, with patients losing function in days or weeks, including the ability to talk, move or take care of themselves. Some, like Sara, can enter a catatonic state or suffer from hallucination and depersonalization, leaving loved ones desperately searching for answers and help.

For decades, there hadn’t been a formal diagnosis for patients experiencing regression symptoms. In fact, parents say doctors often would dismiss concerns, saying the regression was just a normal part of Down syndrome.

“I think people just might have a bias that, well, this person already has a disability, so it’s not as important.” — Eileen Quinn, Sara Smythe's mother

It was only in 2022 that the condition was finally given an official name: Down syndrome regression disorder, or DSRD. Though its prevalence is difficult to measure, DSRD is believed to affect between 1 to 5 percent of people with Down syndrome.

Many believe a better understanding of Down syndrome, which occurs in approximately 1 in 800 births and is caused by an extra chromosome 21, could lead to advances in our overall understanding of cancer, autoimmune conditions and longevity. Remarkably, people with Down syndrome rarely develop hypertension as they age and almost never develop most solid tumor cancers . But they are far more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease earlier in life. About 30 percent of people with Down syndrome develop dementia in their 50s.

Scientists who study Down syndrome say people with the condition live rich and fulfilling lives, but they also experience “a very atypical form of aging,” said Joaquin Espinosa , executive director of the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. For researchers, “that could be super-rich to understand aging in general.”

Galvanizing mothers

In 2013, before DSRD had been named or widely acknowledged by the medical community, Quinn joined a panel discussion of the Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group , which focused on the mysterious regression clinicians had been seeing in some patients with Down syndrome. Quinn presented her own daughter as a case study, including videos she had taken to document Sara’s decline. She noticed that their story brought tears to the eyes of some of those in the audience.

After the panel appearance, other families began to contact Quinn, desperate to talk with someone who understood the pain and isolation of watching a loved one regress. One of the first to reach out was Linda Roan of Boulder, Colo. Her daughter, Miah Yager, was 20 when she underwent a similar regression in 2013.

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Gregarious and friendly, Miah had a natural talent for acting and had played a lead role as Lucy in the musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Right after she graduated high school in 2012, Miah gave a speech at Purdue University as the youth keynote speaker for her church. The crowd gave her a standing ovation.

But in 2013, during her first semester at the College of Charleston , Miah began to disconnect from the outside world. Her friends noticed she was staying up for nights on end, obsessively copying notes and textbooks and missing appointments and social outings.

By Thanksgiving break, something was clearly amiss. The usually sociable Miah was not interested in being with her family and was suffering from the delusion that she was living in one of her favorite TV shows, “Pretty Little Liars .”

Miah didn’t return to school, and began what would become the first of many treatment attempts by her doctors. Over 18 months, psychotropic medications helped stabilize her, but it didn’t last. Miah regressed again and was no longer able to speak or answer questions. Roan had to feed her daughter by hand, rubbing her daughter’s cheeks to help her chew.

“I was like a bulldog trying to find some treatment and care for her,” Roan said.

Meanwhile, more and more families were reaching out to Quinn. In 2016, Quinn started a Facebook group called Regression in Down Syndrome . The private online community is now almost 2,000 strong, made up of family members — mostly mothers — seeking advice and trying to help their sons and daughters.

As more members joined the group, parents sought support, swapped tips and shared information about physicians and a variety of potential treatments, including psychotropic drugs and brain stimulation treatments. Some of the treatments helped for a while, but for many, including Miah, long-term success remained elusive.

‘It’s like they wake up’

In April 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Jonathan Santoro , director of the neuroimmunology program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, for the first time saw a patient with Down syndrome who had inexplicably regressed.

He ordered a lumbar puncture, which collects cerebrospinal fluid, and the test revealed proteins that suggested the patient’s blood-brain barrier had broken down, indicating the potential for inflammation in his brain. Santoro remembers running down the hallway to tell the patient’s father that he found something.

