Or….a good start can lead to a good finish! The All Important HOOK Or….a good start can lead to a good finish!

#1PURPOSE: Arouse Interest HOW??? Speak forcefully. Use a clear, strong tone without sounding artificial or overbearing. Practice controlling your voice and balance verbal rhythms to get a feel for the sentences you plan to share with the audience. A speaker must adopt some of the characteristics of an actor. Your goal, like that of an entertainer, is to grab and keep your listener's attention.

TYPE OF HOOKS Personal references Quotations Illustrations/stories Questions—rhetorical or action Reference to audience or occasion Humor Proverb (sayings) Offer a challenge; riddle, case study Startling statistic or fascinating fact

BAD HOOKS The apologetic introduction The trite intro “I couldn’t really think of anything so I picked…” “I’m actually not very good at….” The trite intro “I am pleased to speak to you today…” The misleading introduction The intro goes one way but the speech goes somewhere else! The “Hem and Haw” intro It never gets to the point. The WORST ONE—simple statement “The topic of my speech is….”

GOOD HOOKS “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  — John F. Kennedy “Give me liberty or give me death!” — Patrick Henry “I have a dream!” — Martin Luther King Jr. “Read my lips: no new taxes!” — George Bush “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” — Johnny Cochrane

Practice… On the following slides, identify the TYPE of HOOK being used What is one other way to introduce a speech on this topic?

For a speech on the environment? WHAT WILL LIFE BE LIKE IN THE YEAR 2020? Will we have clean air to breathe? Or will we all be wearing gas masks?

TYPE OF HOOKS Personal references Quotations Illustrations/stories Questions—rhetorical or action Reference to audience or occasion Humor Proverb (sayings) Offer a challenge; riddle, case study Startling statistic or fascinating fact

For a speech on smoking bans How many people here have dined out in the last week in a place where you had to breathe in smoky air?

TYPE OF HOOKS Personal references Quotations Illustrations/stories Questions—rhetorical or action Reference to audience or occasion Humor Proverb (sayings) Offer a challenge; riddle, case study Startling statistic or fascinating fact

For a speech on disabilities I am disabled. This is a label put on me because I am confined to a wheelchair. But what I have learned is that disabled people are confined by the attitudes of society in ways much more restrictive than my wheelchair.

TYPE OF HOOKS Personal references Quotations Illustrations/stories Questions—rhetorical or action Reference to audience or occasion Humor Proverb (sayings) Offer a challenge; riddle, case study Startling statistic or fascinating fact

For a speech on seatbelts ONE TENTH OF A SECOND IS ALL IT TAKES FOR YOU TO CRASH THROUGH A WINDSHEILD OF A CAR IF YOU ARE NOT WEARING A SEATBELT. YOU COULD END UP DEAD!

TYPE OF HOOKS Personal references Quotations Illustrations/stories Questions—rhetorical or action Reference to audience or occasion Humor Proverb (sayings) Offer a challenge; riddle, case study Startling statistic or fascinating fact

For a speech on foreign exchange programs LAST YEAR, OUR FAMILY WAS THE HOST FOR A FOREIGN STUDENT FROM ISRAEL. HIS NAME WAS GABRIEL SOLDAD AND HE LIVED WITH US FOR NINE MONTHS. IT WAS OUR INTENTION TO GIVE GABE A CHANCE TO LEARN ABOUT THE UNITED STATES. WHAT WE DIDN’T EXPECT WAS THAT WE WOULD LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD FROM HIM.

TYPE OF HOOKS Personal references Quotations Illustrations/stories Questions—rhetorical or action Reference to audience or occasion Humor Proverb (sayings) Offer a challenge; riddle, case study Startling statistic or fascinating fact

For a speech about positive attitude: SHE CAME RUNNING DOWNSTAIRS ONE MORNING, LIGHTHEARTED AS ONLY A CHILD CAN BE AT 7:30 A.M. SHE RUSHED INTO THE KITCHEN AND NOTICED THAT HER MOTHER WORE A GLUM EXPRESSION. “MOMMY,” SHE SAID, “AREN’T YOU HAPPY?” “WHY CERTAINLY I’M HAPPY,” THE MOTHER REPLIED. “WELL,” SAID THE LITTLE GIRL, “YOU HAVEN’T TOLD YOUR FACE YET.”

TYPE OF HOOKS Personal references Quotations Illustrations/stories Questions—rhetorical or action Reference to audience or occasion Humor Proverb (sayings) Offer a challenge; riddle, case study Startling statistic or fascinating fact