Premium

Connection First, Story Second: What It Takes to Craft Great Openings

Three principles for crafting an opener that connects and resonates with your audience.

On Stage

Public speaking

Stage performance

Writing

minute read

Published on

September 15, 2025

Great speech openings don't necessarily begin in chronological order; starting by telling your audience who you are, where you’re from, and how you got here might not be necessary or effective.

Perhaps you’ve heard it before: "The best way to start a speech is with a detailed personal introduction." You’ve probably seen more than a few speakers use this method at events you’ve attended. Maybe you’ve even tried it yourself.

‍

After all, listing your accolades and accomplishments will help you earn credibility and build trust, right? Sharing a few personal details or anecdotes can help you connect with your audience, don’t you think?

‍

Well, while personal stories can be engaging, a formal introduction of who you are, where you’re from, and how you got here is usually not necessary. It’s often much more effective to open your speech with something that directly connects to the audience’s interests or needs.

‍

You see, great openings usually aren’t all about you.

‍

I’m not saying that you can’t open with a story from your childhood or a personal anecdote that helps you connect with your audience. Often, those are both strong options for starting your speech—as long as they are audience-focused. You see, sharing a personal story isn't the same as listing the awards you've won, the big-name companies you’ve consulted for, or the publications that have featured you.

‍

Great openings aren’t about your accolades or accomplishments, they’re about your audience.

‍

How to Craft a Solid Speech Opener

‍

When it comes to speech openers, the possibilities are endless. You might begin with a pointed question, an intriguing data point, a humorous anecdote, a powerful story, or a mind-boggling teaching principle.

‍

Martin Luther King Jr. started his famous “I Have A Dream” speech by comparing the past to the present: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free.”

‍

In his ultra-popular TED talk, “How great leaders inspire action,” Simon Sinek started out by asking the questions: “How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?”

‍

Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie started her viral TED talk, “The danger of a single story,” with a personal story about the children’s books she read growing up and how they shaped her worldview.

‍

But how can you know what opener will work and which one will flop?

‍

As lovely as it would be to have a foolproof equation for a winning speech script, there’s no secret formula to a great speech opener. But there are a few principles that can guide you as you determine how to open your speech.

‍

#1 Know Your Audience

‍

Starting off your speech with personal information might lead your audience to quietly wonder: “What does this have to do with me?” But truly knowing your audience can help you decide which content will foster trust and connection and make for a strong speech opener.

‍

Jon Acuff, New York Times Bestselling Author and Keynote Speaker, shares a story in his book Soundtracks about speaking at a dental conference in Orlando. After he finished his 75-minute keynote, the event organizer told him he was funnier than the previous year’s speaker: Jerry Seinfeld.

‍

Jon reflected on that moment and shared that he actually wasn’t funnier than Seinfeld, but he did know his audience.

‍

Why? Because he put in the work. He talked with a dental salesman beforehand and asked him everything he could about his company, their products, and the culture. That allowed him to add bits about dental hand tools and the Cavitron 300 to his speech, which deeply resonated and humored his audience of dental professionals.

‍

The key to building a connection between you and your audience is showing them you truly understand them. This goes beyond just repeating the industry jargon. You must know what struggles and challenges they face. You must understand how it feels to experience what they are experiencing. And then, you show them the solution.

‍

As you brainstorm content for your speech, use the Foundational Five as your guide. In GRAD | Speech Writing Mastery, speakers develop this essential structure for creative and inspiring content development and use it to write referable speeches.

‍

By focusing on your audience and their world, the challenges they face, and the solutions or new perspectives that you offer, you’ll be able to craft a speech opener that resonates and prepares your audience for more insights during your presentation.

Full Transcript

Don't

make assumptions about your audience; do the research to truly discover who they are, what they want, and what stands in their way.

connect with your audience early; then, continue to connect by delivering well-crafted content throughout your speech.

#2 Make Big Choices, Early and Often

‍

At HEROIC, the Performance Faculty often tell students: “A speech is shaped by the choices we make.”

‍

In crafting your speech and preparing it for the stage, you’ll make many different choices about vocal performance, onstage movement, which words to emphasize, what actions you’ll take to make your audience feel, and how you’ll convey your Core Message.

