Mastering Speech Intros: Captivating Your Audience From the Start

By FJ Snijman - He writes about divorce, electronics, passive income, ZX14R, local SEO and small businesses | March 3, 2025

This YouTube transcript from Dominic Colenso offers advice on how to captivate an audience within the first 30 seconds of any speech, pitch, or presentation. It emphasizes the importance of grabbing attention immediately, rather than boring people with small talk. Colenso suggests starting with a surprise, such as storytelling, posing a thought-provoking question, using a relevant quote, sharing a striking fact, showing engaging visuals, or, if appropriate, telling a joke. Breathing and pausing before speaking can also signal control and command attention. The video also warns against doing housekeeping tasks right away and instead focusing on engagement by avoiding information overload at the beginning. The goal is to make the audience sit up, listen, and remain attentive.