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Welcome Speech in English: Best Samples, Examples & Tips

Why are Welcome Speeches Necessary?

Most of the gatherings and ceremonies are held with a purpose. They are either planned events or spontaneous gatherings. In both cases, it is important to know how to organize such events. We must prepare ourselves to conduct the event properly.

Let us imagine that you are hosting a gathering. You have prepared everything, including food, drinks, decorations, etc., and even set up the stage. However, you forgot one thing – a welcome speech. What happens next? Do you start talking immediately without waiting for everyone to arrive? Of course not!

The same goes for a meeting. How many times did you attend meetings where people didn’t introduce themselves? Or worse, they talked about themselves too much during the meeting. In addition, some speakers talk directly to the audience without introducing themselves. This makes it difficult for the attendees to comprehend the event’s process and connect with its objectives.

So why is a welcome speech in English needed? To begin with, it is necessary to give a brief overview of the topic. Secondly, it helps to provide information about the organization and its history. Thirdly, it allows us to highlight our achievements. And finally, it creates a good impression on guests. Otherwise, they might ask questions like “Where is this event going?”.

Significance of welcome speech

The significance of the welcome speech won’t be apparent without understanding what makes up the history of an event. An event can be defined as a sequence of activities carried out over a period of time. These activities are usually organized into stages, each with a specific purpose. For example, an event may start with opening remarks, followed by a keynote address, and finally concluded with closing remarks. Each stage of an event has a different set of responsibilities.

In the case of a welcoming ceremony, the welcome speech is considered to be one of the most important parts of the whole gathering. In fact, it is the most crucial aspect of the entire event. This is because the welcome speech serves several purposes.

First, it introduces the guests to the host. Second, it provides information regarding the upcoming program. Third, it creates a positive impression among the attendees. Fourth, it helps in creating a sense of unity among the participants. Fifth, it helps in establishing good relations between the hosts and the guests. And finally, it ensures that the guest feels comfortable during the occasion.

Objectives of a Welcome Speech in English

The objective of a welcome speech in English is to introduce yourself and the rest of the attendees at the event. This is done through a short introduction about who you are, what you do, why you’re attending, etc. The following are the objectives of a welcome speech:

• Introduce yourself
• Provide Information regarding the event
• Create a positive impression among attendees
• Establish good relations between hosts and guests
• Ensure guests feel comfortable during the event
• Help build unity among participants
• Explain the purpose of the meeting/event
• Set up the agenda for the meeting/event
• Make introductions
• Give background info about the organization
• Highlight achievements (if any)

Welcome Speech Samples in the Education Field

There is a number of school gatherings that require welcome speeches, be it an official school gathering or an informal event. In this segment, we’ve sorted samples according to the typical events organized in schools. Take note of each paragraph and determine its purpose. You’ll be able to create a workable framework or basis for your current and future speech requirements.

Welcome Address in English For Students

It’s natural for attendees of any event to expect an introductory speech, which sets the tone for the occasion. A host can easily command attention with an effective welcome. Even the longest speeches have the capacity to hold an audience’s interest when delivered in a catchy and impressive manner.

A short opening speech for a commencement ceremony

To everyone present, good morning. A very warm welcome to our respected faculty, our remarkable parents, and our dear students. Special recognition is due for our Chief Guest (name of chief guest). It’s a true honor to have such a successful alumnus (or state the chief guest’s job title). We express our biggest gratitude for accepting our invitation to deliver today’s keynote speech.

I’m standing here as a lucky witness to our dear students’ academic journey. Our school is very proud of everything you have accomplished and your small but not minor contributions to society. You’ve brought prestige to our name and deserve the title of one of our school’s most successful and dedicated batch of students.

With your teachers’ guidance and parents’ support, you’ve reached remarkable heights. I’d like to take this time to extend my gratitude to our faculty and our parents, for understanding, encouraging, and nurturing our students.

Graduates, you are about to start another chapter in your life. An exciting yet scary period. From now on, you will face more challenges, but I am confident that you’re adequately equipped to face any tribulation that comes your way. Remember that with conviction and self-belief, no mountain is too high to climb. The laurels you’ve brought back to our school are only the beginning. I am genuinely excited to see the astonishing feats that your futures hold.

A long opening speech for a commencement ceremony

Good morning everyone! I would like to extend a very warm welcome to our esteemed faculty, astounding parents, and our dear students. I’m honored to open our commencement ceremony and stand here where many of our accomplished alumni who I look up to once stood.

I extend a particularly warm welcome to our Chief Guest (name of chief guest), who as one of our outstanding alumni, has really set the standard for exemplary accomplishments.

(enumerate key achievements of chief guest)

Her/his professional and philanthropic endeavors attest to their upbringing and the values she/he lives by. We want to thank you for responding positively to our invitation to be the keynote speaker on today’s auspicious occasion.

As another academic year reaches its end, I’m sure that our dear students are anxious and also filled with hope and excitement. This is their final school event in our renowned school/college/university (name of school). But hopefully, it won’t be their last awarding ceremony.

We are extremely fortunate to have such a talented and passionate group of graduates who have earned laurels in honor of our school, adding to its distinction and great reputation. The amazing encouragement and unconditional support of our parents throughout the school year have been extraordinary. They have stood by their children in every school event. Our teachers and staff are truly thankful for the trust you’ve given us. Your children’s journey wouldn’t have been a huge success without your guidance and nurture.

It’s been a remarkable experience to witness the passion and commitment our students have exhibited in all their undertakings. I am filled with certitude that you will achieve whatever goal you’ve set your mind on. Adulthood is going to be jammed with more trials you’ve never imagined before. I am kidding. Maybe. Joking aside, you will win as long as you work hard and believe in yourself.

Remember that you are valuable and take every challenge you face as an opportunity to prove your worth and get better. Also, surround yourselves with people who are good for your well-being and treat them the way you’d like to be treated.

Maintain your sense of humor because not much else will get you through when the going gets rough. Life can be very special and you can truly make a mark, which doesn’t always need to have global proportions. Be accountable for your mistakes and learn from them. Keep nurturing your passions and remain as driven, bright, and astonishing as you are today. You are all wonderful and I can’t wait to see your future accomplishments, because they will be great.

Thank you and do us proud!

Welcome Speech for a College Function

(General greeting, i.e. good morning/afternoon/evening) to all (the audience attending the event, e.g. the parents, teachers, students, etc.) and our respected Principal (name of principal). It’s with great pleasure that I welcome everyone to (name of school)’s (name of event or ceremony).

Our college nurtures the ideologies of discipline and pride in one’s work and aims to hone our students as responsible and productive members of society. It is in this spirit that we celebrate today.

To commence our festivities, allow me to introduce one of our most esteemed alumni. Our Chief Guest (title and name of chief guest) has embodied the values fostered by our prominent and respected college. (Enumerate the main accomplishments of the chief guest). We honor you for your contributions to society and our city, most especially, which future generations will surely benefit from. With your hard work, dedication, and charitable spirit, you have set the goalposts we aspire to reach in order to make the world a much better place than we’ve found it.

(Initiate a round of applause)

Welcome Speech for a Yearly Function

(General greeting, i.e. good morning/afternoon/evening to all)

Honorable Chief Guest (name of guest), our beloved Principal (name of principal), our amazing faculty and staff members, our dearest parents and fellow students, and to everyone present, I welcome you all to (name of school/college/university)’s annual function.

My name is Lakshmi Gupta, a student of the Information Technology Department, and also the president of our school’s Cultural Exchange Organization and founder of the Languages Club.

It is with tremendous pride that I announce our prestigious school’s Silver Jubilee anniversary. We’re gathered today to celebrate 25 years of estimable service and success. The remarkable accomplishments of our elite school since its foundation won’t be possible without its long history of dedicated and respected teachers and passionate students, its tireless staff, and the unconditional support from our parents.

It’s also a great honor to introduce our Chief guest and keynote speaker. Any introduction won’t do justice to the extraordinary achievements she/he has attained throughout her/his career. (Enumerate the main accomplishments of the chief guest). She/he is truly one of the most treasured and incredible alumni our school has produced. Without further ado, let’s give a round of applause to (title and name of chief guest).

Welcome Speech for the School Principal

Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning!

I’m truly pleased and honored to welcome our new principal (title and name of principal). He has previously worked for 5 years at Lumos International as principal and has succeeded in revitalizing their academic standing and programs, especially in English and Cultural Studies.

I have gotten to know her/him over the last few days during the transition phase and found her/him to be a brave and progressive intellectual, with a great ideology and vision for the future of (name of school), our beloved school.

On behalf of the current administration, our board of trustees, the faculty, the staff, and our student body, we wholeheartedly extend a great welcome to you (title and name of principal).

We hope that with your leadership, energy, and enthusiasm, we shall start a new era of learning and reach greater excellence.

Congratulations and welcome!

Welcome Speech for Teachers Day

Good morning! We welcome everyone today who is here to celebrate this annual event for their beloved teachers. We don’t always get to thank our teachers, but on this day, we pay tribute to our second parents.

They have provided guidance and given their light to educate and lead us to a journey of wonder, discovery, and knowledge. For their efforts, they deserve the greatest of honors and our utmost respect.

Our steadfast yet affectionate teachers should be our role models. They inspire us daily and motivate us to reach our greatest potential. They impart wisdom so that we don’t only excel academically, but as good people and responsible members of our society.

So on Teacher’s Day, it’s all about them and giving them the honor that many take for granted. Thank you, dear teachers!

Welcome Speech for Children’s Day

Good morning everybody!

Today we extend our appreciation and the warmest embrace to our beloved students to celebrate Children’s Day!

It’s been a blessing to be a part of nurturing children’s sense of wonder and imagination. These are qualities we often lose as we grow up, and it’s awesome to witness them happen every day.

Children’s innocence and love are incomparable and difficult to resist. Their smile is the closest thing to heaven that we can glimpse in the world.

School is your children’s second home, and we teachers are their second parents. We thank you for the opportunity to take care of and guide your little angels.

Join us to celebrate our students and make this day as eventful and fun as it can be!

Welcome Speech for Freshers Party

Welcome everyone to our Fresher’s party!

We’ve all gathered here today to celebrate the gift of possibilities and commence the experience of a new beginning.

It’s of utmost pleasure to welcome everyone, especially all my freshers to today’s festivities. I extend my deepest gratitude to all my teachers and everyone who helped make this event a reality. Look at this place, it’s amazing!

University or school life isn’t just about getting a higher education – brace yourself for the adventure of a lifetime! This is the period to create good memories and meet people who can be a permanent part of your academic and later professional lives. May you develop the relationships and acquire the necessary skills to succeed in life.

But for now, let’s leave our worries and cares out in the hall. Let’s celebrate your wise decision to matriculate in our institution. Our college has prepared special events and an entertainment program highlighting some of our talented students.

The next few hours will be memorable and exciting! Thank you for listening and let’s get on with it!

Have a good time!

Welcome Speech Samples for Business

Much like in academic settings, there are more formal events that happen in professional contexts. Some may need a welcome address to introduce special guests or welcome the attendees of a conference. Some are informal events that welcome those who are invited to special occasions at the office and the people they’re honoring. Note down the key phrases and objectives of the samples below and use the same structure in your own welcome or introduction speech in English.

Sample of Welcome Speech for a Goodbye Get-together

Good evening everyone!

Welcome to my farewell party. I know, I know. You all said you’re sorry to see me go, but that you all would need food and entertainment first to deal with your sadness. So here we are. I shall deliver.

As the Semisonic song goes “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” And so it is with great gratitude that the VP in Japan decided to retire early, so the end of his role can mark the beginning of mine. To Toni Takitani, thanks for deciding you’ve had enough!

Kidding aside, I’d like to thank my friends who made this very corporate event a huge success. Look at this, my goodness!

Most importantly, I want to impart my profound gratitude to my boss (name of the boss). Without you, this party won’t have a band. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor. Or I could, but none of them would have changed my life as positively as you have. It saddens me to leave you the most, but it comforts me that you were my biggest source of encouragement to go. Or it may have been your plan all along. Genius!

So to everyone who came, thank you. I’ll have time to thank you properly later, but for now, let’s eat!

Welcome Speech Sample for a Business Conference

Good morning to everyone who came out to join us here today. My name is Julius Kaizer and I’ll be hosting today’s events.

Before anything else, I’d like to take this moment to thank Merville & Posque Inc., their CEO Mr. Hyori Asano and his team for putting this event together in record time. It won’t be possible without your tireless dedication and contributions. I also want to thank everyone who came, our remarkable associates from Osaka, Chiang Rai, and Quezon, our wonderful clients who have stuck with us through thick and thin, and our amazing consultants in various fields of energy conservation. Your interest and patronage are very much appreciated.

A great welcome to all our extraordinary employees and staff members, some of whom have worked and grown along our company’s 23-year history. A big welcome, too, to our interns who have recently joined and brightened our corporate offices.

Today marks the 15th annual MPBC and it’s an honor to be a host in this glorious congress. I myself will be staying for the conference’s entirety to learn what I can about sustainable energy systems and their various implications and impact on the future of our planet.

The activities today will include an overview of all the forums, seminars, and exhibits around the MPBC complex. Second, we will have the inauguration of the new bio-dome on the grounds where we will also honor this year’s retirees. The afternoon’s seminars will kick off after lunch, and I encourage you to attend the discussions and learn about our future plans and projects. Finally, I’d like to encourage everyone to help yourselves to the snack stations in the hallway. Refreshments and sandwiches are on us for the duration of the conference.

I won’t keep you long and let’s begin the day. I wish all of you a valuable and wonderful time! Thank you.

Welcome Speech for a Business Workshop

Good afternoon everyone!

I am so pleased to see you all here. Welcome to my workshop, or should I say “our” workshop. I am truly overjoyed and excited about learning together and helping you reach a breakthrough in industry-scale coding practices.

This workshop aims to cover new software and the importance of earning certificates in several computer applications such as VM Suite, Landscape 5.0, and NF Tech.

I hope you’ll learn a lot in the next few hours and I promise to try to make our activities as engaging and hands-on as possible. Good luck and thanks again for participating in our workshop.

Welcome Speech for Office Events

My name is (your name), the (position in the company), and your host for this meeting. To our CEO (title and name of the CEO), (next are the dignitaries for the company hierarchy if any), all the staff members and their loved ones, and our beloved employees. I welcome you all to the (name of the event) of (name of company).

We are here today to honor our employees’ achievements in their respective fields and departments. Your efforts to attain and sustain the standards we keep aren’t unnoticed. This awarding ceremony seeks to remind us about the value and pride we should have in our accomplishments, and the significance of collaboration and teamwork. It is our spirit of community and faith in our abilities that represent the vision of (name of company). May we continue to grow through hard work, accountability, and cooperation.

To start off with our first award, let’s call up (title and position of the presenter), (name of the presenter).

Welcome Speech Samples for Family Functions

Huge family events often have speeches: weddings, birthdays, farewell parties, funerals, anniversaries, and so on. Some of these events normally have hosts and esteemed guests. Here are some tips and samples to inspire you.

Tips on Welcoming the Chief Guest?

If you’re searching for tips on how to make a welcome speech for guest, here are some things you can do:

• When drafting your speech, do the research.
• Highlight the key qualities that are worth mentioning in an opening welcome speech for event.
• Take note of the welcome address speech sample in this article and create a framework from them.
• Look up welcome speech quotes and choose the best one to use somewhere in your speech.
• Greet the chief guest at the event personally and introduce yourself if you don’t know each other.
• Extend your hard for a handshake and smile to express that they are honored and welcome to the event.
• Smile and suggest they are being welcomed.
• Address them formally with the usual Miss or Mr.
• Escort the chief guest before you assume host duties.

Welcoming the Chief Guest with a Short Speech

It’s a great honor to welcome our Chief guest and tonight’s keynote speaker. I was worried at first about how to introduce (title and name of Chief guest) because any introduction would pale in comparison to the reality and immensity of her/his accomplishments.

(Enumerate the main accomplishments of the chief guest).

She/he is the ultimate inspiration for young professionals everywhere who want to succeed in the field of international trade. Here to inspire us with her career journey and all the experiences she accumulated along the day, join me in giving a round of applause to (title and name of chief guest).

Welcoming the Chief Guest (Longer Version of the Speech)

Introducing our next attendee is a great pleasure of mine. When she/he accepted our invitation to be tonight’s Chief guest and keynote speaker, I almost jumped for joy. Then I realized I would naturally receive the task of introducing her/him. At first, this gave me great anxiety. How would I be able to pull it off and deliver an introduction that would give her background justice? Then I thought, no introduction would ever compare, so it was foolish to aim for success when failure is guaranteed. So I decided to just do it. Our chief guest has accomplished the following, to name a few:

As I looked at her/his professional and personal successes, I realized here is a woman/man who was faced many times with the certainty of failure but had given her circumstances a grad twist by attaining success against all odds. Then I thought, perhaps I should aim for success in this speech, after all.

She/he is an inspiration to many, not only for all the fields of expertise she has earned and the extreme success that went with the process, but she/he has also set the benchmark for philanthropy and good deeds. She/he has done this quietly, too, and she/he might strangle me for revealing it to the public. I didn’t even know half of the wonderful things she/he has done for our community before my research.

Without further ado, and here to inspire us with her wisdom and grand skill, join me in welcoming our Chief guest (title and name of chief guest).

Welcome Speech for Parents

Hi everyone!

As host and brother of the groom, I’d like to take this time to introduce the parents of the bride. Without them, my brother wouldn’t be the lucky and happy man he is today. More than that, I have witnessed how they accepted my brother and treated him as a son long before the engagement. I often tag along on family trips and have spent hours of wonderful conversations with them. Apart from my own parents, they are two of the most affectionate and hospitable people I’ve ever met. If I could meet a woman whose parents are just like them, I’d consider myself half as lucky as my brother.

Let’s give a round of applause for (names of the bride’s parents). Thank you for embracing my brother into the fold.

Welcome Speech Samples for National Holidays

Below is a sample of a welcome speech typically delivered during Annual Day. Substitute the appropriate details to match your information and use the framework in other speeches reserved for national holidays.

Welcome Speech for Annual Day

I am overjoyed to have this chance to welcome all of you to our elite institution’s 25th Annual Day. Today’s children are the hope of the next generation. All these graduates we see today, receiving awards for their achievements will go on to lead successful lives. Let them live up to the expectations set before them.

I am very happy to be a member of such an elite school where we learned from such great professors who teach us beyond the boundaries of the ordinary classroom. They’re also the minds and hands behind such a big event every year. I’d like to use this chance to organize such a wonderful event this year. It’s also a great pleasure of mine to introduce our Chief Guest.

