Brene Brown does many things well with this speech, she uses humor very effectively, she has a winning sense of irony and wit, and she uses stories very well. But I think what is most effective about this speech is the attention-getter at the top. Notice the way Mrs. Brown immediately draws the audience in with a witty story at the top about her experience with an event planner. The story is brief, heartfelt, and funny, and it gets a big laugh. Once she is done with the attention-getter, she segues effortlessly into her preview for the speech, the “tonight I’m going to talk about…” section. The audience is immediately hooked, and more than willing to travel with her to its conclusion.

I recently watched “Singing in the Rain”, one of my favorite films. There’s an incredible song and dance number in that film called “Make ‘Em Laugh”. The same could be said of a speech, and especially an attention getter. Make them laugh at the top. This doesn’t have to be hard, a simple, personal, pithy story will do. Once they smile, they will follow you anywhere.

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