The first 15 seconds of your speech are mission-critical. They determine whether your audience locks in or tunes out. They dictate whether you connect or miss the mark.

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There’s no one best way to start a speech. An attention-grabbing statement or a bold question could be just as effective as sharing a unique story or surprising fact. But when deciding how to start a speech, there’s one thing you must keep front-of-mind:

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Great openings usually aren’t about your accolades or accomplishments. In fact, most effective speech openings aren’t about the speaker at all—they’re about the audience. To connect with your audience, deliver insight and value from the get-go.

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How to Start a Speech: Seven Speech-Opening Examples That Work

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When it comes to speech openers, the possibilities are endless. To give you some ideas for how to start a speech, we’ve gathered seven impactful examples of quality speech openers that connect with the audience, deliver value, and capture attention. You might begin by:

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#1 Asking a Pointed Question

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In his ultra-popular TED talk, “How great leaders inspire action,” business leader 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?”

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Asking questions to open your speech makes your audience think. But not just any question will do. What you know about your audience, their problems, and their worldview will help you craft a question that resonates with them and builds connection from the start.

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When you start with a question, you’re promising to answer it. That’s why beginning with a question your audience is yearning to know the answer to will keep them interested throughout your speech. Your speech must masterfully deliver on your promise and successfully answer the question.

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#2 Sharing a Powerful Story

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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. Bestselling author Susan Cain also began her TED talk, “The power of introverts,” with a humorous story about going off to summer camp with a bag of books, only to discover a very different reality.

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Starting with a story is perhaps one of the most common ways to begin a speech. That’s because a story has the power to engage your audience’s senses, capture their attention, and teach valuable truths. If you start with a story, make sure it’s a good one.

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#3 Comparing the Past to the Present

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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.”

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This is a powerful way to start a speech because it addresses the audience’s reality. Speakers must be keenly aware of the struggles their audience is facing right now, as well as their hopes and dreams for the future. Comparing the past to the present can build a bridge of connection between you and your audience.

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#4 Offering an Intriguing Data Point

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Author and certified fraud examiner Pamela Meyer masterfully involves her audience and reveals a surprising fact as she begins her TED talk: “I don't want to alarm anybody in this room, but it’s just come to my attention that the person to your right is a liar. Also, the person to your left is a liar. Also, the person sitting in your very seat is a liar.” That talk now has over 24 million views on YouTube.

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This opener doesn’t just capture attention with data, but rather, connects the data to each individual in the room. It’s a fantastic example of involving your audience and focusing your message on them. No matter what information you share, there’s always a creative way to relate it directly to the people in front of you.

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#5 Sharing a Humorous Anecdote

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Brené Brown opened her famous TED talk, “The Power of Vulnerability,” with an anecdote about a phone call with an event organizer who didn’t know what job title to give her. Brown’s masterful delivery of this simple anecdote gets the laugh and introduces the theme of her talk.

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An anecdote is different from a story in the sense that it doesn’t require conflict or the traditional story structure. Rather, it’s a moment of levity that can break the ice, make your audience chuckle, or prove a point.

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Humorous anecdotes that connect to your speech’s message are a strong way to start a speech because they humanize you. It’s a simple way to achieve connection from the first moments of your speech.

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#6 Revealing an Uncomfortable Truth

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The first five minutes of Matthew McConaughey's 2015 commencement address at the University of Houston are a beautifully crafted reveal of an uncomfortable truth: a college degree is not worth what it once was. He shows a deep understanding of his audience as he mixes personal anecdotes with their reality.

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This opener is rich with emotional contrast: the excitement and joy of his audience juxtaposes the harsh reality of the current job market. This draws his audience in emotionally and catches their attention. Additionally, McConaughey uses this contrast masterfully to lead into his first teaching point—the importance of humility—and the following 13 lessons he shares.

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#7 Teaching a Mind-Boggling Principle

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In most speeches, speakers build towards their Core Message and take their audience on a journey before revealing it.

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But on some occasions, starting with your Core Message can be a powerful way to pique your audience’s attention. Education leader Dr. Nadia Lopez began her popular TED talk using this technique. Her opening was: “When I opened Mott Hall Bridges Academy in 2010, my goal was simple: open a school to close a prison.”

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This worked because Dr. Lopez continued to make a case for her Core Message throughout the rest of her talk. She didn’t just open with it, she showed the power of this mindset shift throughout the rest of her talk—through stories, examples, and teaching points.

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What NOT to Say at the Start of a Speech
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You’ve probably seen more than a few speakers use the following tactics at events you’ve attended. Maybe you’ve even tried one yourself. Unfortunately, these openers usually don’t set your speech up for success:

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Saying “I’m so happy to be here!” Instead, show them, through your actions and words, that you’re absolutely delighted to be there.
Asking “How is everyone doing?” Unless you’re wildly famous, the most common response to this opener is a few weak, forced shouts, awkward claps, or simply crickets. Not a great start to a transformational experience.
Listing your personal accomplishments and accolades. While you might think this could help you earn credibility and build trust, a formal introduction of who you are, where you’re from, and what you’ve achieved is usually not necessary.

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It’s often much more effective to open your speech with something that directly connects to the audience’s interests or needs.

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Three Principles for Finding the Best Way to Start Your Speech

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

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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 start a speech.

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#1 Know Your Audience

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Truly knowing your audience can help you decide which content will foster trust and connection and make for a strong speech opener. By focusing on your audience and their world, the challenges they face, and the solutions or new perspectives they need, you’ll be able to craft a speech opener that resonates.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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.

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#2 Make Big Choices, Early and Often

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

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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?

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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

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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.

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Pay close attention to your audience as you deliver your opening lines:

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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?

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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.

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

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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.

Speech Openers That Connect

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Even when you know the guiding principles for opening a speech, it’s easy to forget about your audience and focus on you. Don’t fall into that trap. Stay focused on your audience and how you can best serve them.

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This happened to me when I was preparing for an international gig in Spain; the theme was “Voices Without Borders.” 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….”

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Blah. Blah. Blasé.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Your speech opener is a high-stakes moment. Connection is what it’s all about.

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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.

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What NOT to Say at the Start of a Speech
‍

‍

Saying “I’m so happy to be here!” Instead, show them, through your actions and words, that you’re absolutely delighted to be there.
Asking “How is everyone doing?” Unless you’re wildly famous, the most common response to this opener is a few weak, forced shouts, awkward claps, or simply crickets. Not a great start to a transformational experience.
Listing your personal accomplishments and accolades. While you might think this could help you earn credibility and build trust, a formal introduction of who you are, where you’re from, and what you’ve achieved 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.

‍

Three Principles for Finding the Best Way to Start Your Speech

‍

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

‍

Dont

#1 Know Your Audience

‍

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

‍

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

‍

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

‍

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?

‍

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.