Welcome speeches are necessary at events. They usually set the tone or expectations of the people who attended or participated in the occasion. There are many ways in going about delivering a welcome address speech. Review the samples in this article and do your due diligence to craft an outline, framework, or skeleton from the contents that you can use in welcome speeches of your own.

Frequently Asked Questions

A good welcome speech has the following qualities: * It is sincere. * It can hold the attention of the audience. * The ideas don’t ramble. * Welcome address quotes are used. One for a short welcome speech, and 2 for a longer one. Never 3, unless the speaker is trying to be funny. * The contents are relevant to the event. * It has an impressive anecdote. * The length doesn’t exceed 5 minutes.

The last segment of this article contains tips on welcoming chief guests, esteemed guests, or guests of honor. The tips contained here can be divided into things to consider while drafting the welcome speech, and things to do at the event itself when meeting the chief guest.

A simple thank you would suffice. Make sure you reiterate your gratitude. Some welcome speeches can end with a line that welcomes the guest of honor.

Depending on the context, a welcome speech doesn’t always need to be impressive. In some situations, a straightforward introduction is all you need. However, in some circumstances like commencement ceremonies, farewell parties, dinners, and some others, the audience is prepared to listen to long speeches. In this case, the speech needs to catch the attention of the attendees and maintain their interest. An impressive welcome speech often has an emotional element. Not just parroting big words to describe a person’s achievements or flatter them. Try to use humor if you’re funny by nature or if you can deliver the punchline well. Use popular quotes in your speech. Tell anecdotes relevant to the attendees. Or reveal an epiphany. These are how you should draft a welcome speech set to impress.

Make sure that it is relevant to the content of your welcome speech or the point you’re making. You can use phrases such as the following: * According to… * As the old saying goes… * There’s a quote that has always stuck with me… * Events like this always remind me of one of my favorite quotes… Try to find quotes that are unique and not cliche. You can find some in the lyrics of contemporary music, or lines and dialogues from books and movies, and so on.

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Welcome Speech for a Scientific Conference: Examples & Tips

Published on 15 Feb 2022

Having a well written welcome speech that you’re confident about goes a long way in overcoming public speaking nervousness.

A great welcome speech sets the tone for the conference. It makes everyone feel welcome and creates the appropriate environment for the exchange of knowledge. The speech should broadly outline the contents of the event and, most importantly, make everyone feel excited for what’s to come.

In this article, you will find our best tips to create a successful welcome speech and some examples with analysis for inspiration.

Quick Tips for a successful welcome speech

Formal vs. informal language.

The first thing you should decide is whether you want to use formal or informal language. For larger events that include scientists of various fields where everybody might not know each other, you may want to use formal language. For smaller yearly conferences for researchers in your field where most people know each other, it’s common to use informal language.

I find that, in general, a rather informal or casual speech is more successful. That way you set the tone and bring everyone to the same level, promoting questions, comments, and socialization during the event.

Greet and welcome everyone

Start with a warm welcome. As alluded before, this can range from very formal (“Good morning to all attendees”) to informal (“Hello and welcome, everyone!”). These will be your first words, so you need to grab everyone’s attention—use a clear, strong voice.

A smile goes a long way to make everyone feel welcome and in a good mood. Make eye contact as you start addressing the room.

It can be great to inject a bit of humor, if appropriate. It could be something as simple as, “We are lucky to be in such a beautiful location with so many beaches close by. I hope that is not the main reason you’re here!”.

Talk about the event’s history and purpose

Is it a first-time event, a yearly conference put on by a scientific organization? In any case, you’ll want to mention the motivation behind the conference, what brings you together. If the event is related to a specific organization, you can mention its history and purpose.

Mention any distinguished guests

It is common for scientific conferences to have one or more distinguished guests or speakers. Mention them and thank them for accepting the invitation to participate. Make sure you have their names, credentials and affiliations correct.  

Thank creators and/or organizers

If the event is being held for the first time, thank the creators by name. Give some words of appreciation to the organizing committee. You don’t need to mention every single person involved, but rather the essential ones.

State the main topic(s)

Mention the main topic(s) of the conference, the common interests for all attendees. For annual conferences of scientific organizations, a specific subject within the field is usually chosen for each year. For example, for an annual meeting of an immunology organization, the year's topic could be “Infectious Diseases” or “Immunotherapies.”

Touch on the agenda

Briefly outline the event’s agenda. You can mention whether there will be sessions with specific (sub)topics, poster presentations, spaces for exchange and networking. Don’t get  into too many details. You can direct people to the conference brochure, if there is one, for specifics on the schedule.

Motivate everybody

End your speech on a high note by getting everyone excited about the talks to come. Highlight all the strengths of the conference: any high-impact research that will be shown, the variety of topics that will be covered, the great number of attendees, the different countries represented.

Introduce the first speaker

If the first speaker follows your welcome speech, don’t forget to introduce him or her. Introduce them with their full name and credentials and give a brief description of their career achievements.

Rehearse a few times

Practice with colleagues and friends to get some feedback and familiarize yourself with your speech. You want to be familiar enough that you don’t need to look down at your notes constantly. However, don’t over rehearse. You don’t want to sound robotic, but rather natural and conversational.

Be sure you know how to pronounce all the names in your speech. Make eye contact with the audience and with specific attendees as you mention their names.

Keep it brief

In general, you should keep your speech short, usually around 5 minutes. Consult with the organizing committee so you know how long they expect you to talk.

In-person vs. virtual event

Virtual events are very common right now and likely will be for a while. This creates some challenges when giving a welcome speech. Making eye contact with the attendees is not possible when you’re on a video call. That being said, you can still give a great speech and get people excited virtually. Just make sure that people can clearly see and hear you before you start.    

Welcome speech examples

1. welcome and opening remarks - 2015 coast/ssew symposium.

In the above example of opening remarks for a scientific symposium , the speaker starts by welcoming everyone with a smile and lots of eye contact. It seems the attendees are in the same field of research and among familiar faces. Accordingly, her language is informal. She adds a bit of humor when she talks about collecting money in a bowl.

She follows by explaining the origin of the organization that the symposium is for, along with the main topics that will be covered. In the middle, she asks  the audience some questions to keep them engaged. Finally, she creates positive expectations by presenting a “sneak peek” of brand-new research and mentioning “leaders” in the field of microbiome.    

 2. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering Welcome Speech

Read this welcome speech for an annual international conference.

This seems to be a scientific conference with attendees from various countries and from a broad range of fields. The formal language used is therefore appropriate. The speaker welcomes the attendees and introduces the distinguished keynote speakers.

The origins and goals of the conference are outlined. He broadly describes the topics that will be discussed. Then, he thanks the organizing committee, companies and volunteers involved. Finally, he mentions “internationally notorious speakers,” a great way to spark people’s interest.   

 3. Welcoming Address | Dale Mullennix

In this welcoming address, the speaker starts by warmly welcoming the audience. He uses rather informal language since it seems this is a regularly held event where most people know each other. He throws in some humor, directly addresses the audience, and asks them questions to grab their attention at the beginning.

By conveying the value that the attendees will find in the lectures to come, he creates anticipation. He makes lots of eye contact throughout and doesn’t even have notes! By the end, he tells a personal story and connects it to the theme of the event.

With these tips and examples, we hope that you are inspired to write a great welcome speech.  Remember to keep it brief, conversational, and not overly formal, unless necessary. Eye contact and a smile go a long way.

If you’re looking for more general conference presenting tips, you should read our 15 Best Tips for Presenting at a Conference . 

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How to Start a Speech: The Best Ways to Capture Your Audience

You’ve heard the saying,  “First impressions are lasting; you never get a second chance to create a good first impression” —  right?

The same is true when talking about how to start a speech…

The truth is, when you start your speech, you must focus everything on making a positive first impression on your audience members (especially if you are doing the presentation virtually ). Capturing the audience’s attention from the very beginning is crucial to prevent them from being distracted, losing interest, or forming negative opinions.

The introduction is the formal greeting for speeches, so let’s be sure to get this right to hook the audience. Understanding the importance of speech openings can significantly impact making a strong first impression. Planning and delivering the first words with confidence and relevance is essential, as they set the tone for the entire presentation and ensure you deliver a professional start, free from hesitation or irrelevance.

Here are 15 different ways to start a speech as well as 2 extra BONUS tips at the end.

1) Thank the Organizers and Audience

You can start by thanking the audience for coming and thanking the organization for inviting you to speak.

Refer to the person who introduced you or to one or more of the senior people in the organization in the audience.

This compliments them, makes them feel proud and happy about your presence, and connects you to the audience like an electrical plug in a socket.

2) Start With a Positive Statement

A presentation tip at the start is to tell the audience members how much they will like and enjoy what you have to say.

For example, you might say:

“You’re really going to enjoy the time we spend together this evening. I’m going to share with you some of the most important ideas that have ever been discovered in this area.”

Remember that  speaking is an art,  so be an artist and take complete control of your performance,

3) Compliment the Audience

You can begin by complimenting the audience members sincerely and with great respect.

Smile as if you are really glad to see them as if they are all old friends of yours that you have not seen for quite a while.

You can tell them that it is a great honor for you to be here, that they are some of the most important people in this business or industry, and that you are looking forward to sharing some key ideas with them.

You could say something like:

“It is an honor to be here with you today. You are the elite, the top 10 percent of people in this industry. Only the very best people in any field will take the time and make the sacrifice to come so far for a conference like this.”

4) Start Your Speech With the First Sentence Referring to Current Events

Use a current event front-page news story to transition into your subject and to illustrate or prove your point. You can bring a copy of the newspaper and hold it up as you refer to it in your introduction.

This visual image of you holding the paper and reciting or reading a key point rivets the audience’s attention and causes more people to lean forward to hear what you have to say.

5) Refer to a Historical Event

For many years, I studied military history…

Especially the lives and campaigns of the great generals and the decisive battles they won. One of my favorites was Alexander the Great. Standing in the symbolic shadow of such historical figures can provide a powerful and engaging start to any speech, especially when drawing parallels to contemporary challenges.

One day, I was asked to give a talk on leadership principles to a roomful of managers for a Fortune 500 company.

I decided that the campaign of Alexander the Great against Darius of Persia would make an excellent story that would illustrate the leadership qualities of one of the great commanders in history.

I opened my talk with these words:

“Once upon a time there was a young man named Alex who grew up in a poor country. But Alex was a little bit ambitious. From an early age, he decided that he wanted to conquer the entire known world. But there was a small problem.

Most of the known world was under the control of a huge multinational called the Persian Empire, headed by King Darius II. To fulfill his ambition, Alex was going to have to take the market share away from the market leader, who was very determined to hold on to it.

This is the same situation that exists between you and your major competitors in the market today. You are going to have to use all your leadership skills to win the great marketing battles of the future.”

6) Refer to a Well Known Person

You can start by quoting a well-known person or publication that recently made an interesting or important statement.

One of the subjects I touch upon regularly is the importance of continual personal development.

I will say something like:

“In the twenty-first century, knowledge and know-how are the keys to success. As basketball coach Pat Riley said, ‘If you are not getting better, you are getting worse.’”

7) Refer to a Recent Conversation

Start by telling a story about a recent conversation with someone in attendance.

For instance, I might say:

“A few minutes ago, I was talking with Tom Robinson in the lobby. He told me that this is one of the very best times to be working in this industry, and I agree.”

8) Make a Shocking Statement With a Startling Fact

You can start your talk by making a shocking statement of some kind.

For example, you might say something like:

“Here’s a startling fact: According to a recent study, there will be more change, more competition, and more opportunities in this industry in the next year than ever before. And 72 percent of the people in this room will be doing something different within two years if they do not rapidly adapt to these changes.”

Click here If you want to learn more techniques to wow your audience.

9) Quote From Recent Research

You can start by quoting a relevant, recent research report.

One example is:

“According to a story in a recent issue of Businessweek, there were almost 11 million millionaires in America in 2018, most of them self-made.”

10) Start Your Speech With a Strong Opening By Giving Them Hope

The French philosopher Gustav Le Bon once wrote, “The only religion of mankind is, and always has been hope.”

When you speak effectively, you give people hope of some kind.

Remember, the ultimate purpose of public speaking, is to inspire people to do things that they would not have done in the absence of your comments.

Everything you say should relate to the actions you want people to take and the reasons that they should take those actions.

11) Be Entertaining

Bill Gove used to walk onto the stage after his introduction if he had just finished talking to someone on the side and was breaking off to give his talk to the group.

The audience got the feeling that his entire talk was one continuous conversation, devoid of meaningless filler words .

Bill would often go to the edge of the stage and then drop his voice in a conspiratorial way, open his arms, and beckon the audience members to come a little closer.

He would say, “Come here, let me tell you something,” and then he would wave them forward as though he was about to tell a secret to the entire room.

The amazing thing was that everyone in the room would lean forward to hear this “secret” that he was about to share. People would all suddenly realize what they were doing and break out in laughter. It was a wonderful device to get the audience into the palm of his hands.

12) Ask a Question

You can open by making a positive statement and then pose a rhetorical question to engage your audience and set the stage for your presentation.

Try something like this:

“This is a great time to be alive and in business in America. But let me ask you, what does it truly mean to be self-employed in today’s economy?”

Raise your hand to indicate what you want people to do. I have used this line, and after a moment of thought, I then say to someone who looks intrigued in the front, “How many people here feel truly self-employed?”

Invariably, someone will say, “We all do!”

I then compliment and affirm the answer: “You’re right! We are all self-employed, from the time we take our first jobs to the day that we retire; we all work for ourselves, no matter who signs our paychecks.”

Similarly, a 17-year-old science fair winner effectively engaged their audience with a question at the beginning of their TED Talk, showcasing the power of this technique.

13) Open With a Problem

You can start with a problem that must be solved. If it is a problem that almost everyone has in common, you will immediately have the audience’s complete and undivided attention.

For example, you could say:

“Fully 63 percent of baby boomers are moving toward retirement without enough money put aside to provide for themselves for as long as they are going to live. We must address this problem and take action immediately to ensure that each person who retires will be able to live comfortably for the rest of his or her natural life.”

Introducing a new idea at this point can be a powerful way to engage your audience further, by promising a solution that is both innovative and beneficial.

14) Make a Strong Statement, Then Ask a Question

You can start by making a strong and powerful statement and then ask a question. You then follow with an answer and ask another question. This gets people immediately involved and listening to your every word.

Here’s an example:

“Twenty percent of the people in our society make 80 percent of the money. Are you a member of the top 20 percent? If not, would you like to join the top 20 percent or even the top 10 percent? Well, in the next few minutes, I am going to give you some ideas to help you become some of the highest-paid people in our society. Would that be a good goal for our time together today?”

15) Tell a Personal Story

You can start your talk with a personal story. Some of the most powerful words to capture the complete attention of the audience and make a personal connection are, “Once upon a time…”

From infancy and early childhood, people love stories of any kind. When you start off a presentation with a personal anecdote using the words, “Once upon a time…” you tell the audience that a relatable story is coming. People immediately settle down, become quiet, and lean forward, eager to hear how your experience might mirror their own or offer them new insights.

When I conduct full-day seminars and I want to bring people back to their seats after a break, I will say loudly, “Once upon a time there was a man, right here in this city…”

As soon as I say these words, people hurry back to their seats and begin to listen attentively, connecting with the story on a personal level.

Incorporating a personal story is very effective.

In fact, it’s probably one of the best public speaking tips I’ve learned to this day.

Bonus Tip: Tell Them About Yourself

Very often, I will start a serious speech or presentation to a business, sales, or entrepreneurial group by saying:

“I started off without graduating from high school. My family had no money. Everything I accomplished in life I had to do on my own with very little help from anyone else.”

It is amazing how many people come up to me after a talk that began with those words and tells me that was their experience as well.

They tell me that they could immediately identify with me because they too had started with poor grades and limited funds, as most people do. As a result, they were open to the rest of my talk, even a full-day seminar, and felt that everything I said was more valid and authentic than if I had been a person who started off with a successful background.

Building a bridge like this is very helpful in bringing the audience onto your side.

Bonus Tip: Get Them Talking to One Another

You can ask people to turn to the person next to them to discuss a particular point.

For instance, you could say:

“Tell the person next to you what you would like to learn from this seminar.”

Whatever you ask your audience members to do, within reason, they will do it for you. Your commands and your thought leadership will easily influence them, as long as you ask them with confidence.

By following any one of these tips for starting your speech, you are sure to grab your audience’s attention every time. How do you start a speech? Let me know in the comments.

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About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .

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How to write a speech introduction

12 of the best attention getters to start a speech

By:  Susan Dugdale  | Last modified: 01-12-2023

The audience settles in their seats. The lights dim. You walk out to the center of the stage. You pause, take a deep breath, open your mouth and begin.

What you say over the next 30 seconds to introduce your speech or presentation is crucial.

That's how much time you have to make a positive impression on your audience. In it they will decide whether or not you have anything relevant or useful to say. Those first impressions count!

So how do you write an effective speech introduction to grab and hold their attention?

Begin by finding out how to choose the right opener.

What's on this page:

• how to choose the right opener for your speech

12 of the very best ways to start a speech

3. What if?

5. Key fact

7. Rhetorical

9. Headlines

10. History

11. Challenge

How to choose the right opener for your speech

The better way to make your choice of opener is after you have carefully considered who you are talking to and why you're talking to them.

One size does not fit all. Different audiences will respond differently. If you are giving the same speech multiple times think about what you may need to change to fit. 

To work well your opening needs to be aligned with:

• the type of speech you're giving
• your main purpose for giving it
• your target audience and,  
• their interests or needs

Both the hook * to catch their attention and your topic must be relevant to them. Unless they're a captive audience, they've come freely to listen to you and they're expecting something of value from you.

How are you going to let them know they're in the right place? Why should they listen? What are they going to get or gain through listening?

Out of all the different ways to open, what attention getter is absolutely the best way?

The only way I know to work out what is best is to go through each of them, and as you do, consider your audience. Make a short list of those you think might work then try them out before making your final choice.

* hook – an opening statement that immediately captures the audience's attention just like a well baited hook on a fishing line catches a fish.

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1. Use imagination to create mind pictures

Ask the audience to use their imagination. Get them to build evocative compelling images in their minds. Make them large. Add vibrant color, sound and movement.

For example:

“Let's take a break. Make yourself comfortable. Now close your eyes for a moment. Take a deep breath, and you're there, in the place where you feel the most at ease, the place where all the tensions, all the demands of your normal everyday life disappear. Look around you. See it. Feel it. It's so good, it's perfect."

“Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and a moment to picture in your mind the people dearest to you, the people you feel you could not live without. Now when did you talk to them, or spend real time with them last?"

2. Use an item to build a connection 

Choose an image or an object related to your speech, for instance a pair of shoes, to trigger interest and build a connection.

