Chapter 8: Introductions and Conclusions Study Guide

Learning Objectives and Speech Structure Overview

• Functions of Speech Structure:

  • Introductions and conclusions serve to frame a speech, establishing a clearly defined beginning and end.
  • They provide a "preview/review" structure that utilizes planned redundancy to aid auditory retention and understanding in live presentation contexts.
  • The bulk of research, facts, and core content belongs in the body section, which accounts for approximately $80\%$ of total speech time.

• Time Allocation Rules:

  • Introduction: Should consume $10\%\text{--}15\%$ of total speech time.
  • Conclusion: Should consume $5\%\text{--}10\%$ of total speech time (e.g., a maximum of $30\text{ seconds}$ for a $5\text{-minute}$ speech).
  • Mathematical Allocation Example: For a $5\text{--}7\text{ minute}$ speech (averaging $6\text{ minutes}$ or $360\text{ seconds}$):
    • The introduction ($10\%\text{--}15\%$) should last $36\text{--}54\text{ seconds}$ (approximately $1\text{ minute}$).
    • An introduction or conclusion taking $90\text{ seconds}$ consumes $25\%$ of the total speech time, improperly reducing the time available for the body section.

• Composition Strategy:

  • Compose the introduction after fully developing and structuring the body section of the speech.

Pitfalls and Common Errors in Speech Delivery

• Common Introduction Errors:

  • Rambling and meandering without quickly reaching the topic.
  • Speaking merely to get comfortable on stage.
  • Reading the specific purpose statement aloud, especially as the opening words.
  • Damaging speaker credibility through pedantic approaches (e.g., defining universally understood terms like "love") or non-audience-centered techniques.
  • Beginning to speak while walking toward the platform or lectern. The correct procedure is to reach the destination, pause, smile, and then begin speaking.
  • Reading the introduction from notes rather than establishing immediate, direct eye contact with the audience.
  • Using inappropriate humor or references.
  • Talking too fast due to nervousness; speakers should speak emphatically and clearly to allow the audience to adapt to their voice.

• Common Conclusion Errors:

  • Signaling the end multiple times (e.g., delivering "multiple conclusions" or stating "As I close" or "In conclusion" repeatedly).
  • Rambling after signaling the end.
  • Talking while leaving the platform or lectern.
  • Exhibiting negative facial expressions or body language that reveal dissatisfaction with speech performance.

Primary Elements of a Speech Introduction

• An effective introduction contains five standard elements, typically arranged in the following sequence:

• Element 1: Get the Audience's Attention (Attention Getter / Grabber):

  • An attention getter is a statement or question that piques the audience's interest at the very start of a speech.

*   *Selection Criteria*: Must be appropriate and relevant to both the specific audience (determined via audience analysis) and the speech topic. Avoid references unfamiliar to specific demographics (e.g., referencing the television show *Stranger Things* to an audience over age $65$) or inappropriate actions (e.g., throwing items at an audience during a stock market presentation).
*   *Factors of Attention*: Successful attention getters leverage concreteness, novelty, familiarity, movement (avoiding lingering too long in the introduction), audience needs (WIIFM: "What's in it for me?"), suspense, or conflict.
*   *Attention-Getting Methods*:
    *   *Anecdotes and Narratives*:

        *   **Brief Anecdote**: A short account of an interesting or humorous event. Example: In July 2009, high school student Miranda Becker was texting while walking on a main boulevard in Staten Island, New York, and fell into an open manhole.
        *   **Parables and Fables**: Allegorical stories designed to teach general life lessons (e.g., Biblical parables or Aesop's Fables such as *The Tortoise and The Hare*).
        *   **Familiar Stories**: Using ghost stories, tall tales, fairy tales, myths, or legends to create connection through familiarity.
        *   **Personal Stories**: Sharing firsthand knowledge or expert experience (e.g., introducing a speech on gastric bypass surgery by sharing personal surgery experience from Fall 2015).
        *   *Caveat*: Keep personal stories focused on the speech topic, brief, and composed. Avoid overly distressing personal content (e.g., announcing a family member died at $3:30\text{ AM}$ that morning), as emotional breakdowns make audiences uncomfortable and diminish speech effectiveness.
    *   *Startling Statement / Statistic / Fact*:
        *   Surprises the audience with unexpected data or facts to drive engagement.
        *   Examples:
            *   "A Boeing 747 airliner holds $57{,}285\text{ gallons}$ of fuel."
            *   "The average person has over $1{,}460\text{ dreams}$ a year."
            *   "There are no clocks in any casinos in Las Vegas."
            *   "In $2000$, Pope John Paul II became the most famous honorary member of the Harlem Globetrotters."
        *   *Ethical Obligations*: Startling claims must be factually accurate, verified through reliable citations, relevant to the topic, and never used solely for fear-mongering or shock value.
    *   *Rhetorical Question*:

