Some ways to capture the audiences attention are:
- Startling statement - find a statistic that gives a startling, visual sense of a situation (e.g., "The US consumes 1500 plastic bottles every second")
- Hype the history - give an interesting historical fact
- A nation of imagination - use the word "Imagine" to start out your speech, and get the audience seeing a vivid picture in their mind of something that relates directly to your speech
Tim Wilson
Professional Speech Coach
Free speaking tips at: http://speakingquicktips.blogspot.com