For example, if I were giving a speech on the lives of upper-middle class 19th century women I could open by holding up a pair of ornately decorated kid leather pumps.

“What's the name of the young woman who wore these? Listen. Can you hear the rustle of her silk skirts? And hear her heart beat bom-biddy-bom as the beau of the ball stepped her way? Would he, or wouldn't he ask her to dance?”

3. Ask a 'What if...?' rhetorical question

'What if...?' invites an audience to consider the possibilities of something becoming real. They can be positive somethings or negative, trivial or something that would have a significant impact if it came to pass.

The power of a 'what if...?' rhetorical question as an opener lies in the potency of the images and feelings it triggers. A well-chosen 'what if...?' will immediately have an audience wanting to hear the rest of your speech.

• "What if we don't find a way to successfully manage climate change?"
• "What if we really did solve the affordable housing crisis?"
• "What if questions of race and color ceased to matter?"
• "What if medicines were freely available to everybody who needed them?"
• "What if the person sitting next to you turned, looked into your eyes and said they loved you? Truly. Madly. Deeply."

4. Try a quotation from someone who's impacted your life in some way

To be effective a quotation doesn't have to be the clever quip or snippet of enduring wisdom: a famous quote from a well known person. It's origin could be personal, something someone important in your life said that's remained with you.

For example, my Mother answered all initial wails of outrage, pain or hurt from any of her five children with a command. "Breathe!" That was repeated, interwoven with encouraging asides, until whoever it was, was able to talk clearly and be understood.  "It's OK.", she'd say. "Breathe. Come on. You can do it. Breathe. That's it. Keep going. Good."

Or I could use this line from one of my high school reports which read, "...with further maturity she should do well." (Thank you Mr Phillips. Your prediction was right on target.) 

Or this from our son aged four as he watched me getting ready for another day of teaching: "When I grow up I'm going to wear pretty dresses and go to school just like you."

5. Use an interesting key fact

Choose an interesting key fact as an attention getting device: one of the most rarely known, or a shocking statistic from the body of your speech to open with.

For example: "Take a guess at what the most powerful and frequently used word is in the English language? 

It's not one of those usually thought of candidates.  Love? No. Money? Nope. Neither is it  any member of your family... Mum, Dad, brother, sister, son, or daughter.

It's a three letter word, so common it's overlooked and taken for granted. 'The'. It's the humble 'the'."

(For more see this BBC article:  Is this the most powerful word in the English language?

Or: "Between 2020/21 and 2021/2022, Americans consumed about 11 million metric tons of sugar, up from about 10 million metric tons in 2009/2010. Can you even begin to imagine the size of that sweet white mountain?"

(For more see: US sugar consumption statistics )

6. Share personal stories

Share a personal story related to your specific topic as the beginning of a speech. Done well, it lets the audience know you understand their situation and helps establish your credibility: your right to talk on the subject.

As an example here's the opening of a speech I gave about the impact of suicide on families and friends:

“One fine Spring day I biked home from school and found a policemen guarding our backdoor. Through it came sounds I'll never forget: my quiet Mother screaming. He said, "You can't go in."

I kicked him in the shins and did. It was the 15th of September, three days before my thirteenth birthday and my father was dead. Killed by his own hand. Suicide.”

(If you want to find out more about the speech and read it, it's here: After they're gone . It's an example persuasive speech using the five steps of Monroe's Motivated Sequence.)

7. Rhetorical questions

These are questions that although they are asked, they're never really intended to be answered by anyone other than the person asking them. * Their principal function is to act as a segue, or lead in, to what the person intends to say next. For instance, the first main point of your introduction.

Examples: "What if I were to say to you that there was no such thing as public speaking fear?"

"What do you think the main benefits of being able to speak up in public are?"

* Although there's bound to be someone in your audience who will. Be ready for them, and move on.

8. An empathetic question, aligning yourself with the audience and eliciting a response

These questions bring speaker and audience together, establishing a common ground, a mutual understanding, which is an effective way to ease into a speech. If your question 'works' you'll see heads nodding in agreement.

• "Have you ever experienced the butterflies in your stomach turning into a herd of rampaging elephants, just before you step up to give your presentation?"
• "Have you ever wanted a good day to never end?"
• "How often have you 'lost' your car in the supermarket car park?"
• "How often have you ever wanted to shout, NO? You want me to prepare a new presentation by tomorrow? NO. You want me to stay late, again? NO."

9. It's in the news

Take headlines from what's trending in media you know the audience will be familiar with and see.

Using those that relate to your speech topic as the opening of your speech is a good way to grab the attention of the audience. It shows how relevant and up-to-the-minute the topic is.

For example: "'Death toll soars to 76 in Florida after Hurricane Ian demolished entire communities.' 'Noru became a super typhoon in 6 hours. Scientists say powerful storms are becoming harder to forecast.' 'Hurricane Orlene strengthens into Category 4 storm as it heads toward western Mexico.'

Three front page headlines from CNN just today. Climate change. Let's do what we can."

10. This day in history

If you're giving a speech to celebrate a special birthday or an anniversary, consider using several carefully selected events that occurred on the same day as a speech opening. They could be either funny or serious, depending on the specific purpose of your speech. They're a great way to place the person in a much wider context and often with exalted company.

For example: "What do the 1863 National Thanksgiving Day proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, National Boyfriend Day, and Gwen Stefani have in common with Joe? Yes, the 3rd of October! It's a great date made better by being Joe's birthday. And we say Gwen is truly privileged to have the same one as him."

11. Issue a challenge

Let the audience know first thing, at the beginning of the speech, what action you expect they'll be able to take by the time your presentation is complete. Then when you come to the final points, repeat the call to action, or challenge, as part of your closing statement.

For example: "I've a challenge for you. That's to sign up for our public speaking course. Right now you may not see yourself doing that. Public speaking? Me? I'd rather have a root canal done, without painkillers. However, by the end of the presentation...well, let's see. There's a first time for everything!"

Use a startling statement, a fact, or a series of facts, to jolt the audience into paying attention.

"Covid. We've had 1.06 million of us die in the US, so far. Today there are nearly 60,00 new cases. More mothers, fathers, friends, colleagues, children – people. People ill. People who might die. So why have we stopped wearing masks?"

For more: Google: Covid stats US

Other speech writing resources

• how to end a speech effectively : explanations with examples showing how to close a speech with impact
• how to write a speech : a detailed guide with examples covering audience analysis, planning, writing oral language, transitions, how to use an outline... 

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12 Tips to Engage Your Webinar Audience From the Start (+ Welcome Speech for Conference Examples)

No one likes to sit through a long, boring presentation. As the presenter, it’s your job to hook your audience with your welcome speech and keep them interested until the end .

Here are things you’ll learn with this guide:

• The importance of keeping your audience engaged right from the start of your webinar
• Helpful pointers on how to get your audience’s attention
• Welcome speech for conference examples that you can use as a guide

So, read more about creating the best webinar welcome speech .

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Table of Contents

Why Audience Engagement Is Important for Your Welcome Speeches

You’ve finally worked up the nerve to give a great welcome speech and feel pretty good about it. But there’s one thing that’s bothering you: you’re not sure how to keep all your distinguished guests engaged.

Here’s the thing: engagement is essential if you want your conference welcome speech to be successful . If your audience isn’t engaged, they’ll tune out, and you’ll lose their attention.

Here are four reasons to keep your audience engaged in your welcome speeches:

• People have shorter attention spans . They’ll easily leave if you deliver a boring webinar introduction right from the start. By keeping your audience engaged, you’ll ensure that they stay interested in what you have to say.
• Engaged audiences are more likely to remember your message . If people actively pay attention to your welcome speech, they’re more likely to remember the key points you wanted them to take away.
• Engagement creates a connection with your audience . When people feel like they’re a part of the conversation, they’re more likely to be invested in what you’re saying.
• Engagement is just plain fun. If people truly enjoy your good welcome speech, it will set the tone for the rest of the event and make it enjoyable for everyone involved.

Just like any good seminar welcome speech, a webinar introduction needs to have a captive audience that is listening to every word you say . Remember that engagement is essential if you want your welcome speech to be successful.

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How to Make Your Webinar Welcome Speech Engaging

Your webinar welcome speech is your chance to make a great first impression on your audience. Here are tips to help you make your   opening remarks engaging and memorable: 

1. Start with a greeting

When you’re about to give a webinar presentation, making a good first impression is important. The best way to do this is with a friendly, warm welcome. 

“Hello , everyone!” is always a great way to start. You could also try something a little more creative, like “Welcome, everyone! I’m excited to share what I’ve been working on.” Whatever you choose, make sure it sounds natural and sincere.

2. Thank your webinar audience for their time

Time is a precious commodity. Your audience has chosen to spend some of their time with you. Whether your webinar was live or recorded, let them know how much you appreciate their attendance.

Remember, a little thank you is a way to build relationships with your audience.

3. Introduce yourself in an engaging way

Give your name, your title, and what you do. Then tell the audience a little bit about your journey, like if you’re one of the respected teachers or businessmen who loves to share a journey. People love hearing stories, so share one relevant to your topic.

4. Introduce the guest speaker(s)

Introducing all the speakers can be daunting, especially if you’re unsure what to say. However, a few key points ensure your introduction is friendly and professional.

• Familiarize yourself with the speaker’s work.
• Give a brief overview of the speaker’s credentials and accomplishments. 
• Conclude with a statement of anticipation, such as “I’m looking forward to hearing what [speaker] has to say.”

5. State the purpose of your webinar

Think about it this way: if you’re joining a webinar, wouldn’t you want to know why it was being held? What benefit would it provide for you?

By providing this information upfront, you can help people decide whether or not your webinar is right for them. They can stay tuned for the rest of the presentation if it is great. If not, they can bow out without feeling like they wasted their time.

6. Outline the structure of your presentation

Once you’ve captured the audience’s attention and set the tone, it’s time to give them an overview of what’s to come. This doesn’t need to be too detailed – just hit on the main points you’ll cover throughout the webinar.

7. Let people know how they can ask questions during the webinar

If you’re hosting a webinar, it’s important to let your audience know from the start how they can ask questions. This way, they can participate actively in the discussion and get the most out of the experience.

There are ways to do this using your webinar platform:

• You can open up the floor for questions at certain intervals throughout the webinar. 
• You can also provide a chat function so people can submit their questions in real-time.
• You can always encourage people to ask questions in the comments section if they’re watching the webinar live on social media.

8. Keep it short and sweet

How often have you joined a webinar to be greeted by a long speech? It can be downright painful to sit through, and very few people are likely paying attention.

That’s why a few minutes or 30-60 seconds is all you need to set the tone for your event and get your participants engaged. Keep the energy up in your short welcome speech.

9. Make your welcome speech doesn’t feel too scripted

You want to deliver a speech that feels friendly, telling, and inspiring without sounding like you’re reading from a script. The great way to do this is to practice your delivery beforehand and not worry about the words.

10. Use humor

Humor is a way to break the ice and get people to relax. When people are relaxed, they are more likely to pay attention and be receptive to what you say.

Use humor sparingly, though, as too much can be distracting . A few well-placed jokes can go a long way in making your webinar more enjoyable and successful.

11. Use multimedia

Adding visual interest to your introduction will help to keep your audience engaged. For example, if you have a topic on personal development, consider using slides, images, or even video clips related to it.

12. End with a call to action 

Simply, this is an instruction for your audiences or webinar seminar delegates to do something. Encourage your audience to participate in the webinar and take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about your topic.

Sample Welcome Speech for Your Next Webinar

Here’s an example of a welcome speech template:

“Welcome, everyone! Thank you for joining us today.

We are excited to have you at today’s conference . This will be an opportunity for us to learn from each other and grow together.

For those who don’t know me, my name is _____, and I work in _____. I’ll be your moderator for today. 

Let’s take a moment to introduce our guest speakers.

• [Chief guest 1] is a [title] at [company/organization]. They will be speaking on [topic of talk].
• [Special guest 2] is a[title] at [company/organization]. Their talk will focus on [topic of talk].

I want to thank our speakers for taking the time to share their knowledge and giving real-life examples. 

Our topic is ____________, and we’re really excited to share what we know with you. We’ll be discussing ______________ and giving you practical tips that you can use in your own work. We’ll also take questions throughout the webinar, so please feel free to type them into the chat box.

And now, without further ado, let’s start!”

Kick Off Your Webinar Introduction!

We hope you feel excited and confident to start planning your own speech for your upcoming virtual events. Make sure you put just as much effort into creating valuable and engaging content as you do into marketing your event.

Kick off your webinar introduction now with this helpful guide. We can’t wait to catch you up on the other side!

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How to Write a Welcome Speech | Academic Conference Edition

Have you ever been to a conference where the welcome speech left you wanting more information or didn’t make you excited for what’s to come? Yikes! You may not be alone in that sentiment.

But were you invited to give the welcome speech for the upcoming conference you’re attending, and want to do a better job? Fun stuff, congratulations!

We can’t take the conference jitters away, but we can help you learn about welcome speeches and how to write one in this article. In the end, you’ll see how Orvium helps the research community prepare for a conference.

What is a Welcome Speech?

A welcome speech (or address) sets the tone for a conference or event. The speech must describe what’s to come and get everyone excited for the event and feel welcome. It should also create an appropriate environment for knowledge sharing.

Anyone can deliver a welcome speech, but a minimum of excellent presentation skills, fun and creative demeanor, and the ability to be personable are major pluses. If you haven’t given a speech of this caliber before, remember that preparing your notes, writing your speech, and delivering it are all a part of the process . Practice makes perfect.

An excellent welcome speech will unite the audience, helping them come together for a common purpose.

See some examples of welcome speeches here , and learn how to write your own below.

How to Write a Welcome Speech for a Conference

1. get the event focus and tone right.

Since a welcome speech sets the tone for a conference or event, you must ensure it’s informative and interesting. While thinking about this, decide whether or not you’ll use formal or informal language . How you choose, structure, and deliver your words matters. These all come together to create the “tone”.

To decide between formal and informal language for your welcome speech, consult the graph below:

Typically, you’ll want to use formal language for a conference (but not overly formal) depending on your audience demographics and ensure everyone can understand you. A welcome speech has the following structure:

• opening and welcome
• theme and main topics
• outcome (or agenda)
• thank yous (to attendees, sponsors, volunteers, vendors, speakers, etc.)
• a closing statement.

Pro tip : you want to connect with your audience, grab their attention, and get them excited about the event, so start with a strong but warm opening. Don’t mention everyone involved throughout your speech, as that can get lengthy; instead, mention the essential speakers, organizations, associations, or volunteers. Finally, end the speech on a good note to get everyone excited with stats and pertinent information, such as:

• the high number of attendees
• any high-impact research that will be shown
• the different represented countries
• the variety of covered topics.

If you don’t know where to start, follow this welcome speech planner and read the information below.

2. Take Notes and Draft an Outline

From our Full Guide to Planning an Academic Conference, you know that your welcome speech must add value to the conference , just as each keynote and session speaker does. To do so, research (and reach out to) essential participants (keynote, session speakers, vendors, etc.) to make sure you know what kind of approach you can take with your speech. Humor works in the right circumstances, but you must spend time thinking it through; not all jokes will be taken lightly, and you want to avoid any misunderstandings.

Remember, your goal is to unite and bring together like-minded individuals who all have a common purpose, that of advancing and sharing knowledge .

In your notes or outline, you’ll want to include the following steps:

• Welcome the audience - use a clear and strong voice to welcome all attendees and grab their attention.
• an example of an informal greeting: “Hello and welcome, everyone!”
• an example of a formal greeting: “Good evening to all attendees. It’s wonderful to see you all.”
• Introduce the event - say the event’s name, purpose, and age or history (if it’s a repeat event or conference), and talk a bit about the event’s organization.
• Mention any distinguished guests - ensure you get their names, affiliations, and credentials correct.
• State the main topics - the main topics are the attendees’ common interests, so you may choose to present a specific subject within the field selected that year.
• Outline the agenda - mention whether there’ll be sessions with specific poster presentations, (sub)topics, or areas and spaces to exchange and discuss ideas or network. Direct attendees to the conference website, content management tool , or brochure for schedule specifics.
• Motivate everyone - highlight any conference strengths and warmly introduce the first speaker or entertainment.

Important to note : for virtual events, ensure that attendees can see and hear you clearly and look up from your notes or outline often.

3. Write Your Speech

As you’re finalizing your notes or draft, ensure that your speech is around the five-minute mark to avoid boredom or giving the audience too much information right off the bat (to not take away from any speakers). Consult with the organizing committee about a time frame, as the length of the speech can vary from conference to conference.

Pro tip : add individual greetings as necessary for special guests, speakers, or sponsors.

4. Rehearse Your Speech

Once you’ve done the necessary research, outlined, and written your welcome speech, it’s time to rehearse it a few times to familiarize yourself with your speech. Read it out loud and practice it with colleagues or friends to get their input and feedback on areas of possible improvement.

However, don’t over-rehearse your speech . You want to still sound natural, not robotic or like you’re reading a script.

Again, ensure you know how to pronounce everyone’s name and credentials as you’re rehearsing, and practice making enough eye contact with the audience or specific attendees as you’re speaking.

Orvium Makes You Feel Welcome

No one can take the nerves of giving the opening speech at a conference away; however, Orvium can make it less nerve-wracking. If you’re having trouble finding colleagues or like-minded individuals to review your speech outline and give you feedback, you can reach out to one of the Orvium communities to get to know other people in the field.

Who knows, maybe you’ll meet members and form friendships that’ll last a lifetime.

As for giving your welcome speech, remember to get the tone right, keep it brief, and don’t make it overly formal (unless absolutely necessary). Also, a smile and a lot of eye contact go a long way . Let’s get people excited about new scientific discoveries!  Want to see more of what we do? Check out our platform to discover what matters to you.

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Welcome Speech for Seminar | 3 Minutes Welcome Speech for Seminar for Students and Children

February 8, 2024 by Prasanna

Welcome Speech for Seminar:  The Freedom of speech and free expression on opinions and views, and also the right to disapprove are an integral part of the Indian democracy. Seminars are usually organized by educational institutions, where a series of significant issues are debated and discussed.

Seminar delegates are invited to bear speeches in keeping with the particular occasion. A seminar conference comprises of sessions, led or headed by presenters or moderators who steer the discussion to reach the desired outcome.

A welcome speech is presented to grace the guests, delegates, and the audience in a given event like a seminar conference or a big business meet. Here, the kind of welcome speech covered is for a Conference.

Using Minutes from Now calculator, you can easily check what is the exact time after n minutes from now. It takes the present time from your computer and gives the result quickly.

