Listen to the first few minutes of this persuasive speech presented by Severn Suzuki at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992:

This example:

– introduces the topic
– highlights some of the associated issues
– captures the reader’s interest
– tells us why the topic is important

In fact, this speech did these things so successfully that Severn was heralded as, ‘the girl who silenced the world for five minutes’.

A great introduction should use a range of persuasive devices, such as:

– Emotive language
– Expert appeal
– Metaphors and Similes
– Humour
– Contrast
– Rhetorical questions
– Repetition
– Rule of Three

Severn uses several these devices in the introduction to her speech. For example:

‘fighting for my future’, ‘starving children…whose cries go unheard’ (emotive language)
‘Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age?’ (contrast and rhetorical questions)
‘You don’t know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer. You don’t know how to bring the salmon backup and a dead stream. You don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct.’ (repetition and the Rule of Three)