For Santoro, a trained immunologist and neurologist, it was an important clue. People with Down syndrome were already known to have a much higher rate of autoimmune disorders such as thyroid disorders, skin conditions and celiac disease. Santoro recalled thinking: “How is this not something autoimmune? This is exactly like so many of the other diseases I treat.”

He and his team eventually treated that first patient with a standard immunotherapy called intravenous immunoglobulin, or IVIg, with a goal of resetting the immune system. After a combination of treatments, the patient dramatically improved. “Two weeks later, he’s running down the hall and hugging me and talking, and it’s like meeting a different person,” Santoro said.

“How is this not something autoimmune? This is exactly like so many of the other diseases I treat.” — Jonathan Santoro, associate professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles

When Santoro and his colleagues later followed 82 patients for up to a year after ending treatment with IVIg, they found that more than half remained well .

“When these treatments do work, it’s like they wake up,” Santoro said.

Santoro, who spearheaded the 2022 paper defining DSRD, said he believes that the regression symptoms had historically been downplayed by the medical community because of a bias many doctors may have about people with Down syndrome and intellectual disability.

“If you brought your perfectly healthy teenage son or daughter in and they were not sleeping, not eating, catatonic and hallucinating, we would admit them to the hospital and do a full workup,” Santoro said. “And we weren’t doing that with individuals with Down syndrome.”

A fortuitous connection

In October 2020, Santoro found Quinn’s Facebook group and asked to post about his research into the root causes of the strange regression disorder. Since then, hundreds of families have reached out.

Santoro and his team say they now have evaluated over 500 patients from all over the world, and many had abnormal brain scans or immune systems in overdrive, leading to inflammation that appeared to have affected their brains, possibly triggering the regression.

One of the patients Santoro treated was Miah. Unfortunately, the IVIg treatment he prescribed only helped a little, possibly because at that time, Miah already had been in regression for about seven years.

But the connection proved fortuitous in another way. After working with Santoro, Roan remembered meeting another researcher who had taken an interest in her daughter’s case and also told her he suspected the immune system may have played a role in her regression.

It was Espinosa, now executive director of the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome. He was researching immune system changes in Down syndrome as well as a more targeted form of immunotherapy.

Roan discovered that Espinosa and Santoro didn’t know of each other’s complementary research. She thought, “Oh, my gosh, these guys need to talk,” and introduced them over email.

“We hit it off right away,” Espinosa said. “So finally I found a partner who understands what we’re seeing.”

An immune system attacking the brain

In earlier studies , Espinosa and his colleagues had found that the stark uptick in immune activity in people with Down syndrome may lie on the extra copy of chromosome 21 that causes the condition. The chromosome contains important immune system genes for receptors that detect interferon, which allows our immune system to fight off viral infections.

But because people with Down syndrome have an extra chromosome 21, they have extra copies of these immune genes — which appear to dysregulate and ramp up the immune system’s response . The result, Espinosa said, is a body that acts like it’s “constantly trying to fight a virus that is not there.”

Now, researchers believe that people with DSRD may have a hyperactive immune system that’s mistakenly attacking the brain.

When Santoro and Espinosa began talking as a result of Roan’s introduction, they discovered they had both been working on different forms of immunotherapy treatments for Down syndrome patients. Santoro’s research focused on IVIg. Espinosa had been studying tofacitinib, an immunosuppressant drug that targets the interferon pathway and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat other autoimmune disorders , including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Though Espinosa was testing tofacitinib for autoimmune skin conditions that afflict patients with Down syndrome, the treatment had also shown promise in patients with DSRD, including Miah.

To compare the treatments side by side, the researchers designed a trial pitting lorazepam, a standard psychiatric drug, against each of the two immunotherapies. In 2023, Santoro and Espinosa, along with Elise Sannar , a child psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, established the first randomized control clinical trial of potential treatments for DSRD.

The researchers are working together to collect as many biological specimens as possible to understand both what causes DSRD as well as what biological signatures could help predict the most effective treatment for each patient.