Students can also find more  English Speech Writing  about Welcome Speeches, Farewell Speeches, etc

Long and Short Welcome Speech for Seminar for Students and Kids in English

Given below are two speeches- a Long welcome speech for seminar of 500-600 words and a Short welcome speech for seminar 200-300 words, respectively. The speeches can also be referred by the students and grace the stage with their words.

Long Welcome Speech for Seminar 600 Words

Distinguished Delegates, participants, and partakers!

It is a glorious moment to extend my warm wishes on behalf of the Centre For Natural Resources. I want to convey my heartfelt gratitude to the Ministry of Agriculture for accepting the invitation and presiding over this seminar on “Waste Water Management in India”.

It is an opportune moment to refurbish and debate upon the problems of mutual interest with our esteemed delegates from the Ministry for the day. The seminar schedule brushes upon a spectrum of exciting and benefitting themes that discuss the aspects of water and fertility management.

On behalf of my institution, I am compelled to all the research scholars and paper presenters from various parts of the country, who have made it to the seminar conference. These papers would enlighten all of us present here on the importance of waste management, the approaches, conversion of wastewater, and how to use it judiciously, thus, ensuring to save it for our future generations.

Dr. Swaraj. ‘s view on the “Domestic Sewage: A Major Roadblock for Water Management” has been a piece of beneficial information to add to our knowledge. His research paper focuses on specific essential facts, which mainly include domestic sewage.

Domestic waste comprises of many suspended impurities, and the soaps and detergents used during the house cleaning process contaminate the water around leading to water pollution.

Human feces can dissolve in chemical water, merges with open rivers and streams, and acts as the source of food for the bacterias present in the water. One of the main consequences of this process is the growth of bacteria and algae. These components tend to overpopulate underwater and make life difficult for aquatic creatures.

This is an unknown aspect of domestic water that is problematic and leads to water pollution. Sewage treatment of water is a process divided into three significant steps

• Secondary, and
• Tertiary treatment.

The primary treatment of water separates solids waste from the liquid. In this process, the wastewater is let to pass through a grate that strains out the large impurities and the remaining water catches to a tank. The smaller particles like clay, sand, lint, and other materials settle at the bottom of the tank.  At this point in the treatment process, the liquid wastewater contains many harmful pollutants. These pollutants are hazardous when humans or the environment comes in contact with them.

In the secondary process of sewage treatment, the contaminated liquid wastewater is let to pass through an aeration tank or trickling filter. After the secondary treatment process is completed, the liquid part of the sewage is free from heavy metals and pathogens.

The liquid wastewater still contains high concentrations of minerals like phosphate and nitrate, that can stimulate the growth of plants and algae in natural habitats and can kill the inhabiting aquatic organisms. The final tertiary treatment removes these minerals from the liquid wastewater.

Heartiest congratulations to all the members of the ministry and paper presenters. This conference wouldn’t have proved to be beneficial to this extent without your support. I want to call upon our esteemed Chief Guest for the day from the Ministry to share their opinions and views on the presentations and to guide us with the possible future solutions.

Thank You one and all.

Short Welcome Speech for Seminar

Greetings to one and all. It gives me immense warmth and great pleasure to grace all of your presence in the interest of the entire committee. It gives me tremendous contentment to be presenting the welcome speech amongst the most esteemed personalities who have won accolades in their respective fields.

Before we begin this seminar, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who sincerely committed to this event to make it a success. This event would have been impossible without the support of each and everyone present here.

Seminars are organized and conducted for the general audience to gain insight and information that would remain effective in their life, exercises, and work. Each topic for discussion and debate for today’s seminar was chosen, keeping in mind the interest of youth.

The last seminar was based on “ Accent Improvement ” which was graced with positive feedbacks from students, migrants, etc.

The topic of discussion for today’s seminar is  Personal development.  Personal Development is an investment that helps to improve our knowledge and attitude towards life. Personal Development helps an individual to build one’s skills, sets goals, work on the approach, believe in their potential, and improve awareness.

Through this seminar, an individual is given a platform to identify their vulnerable spots, gain understanding, focus on essential aspects, improve their leadership quality, attitude, and confidence, and provide practical communication skills as well as the frequent changes needed in their lifestyles.

The schedule of the seminar includes encouragement, discussions, and debate by the esteemed delegates.

I ensure the seminar will be profitable and fruitful for everyone present here.

Thank you one and all.

10 Lines on Welcome Speech for Seminar

•  A welcome speech is given to grace the guests and audience in any event like a seminar conference or a big business meet.
• Seminar conferences comprise of sessions, led or headed by presenters or moderators.
•  It is an honour to be present the welcome speech amongst the most esteemed personalities who have won accolades in their respective fields.
• I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all of you who sincerely committed to this event to make it a success.
• Each topic for discussion and debate for today’s seminar was chosen, keeping in mind the interest of youth.
• Personality development is a combination of the appearance and character of an individual.
• The impact of various positive and negative situations in an individual’s life molds one’s personality.
• The contemporary world is in a high need for personality development from a career point of view.
• To develop an appealing personality, one must improve and expand their knowledge first.
• Heartfelt gratitude to all present here for taking a keen part in this vital program.

FAQs on Welcome Speech for Seminar

Question 1. What is a Welcome Speech?

Answer: A welcome speech is a piece of statement that addresses the audience at the beginning of any event, gathering, or meeting.

Question 2. How do you give remarks in a welcome speech?

Answer: The speech should convey the statement ‘a hot welcome to one and all present here’. Distinguished principal, respected teachers and staff, and my fellow graduates, Heartfelt welcome to the annual national seminar. Finally, you end the speech with I am sure you all have been eagerly waiting for this day; now I call upon our principal to grace the occasion.

Question 3. Why is a welcome speech at a seminar given?

Answer: A welcome speech on seminars is given to address and welcome the delegates, scholars and all the audience. The speech also highlights the topic under discussion and prepares the room for the Chief Guest’s speech.

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15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines (And How to Create Your Own)

Hrideep barot.

• Public Speaking , Speech Writing

Powerful speech opening lines set the tone and mood of your speech. It’s what grips the audience to want to know more about the rest of your talk.

The first few seconds are critical. It’s when you have maximum attention of the audience. And you must capitalize on that!

Instead of starting off with something plain and obvious such as a ‘Thank you’ or ‘Good Morning’, there’s so much more you can do for a powerful speech opening (here’s a great article we wrote a while ago on how you should NOT start your speech ).

To help you with this, I’ve compiled some of my favourite openings from various speakers. These speakers have gone on to deliver TED talks , win international Toastmaster competitions or are just noteworthy people who have mastered the art of communication.

After each speaker’s opening line, I have added how you can include their style of opening into your own speech. Understanding how these great speakers do it will certainly give you an idea to create your own speech opening line which will grip the audience from the outset!

Alright! Let’s dive into the 15 powerful speech openings…

Note: Want to take your communications skills to the next level? Book a complimentary consultation with one of our expert communication coaches. We’ll look under the hood of your hurdles and pick two to three growth opportunities so you can speak with impact!

1. Ric Elias

Opening: “Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary. Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D.”

How to use the power of imagination to open your speech?

Putting your audience in a state of imagination can work extremely well to captivate them for the remainder of your talk.

It really helps to bring your audience in a certain mood that preps them for what’s about to come next. Speakers have used this with high effectiveness by transporting their audience into an imaginary land to help prove their point.

When Ric Elias opened his speech, the detail he used (3000 ft, sound of the engine going clack-clack-clack) made me feel that I too was in the plane. He was trying to make the audience experience what he was feeling – and, at least in my opinion, he did.

When using the imagination opening for speeches, the key is – detail. While we want the audience to wander into imagination, we want them to wander off to the image that we want to create for them. So, detail out your scenario if you’re going to use this technique.

Make your audience feel like they too are in the same circumstance as you were when you were in that particular situation.

2. Barack Obama

Opening: “You can’t say it, but you know it’s true.”

3. Seth MacFarlane

Opening: “There’s nowhere I would rather be on a day like this than around all this electoral equipment.” (It was raining)

How to use humour to open your speech?

When you use humour in a manner that suits your personality, it can set you up for a great speech. Why? Because getting a laugh in the first 30 seconds or so is a great way to quickly get the audience to like you.

And when they like you, they are much more likely to listen to and believe in your ideas.

Obama effortlessly uses his opening line to entice laughter among the audience. He brilliantly used the setting (the context of Trump becoming President) and said a line that completely matched his style of speaking.

Saying a joke without really saying a joke and getting people to laugh requires you to be completely comfortable in your own skin. And that’s not easy for many people (me being one of them).

If the joke doesn’t land as expected, it could lead to a rocky start.

Keep in mind the following when attempting to deliver a funny introduction:

• Know your audience: Make sure your audience gets the context of the joke (if it’s an inside joke among the members you’re speaking to, that’s even better!). You can read this article we wrote where we give you tips on how you can actually get to know your audience better to ensure maximum impact with your speech openings
• The joke should suit your natural personality. Don’t make it look forced or it won’t elicit the desired response
• Test the opening out on a few people who match your real audience. Analyze their response and tweak the joke accordingly if necessary
• Starting your speech with humour means your setting the tone of your speech. It would make sense to have a few more jokes sprinkled around the rest of the speech as well as the audience might be expecting the same from you

4. Mohammed Qahtani

Opening: Puts a cigarette on his lips, lights a lighter, stops just before lighting the cigarette. Looks at audience, “What?”

5. Darren Tay

Opening: Puts a white pair of briefs over his pants.

How to use props to begin your speech?

The reason props work so well in a talk is because in most cases the audience is not expecting anything more than just talking. So when a speaker pulls out an object that is unusual, everyone’s attention goes right to it.

It makes you wonder why that prop is being used in this particular speech.

The key word here is unusual . To grip the audience’s attention at the beginning of the speech, the prop being used should be something that the audience would never expect. Otherwise, it just becomes something that is common. And common = boring!

What Mohammed Qahtani and Darren Tay did superbly well in their talks was that they used props that nobody expected them to.

By pulling out a cigarette and lighter or a white pair of underwear, the audience can’t help but be gripped by what the speaker is about to do next. And that makes for a powerful speech opening.

6. Simon Sinek

Opening: “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?”

7. Julian Treasure

Opening: “The human voice. It’s the instrument we all play. It’s the most powerful sound in the world. Probably the only one that can start a war or say “I love you.” And yet many people have the experience that when they speak people don’t listen to them. Why is that? How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?”

How to use questions to open a speech?

I use this method often. Starting off with a question is the simplest way to start your speech in a manner that immediately engages the audience.

But we should keep our questions compelling as opposed to something that is fairly obvious.

I’ve heard many speakers start their speeches with questions like “How many of us want to be successful?”

No one is going to say ‘no’ to that and frankly, I just feel silly raising my hand at such questions.

Simon Sinek and Jullian Treasure used questions in a manner that really made the audience think and make them curious to find out what the answer to that question is.

What Jullian Treasure did even better was the use of a few statements which built up to his question. This made the question even more compelling and set the theme for what the rest of his talk would be about.

So think of what question you can ask in your speech that will:

• Set the theme for the remainder of your speech
• Not be something that is fairly obvious
• Be compelling enough so that the audience will actually want to know what the answer to that question will be

8. Aaron Beverley

Opening: Long pause (after an absurdly long introduction of a 57-word speech title). “Be honest. You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

How to use silence for speech openings?

The reason this speech opening stands out is because of the fact that the title itself is 57 words long. The audience was already hilariously intrigued by what was going to come next.

But what’s so gripping here is the way Aaron holds the crowd’s suspense by…doing nothing. For about 10 to 12 seconds he did nothing but stand and look at the audience. Everyone quietened down. He then broke this silence by a humorous remark that brought the audience laughing down again.

When going on to open your speech, besides focusing on building a killer opening sentence, how about just being silent?

It’s important to keep in mind that the point of having a strong opening is so that the audience’s attention is all on you and are intrigued enough to want to listen to the rest of your speech.

Silence is a great way to do that. When you get on the stage, just pause for a few seconds (about 3 to 5 seconds) and just look at the crowd. Let the audience and yourself settle in to the fact that the spotlight is now on you.

I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about starting the speech off with a pure pause that just makes the beginning so much more powerful. It adds credibility to you as a speaker as well, making you look more comfortable and confident on stage. 

If you want to know more about the power of pausing in public speaking , check out this post we wrote. It will give you a deeper insight into the importance of pausing and how you can harness it for your own speeches. You can also check out this video to know more about Pausing for Public Speaking:

9. Dan Pink

Opening: “I need to make a confession at the outset here. Little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret. Something that I’m not particularly proud of. Something that in many ways I wish no one would ever know but that here I feel kind of obliged to reveal.”

10. Kelly McGonigal

Opening: “I have a confession to make. But first I want you to make a little confession to me.”

How to use a build-up to open your speech?

When there are so many amazing ways to start a speech and grip an audience from the outset, why would you ever choose to begin your speech with a ‘Good morning?’.

That’s what I love about build-ups. They set the mood for something awesome that’s about to come in that the audience will feel like they just have to know about.

Instead of starting a speech as it is, see if you can add some build-up to your beginning itself. For instance, in Kelly McGonigal’s speech, she could have started off with the question of stress itself (which she eventually moves on to in her speech). It’s not a bad way to start the speech.

But by adding the statement of “I have a confession to make” and then not revealing the confession for a little bit, the audience is gripped to know what she’s about to do next and find out what indeed is her confession.

11. Tim Urban

Opening: “So in college, I was a government major. Which means that I had to write a lot of papers. Now when a normal student writes a paper, they might spread the work out a little like this.”

12. Scott Dinsmore

Opening: “8 years ago, I got the worst career advice of my life.”

How to use storytelling as a speech opening?

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.” Steve Jobs

Storytelling is the foundation of good speeches. Starting your speech with a story is a great way to grip the audience’s attention. It makes them yearn to want to know how the rest of the story is going to pan out.

Tim Urban starts off his speech with a story dating back to his college days. His use of slides is masterful and something we all can learn from. But while his story sounds simple, it does the job of intriguing the audience to want to know more.

As soon as I heard the opening lines, I thought to myself “If normal students write their paper in a certain manner, how does Tim write his papers?”

Combine such a simple yet intriguing opening with comedic slides, and you’ve got yourself a pretty gripping speech.

Scott Dismore’s statement has a similar impact. However, just a side note, Scott Dismore actually started his speech with “Wow, what an honour.”

I would advise to not start your talk with something such as that. It’s way too common and does not do the job an opening must, which is to grip your audience and set the tone for what’s coming.

13. Larry Smith

Opening: “I want to discuss with you this afternoon why you’re going to fail to have a great career.”

14. Jane McGonigal

Opening: “You will live 7.5 minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”

How to use provocative statements to start your speech?

Making a provocative statement creates a keen desire among the audience to want to know more about what you have to say. It immediately brings everyone into attention.

Larry Smith did just that by making his opening statement surprising, lightly humorous, and above all – fearful. These elements lead to an opening statement which creates so much curiosity among the audience that they need to know how your speech pans out.

This one time, I remember seeing a speaker start a speech with, “Last week, my best friend committed suicide.” The entire crowd was gripped. Everyone could feel the tension in the room.

They were just waiting for the speaker to continue to know where this speech will go.

That’s what a hard-hitting statement does, it intrigues your audience so much that they can’t wait to hear more! Just a tip, if you do start off with a provocative, hard-hitting statement, make sure you pause for a moment after saying it.

Silence after an impactful statement will allow your message to really sink in with the audience.

Related article: 5 Ways to Grab Your Audience’s Attention When You’re Losing it!

15. Ramona J Smith

Opening: In a boxing stance, “Life would sometimes feel like a fight. The punches, jabs and hooks will come in the form of challenges, obstacles and failures. Yet if you stay in the ring and learn from those past fights, at the end of each round, you’ll be still standing.”

How to use your full body to grip the audience at the beginning of your speech?

In a talk, the audience is expecting you to do just that – talk. But when you enter the stage and start putting your full body into use in a way that the audience does not expect, it grabs their attention.

Body language is critical when it comes to public speaking. Hand gestures, stage movement, facial expressions are all things that need to be paid attention to while you’re speaking on stage. But that’s not I’m talking about here.

Here, I’m referring to a unique use of the body that grips the audience, like how Ramona did. By using her body to get into a boxing stance, imitating punches, jabs and hooks with her arms while talking – that’s what got the audience’s attention.

The reason I say this is so powerful is because if you take Ramona’s speech and remove the body usage from her opening, the entire magic of the opening falls flat.

While the content is definitely strong, without those movements, she would not have captured the audience’s attention as beautifully as she did with the use of her body.

So if you have a speech opening that seems slightly dull, see if you can add some body movement to it.

If your speech starts with a story of someone running, actually act out the running. If your speech starts with a story of someone reading, actually act out the reading.

It will make your speech opening that much more impactful.

Related article: 5 Body Language Tips to Command the Stage

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Final Words

So there it is! 15 speech openings from some of my favourite speeches. Hopefully, these will act as a guide for you to create your own opening which is super impactful and sets you off on the path to becoming a powerful public speaker!

But remember, while a speech opening is super important, it’s just part of an overall structure.

If you’re serious about not just creating a great speech opening but to improve your public speaking at an overall level, I would highly recommend you to check out this course: Acumen Presents: Chris Anderson on Public Speaking on Udemy. Not only does it have specific lectures on starting and ending a speech, but it also offers an in-depth guide into all the nuances of public speaking. 

Being the founder of TED Talks, Chris Anderson provides numerous examples of the best TED speakers to give us a very practical way of overcoming stage fear and delivering a speech that people will remember. His course has helped me personally and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn public speaking. 

No one is ever “done” learning public speaking. It’s a continuous process and you can always get better. Keep learning, keep conquering and keep being awesome!

Lastly, if you want to know how you should NOT open your speech, we’ve got a video for you:

Enroll in our transformative 1:1 Coaching Program

Schedule a call with our expert communication coach to know if this program would be the right fit for you

How to Brag Like a Pro as a Speaker

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How to Introduce Yourself Before Giving a Seminar

Last Updated: December 23, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 418,199 times.

Giving a seminar is an exciting opportunity to share your professional or academic knowledge. No matter who your audience is, begin your presentation with a personal introduction to give the attendees some context about why you’re there. We know how much work goes into preparing for public speaking, so we’ve put together this list of tips to help make introducing yourself a breeze!

Stand up straight.

• This can also help if you’re feeling a little nervous before giving your seminar. A powerful stance helps you feel more confident in yourself as well.

Smile at the attendees.

• Smiling is another thing that can help you feel confident about your presentation before you get into it. This is because it releases endorphins that can calm down anxious feelings.
• Your presentation instantly comes from a very strong place when you start with a big smile, lots of energy, and lots of volume.

