INTRODUCTIONS, PREVIEWS,
CONCLUSIONS,
TRANSITIONS, AND THESIS
STATEMENTS
Seriously? Who cares?
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Purpose: The effect of a speech depends heavily on
how you greet the audience, how you leave the
audience, and how your speech hangs together.
Therefore, you must put time and effort into
introductions, conclusions, and transitions.
Note: You can not get an A, B, or C on any speech in
here from now on or pass the Final Exam if you do
not pay attention today! I expect you to know this
information VERY well. We will use this information
EVERY DAY!
Basic Outline
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Speeches require OUTLINES, but don’t worry, we
will go over how to create those LATER.
For now, know that your speech must appear like
this…
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Attention getter
Relevance statement
Credibility statement
Thesis
Preview Statement
Body with transitions
Review Statement
Conclusion
Introductions
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The introduction has three purposes…
Gain Attention – Make sure the audience wants to listen
to your speech
 Present your topic and purpose – You should preview
your main points by the end of your Intro
 Connect with your audience – You must come across as
interested in your topic and your listeners POV
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Seven Types of Attention Getters
(1-4)
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Startling Statement – grab the audience with an unexpected
statement, question, or thought.
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Rhetorical Question – ask a thought-provoking question that
you will then answer and discuss.
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Ex. “What do Albert Einstein, Cher, and Tom Cruise have in
common? They have all overcome dyslexia.”
Humor – Tell a joke or humorous statement that relates to
your topic.
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Ex. “Jesse is a normal three-year-old child except for one thing:
she is the victim of child abuse.”
Ex. “What ten letter word starts with G-A-S? It’s automobile and
this year we may run short again.”
Quotation – Put a quotation at the beginning and end that
relate to your theme.
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Ex. “I have a dream!”
Write Your Own Attention Getter!
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Write 2 of these 4 attention getters:
Your topic can be about music, movies, or tv.
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Startling statement
Rhetorical question
Humor
Quotation
Attention Getters (5-7)
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Story – Tell a short, interesting story that relates to your topic.
• Ex. “Many years ago, a stranger arrived in our town. He wore ragged
clothes and carried a walking stick. It turns out this homeless man was my
father!”
Personal Experience – give a personal experience account that relates to
your topic.
• Ex. “Who would want to spend hours in the blazing sun digging carefully
in the dirt with a small spoon? I did.”
Example – give an example related to your topic.
• Ex. “Anne Graves, age four, died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Her
killer was shocked and heartbroken. He was her six-year-old brother,
who had found a loaded gun.”
Write Your Own: Practice 5-7!
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Write 1 of 3 attention getters:
Your topic is either “music,” “TV shows,” or “movies.”
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Story –
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Personal Experience –
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Example –
Relevance Statement
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A relevance statement is a statement which lets the
audience know why they should listen to your topic.
You need to relate your topic to your audience.
Think about what the audience might have in
common with your topic.
Ex. Although we are not yet old enough to vote,
paying attention to which candidates are running in
the next presidential race should be important to all
of us, as many of the issues they will be discussing
will directly affect our future.
Credibility Statement
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A credibility statement lets the audience know why
YOU are qualified to speak on your topic. It also
shows your connection and interest with your topic.
Ex. “I have witnessed several traffic accidents and
have been directly involved in one, which was the
fault of someone texting while driving. Since then, I
have done extensive research on the subject of
texting while driving.”
Thesis Statements (C+B+R)
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A sentence or two that describes the main idea of your
speech and main argument that you are trying to make.
Claim + Because + Reason = Good Thesis Statement
(not quite the same as you would write for an essay or
paper)
* Remember, you always want to answer the “why.”
Claim = “Sexist language in textbooks is harmful.”
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Insert the word “BECAUSE”
Reason = “it reinforces negative stereotypes about
many groups and individuals.”
Thesis practice
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Write 3 thesis statements choosing from 6 of these
topics.
Space Travel
Today’s fashion
Adoption
Missing children
Teenage life
Sports in school
Preview Statement
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The preview statement comes directly after your
thesis statement.
“So today we will examine 1st…., 2nd….. And
finally….
I expect you to know and apply this on every
speech from here on out.
Re-write this Introduction
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“I’m going to talk to you today about something I
find interesting. I’ve been interested in this for a
long time. Most of you should find it interesting, too.
You may have seen dolphins at the zoo. My topic
today will be on communication with dolphins.” –
THIS IS NOT A GOOD EXAMPLE! FIX THIS!
Write your own example.
Share examples with people around you, then with
the class.
Body
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The body of your speech should include your main
points, with a lot of
 SUPPORT
 DETAIL
 EXAMPLES
 PROOF
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You should include transitions between ideas
Transitions
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Transitions connect thoughts, sentences, and main
ideas.
Transitions can be words, phrases, or even whole
sentences.
Practice with words/phrases activity (if time)
Whole sentence transitions come between your main
points. They are essentially a REVIEW and
PREVIEW statement.
 “Now
that I’ve told you ___________, I will move on to
discuss _____________.”
Conclusions Have Three Purposes
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Summarize your main points (review statement).
This is a transition into your conclusion.
 “Today,
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I have told you a, b, and c.”
Repeat your main goal = restate your thesis. You
can do this word for word, or slightly alter the
wording.
Provide a clear ending = memorable close. Don’t
leave the listeners wondering whether the speech is
over. Choose from the list of attention getters to
create a final statement!
PRACTICE IT!!!
 Why
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are these poor examples?
“So today we looked at Dolphins. Okay, I’m done.”
“As we learned today, Dolphin communication is
awesome communication. And that’s my speech.”