        *   A question to which no actual reply is expected (e.g., "Do you remember the last time you told your mom you loved her?").
    *   *Immediate Reference to Subject / Purpose*:
        *   Directly stating the speech subject (e.g., "We are surrounded by statistical information in today's world, so understanding statistics is becoming paramount to citizenship in the twenty-first century."). Clear and direct, though often the least entertaining method.
    *   *Reference to Audience or Appeal to Self-Interest*:
        *   Directly acknowledges unique audience characteristics and answers the WIIFM question (e.g., encouraging State College students to consider majoring in Communication to secure lucrative and fulfilling careers).
    *   *Quotation*:
        *   Using notable words relevant to the topic. Always cite the source before delivering the quote (e.g., Audrey Hepburn: "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible'!").
    *   *Reference to Current Events*:
        *   Refers to recent news to demonstrate immediate topic relevance. Example: Mentioning the January 10 escape of Scott Anthony Gomez, Jr. from a Pueblo, Colorado jail using a bedsheet ladder, during which he fell $40\text{ feet}$, injured his back, and subsequently sued the jail for making escape too easy.
    *   *Historical Reference*:
        *   Refers to historical events to establish parallels. Example: Comparing modern music criticisms to the mid-1950s response to Elvis Presley and rock and roll.
    *   *Humor*:
        *   Effective for engaging audiences, but risky if inappropriate or offensive. Always test humor on a sample audience prior to delivery. Never claim a pre-existing narrative joke happened to you personally. Example quotation: Nicolas Chamfort's statement, "The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless."

• Element 2: Establish or Enhance Your Credibility:

  • Explain personal expertise, lived experience (e.g., playing baseball for $10\text{ years}$ including varsity pitcher, or volunteering for $2\text{ years}$ with Big Brothers Big Sisters), or academic research conducted on the topic.

• Element 3: Establish Rapport:

*   Create a connection with the audience by explicitly stating how the information benefits them. Example: In a speech on Lord Byron, highlighting that students enrolled in British Literature or Humanities 1202 will directly benefit from the background information provided.

• Element 4: Preview Your Topic / Purpose / Central Idea:

  • Clearly reveal the main topic and central idea. Avoid forcing the audience to guess through vague statements (e.g., ambiguous descriptions of historical figures that could apply equally to Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, or others).
  • Never read the formal outline specific purpose statement ("To inform my audience…") verbatim, as its academic phrasing sounds awkward when spoken aloud.

• Element 5: Preview Your Main Points:

  • Succinctly list the specific main points to be covered in the body (e.g., examining Abraham Lincoln's birth, presidency, and assassination) using clear signposts (first, second, third).

Structural Elements of a Speech Conclusion

• An effective conclusion incorporates three primary elements, structured in the following order:

• Element 1: Signal the End:

  • Telegraph to the audience that the speech is concluding (e.g., using explicit signposts like "In conclusion," "In summary," or "To conclude").
  • Gives the audience time to mentally process and organize the points made.
  • Avoid repeating transition phrases multiple times.

• Element 2: Restate Main Points:

  • Rephrase and summarize the main points (planned redundancy) to reinforce retention.
  • Rules: Never introduce new material, unaddressed subtopics, or unresolved counterarguments (e.g., mentioning bird mortality or noise issues at the end of a wind energy speech) in the conclusion.