Chat with people before the seminar starts.

• For example, if you’re giving a seminar about psychology at a university and you’re up at the front of the classroom with some audience members who are already seated in the front row, you can say something like: “Hi everyone, thanks for coming. Are you all psychology majors?”

Keep your introduction short.

• This is your chance to get the audience’s attention. If you go on too long about yourself before you even get into the content of your seminar, the people might just tune you out right from the start.

Start with your name.

• For example, say something like: “Hi everybody, thank you all so much for coming today. My name is Bob Johnson.”
• If you have any professional titles, such as “Doctor,” include those when you say your name as well.

State your company or profession.

• For instance, say something like: “I’m with Creative Consulting LLC.” Or, say something like: “I work in the marine biology department.”

Say what your specialty is.

• For example, say something along the lines of: “Our specialty is working with new companies to develop their brand’s identity.” Another idea is something like: “My specialty is studying local marine life along Washington’s coast.”

Give an overview of your background.

• For example, you can say: “I studied public relations and journalism at Washington State University and I’ve worked in marketing for almost 10 years now.” Or, say: “I’ve taught marine biology 101 and 209 here on campus for the past 8 years, as well as being involved in the research program for the past 5 years.”

Provide more personal info that you feel is important.

• For instance, you could say: “I’m originally from Canada, but I’ve lived in Washington for half my life now.” Or, say: “When I’m not helping companies with their marketing strategies, I like to go skydiving.”

Introduce your seminar topic.

• For example, say: “In the past decade, we’ve seen a drastic reduction in the native whale populations along Washington’s coast. Today I’m going to compare the current whale activity with that of the 90s, discuss why the population has declined so much, and propose some ways to help the population bounce back over the coming decade.”
• It can be good to introduce your seminar topic intro with an attention-grabbing fact. For instance, if your presentation is about homelessness in Seattle, say: “Every night, more than 3,000 people sleep on the streets of Seattle.”
• It's also helpful to take the audience on a little journey into their won experience. You might start off with a statement like "Think back on your happiest childhood memory..." or "What was the scariest moment of your life?"

Practice your intro ahead of time.

• Your whole intro might go a bit like this: “Hi everyone, thanks so much for coming today. My name is Sarah Ramirez and I’m with Red Door Recruiting. My specialty is recruiting for the finance industry. I studied business at USC and I’ve worked in recruitment for 5 years now. Every year, 25,000 students graduate from our state’s universities and start seeking employment. Today, I want to discuss some of the new platforms and technologies we have for finding and connecting with those new professionals.”

Expert Q&A

Tips from our Readers

• Make eye contact with the audience by looking slightly above people’s heads.
• Be confident in what you have to say!

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about introducing yourself, check out our in-depth interview with Patrick Muñoz .

• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/prefrontal-nudity/201209/standing-confidence
• ↑ https://positivepsychology.com/self-confidence/
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/02/tips-speaking
• ↑ https://hbr.org/2019/09/to-overcome-your-fear-of-public-speaking-stop-thinking-about-yourself
• ↑ https://hbr.org/2022/08/a-simple-way-to-introduce-yourself
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/members/content/public-speaking
• ↑ https://www.engineering.iastate.edu/ecs/students/the-employment-process/the-employment-process-for-graduate-students/interviewing-as-a-graduate-student/on-site-interviewing/interview-seminar/
• ↑ https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/lurop/pdfs/Guide%20to%20Oral%20Presentation%20Introductions.pdf
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2019/02/skillful-student

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How to Organize Your Introduction for a Presentation [+ FREE Presentation Checklist]

May 1, 2018 | Business Professional English , Free Resource , Public Speaking & Presentations

This lesson on how to organize your introduction for a presentation in English has been updated since its original posting in 2016 and a video has been added.

Getting ready to present in English? Here’s how to make sure your introduction for a presentation in English is successful.

But first… When you think about a presentation, I know you’re thinking about something like a TED video or a presentation at a conference. You’re thinking about a speech, with PowerPoint slides and a big audience.

But did you know we use the same skills when we share new information or ideas with our work colleagues? Or when we tell stories to our friends and family? The situation or speaking task may be different but we still use the same skills.

When presenting information or telling stories, we need to:

• Capture a listener’s attention
• Share information, ideas, or opinions
• Give the important details
• Make your information memorable
• Get your audience (family, friends, colleagues or strangers) to agree, to take action, to change their mind, etc.

So today you’re going to learn how to take the first big step in your English presentation: how to start with a great introduction.

The introduction is the most important part of your presentation. It is the first impression you’ll make on your audience. It’s your first opportunity to get their attention. You want them to trust you and listen to you right away.

However, that first moment when you start to speak is often the hardest. Knowing how to best prepare and knowing what to say will help you feel confident and ready to say that first word and start your presentation in English.

Be sure to include these 5 things in your inroduction.

Lesson by Annemarie

How to Organize Your Introduction for a Presentation in English and Key Phrases to Use

Organize Your Introduction Correctly

Okay, first let’s focus on what you need to include in your English introduction. Think of this as your formula for a good introduction. Using this general outline for your introduction will help you prepare. It will also help your audience know who you are, why you’re an expert, and what to expect from your presentation.

Use this general outline for your next presentation:

• Welcome your audience and introduce yourself
• Capture their attention
• Identify your number one goal or topic of presentation
• Give a quick outline of your presentation
• Provide instructions for how to ask questions (if appropriate for your situation)

Use Common Language to Make Your Introduction Easy to Understand

Great, now you have the general outline of an introduction for a speech or presentation in English. So let’s focus on some of the key expressions you can use for each step. This will help you think about what to say and how to say it so you can sound confident and prepared in your English presentation.

“The introduction is the most important part of your presentation. It is the first impression you’ll make on your audience. It’s your first opportunity to get their attention. You want them to trust you and listen to you right away.”

Welcome Your Audience & Introduction

It is polite to start with a warm welcome and to introduce yourself. Everyone in the audience will want to know who you are. Your introduction should include your name and job position or the reason you are an expert on your topic. The more the audience trusts you, the more they listen.

• Welcome to [name of company or event]. My name is [name] and I am the [job title or background information].
• Thank you for coming today. I’m [name] and I’m looking forward to talking with you today about [your topic].
• Good morning/afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to quickly introduce myself. I am [name] from [company or position]. (formal)
• On behalf of [name of company], I’d like to welcome you today. For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is [name] and I am [job title or background]. (formal)
• Hi everyone. I’m [name and background]. I’m glad to be here with you today. Now let’s get started. (informal)

Capture Their Attention

For more information about how to best capture your audience’s attention and why, please see the next session below. However, here are a few good phrases to get you started.

• Did you know that [insert an interesting fact or shocking statement]?
• Have you ever heard that [insert interesting fact or shocking statement]?
• Before I start, I’d like to share a quick story about [tell your story]…
• I remember [tell your story, experience or memory]…
• When I started preparing for this talk, I was reminded of [tell your story, share your quote or experience]…

Identify Your Goal or Topic of Presentation

At this stage, you want to be clear with your audience about your primary topic or goal. Do you want your audience to take action after your talk? Is it a topic everyone is curious about (or should be curious about)? This should be just one or two sentences and it should be very clear.

• This morning I’d like to present our new [product or service].
• Today I’d like to discuss…
• Today I’d like to share with you…
• What I want to share with you is…
• My goal today is to help you understand…
• During my talk this morning/afternoon, I’ll provide you with some background on [main topic] and why it is important to you.
• I will present my findings on…
• By the end of my presentation, I’d like for you to know…
• I aim to prove to you / change your mind about…
• I’d like to take this opportunity to talk about…
• As you know, this morning/afternoon I’ll be discussing…

Outline Your Presentation

You may have heard this about presentations in English before:

First, tell me what you’re going to tell me. Then tell me. And finally, tell me what you told me.

It sounds crazy and weird, but it’s true. This is how we structure presentations in English. So today we’re focusing on the “First, tell me what you’re going to tell me” for your introduction. This means you should outline the key points or highlights of your topic.

This prepares your listens and helps to get their attention. It will also help them follow your presentation and stay focused. Here are some great phrases to help you do that.

• First, I’m going to present… Then I’ll share with you… Finally, I’ll ask you to…
• The next thing I’ll share with you is…
• In the next section, I’ll show you…
• Today I will be covering these 3 (or 5) key points…
• In this presentation, we will discuss/evaluate…
• By the end of this presentation, you’ll be able to…
• My talk this morning is divided into [number] main sections… First, second, third… Finally…

On Asking Questions

You want to be sure to let you audience know when and how it is appropriate for them to ask you questions. For example, is the presentation informal and is it okay for someone to interrupt you with a question? Or do you prefer for everyone to wait until the end of the presentation to ask questions?

• If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to interrupt me. I’m happy to answer any questions as we go along.
• Feel free to ask any questions, however, I do ask that you wait until the end of the presentation to ask.
• There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.
• Are there any questions at this point? If not, we’ll keep going.
• I would be happy to answer any questions you may have now.

Capture Your Audience’s Attention

Do you feel unsure about how to capture the attention of your audience? Don’t worry! Here are some common examples used in English-speaking culture for doing it perfectly!

Two of the most famous speakers in the English-speaking world are Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey. While Steve Jobs is no longer living, people still love to watch his speeches and presentations online. Oprah is so famous that no matter what she does, people are excited to see her and listen to her.

BUT, if you listen to a speech by Steve Jobs or Oprah Winfrey,  they still  work  to get your attention!

The don’t start with a list of numbers or data. They don’t begin with a common fact or with the title of the presentation. No – they do much more.

From the moment they start their speech, they want you to listen. And they find interesting ways to get your attention. In his most famous speeches, Steve Jobs often started with a personal story. And Oprah often starts with an inspiring quote, a motivational part of a poem, or a personal story.

These are all great ways to help your audience to listen to you immediately – whether your presentation is 3 minutes or 20 minutes.

Here’s how you can do it.

Like Steve Jobs or Oprah Winfrey, start with a:

• Personal story or experience
• Motivational quote or line from a poem or book
• Joke (be careful with this – make sure it translates easily to everyone in the audience!)
• Shocking, bold statement (Think of Steve Jobs’ quote: “ Stay hungry. Stay Foolish .”)
• Rhetorical question ( =a question that you don’t want an answer to; the focus is to make someone think)

And finally, consider audience participation. Ask a question and get your audience to respond by raising hands.

Get the complete Presentations in English Series:

Part 1: How to Prepare for Your Presentation in English

Part 2: How to Start with a Great Introduction in Your Presentation

Part 3:  How to Organize Your Presentation in English

Part 4:  How to End Your Presentation Powerfully

As I mentioned in the video, I have two question for you today:

• What is the best introduction you’ve ever heard? Have you watched a TED Talk or a presentation on YouTube with a great introduction? Tell me about it. What do you think was great about the introduction?
• What frightens you the most about preparing your introduction in a presentation? Share your concerns with me so I can help you overcome any challenges you have.

Be sure to share in the comments below to get feedback from me and to learn from others in the Confident English Community.

Have a great week! ~ Annemarie

Get the Confidence to Say What You Want in English

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Thank you, Annemarie. thanks for the generosity of sharing useful and systemative information and content.

This is really a very informative message thank you.. And it’s help me a lot

hi thank you for this It was helpful. You used simple english that i understood well.

How to start with a great presentation on composition

Thankyou for the information . It was much helpful . I will definitely use this information in my presentation 🤗

Hi, I am Thang Sok Do you have a Sample presentation?

This was helpful but can you please tell me how to start a presentation in college because this is for work in a company. My presentation is on laboratory skills and all that

Its informative

Thank you for this video! I’ve learned quite a lot and will want to use all these knowledge in presenting my thesis proposal in 2 months. About your question no. 2, I’d just like to share that the mere fact of presenting in front of many respected professionals makes me already nervous and shaky even if i have studied everything about my presentation. What do you think should i do to deal with my concern?

Could you give me advise, how to start learning English for beginner.How to prepare presentation on any topic and how to make interesting..

Thank u so much for valuable advice. Definitely I will used this in my presentation!!

Thank you very much for these kind of useful advice. I hope my first presentation will be exciting for the audience.Your video is helping me again thanks a lot 😊

hi, i’m B.COM student and I have to prepare presentation about identifying business opportunities. How to start and an attractive attention to my audience.. Please Help me…

very nise and educative piece of information thank you nancy nairobi kenya

i am starting a video speech shooting in night about a famouse person how do i start my speech with a good intro.

Hi again how do you do a introduction goodbye

Hi i do not know what you are talking about

Hi Kate, I’m sorry to hear you’re not sure about the content. I recommend reviewing the video carefully if you haven’t already. Is there something specific you have a question about?

thanks a lot for guiding in such an easier way.

Your write-up on introduction helped a lot, thank you Annemarie. I work for cross-geography team and greetings get lengthy as timezones are different e.g. “Good evening to those joining from US office and good morning to colleagues from India office”. I replaced that with “Thank you everyone for joining”. Is it okay?

Hi Amit, I’m so glad it was helpful. As for your greeting, both of your options are perfectly appropriate and friendly.

How to introduce group members in online presentation?

Great question! I’d love to use that for a future Confident English lesson.

its amazing. i can’t explain in wording. this material helping me a lot. i am so happy after use this website . its make easy for me preparing my presentation more interesting. i am thankful too u.

thanks! i use your materials to teach my students(clinets) how to prepare a presentation. is it ok to use them on my materials?

Hi! I am a student from the USP from Tuvaluan and i take CEE45 so our assessment 2 is to prepared a group presentation and we presented in school. so need your help for how to start an attractive introduction to my teacher and my fellow students, they already kwow me.

Thank you.. very helpful

Very useful

It was very use Gul for or presentations

Hi. I am a 1st year BIT student and I have to prepare a presentation on 3D Printing. how to start an attractive introduction to my teachers, when they already know about me? Can you please help me out? Thank you.

I just took 1st place for my paper that I presented at an international students conference. I used a lot of your techniques to improve my speech and I have no words to say how grateful I am to you. Keep up the good work!

😲WOW!! That’s awesome, Andrew. 🙌Congratulations on your presentation. What a wonderful response to your hard work. I’d love to know what you presentation was about. And thank you for sharing your new here. I’m thrilled to know that my techniques were helpful to you.

The title of the presentation was “Handling burnout: A study regarding the the influence of job stressors over military and civilian personel”. I can sent you my paper through email if you would like to see it.

Hi Andrew, what a fascinating topic. And it’s interesting because I just had a newspaper reporter interview me about burnout as a small business owner. Must be a hot topic. 🙂 And sure, I’d love to see it.

🔥❤ too goodd

Hello Annemarie, Thank you so much for one of the best content on the English presentation, I’ve seen. I have a question: Is it impolite or informal to start the presentation without a greeting? I’m asking this question because I’ve seen a lot of TEDTalks and in only a few of them, they greet the audience and in most of it, they quickly go to the “CAPTURING the ATTENTION” with numbers and pictures. I would be so thankful if you could answer this question as soon as possible, my presentation is so close. Best regards, Helia

Hi Helia, What a great question. It has definitely become more common to skip the greeting and go straight to capturing the attention of the audience and you’re right that we often see this in TED talks. I would say it’s best to know your audience and what might be expected. For example, at more formal, traditional conferences or lecture, it might be more appropriate to start with a welcome. I prefer to welcome/thank my audience quickly at the start when I give presentations. A welcome can be very brief, just one sentence, and then you can quickly go into …  Read more »

Hi Annemarie I would like to thank you for giving such types of presentation skills but I have a question can you give me some idea about vote of thinks.

I’m glad the lessons are helpful to you. Could you clarify what you mean by ‘vote of thinks?’ I’m not sure I understand that.

Please can you give me some idea about vote of thanks

Could you clarify what you’re asking for, Bello?

Thanks a lot

Glad it was helpful!

it is agood i learn alot from this english class

Hello.i would like to thank you for giving these beautiful tips to start a presentation.This article helped me a lot.

That’s great, Radha. Glad to hear it.

Thanks for your article. It’s simply for interpersonal skill development.

You’re welcome, Mithun. Glad to know it was helpful.

Hi Annemarie . Thank you so much for giving such helpful guildelines it’s really gonna help me

I’m glad it’s helpful, Swetha! 🙂

thank you for help me

You’re very welcome!

Hi Anne Marie, i ‘m from Catalonia and i came across with your site only by chance and i think it’gonna be so helpful for me to pass the next test for c1 level. Several weeks ago i did some rehersals with my presentation and i was so nervous and terrified about what was expected from me.

Some tips in your youtube channel are so cool !!! Thank you.

Hi Tom, I’m thrilled you’ve found this site in your preparations for your English exam and am glad to know it’s helpful! Best of luck as you continue to prepare.

Hi Annemarie Thanks it’s so useful to develop presentation skill. Fatima

You’re very welcome, Fatima! I’m glad it was helpful.

Awesome, especially this simple and clear motto: “First, tell me what you’re going to tell me. Then tell me. And finally, tell me what you told me.” This three sentences exactly explain the content you need to create a memorable presentation.

Hi Dzmitry,

Yes, I’ve always loved that simple motto on how to do a presentation. 🙂 It’s so easy to remember and tells you exactly what to do.

hello I need to introduce myself to language center. i am going to learn Danish Language and i want to introduce myself to them and i am little bit nervous because my grammar is not good at that level.so will you please guide me how to introduce myself to them with an example. i did go through your examples but that is for professionals and i am just a student (Graduate). I don’t have any experience . Please guide me how to do it.

I was in a confused state about starting a conversation and proceeding in it but when I read the guidelines you mentioned above I became confident. thank you for your innumerable ………….

Thank you so much…… it’s an excellent topic, and it helped me a lot

I’m so glad this was helpful to you! Thank you for sharing.

hi annemarie i have a few questions about a speech i have to make a englishi speech of what i want to become can you help me?

Hi Rebecca,

Thank you for the question. I have several lessons on the topic of presentations in English . However, for personal assistance with English or presentations, I only do that through my one-on-one classes .

thank you so much…… it’s really helpful for me….

You’re very welcome, Shalini.

Thanks its really nice to develop the presentation skills

Awesome. I’m glad it was helpful to you, Mohammed.

I have to give a demo on one of your programs next week. I would like you to check my self introduction – Good afternoon everyone and thank you for all of your presence. Before we get into the session I would like to quickly introduce myself. My name is Dinesh . I am working as a Pharmaceutical sale and promotion of the brands for Arrient Healthcare. I am in this filed for the past ten years. Before becoming trainer I worked as a medical representatives for different pharma company . I am highly interested in learning from people and …  Read more »

Please ignore my previous comment. Yea the demo was a success. So hereafter I will say”I have been in this field for the past four years. Actually I worked for different consultancies so I didn’t include an article there.

