How to Speaker the RDG Way

One of the biggest missed opportunities many Toastmasters (and speakers in general) have is not taking advantage of a quality introduction. The introduction is essentially a free minute or less to warm the audience up and sell them on why they should pay attention to your speech. How do you come up with your introduction, and what do you put in it?

Let's start with a typical, not very good introduction for a speech about the history and future of web browsers:

"I'll be speaking about web browsers for this project"

What's wrong with that? Lots of things! First, it doesn't tell the audience why they should listen, and it isn't very specific about the content. It doesn't include the speech objectives or details. It doesn't tell us why you're qualified to talk about the topic. Worst of all: It doesn't create any interest.

To change this, you need to consider what people want in an introduction. They want to know what's going to be talked about - the content. They want to know why it's relevant to them - the context. They want to know the credibility of the material and the speaker. The audience also wants these three C's put in you-focused language.

Content is easiest to start with. We want a little taste about what you're going to talk about. Think of movie trailers and how they drop hints about the premise of the movie without revealing the plot. Some sample content items for our topic might be:

• The origin and history of web browsers
• What the current market looks like
• What future developments are coming

Context is how we bridge our content to the audience's interest. We want to make a big promise that our speech will deliver on that will help the audience be able to know, feel, or do something. In our sample case, this is clearly a know. If your speech has a process, you can use statements like "by listening to and applying this speech, you'll get the five keys to being a better person" or "you'll get three easy ways to crush procrastination for good". If your speech is more story-based, you can sell the emotions the story or stories are meant to convey: "this gripping tale of noir detectives is a fresh take on the genre" or "after you hear David's harrowing tale you'll never look at life the same way again". Remember: Keep these you-focused. Some sample context statements include:

• You'll learn about some of the secrets of the browser wars (people love "hidden" knowledge)
• You'll learn about browser alternatives you can try to improve your computing experience
• You'll be ready for what's next in web browsers

Finally, it's time to address credibility. If your speech is about a process (as in the above "three easy ways", for example), the credibility should be more about the process than the person. If it's based on a story, credibility statements can be more about the impact the story has had on others. Credibility also flows from your history, training, and experience; for example, if you're a pediatrician, you have credibility when speaking about medical matters for children. Some samples:

• This process has been shown by 50 local companies to dramatically improve sales by 15% or more (specificity builds more credibility)
• As a lawyer specializing in patent law for over 15 years, this is what you need to know if you're submitting an invention
• This story was found to be "completely hilarious" by 10 out of 10 relatives asked (a little humorous, here)

Now for some samples relevant to our above topic:

• Our presenter has been using the Internet since before the rise of Google
• Our presenter has used over 20 different web browsers, both on desktop and on mobile
• Our presenter has done hours of research on this topic and is going to share some surprising findings with you (a little generic, but usable)

Let's put all of this together into one sample introduction.

"The web browser is a staple of Internet use. But do you know when the first web browser came out and who made it? Do you know the players in the web browser market? After listening to this speech, you'll know how the web browser was born, a little about its tumultuous upbringing, and finally, where things are headed. You might just find a new web browser you'll want to improve your Internet experience with as well. 

Our next speaker has been using the Internet since Alta Vista and Lycos were a thing back in the 90s, and has used many flavors of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator (now Mozilla Firefox), and Google Chrome, and wanted to find out more about the history of these applications. Now, he'll share some of those discoveries with you. Please help me welcome..."

Much better! Now we satisfy the three C's in an audience-focused way. If this is being put on paper and it's a Toastmasters speech, we'd just need to put the speech title, project title, objectives, and time limits. 

If you want a worksheet to help you develop your introduction, check the resources section.