‍

Not all the choices you make will work. In fact, you’ll probably have to test dozens and dozens of choices until you find the strongest one that achieves your specific goal. But each choice you make will lead you closer to the one that evokes curiosity, roaring applause, or a major mindset shift in your audience.

‍

When deciding how to open your speech, make choices early and often. Try out everything that comes to mind. Make big choices, ones that push you out of your comfort zone, even ones that scare you a little.

‍

During Masterclass sessions, Performance Coaches challenge speakers to go further, to dive deeper, to show up bigger onstage. This doesn’t just help them surprise and delight their audience, it helps unlock new creative paths that they might not have otherwise considered.

‍

The only way to know if a choice for your speech opener is working or not is to try it out in rehearsal, and test it onstage. It can be helpful to ask yourself these two questions:

‍

Is this choice producing the intended result?

Is this choice making the audience feel the way I want them to, think the way I want them to, or do what I want them to?

‍

Making bigger choices that are in service of your audience will help you craft a speech opener that lands, propels your speech forward, and resonates with your audience.

Don't

be afraid to try new things, even if they don’t work or you don’t end up adding them to your speech.

remember that your speech is a combination of all the choices you make.

#3 Consistently Test and Iterate

‍

Your speech opener isn’t set in stone. Your speech is a living, breathing creation that is constantly evolving and improving. As we like to say at HEROIC, the speech is never finished. And the best way to continue iterating is to use the live feedback you receive at speaking events to upscale your opener.

‍

Pay close attention to your audience as you deliver your opening lines. Are they engaged and attentive, or are they still arranging their things or looking at their phones? Does your opener capture their attention, or do their eyes glaze over? Does the energy in the room shift after your first few seconds onstage?

‍

Crafting a speech opener that sparks connection will take time, multiple attempts, and constant iteration. As you test different openers, you’ll be able to pick up on what resonates with your unique audience and what doesn’t.

‍

Refine and adjust your opener until you’re confident it achieves connection and sets your speech up for success.

Don't

make your opener all about you; speech openers that read like your bio are unlikely to work.

aerate and iterate your speech opener to determine where there is room for improvement.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Speech Openers That Connect

‍

I have an international gig in Spain later this year. The theme is “Voices Without Borders,” so I thought I would be really cheeky and cleverly tie that into my speech opener. “Voices without borders is more than just geography. It's about expanding possibilities, making connections that reach further than we can imagine. Those possibilities don't show up in global boardrooms or even leadership summits….”

‍

Blah. Blah. Blasé.

‍

Fortunately, I realized that what would better serve my audience would be starting with a story about the summer of 1984 in Detroit, Michigan, when I watched my father negotiate and buy a scratch-and-dent refrigerator. The story is not really about me, my dad, or the refrigerator; it’s about asking for what you deserve and not settling for less.

‍

We’ve all had moments where we wonder if we should speak up, and this story shapes how we think about taking a stand and negotiating. Opening with this principle fosters connection and empowers the audience because it shows us what to do in the moments when we have to decide how to use our voice.

‍

After testing that story as an opener in rehearsal groups, the feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive. Now I’m confident my opener will truly connect with my audience, create curiosity for the remainder of my speech, and engage from the get-go.

‍

Your speech opener is a high-stakes moment. Connection is what it’s all about. The best ways to open are the ones that pique interest, relatability, and trust from the moment you step onstage. Those are the openers that set you up for success and build a bridge that allows you to step into your audience’s world, and for them to step into yours.

Don't

|

Helpful Links

Craft a gig-winning speech.

GRAD

|

Speech Writing Mastery

Uncover a repeatable process for creating, building, and crafting referable speeches. Get visionary feedback, step-by-step instructions, and rallying support from a group of leaders just like you.

Learn more

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

#2 Make Big Choices, Early and Often

‍

At HEROIC, the Performance Faculty often tell students: “A speech is shaped by the choices we make.”

‍

The only way to know if a choice for your speech opener is working or not is to try it out in rehearsal, and test it onstage. It can be helpful to ask yourself these two questions:

‍

Is this choice producing the intended result?

Is this choice making the audience feel the way I want them to, think the way I want them to, or do what I want them to?

‍

Making bigger choices that are in service of your audience will help you craft a speech opener that lands, propels your speech forward, and resonates with your audience.

Dont

be afraid to try new things, even if they don’t work or you don’t end up adding them to your speech.

remember that your speech is a combination of all the choices you make.