I have to give a demo on one of your programs next week. I would like you to check my self introduction – Good afternoon everyone and thank you for all of your presence. Before we get into the session I would like to quickly introduce myself. My name is Monica. I am working as a Soft Skill Trainer at Synergy School of Business Skills. I am in this filed for the past four years. Before becoming trainer I worked as a Recruiter for different job consultancy. I am highly interested in learning from people and I think teaching/training is …  Read more »

Thank you for sharing your example! One note: “I am in this field for the past four years.” –> Don’t forget, when we’re talking about something that started in the past and continues to now, we use the present perfect. How might you change this sentence to fix the grammar?

Also, we want to add an article to, “… I worked as a recruiter for [a] different job consultancy.”

I wish you much success in your demo this week! Best, Annemarie

Yea the demo was a success! So hereafter I will say”I have been for the past four years. Actually I worked for different consultancies.

I like it but I think capturing their attention is the most difficult part in preparing a presentation. From my little experience, I used to talk about something out of the scope of the presentation in order to grasp their attention. For example, I had a presentation about medical terminology and its parts (suffix, prefix —). So I provided example which is Ultra Violet then I talked about the ultraviolet in the sun and Vitamin D deficiency. They liked the talk because it is very important to them and by this topic I captured their attention more and more.

Hello Fadia, I’m sorry I’m so late in responding to your comment! I agree with you: capturing attention is very challenging to do. It requires understanding your audience, knowing what is important to them, and how to connect with them. In English-speaking culture, we often connect by telling a story or showing we understand a problem the audience has. I think you’re exactly right to talk about something that is maybe “off topic” or out of the scope of the presentation, as you said, to get their attention first. It sounds like you did a great job in your experience!! …  Read more »

hi there it was great going through your enlightening presentation skills however i would be even more delighted if you put some quotes for various PPT’s which will give us an instant ideas during the adhoc PPT like myself…just a suggestion.

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How to nail your webinar welcome speech

Don’t get tongue-tied before going live. Here are a few tips and a template to write a perfect webinar script and nail your next welcome speech for an engaging live webinar virtual event.

An unfocused, long-winded presentation introduction could chase someone off before you’ve even gotten the webinar started. When an attendee leaves a webinar early, it puts a dent in the presenter’s confidence. 

To make an immediate splash and connect with your audience, presenters need strong but short opening remarks. You should hook the audience with compelling storytelling and set expectations from the get-go — and a succinct, engaging webinar welcome speech can help them do just that.

But what exactly makes a perfect webinar welcome speech? Here’s where to start: 

• It’s short : We recommend a webinar “welcome” between 60 seconds and three minutes .  
• It’s approachable: Find the line between being prepared and keeping things loose enough to engage your audience naturally.
• Do they get exclusive access to information or content? 
• A free trial of your product? 
• A credit for a service that’s only unlocked by staying to the end?

In this guide, we’ll break down how to write a welcome speech and walk you through the essential parts of creating the perfect webinar script.

Download our free webinar speaker guidelines

Boost your speaker’s confidence with our webinar speaker guidelines. provide expert tips on lighting, camera angles, and what not to wear for your next live event., in this article:.

5 elements of the perfect webinar welcome speech

Before writing a welcome address for a webinar, you’ll need to divide your intro into a few important sections.

We’ve broken down the steps below to help guide you through the process.

1. Start with a greeting and thank attendees for their time

When greeting your webinar attendees, remember that your team members work across regions, time zones, and even countries. Make sure to use a greeting that isn’t time-sensitive (e.g., “good morning”) and keep it succinct. “Hello and welcome” is always a safe choice. 

After greeting them, thank attendees for their time upfront – don’t wait until the end. Make sure they feel valued by sharing some appreciation, but keep it simple and sincere. And set initial expectations by sharing how long your webinar presentation will last.

“Hello and welcome to our [type of event] . In this 45-minute webinar, we hope you learn [list a few key takeaways] . Thank you for taking the time to join us today.”

💡 Pro tip: Include the “how” in your webinar introduction

German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus says people forget most of what they learn within an hour. And according to Ebbinghaus’s “ Forgetting Curve ,” humans typically forget around 75% of what they’ve learned within two days. 

One way to improve attendees’ memory is to explain how what they’re going to learn will benefit them. If the reason is clear, their brains will prioritize the information.

2. Preview the topic

After thanking your audience, give a brief overview of the topic so you can continue explaining to them why the webinar is worth their time (even more on this later).

Sharing a cheat sheet, workbook, or template at the end of the event? Now’s the time you share that, as well. Nothing hooks people like free goodies. Be clear about what your audience can expect and any takeaways they’ll receive:

“We’ll cover X, so you can learn Y. We’ve also got a free cheat sheet for you at the end of the session, so stay tuned to learn more.”

“In this masterclass, we’ll share six secret copywriting tips to write better ads with higher conversion rates. Whether you’re a blogger, entrepreneur, business owner, or another digital marketing professional, you’ll leave feeling ridiculously confident about making money from online business advertising. And with our free copywriting cheat sheet at the end — stay tuned for that one — you can start moving customers through your sales funnel today.”

When previewing your topic, keep the focus on attendee benefits and don’t go into too much detail about the webinar content or host yet.

💡 Pro tip: Use power words to stir emotion

Some examples of power words include:

• High-converting
• Ridiculously

You can boost your audience’s interest further by calling your webinar a “masterclass” or “seminar.” The word “presentation” sounds too formal, and “webinar” is used often, so consider a different distinction.

3. Handle housekeeping thoroughly but briefly

You’ve shared the topic and have set some expectations — now it’s time to let people know how they can participate in your webinar. 

A recent HubSpot survey asked participants which element they’d most like to see covered in a webinar, and the most popular response — at 22% — is “A host or presenter that takes questions from the audience.” Talk to your attendees about polls, chat, and other features you’ve planned for audience engagement .

“To make sure we’re helping you as best as we can on [topic] , we have a chat box to collect your questions. We’ll also have [share engagement tactics , such as polls or social media tags] .”

It’s better to show, not tell, at this point, though. Some ways to do so:

• Explain exactly where they can find the chat box in the webinar software tools (e.g., “On the right of your screen is a …”).
• Show an annotated screenshot with the chat box circled in red, so people can spot it on their own screens.

Then spell out how people can engage and when you’ll be responding to them:

“Feel free to drop questions on the topic or share your struggles and experiences. We’ll answer your questions by the end of each guest session.”

“The moderator will collect the most upvoted questions so we can answer them for you at the end of the presentation.”

Go on to extend help: “If you have any questions at this point, feel free to drop them in the chat box below.”

💡 Pro tip: Where/how will you share the webinar?

This is also an important time to share whether the webinar recording will be available later. If you also plan to share the presentation deck or any other materials, be sure to communicate that as well so attendees know how to access and use them.

4. Introduce your speakers

Ideally, it makes sense to tell people who they’re watching on their screens as you welcome them in the beginning.

But you don’t want to go into the details of your experience if you’re also the speaker. The reason? Attendees will forget about your expertise if you dig into housekeeping after introducing yourself. So you’ll need to reintroduce yourself and other guests or topical mentors (if there are any), which will stretch your webinar welcome speech.

So a good, natural move is to throw in your one-line introduction at the start and share more about your expertise later on. However, it does depend on your role (moderator vs. host vs. speaker).

When sharing your experience as a speaker, add a pinch of storytelling to your introduction. But remember to keep it short. Try this three-step storytelling formula :

• Hook attendees by asking a question or sharing unexpected challenges.
• Appeal to attendees’ emotions by building on the struggle.
• Close with how you solved the problem (including the results you delivered) or some quick, memorable insights.

Now let’s talk about how to introduce guests. Aim to keep it natural. Rehearse so you don’t have to read it from your script.

Share each guest’s name, background, and experience. It’s best to include guests’ expertise by sharing the results they’ve driven.

✅ Example: 

“Shane has written ads that have driven $ 6 million in revenue for their clients.” This shows why a guest is the best person they can learn from on the topic.

💡 Pro tip: Keep it brief

Don’t take long with guest introductions and thanking sponsors. Instead of orating their entire history, choose specifics from their experience that are relevant to the webinar topic.

5. Reiterate the value of the event and get started

Note that throughout the introduction, you’ve shared reasons for attendees to stay. The topic, guest list, and takeaway all do this job.

The last step in creating the best webinar welcome speech is to reiterate the topic for a quick refresh and to capture the attention of those joining in late.

Again, keep it short and try not to repeat yourself, even though you’ve discussed the topic. At this point, talk about the agenda. According to HubSpot, 30% of webinar participants want to attend a presentation that teaches them how to do a specific task — so make sure you’re letting them know what they can expect to learn.

“Our guests today will teach you how to live stream like a pro. So next time you run your live session, you’ll be a lot more confident.” Then mention the areas you’ll cover.

💡 Pro tip: Summarize in 3 main points

In your closing technique, when you talk about the areas you’ll cover, keep it to three points, so attendees don’t forget what the session will include.

Your webinar welcome speech template

If you’re looking to craft the perfect webinar welcome speech, save time with a template. But remember to write it out step-by-step, practice, and put your own spin on it before going live!

Webinar speech element: Welcome

“Hello and welcome. I’m your host and speaker/moderator, [name] . Thank you for taking the time to join us today as we talk about [topic] .

Webinar speech element: Benefits

You’ll leave with [share benefits of learning topic — best limited to three benefits] . We’ve also got a free [takeaway type] for you at the end of the session, so stay tuned to learn more about it.

Webinar speech element: Engagement tools explanation

And, to make sure we’re helping you as best as we can on [topic] , we have a chat box where you can submit your questions. We’ll also have [engagement tools, such as polls] to share with you.

Webinar speech element: Q&A

Feel free to drop questions on the topic or share your struggles and experiences. We’ll answer your questions by the end of each guest session (or, “The moderator will collect the most upvoted questions so we can answer them for you at the end of the presentation”).

Webinar speech element: Recording access 

Also, don’t worry about taking notes — we will send the session’s recording and training video via email with in [specify time] .

Webinar speech element: Intro guest speakers

So without further ado, let me introduce you to the pros who will talk about [reiterate topic] .

• Our first speaker is [name] from [topical credentials] (then two to three lines about topical results the speaker has driven).
• Our second speaker is … ( repeat the speaker intros as needed).

Webinar speech element: Agenda items

Today, t hese guests will teach you how to [topic] so [ benefit] . 

• One thing we’ll dive into is [a genda item # 1]. (1 line)
• Then, [agenda item # 2]. (1 line)
• And finally, [agenda item # 3]. (1 line)

Webinar speech element: Wrap-up

Ready? Let’s get started! Here’s [first speaker].

Webinar script FAQs

And to wrap things up, let’s answer some final questions on successful webinar introductions:

Start your webinar welcome speech with a warm greeting and thank attendees for their time. Next, briefly introduce the topic and set expectations by sharing any takeaways or freebies attendees will receive (e.g., “expert secrets,” in-depth reports or case studies, or template downloads). Outline how they can participate and whether the recording will be available. Finally, introduce your guests before kicking off the event.

Create a rough outline of all that you want to cover in your webinar. Areas of focus include the webinar welcome speech, guest speaker topics, and the call to action (CTA) steps that you want attendees to take after watching the webinar.

End a webinar speech by sharing takeaways or freebies (if any) and pointing out the action step that participants need to take. If you’re going to send attendees a follow-up survey or poll, let recipients know that, with their permission, you’ll potentially use their feedback in webinar testimonials. It’s also a good idea to tell attendees you’re looking forward to their success on the topic you’ve covered in the webinar.

Go live with your next webinar

Originally published on November 1, 2021. Updated on May 5, 2023.

Get your audience talking

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Masooma Memon

Masooma Memon is a freelance writer for SaaS and lover of to-do lists. When she's not writing, she usually has her head buried in a business book or fantasy novel. Connect with her on Twitter .

Masooma is a contributing writer. Vimeo commissions pieces from a variety of experts to provide a range of insights to our readers, and the views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author. All content and any external links are provided for informational purposes only.

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12+ Opening Speech Examples for Presentations & Quick Tips

Last updated on June 7th, 2024

These days, most of the audience prefers an informal approach in presentations, but at the same time, it must sound professional. When people prepare for any type of presentation, they often face this dilemma: how to start a presentation? What should be the opening speech? How much time should we take for the introduction part?

The first three minutes of your presentations are crucial to get to your audience with an engaging message and make the overall presentation effective. With the proper opening speech for your presentation, you can hook your audience, win the audience’s attention and get them audience interested in what you have to say. Check out some speech introduction examples to get familiar with this topic. Undoubtedly, if the beginning of your presentation is solid and exciting, the chances of success of your presentation increase. Opening your persuasive speech entirely depends upon your style and choice because when you are giving a presentation, you are required to be yourself and avoid putting artistic elements. So, choose something with which you are entirely comfortable.

If you are looking on how to start a speech then this article can help you to get some ideas. Here is a list of opening speech examples that you can use to prepare your presentations with a persuasive speech that convinces the audience. Find useful starting lines of speech, phrases and strategies to make your presentation a success:

1. Opening Speech with Greetings

This is the very basic, common and important step in which you need to greet your audience by wish them good morning/afternoon or evening (as per the time of session in which you are giving presentation). How to start a speech? Check out some of the examples below including a simple but effective speech introduction greeting example.

Example of Opening Greetings

Hello, everyone. I’d like, first of all, to thank the organizers of this meeting for inviting me here today.

Another example of opening Greeting speech.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am honored to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience.

2. Open the Speech by Giving Compliment & Show Gratitude towards your Audience

Secondly, just after wishing greeting to your audience give them compliment and choose some words which show that you are delighted to see them there.

Example: 

It’s great to see you all, Thank you for coming here today.

3. Give your introduction: Introduce Yourself

How you introduce yourself during a presentation is important. There are many ways to introduce yourself. Here we will see some examples on how to introduce yourself in a presentation. First of all, give your introduction start from telling your name. You can show some casual attitude by telling your short name or nick name, and then tell the audience more about your background and what you do.

For example, a good way to start introducing yourself could be:

My name is Louis Taylor, friends call me Lee sometimes.

Then introduce yourself professionally and give quite information about what you do and why are here today. For Example:

I am a software engineer by profession and working in ABC Corp. Today, I am here to provide you some exciting information about new technology, which is going to be very beneficial for you in future.

Another example of self-introduction speech:

For those of you who don’t know me already, my name is Louis Taylor, and I’m responsible for the software department at ABC Corp.

Using a self-introduction template and slide in your presentation, you can support your speech while presenting the information about you in the projection. You can also visit self introduction speech examples to find out some examples on how to introduce yourself and download self-introduction templates for PowerPoint & Google Slides.

4. Opening with the Topic of the Speech

Next is the part where you introduce the topic of your presentation or speech. Here are some examples of good opening speech for presentations examples on a specific topic.

What I’d like to present to you today is…

Or here is a simplified example of a good introduction for presentation in which we try to get the audience’s attention over the screen where you are presenting the content of your PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation.

As you can see on the screen, our topic today is…

5. Signpost

Put all your information in front of them and then put your proposal and its related information and key point by which you can implement and utilize that idea effectively. Now let collect these points to make a summary and concise illustration. Here is an example of presentation starting speech that you can use:

“Good afternoon every one, it’s great to see you all here, thank you for coming. My name is Louis Taylor, friends call me Lee sometimes. I am a software engineer by profession and working with ABC Ltd. Today we are here to know about new software so that we can take most of it. Firstly, we will look how it work, next we will discuss where can we use it, then we will learn what are its advantages and finally we will discuss what precautions are required to kept in mind while implementing it.”

6. Creating an Emotional Connection in Your Opening Speech

An effective opening speech is not just about presenting information or stating facts; it’s about forging an emotional connection with your audience. Building this connection can make your presentation more engaging, relatable, and memorable. Here are some strategies to achieve this:

Storytelling: One of the most powerful ways to establish an emotional connection is through storytelling. Sharing a personal anecdote or a relevant story can evoke emotions and draw your audience into your presentation. Make sure your story aligns with the overall theme of your presentation and adds value to your message.

Example of speech opening:

“Good morning, everyone. When I was a little boy, I used to watch my grandfather work tirelessly on his old typewriter. The clacking of the keys was a lullaby that lulled me into dreams of creating something impactful. Today, I am here to talk about the evolution of technology and its effect on communication, from typewriters of old to the smartphones of today.”

Relatability: Find common ground with your audience. This could be based on shared experiences, values, or aspirations. Doing so helps to humanize you, making it easier for your audience to relate to your message.

“Like many of you, I too struggle with maintaining a work-life balance in this fast-paced digital world. Today, I’ll share some strategies I’ve discovered that have significantly improved my quality of life.”

Utilizing Emotions: Use emotions like humor, surprise, curiosity, or inspiration to engage your audience. Different emotions can be used depending on the tone and purpose of your presentation.

“Did you know that the average person spends two weeks of their life waiting for traffic lights to change? That certainly puts our daily commute in a new light, doesn’t it?”

Remember, authenticity is crucial in building an emotional connection. Be yourself, share your experiences, and speak from the heart. This helps to gain your audience’s trust and keeps them engaged throughout your presentation.

7. Harnessing the Power of Visual Aids in Your Opening Speech

Visual aids are a potent tool in any presentation, particularly in your opening speech. They can grab your audience’s attention with a visually appealing cover slide, support your message, and make a lasting impression. Here are some ways you can utilize visual aids in your opening speech.

Images: An image is worth a thousand words, they say, and it’s true. An impactful or relevant image can pique the curiosity of your audience and set the tone for your presentation. Ensure the image aligns with your topic and contributes to your overall message.

“As you can see on the screen, this is an image of a barren desert. It may surprise you to learn that this was once a thriving forest. Today, I’ll be talking about climate change and its irreversible effects.”

Short Videos: A short video can be a great way to engage your audience. This could be a brief clip that illustrates your topic, a short animation, or even a quick introductory video about you or your organization.

Example of a presentation opening statement:

“Before we start, let’s watch this brief video about the incredible journey of a raindrop.”

Infographics and Charts: If you are sharing statistical data or complex information, infographic slides or charts can simplify and clarify your message. They are visually engaging and can help your audience understand and remember the information.

“Take a look at this chart. It shows the exponential increase in cybercrime over the last five years, a topic that we will delve into further today.”

Slides: A well-designed slide can provide a visual structure for your opening speech. It should be clean, easy to read, and should not distract from your speech. Avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or complex graphics.

“According to the infographic on the screen, we can see the three core areas we’ll be focusing on in today’s presentation.”

Remember, the goal of using visual slides is to enhance your message, not overshadow it. They should complement your speech and provide visual interest for your audience. Always test your visual aids beforehand to ensure they work properly during your presentation.