Espinosa credits Miah and Roan for this collaboration. “It was really the story of this participant and this mom that brought us all together,” he said.

Roan now works with Espinosa at the Crnic Institute as the clinical trial community liaison, a role in which she draws on her experience as a parent and caregiver to explain the research and treatments to other families.

“My hope is — and I believe this to be true — that no families are going to have to go through what my family, what Miah’s been through,” Roan said.

Spreading the word about DSRD

Santoro and Espinosa want to create more awareness of DSRD so doctors and patients can seek treatment sooner. They’ve conducted workshops with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation and the National Down Syndrome Society . To help, Quinn continues to offer resources through the Facebook group and has held webinars and podcasts with Santoro to help spread the word.

The rapid progress in research and awareness about DSRD reached the small town of Eagle River, Alaska. That’s where 27-year-old Darci Owens was living when she began to regress.

Owens, who has Down syndrome, was the first athlete in Alaska to become a certified coach through Special Olympics and traveled with the Seattle Seahawks for fundraising events. She hosted a cooking show on Facebook called “ Dining With Darci ,” teaching Special Olympics athletes how to make healthy meals and snacks, including fish tacos made from Alaska halibut, her favorite recipe on the show.

But on April 11, 2022, Darci’s life changed. That week, she became mute and would not eat. She could no longer run without falling, and quickly developed psychosis, which meant the once-independent athlete had to be fed, bathed and dressed.

Her mother, Dana Owens, a manager of therapy services at a hospital, found Quinn’s Facebook group as well as Santoro’s research on DSRD. Dana got in touch with Santoro and flew to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles with Darci for testing. Santoro recommended IVIg and provided Darci’s doctors in Alaska with detailed protocols for treatment.

With a combination of IVIg, electroconvulsive therapy and lorazepam, Darci, now 28, emerged from the depths of regression and catatonia. Most, but not all, of her symptoms have now abated, and she is continuing to undergo treatments. “But overall, oh, such vast improvement from where we were,” Dana Owens said.

The road ahead for Miah

Miah, now 31, started on tofacitinib in 2021 as part of Espinosa’s clinical trial on autoimmune skin conditions. Though the tofacitinib only partially helped her skin condition, Miah’s regression symptoms improved.

In November 2023, Miah was focused on rehearsing for a musical, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” — the same one she had starred in 12 years prior. “I’ve been practicing my play a ton, so that’s fun,” Miah said over a plate of chicken tacos at the taqueria next door to the dress rehearsal, where she danced and sang in her role as Sally, the titular character’s younger sister.

But DSRD has taken its toll.

“Her memory is pretty much wiped out, like, she has no memory — not even just of DSRD, but even the good times back to high school,” Roan said. Miah does not remember that she had performed in this musical before as its star.

Miah still experiences flare-ups and periods of relapse in which she feels “fuzzy” and “heat” in her head, as she describes it. Last fall, Miah said she still felt a “medium heat” but she continues to improve. She is training to be a waitress, a job in which she enjoys getting “to meet new people every day,” and lives five nights a week with two roommates who give her extra support.

“She’s never gotten fully 100 percent back to the person that she was prior, but she’s pretty darn close, and she’s doing well,” Roan said.

A formal diagnosis for Sara

In June 2023, Quinn and Sara flew to see Santoro, who officially diagnosed Sara with DSRD. Sara received her first dose of IVIg in mid-October that year. Like Miah, Sara hasn’t returned to who she was before regression, but she is improving.

Recently, Sara was part of a performance for an ice-skating program called Gliding Stars. Sara smiled during the performance, which she hadn’t done in the 10 years she had previously participated, Quinn said. Sara, now 26, recently graduated with a certificate from the University of Toledo transition program for people with disabilities. She has also become more social and recently attended the wedding of a friend from grade school.

While the improvements aren’t dramatic, they are significant. The immunotherapy has given Sara back “joy and the capacity to show it,” Quinn said.

About this story

Photo editing by Maya Valentine. Design editing by Chelsea Conrad. Copy editing by Matt Schnabel.