• Element 3: Clincher (Concluding Device):

*   The final, memorable sentence or thought that leaves a strong lasting impression.
*   *Clincher Methods*:
    *   *Challenge*: An aspirational call to special effort (e.g., challenging an audience to increase vegetable intake by $2$ portions daily or increase fundraising by $10\%$).
    *   *Call to Action / Appeal for Action*: Asking the audience to perform a specific behavior.
        *   *Immediate Call to Action*: Requesting immediate behavior on the spot (e.g., signing a digital petition right then, sampling raw vegetables, or sending a prewritten email to lawmakers).
    *   *Quotation*: Using a thought-provoking or persuasive quote (e.g., Alexander Solzhenitsyn on Soviet dissident writers, or Forest Witcraft on impacting the life of a child).
    *   *Visualizing the Future*: Depicting a future scenario where the speech's main idea is realized (e.g., visualizing future classrooms utilizing educational video games, or a world without illiteracy).
    *   *Inspiration*:

        *   Arousing positive emotions through stories of underdogs, Olympic athletes, Captain Sullenberger, or brief poetry ($8\text{ lines}$ or less). Example: President Reagan's January 1986 Challenger Disaster address quoting John Gillespie Magee, Jr.'s poem *High Flight* ("slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God").
    *   *Question*: Asking a rhetorical question that forces audience reflection (e.g., asking whether parents want their children raised in a clean world or one filled with smog, pollution, and disease).
    *   *Refer Back to Introduction*: Re-referencing an introductory statistic, quote, or story (e.g., linking back to an opening statistic of $4\text{ million}$ shelter animals euthanized annually to request donations for the Northwest Georgia Rescue Shelter).
    *   *Anecdote or Personal Story*: Delivering a short, emotionally impactful story.
    *   *Reference to Audience / Self-Interest*: Restating direct WIIFM benefits (e.g., listing physical health benefits of stress reduction, such as improved reflexes, immune system, hearing, and lowered blood pressure).

• Informative vs. Persuasive Guidelines:
  • Calls to action belong strictly in persuasive speeches, not informative ones.

Illustrative Examples of Speech Introductions and Conclusions

• Sample Informative Introduction (Allergies):

  • Attention Getter: Story about a home economics teacher calling the speaker's mother to pick them up from school due to an allergic reaction.
  • Credibility: Extensive research and personal experience with pet, seasonal, and food allergies since childhood.
  • Rapport: Noting that allergies affect everyone in the room at some point.
  • Purpose & Preview: Explaining the three most common allergy sources and recent treatment approaches.

• Sample Informative Introduction (Seasonal Affective Disorder - SAD):

  • Attention Getter: Rhetorical questions regarding fall/winter energy loss and excessive sleep.
  • Stat & Credibility: Citing that $6\%$ of the U.S. population suffers severely from SAD; establishing credibility as a registered nursing student at State College.
  • Purpose & Preview: Covering SAD's medical definition, symptoms, and common relief measures.

• Sample Persuasive Introduction (Term Life Insurance):

  • Attention Getter: Emotional narrative describing a family watching medical equipment unhooked as a loved one dies of cancer, leaving financial burdens.
  • Credibility: Research, completion of a $13\text{-week}$ financial course, and purchasing a personal term policy the previous year.
  • Rapport: Reminding the audience that everyone will pass away and funerals must be paid for.
  • Purpose & Preview: Defining term life insurance and outlining its financial benefits.

• Sample Informative Conclusion (Anxiety):

  • Signal & Review: Summarizing anxiety symptoms, causes, and remedies linked to cognitive behaviors.
  • Clincher: Quotation: "Worry does not relieve tomorrow of its stress; it merely empties today of its strength."

• Sample Persuasive Conclusion (Adopting a Rescue Animal):

  • Signal & Review: Reviewing benefits (preventing animal cruelty, adding a healthy companion, simple process).
  • Call to Action: Directing audience to visit local shelters, including Catoosa Citizens for Animal Care, Humane Society of NWGA in Dalton, and Murray County Humane Society.
  • Clincher: Paraphrased quote from Deborah Jacobs on Forbes.com: "You may start out thinking that you are rescuing the animal, and ultimately find that the animal rescues you right back."

• Historical Parting Note:

*   Poet Emily Dickinson's headstone in Amherst, Massachusetts features her final parting words: "Called Back."