8. Engaging Your Audience with Rhetorical Questions

A rhetorical question is a powerful tool you can use in your opening speech to provoke thought and engage your audience. By posing a question that doesn’t require an answer, you can pique your audience’s interest, make them think, and steer their focus towards your presentation’s key points. Here’s how to use rhetorical questions effectively in your opening speech:

Spark Curiosity: Use a rhetorical question to spark curiosity about your topic. This question should be thought-provoking and relevant to your presentation.

“Have you ever stopped to wonder how much of your life is influenced by social media?”

Highlight Key Issues: A rhetorical question can help highlight the key issues or problems that your presentation aims to address. This will help your audience understand the importance of your topic.

“What would happen if our natural resources were to run out tomorrow?”

Encourage Reflection: Encourage your audience to reflect on their personal experiences or beliefs. This will make your presentation more relatable and engaging.

“How many of us truly understand the value of our mental health?”

Set the Tone: You can also use a rhetorical question to set the tone of your presentation, whether it’s serious, humorous, or contemplative.

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t love pizza?”

Remember, rhetorical questions are meant to stimulate thought, not to put anyone on the spot. Make sure your questions are relevant to your topic and are appropriate for your audience. With the right questions, you can grab your audience’s attention, keep them engaged, and guide their thinking throughout your presentation.

9. Leveraging Statistical Data in Your Opening Speech

Using statistical data in your opening speech is a powerful way to capture the audience’s attention and lend credibility to your message. Surprising or impactful statistics related to your presentation’s topic can instantly make your audience sit up and take notice. Here’s how you can incorporate statistical data effectively in your opening speech:

Relevant and Interesting Data: Choose statistics that are directly relevant to your topic and are likely to pique your audience’s interest. This data should enhance your message and provide valuable context for your presentation.

“Do you know that according to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting over 264 million people?”

Simplify Complex Data: If you’re presenting complex or dense data, make sure to simplify it for your audience. Use percentages, comparisons, or visual aids like infographics or charts to make the data easily understandable.

“Look at this chart. It represents the staggering 80% increase in cybercrime incidents over the past five years.”

Credible Sources: Always ensure your data comes from credible and reputable sources. This not only adds legitimacy to your presentation, but it also boosts your credibility as a speaker.

“According to a recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Science, air pollution contributes to 1 in 8 deaths worldwide.”

Shocking or Surprising Data: If you have statistics that are surprising or counter-intuitive, they can be an excellent way to grab your audience’s attention and spark curiosity about your presentation.

“Can you believe that, according to the United Nations, we waste approximately 1.3 billion tons of food every year, while one in nine people worldwide go hungry?”

Using statistical data in your opening speech can help to highlight the significance of your topic, draw your audience in, and lay a solid foundation for the rest of your presentation. Remember to present your data in a clear, accessible way, and always cite your sources to maintain credibility.

10. Creating a Powerful Hook with Anecdotes and Quotations

Anecdotes and quotations can be a powerful tool in your opening speech, serving as hooks that draw your audience into your presentation. They can provide a human element to your topic, connect with your audience on an emotional level, and add depth to your message. Here’s how you can effectively incorporate anecdotes and quotations in your opening speech:

Relevant Anecdotes: Sharing a relevant anecdote, whether personal or related to your topic, can make your presentation more relatable and engaging. Your anecdote should be brief, interesting, and serve to illustrate a point related to your topic.

“When I was a teenager, my family’s home was destroyed by a fire. That experience ignited in me a passion for safety measures and awareness, which brings us to today’s topic: fire safety in residential areas.”

Inspiring Quotations: A well-chosen quote can add depth and perspective to your topic. It can inspire, provoke thought, or set the tone for your presentation. Presenting it with a visually appealing quote slide increases the chances to make a lasting impression. Make sure the quote is relevant to your topic and from a credible source.

“Albert Einstein once said, ‘The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.’ This leads us into our discussion today on the importance of mindset in personal development.”

Humorous Anecdotes or Quotations: Depending on the formality of the setting and the topic of your presentation, a funny anecdote or quote can help to relax the audience, making them more receptive to your message.

“Mark Twain once said, ‘I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.’ As a fellow writer, I can relate to this sentiment, which brings us to our topic today: the art of concise writing.”

Remember, your anecdote or quote should serve to enhance your message, not distract from it. It should be interesting, relevant, and appropriately timed. With the right anecdote or quote, you can create a powerful hook that engages your audience from the outset.

11. Integrating Storytelling in your Opening Speech

Storytelling is a compelling method to make your opening speech memorable and engaging. A well-told story can create a strong emotional connection with your audience, making your presentation more impactful. Here’s how to effectively weave storytelling into your opening speech:

Choosing the Right Story: The story you tell should be relevant to your topic and capable of illustrating the point you’re trying to make. It could be a personal experience, a case study, or a historical event.

“Years ago, I worked on a project that, at the outset, seemed destined for success. But due to a lack of clear communication within the team, the project failed. Today, we will be discussing the importance of effective communication within teams.”

Creating Suspense: Build suspense in your story to hold your audience’s attention. You can do this by posing a problem or a conflict at the beginning of your story, which gets resolved by the end of your presentation.

“One day, as I was walking through a remote village in Africa, I came across a scene that profoundly changed my perspective. But before I reveal what it was, let’s discuss the issue of clean drinking water in underdeveloped countries.”

Showing, Not Telling: Make your story more vivid and engaging by showing, not telling. Use descriptive language and paint a picture with your words to make your audience feel like they’re part of the story.

“As the sun rose over the bustling city of Tokyo, I found myself in a small sushi shop tucked away in a quiet alley, experiencing what would become a pivotal moment in my culinary journey.”

Relatable Characters: If your story involves characters, make them relatable. Your audience should be able to see themselves in your characters, or at least understand their motivations and challenges.

“Meet Sarah, a single mother of two, working two jobs just to make ends meet. Her struggle is the reason we’re here today, to discuss the issue of minimum wage in our country.”

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can bring your presentation to life. A well-told story can captivate your audience, making your message more memorable and impactful. Be sure to select a story that aligns with your overall message and is appropriate for your audience.

12. Incorporating Interactive Elements in Your Opening Speech

Involving your audience from the get-go can make your presentation more engaging and memorable. By integrating interactive elements into your opening speech, you can foster a sense of participation and connection among your listeners. Here’s how you can do it:

Audience Polling: Modern presentation software often includes real-time polling features. You can ask your audience a question related to your topic and display the results instantly.

“To start, I’d like to ask you all a question. (Show poll on screen) How many of you think that Artificial Intelligence will significantly change our lives in the next ten years?”

Questions for Thought: Pose a thought-provoking question to your audience at the beginning of your speech. It can stimulate curiosity and get your listeners thinking about your topic.

“Before we delve into today’s topic, I want you to ponder this: what would you do if you had only 24 hours left to live? Keep that in mind as we discuss the importance of time management.”

Physical Engagement: Depending on the formality and size of your audience, you can incorporate physical engagement. This can range from a simple show of hands to engaging activities.

“By a show of hands, how many of you have ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of information available on the internet? That’s what we’ll be discussing today: information overload in the digital age.”

Interactive Quizzes: Quizzes can be a fun and interactive way to engage your audience and test their knowledge on your topic. It can also serve as a hook to introduce your topic. You can use a free Quiz PowerPoint template to ease the job of creating a quiz for your presentation.

“I have a quick quiz for you all (show quiz on screen). Let’s see who can guess the most common fear among adults. The answer will lead us into our topic of discussion today: overcoming fear.”

Remember, the goal of incorporating interactive elements is to engage your audience, so it should be relevant and add value to your presentation. Tailor your interactive elements to suit the needs and preferences of your audience, and you’ll have a winning opening speech.

What are the Objectives of Preparing a Good Introduction and Opening Speech?

As we mentioned earlier, the first minutes of your presentation are crucial to hook the audience and let them pay attention to the message you want to convey. This will depend on the type of presentation (if it is persuasive presentation, informative presentation or a presentation for entertaining the audience), but in general terms, when presenting we need to:

• Capture the audience’s attention
• Present information, opinions, ideas to the audience.
• Present important details about a specific topic.
• Sell an idea.
• Make the information memorable so it can persist over the time.
• Get your audience to take action, a Call to Action. E.g. purchase a product, enroll to something, fundraise, etc.

Real-Life Examples of Effective Opening Speeches

Barack Obama started his speech in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner saying: “You can’t say it, but you know it’s true.”

In same cases, humour can be a great companion for your speech. If you can use humour in a positive way, then getting a laugh in the first seconds of a presentation can get your audience hooked. It is a great way to open your speech.

Final Thoughts

Try to make habit of starting your presentation this way, it will sound great. You may come across several more opening speech examples for presentation but, once you implement this you yourself will realize that this is the best one. Alternatively you can learn more on quotes for presentations & speech topics  to use during your presentation in PowerPoint, learn how to close your presentation , or find other relevant speech introduction greeting examples.

49 comments on “ 12+ Opening Speech Examples for Presentations & Quick Tips ”

thank you very much

Hi Kavishki, we hope the article was useful for you. Will be great to learn more about how you have used the speech examples. If you need more speech ideas, I’d recommend you free Persuasive Speech topics .

hi,good morning all of you.i’m shadi.now i’m going to do a panel discussion.we want some informations from you we believe all will support us.

Hi Kavishki, good morning. Can please provide more information about the Panel Discussion needs and if it involves a PowerPoint presentation? We’d be happy to be of help!

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Thank you for the information about the introduction during pesentation.Truely,i really need to study lot about how to start my presentation so that the audience are interesting to hear what i want to talk about and do not feel bored.

it’s is very usefull article that can use as our revision in upcoming for the next presentation.Thank you..

Thank you miss because of this article, it can help me on my next presentation.

thank you for this article,it’s useful to improve my presentation tasks.

this article has many tips for prepare to our presentation.thank you for sharing this article.

Thanks for the useful information. Can I ask how can I improve my self-confidence so as not to be embarrassed when presenting? Any idea? Thank you.

thank you..i’ll try to use those information for my presentation so i’ll be the best presenter in my class

this information very nice and useful to me.i get many new thing and tips after i read this article.this information can help me to make a good and better presentation later.thank you for useful information and meaningful for me

first of all, thank you for the help. there are a lot of great idea for me to use for my next presentation

Hi please i would like you to help me write an introduction for a speech about myself to my teacher

It’s help my presentation

Thank you so so much I will tell this at the UNIVERSITY presentation

please i really love your speech but can you please throw more light on the introduction

Hi every body I have entretien to USA Ambassi.

I need good presentation.

thank you so much for such a beneficial tips.

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How to Introduce a Speaker (With Examples)

• The Speaker Lab
• April 2, 2024

Table of Contents

Ever stood at a podium, your palms sweaty as you look out over a crowd? In this case, though, you’re not the main attraction — just the person who gets to introduce the star of the show. That moment before you introduce a speaker is crucial. It’s not just about saying names right or getting the titles in order. Knowing h ow to introduce a speaker can set the tone for their entire presentation and potentially shape the audience’s perception from the get-go.

A well-crafted introduction does more than inform; it engages the crowd and draws them in to pay attention to the upcoming speech. A poor one, on the other hand, falls flat, sounding more like a dry reading of someone’s LinkedIn profile rather than an exciting prelude to what’s ahead. But a good speaker introduction is powerful — transforming that brief moment into a perfect kickoff of the main event. You might feel overwhelmed trying to write your introduction, but don’t stress about it! With some insight into human psychology and strategic communication techniques, we’re here to guide you.

Crafting the Perfect Introduction for a Guest Speaker

Introducing a guest speaker is more than just reading off a script. It’s about setting the stage and grabbing the attention of the audience. A good guest speaker introduction builds anticipation, connects the dots for your audience, and sets up the speaker and their topic — all in 60-90 seconds.

To achieve this, you first need to know your crowd . Are they tech geeks at a Silicon Valley conference? Or maybe they’re teachers eager to soak up new ways of engaging their students? Understanding who is in your audience will help you create an introduction that resonates with your listeners.

As you begin your introduction, it’s important to grab the audience’s attention . Start with a thought-provoking statement or question that relates to the topic and prepares the audience for what’s to come. For example, you could ask “Have you ever wondered how technology will shape our future?” before introducing a tech speaker.

Next, be sure to mention the speaker’s credibility . Share the speaker’s education, experience, and provide specific examples of their expertise. It’s also helpful to mention notable achievements or awards related to their main topic.

As you continue, it’s often helpful to preview the topic . Give the audience a quick overview of what the speaker will be talking about. You can also explain why the topic is important to the audience and what they can expect to learn.

Finally, as the speaker joins you on stage, make them feel welcome . Smile, be energetic and enthusiastic, and ask the crowd to give them a warm welcome. You can also compliment the speaker and share something special about them.

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Essential Steps to Introduce a Speaker Effectively

Before you can introduce a speaker, you first have to know who they are. In some cases, you can request a short bio from the speaker, but in other cases you may have to prepare one yourself. As a result, a little research is in order. As you compose your speaker bio, make sure it’s clear why your speaker is credible. Even if you don’t explicitly state it, you want your audience to know that they’re about to hear from someone who knows their stuff.

Researching the Speaker

First things first: dig deep into who the speaker is. What have they achieved? What about their journey inspires? To gather this information, dive into their professional background. Depending on how well-known the speaker is, there might be articles or interviews that they’ve featured in. Scan these for insights into their achievements as well as their personality. Remember to cross-check sources to ensure you have your facts straight. Mispronouncing names or getting details wrong can quickly undo all your good work.

As you research your speaker, aim to understand why they matter to your audience at this particular point in time. The accomplishments that you mention in your introduction should align closely with what your audience values or finds intriguing. In addition, tie these accomplishments directly to the speech topic—why is what they’ve done informing what they’ll say?

Weaving together a narrative of accomplishments with reasons why it matters creates more than just interest—it builds respect. You’re telling everyone present: “This person knows their stuff, and you’re going to want to listen.” It turns “just another talk” into one people couldn’t stop thinking about. That’s how powerful the right introduction can be.

The Role of Credibility in Effective Introductions

Ever heard the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”? Well, when it comes to introducing speakers, this couldn’t be more true. The initial moments can either set the stage for success or lead to an uphill battle for your speaker’s attention and respect.

But why does credibility matter so much right off the bat? It’s simple. Before someone decides if they like what you have to say, they need to buy into why they should listen. That’s where speaker credibility kicks in. It essentially bridges the gap between an audience’s initial hesitation and their eventual engagement.

• Credibility builds trust: When you highlight a speaker’s accomplishments and relevance upfront, it reassures your audience that their time is well invested.
• Tailored introductions hit home: Craft introductions that resonate with audience needs while emphasizing why this particular person has something unique to offer on the subject at hand.
• Audience connection is key: An effective introduction goes beyond just listing accolades; it makes listeners feel personally connected and eager to hear more from the guest speaking powerhouse standing before them.

In essence, a strong start fueled by credibility doesn’t just introduce; it captivates, making sure everyone leans in closer rather than tuning out. Your role is to elevate that sense of anticipation.

Engaging Examples of Guest Speaker Introductions

When preparing to introduce a speaker, it helps to have some examples to look at. Below we have just that: two examples of speeches that you can tweak for your own personal use.

General Introduction Example for a Guest Speaker

“Ladies and gentlemen, imagine someone who’s not just mastered their field but reshaped it. This evening, we’re graced with the presence of an individual whose brilliance has not only illuminated their field but also redefined it. Meet [speaker’s name] , the brain behind groundbreaking innovations in [speaker’s field] . With a career spanning over two decades, [he/she] has earned accolades like [specific achievement] , transforming challenges into triumphs. Today, [he/she]’ll dive deep into [speech topic or title] , offering insights that promise to change the way you think about this important subject.”

Personal Anecdote Example for a Guest Speaker Introduction

“I’ll never forget the day I stumbled upon an article by our next speaker; my perspective on [topic related to speech] was forever changed. Fast forward to today, and I’m thrilled beyond words to introduce you all to [speaker’s name] . Not only is [he/she] a titan in the realm of [professional title or industry] , but also someone with heartwarming resilience facing personal hurdles head-on and emerging victorious. Brace yourselves as [he/she] shares [topic or name of speech] , enlightening us on overcoming obstacles while chasing dreams.”

In these introductions, did you catch how we used a bit of storytelling to introduce the guest speakers? That wasn’t just fluff. Storytelling helps grab attention instantly while connecting the audience with the speaker even before they’ve started speaking. So when you’re introducing a speaker, don’t just rattle off achievements. Find a way to highlight what makes your speaker an interesting person, someone worth knowing and listening to. Storytelling is one great way to achieve this.

Leveraging AI to Practice Introductions

If you’ve been chosen to introduce a guest speaker, then you definitely want to practice what you’re going to say beforehand. Thanks to AI, doing so is now a bit easier. For those tired of rehearsing in front of a mirror or roping in an unenthusiastic roommate as your practice partner, there’s now an alternative. With AI tools designed for speech practice, it’s like having a personal coach who’s always ready when you are. Take a look at some additional benefits below.

• No Judgement Zone: First off, these platforms offer a safe space free from judgment. So if you mess up? No one but the algorithm will know.
• Tailored Feedback: You get real-time feedback on everything from pacing to tone.
• Infinite Do-Overs: Practice makes perfect because with AI, you can repeat until those nerves turn into confidence.

It’s more than smoothly navigating an opener; it’s about leaving a lasting imprint with your words. Thanks to AI tools like Orai or Speeko, and even VR tools like VirtualSpeech , you can introduce your speaker with confidence.

Delivering Your Guest Speaker Introduction with Impact

As the big day approaches, there are a few more things to consider for your speaker introduction. For instance, how will you start it? How important is it to keep it brief? And will you use humor? We have the answers to all these questions below.

Starting with a Thought-Provoking Question or Statement

When introducing a speaker, it’s best to start strong. A thought-provoking question or statement can be just what you need to grab the audience’s attention from the get-go. It sets up not only your speaker but also primes your audience for what’s about to unfold. For instance, asking “Have you ever wondered how technology will shape our future?” could lead into introducing a tech visionary. Similarly, saying something like “Imagine achieving all your goals without sacrificing happiness” is perfect for setting up a motivational speaker .

The goal here is to craft an opening that resonates with every person sitting there, making them think, “This is going to be good.”

Balancing Brevity with Substance in Your Introduction

Speaker introductions can be tricky because they must be both concise and engaging . Here’s the secret: It’s not about stuffing every accolade or achievement into those first few sentences. Instead, it’s about sparking curiosity, establishing credibility, and making a connection—fast. Remember, you only have about 60-90 seconds, so you want each word to count. The trick lies in choosing each word carefully so every sentence serves multiple purposes—it informs, intrigues, and invites.

Determining When Humor Is Appropriate

Before you add humor to your speaker introduction, it’s important to first consider your audience. Who all is attending and are they the sort of people to appreciate a little humor? If so, how much and what type? The setting will also help you gauge whether humor is appropriate. For instance, a somber conference room isn’t usually the place for stand-up comedy routines. If you do decide to crack a joke or two, ensure your humor aligns with both the topic at hand and doesn’t stray into offensive territory.

Humor has its place. When used correctly, it can create an instant connection between speaker and audience. But if in doubt, play it safe. The goal here is to make them anticipate your guest speaker, not leave them puzzled or offended. So read the room before you decide your move.

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Techniques for Seamlessly Transitioning to the Keynote Speaker

After you’ve introduced your speaker, it’s time to welcome them onstage. As you transition, there are a few important things to take care of as the speaker steps up to the podium.

• Greet with gusto: Kick things off by warmly welcoming your speaker on stage. A smile or a friendly nod goes miles here.
• Name drop: Announce their name clear and proud—but please get it right. Nothing says “oops” like botching up someone’s name in front of everyone.
• The warm-up act: Lead the applause by clapping first. This isn’t just good manners; it signals everyone else to join in and sets a positive vibe right from the get-go.

Ensuring a smooth transition isn’t rocket science. It just requires checking off a few important steps before you step offstage. That way, the audience brimming with anticipation for what’s coming next.

Together, we’ve explored the art of introducing a speaker. This journey isn’t just about listing facts; it’s about connecting an audience with a speaker, preparing them for what the speaker has to share. To achieve this, it’s important to research your speaker. You want to be able to explain why this speaker is credible without sounding like a Wikipedia page, building interest for your guest speaker’s presentation. Using our examples (and maybe a little AI help), you can nail a speaker introduction that is brief, humorous, and thought-provoking. Transitioning over to the event speaker doesn’t have to be nerve-wracking either. With these insights, you’re all set to connect your audience with a speaker they’ll anticipate.

• Last Updated: June 4, 2024

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Welcome Speech for Seminar

Seminars are organized in educational institutions and different organisations during which various issues of significance are hotly debated. In fact, free expression of views or right to dissent is an integral part of democracy in India. Seminar delegates are required to deliver speeches in keeping with the respective occasion. Here we have provided you five seminar speeches. You can select and use any of the welcome speech for seminar according to the event organized at your institution:

Seminar Welcome Speech

Welcome speech for a seminar in office.

Honourable Chief Executive Officer, Honourable Vice President and Board of Directors, Respected Members of Information Technology Department, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me immense pleasure in welcoming all of you to the 5 th annual seminar of the ——— Food Ltd. Established in 2010, the company today has reached the heights of great success. Our company was established with a vision to serve the society with the production of quality processed food and beverages. We focus more on the middle and low income group who want to consume quality products within a limited budget. Our target audiences are the locals of this place as well as business people who operate within a range of 50 kilometres.

But seeing the success of our company and the popularity of our products, the management has decided to expand the area of business. Now we want to target the high income group people as well as increase the range of our business operations to other states too and subsequently to other countries. After an in-depth brainstorming session and discussion amongst the management and all other relevant stakeholders, it has been decided that the organisation will adopt digitalisation as a means of promoting itself amongst the people, apart from other traditional means.

Digitalisation is one of the greatest means of transforming the society in the present era. It directs the virtual transformation of almost every component of our life today; the style of working, the means of living, the way of communication, building knowledge, doing business, etc. Digitalisation influences our welfare, democracy, healthcare, environment and society overall.

It won’t be incorrect to say that digitalisation is revolutionary and has majorly changed the face of promotion and marketing too. Digitalisation is the greatest channel of globalisation as it connects people worldwide within fractions of seconds. Thus, it will certainly help our company in meeting its objectives too. With the advent of 2017, we plan to enhance our marketing scope to some other Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Philippines.

Having said this, we can’t ignore the fact that digitalisation has its own challenges and shortcomings too. Some of the challenges which we may face today are reaching out to those people who don’t have access to internet or who live in remote areas. After devoting a careful thought to this problem, the management committee has come up with different promotion plans to reach out to those people. Our objective is to bring the benefits of our quality products to the maximum people and thus we have engaged one of the best marketing teams to promote our brand and services to the countries discussed above.

But one drawback of the digitalisation is the privacy breach. Today, digitalisation requires proficient handling of problems relating to security and privacy.

This seminar has been organised to discuss all these and many more issues which may occur during the further development and promotion of our brand and services. Well-known experts, researchers and managers from the industries and society have been invited to present their views and discuss the opportunities, threat, strengths and weaknesses of the subject.

I hope you have an engaging and enriching session ahead.

Welcome Speech for Seminar in College

Good Morning to one & all present,

Respected ———————–, Director of ————— University, Principal Madam, Professor ——————, Presiding Officer of IIT, distinguished guests, my dear students and ladies & gentlemen.

Today we all have gathered here to discuss about a very important topic i.e. “Women Rights & the Gender Justice”, which is the most vehemently discussed issue with significant implications for the future of women.

It is a bitter reality that the women have been ill treated in society for ages with India being no acceptance. The irony lies in the fact for our country that women are worshipped in the form of Shakti whereas in reality she is just treated as a commodity and subjected to inhuman treatment. She is discriminated at two levels: The first being women and secondly, having lack of economic independence.

The issue of gender justice is nowadays being raised by the activists and the academics because of the women’s increasing demand for equality. But still they have to face a lot of discrimination. Actually, this problem is not confined to India, but women in European countries too face harassment & unfair treatment.

Gradually, women have been coming forward and playing their roles in diverse fields such as banking, finance, marketing, civil services, aviation and even armed forces. Perhaps, that may be the reason why the Government of India, has launched a series of initiatives to raise awareness about women’s rights through mass media campaigns, seminars, training programmes and workshops etc to improve the lot of women in the country.

Against this backdrop, we have assembled here to know more about the topic with many eminent speakers lined up for today’s seminar. With this brief background, I would welcome our Chief Guest Mr. —————–, Director of —– University for sharing his views on this pertinent subject. I want to also welcome our participants who have come up here to ——- College from all across the country to present their views on the very topic.

I would, on the behalf of our College, again thank you ——————-for accepting our invitation and would like to extend my gratitude towards our Principal Madam for encouraging us to conduct a seminar like this today. I am again thankful to you Madam, for your kind support, suggestions and guidance given to us, as and when required.

I feel honoured to welcome all the parents & my fellow colleagues for taking a keen part in this important programme.

I am sure that you all will feel enriched with knowledge after completion of this event. I welcome you all once again to the Seminar and hope that you all will have a great time ahead.

Thank You All!

Welcome Speech for Science Seminar

Hon’ble Chief Guest, Hon’ble Head of the Department, Respected Researchers, Respected Senior Doctors, Dear Colleague Doctors, Dear Interns, Ladies & Gentlemen,

We have gathered here to discuss the scope of Radiology in treating various injuries and diseases in our Hospital – ‘Health & Care for you’. I am highly honoured to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Hospital and Head of Department, to welcome all of you today to this one-day Seminar.

We have amongst us several distinguished personalities who are highly qualified and possess vast knowledge and experience in the field of radiology. Our Hospital ‘Health & Care for you’ was established in the year 2000 with an objective to help patients suffering from abdominal cancer across India. Our mission is to root out the cause of cancer and treat the critical patients whose chance of survival is minimal. We have been highly successful so far and by the year 2015, we got pretty good exposure in foreign countries too which led us to open branches in Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

We have highly qualified and eminent doctors who are more like guardians to the patients, which is one of the core reasons why the patients recover soon. The hospital was established with a social cause and thus 40% of the funds get contributed towards treating the poor and needy people.

We have gathered here to discuss the scope of radiology in treating cancer. Our hospital uses and employs several methodologies in detecting the cause of cancer and subsequently treating the same, but technology has made several advancements in the field of medical science. Radiology is one of such technologies which we are going to discuss in detail today in this seminar.

Radiology employs imaging technologies like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), X-ray radiography, Nuclear Medicine, Computed Tomography (CT), Ultrasound and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to observe within the body of the human being in order to detect diseases and abnormalities and subsequently treat the same. A further analysis exhibited that a radiographer is a health professional who is university-trained and works with progressive technology to produce CT Scan, X-rays, MRI Scans and several other medical images to support clinical radiologists and doctors identify, observe or treat the injury and illness of patients.

We will also discuss the scope of other modern technologies which have brought a revolution in the field of medical field. Having said this, I would like to reiterate that science has no bar. It has endless scope and opportunities. Like you all know, the mission of our hospital is to treat maximum patients with positive result; with the same objective, we have arranged this seminar and invited several dignified personalities from the field of Research & Development, Radiology Department, Senior Medical Doctors, Cancer Specialists and Chemotherapists. We would request them to share their experience and expertise which would help us in making our hospital more prominent and renowned worldwide.

I hope you all find this seminar highly engaging, fruitful and beneficial for your future venture.

Welcome Speech for School Seminar

Hon’ble Chief Guest, Respected Principal, Respected Vice Principal, Respected Board Members, Dear Staff, Dear Students, Ladies and Gentlemen!

It gives me immense pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to all of you present here on behalf of the entire school council. I would also like to express our gratitude to our esteemed judges who have accepted our invitation to preside over this School Seminar on Personal Development.

St. Mary’s High School, established in the year of 1967 has completed 50 glorious years in providing quality education as well as exposure to its students in different fields. It is extremely gratifying that the school has reached great heights and realized its goals and objectives. The school conducts seminar every year for the students to gain knowledge and actively engage in the school’s activities. Each and every topic chosen is in the best interest of the students of this school. It is also made sure that the topics are engrossing and well-liked by the participants. Last year, the seminar was based on ‘’Accent Improvement’’ which has helped a lot of students in acquiring a finer accent in English language. The purpose of the seminar was to make our students as well as the staff, speak English more smoothly and accurately and to emphasize the importance of linking, stress, pausing and pitch while speaking.

Personal Development, this year’s topic, too will help the students to gain an understanding of life-changing skills and the focus would be mainly on the critical aspects like goal setting, improved confidence, leadership development, effective communication and life coaching. Like every year, faculties from different schools and professional bodies are called upon to communicate their ideas, views and knowledge on the subject matter. But today’s seminar is going to be somewhat different than the previous ones, as a private counselling session will also be conducted thereafter for the interested candidates.

Personal Development is essential for professionals and students who desire to achieve brilliance in their respective fields. Through this seminar, the students will be able to identify their weak spots that require improvement as well as the usual changes required in their living style. Apart from the personal development skills, students will also be taught on how to improve their social skills.

The agenda of the seminar will include debates, viewpoints of different experts and motivation through real life examples. The school will ensure to display all the key details on its official website for quick and easy access to all the significant aspects of the seminar.

I expect that the seminar will be productive and the next few hours will be enjoyable and fruitful to you all.

Thank you very much!

Welcome Speech for Class Seminar

Hon’ble Chief Guest, Hon’ble Vice President, Respected Principal, Respected teachers, Respected Heads of departments, Dear staff colleagues, Dear students and Ladies and Gentlemen!

It’s indeed a matter of great honour for me to welcome all of you today, on behalf of the entire college, to the 3 rd annual seminar of the ——— College of Arts. The college was established in the year 2011 with a vision to create future leaders of tomorrow by imparting education, knowledge and skills. The objective of the college was not only to impart theoretical education, but also to nurture our students and keep them rooted to the social culture and ethics. It’s highly thrilling to share that the college has reached the heights of success and achieved its goal to a large extent.

To make the subject interesting, we have started conducting the annual seminar since 2015. We keep fresh and emerging topics every year to keep the students interested and engaged; motivate them to participate warmly and discuss and share their thoughts and opinions. Last year the topic was ‘Internet Security’ and it was a great success. Since internet has become the necessity of almost every individual today especially the youth generation, it’s important that the security measures are also adopted while using Internet in order to save oneself from unseen danger due to the security breach.

This year the topic we have chosen is the ‘Social Cause’. You must be aware that our college has partnered with two Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) working for the poor and deprived students and facilitate studies, education and means of living to those. In this one-day Seminar, we will discuss the importance of social cause, its impact on our college and society and how and why should our students contribute to the larger social cause.

Like every year, we have invited the subject matter experts and some common people who would share their views, experience, expertise and thoughts on the topic. The youth is the future of the nation and it is the responsibility of the college to create a better human being along with creating a good professional.

The seminar has been divided into certain segments like debates and discussions, theoretical views, facts and figures followed by the practical assignment which need to be accomplished by the next year. Even though working for the betterment of the society is one’s individual choice, but we highly encourage our students and staff to vigorously participate in the activities that promote social cause. Philanthropic activities not only bring accolades and reputation to the college but also boost the morale and consciousness of participants.

We are extremely hopeful that this seminar is also going to be a great success like every other year and we request for your support in making it a memorable and successful event.

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Welcome Speech for Seminar in Class, School, College, Office

Table of Contents

Welcome Speech for Seminar: Seminars are organized in educational institutions and different organisations during which various issues of significance are hotly debated. In fact, free expression of views or right to dissent is an integral part of democracy in India. Seminar delegates are required to deliver speeches in keeping with the respective occasion. Here we have provided you five seminar speeches. You can select and use any of the welcome speech for seminar according to the event organized at your institution:

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Welcome Speech for a Seminar in Office

Honourable Chief Executive Officer, Honourable Vice President and Board of Directors, Respected Members of Information Technology Department, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me immense pleasure in welcoming all of you to the 5 th annual seminar of the ——— Food Ltd. Established in 2010, the company today has reached the heights of great success. Our company was established with a vision to serve the society with the production of quality processed food and beverages. We focus more on the middle and low income group who want to consume quality products within a limited budget. Our target audiences are the locals of this place as well as business people who operate within a range of 50 kilometres.

But seeing the success of our company and the popularity of our products, the management has decided to expand the area of business. Now we want to target the high income group people as well as increase the range of our business operations to other states too and subsequently to other countries. After an in-depth brainstorming session and discussion amongst the management and all other relevant stakeholders, it has been decided that the organisation will adopt digitalisation as a means of promoting itself amongst the people, apart from other traditional means.

Digitalisation is one of the greatest means of transforming the society in the present era. It directs the virtual transformation of almost every component of our life today; the style of working, the means of living, the way of communication, building knowledge, doing business, etc. Digitalisation influences our welfare, democracy, healthcare, environment and society overall.

It won’t be incorrect to say that digitalisation is revolutionary and has majorly changed the face of promotion and marketing too. Digitalisation is the greatest channel of globalisation as it connects people worldwide within fractions of seconds. Thus, it will certainly help our company in meeting its objectives too. With the advent of 2017, we plan to enhance our marketing scope to some other Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Philippines.

Having said this, we can’t ignore the fact that digitalisation has its own challenges and shortcomings too. Some of the challenges which we may face today are reaching out to those people who don’t have access to internet or who live in remote areas. After devoting a careful thought to this problem, the management committee has come up with different promotion plans to reach out to those people. Our objective is to bring the benefits of our quality products to the maximum people and thus we have engaged one of the best marketing teams to promote our brand and services to the countries discussed above.

But one drawback of the digitalisation is the privacy breach. Today, digitalisation requires proficient handling of problems relating to security and privacy.

This seminar has been organised to discuss all these and many more issues which may occur during the further development and promotion of our brand and services. Well-known experts, researchers and managers from the industries and society have been invited to present their views and discuss the opportunities, threat, strengths and weaknesses of the subject.

I hope you have an engaging and enriching session ahead.

Thank You! Welcome speech for corporate event in English

Welcome Speech for Seminar in College

Good Morning to one & all present,

Respected ———————–, Director of ————— University, Principal Madam, Professor ——————, Presiding Officer of IIT, distinguished guests, my dear students and ladies & gentlemen.

Today we all have gathered here to discuss about a very important topic i.e. “ Women Rights & the Gender Justice ”, which is the most vehemently discussed issue with significant implications for the future of women.

It is a bitter reality that the women have been ill treated in society for ages with India being no acceptance. The irony lies in the fact for our country that women are worshipped in the form of Shakti whereas in reality she is just treated as a commodity and subjected to inhuman treatment. She is discriminated at two levels: The first being women and secondly, having lack of economic independence.

The issue of gender justice is nowadays being raised by the activists and the academics because of the women’s increasing demand for equality. But still they have to face a lot of discrimination. Actually, this problem is not confined to India, but women in European countries too face harassment & unfair treatment.

Gradually, women have been coming forward and playing their roles in diverse fields such as banking, finance, marketing, civil services, aviation and even armed forces. Perhaps, that may be the reason why the Government of India, has launched a series of initiatives to raise awareness about women’s rights through mass media campaigns, seminars, training programmes and workshops etc to improve the lot of women in the country.

Against this backdrop, we have assembled here to know more about the topic with many eminent speakers lined up for today’s seminar. With this brief background, I would welcome our Chief Guest Mr. —————–, Director of —– University for sharing his views on this pertinent subject. I want to also welcome our participants who have come up here to ——- College from all across the country to present their views on the very topic.

I would, on the behalf of our College, again thank you ——————-for accepting our invitation and would like to extend my gratitude towards our Principal Madam for encouraging us to conduct a seminar like this today. I am again thankful to you Madam, for your kind support, suggestions and guidance given to us, as and when required.

I feel honoured to welcome all the parents & my fellow colleagues for taking a keen part in this important programme.

I am sure that you all will feel enriched with knowledge after completion of this event. I welcome you all once again to the Seminar and hope that you all will have a great time ahead.

Thank You All!

Welcome Speech for Science Seminar

Hon’ble Chief Guest, Hon’ble Head of the Department, Respected Researchers, Respected Senior Doctors, Dear Colleague Doctors, Dear Interns, Ladies & Gentlemen,

We have gathered here to discuss the scope of Radiology in treating various injuries and diseases in our Hospital – ‘Health & Care for you’. I am highly honoured to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Hospital and Head of Department, to welcome all of you today to this one-day Seminar.

We have amongst us several distinguished personalities who are highly qualified and possess vast knowledge and experience in the field of radiology. Our Hospital ‘Health & Care for you’ was established in the year 2000 with an objective to help patients suffering from abdominal cancer across India. Our mission is to root out the cause of cancer and treat the critical patients whose chance of survival is minimal. We have been highly successful so far and by the year 2015, we got pretty good exposure in foreign countries too which led us to open branches in Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

We have highly qualified and eminent doctors who are more like guardians to the patients, which is one of the core reasons why the patients recover soon. The hospital was established with a social cause and thus 40% of the funds get contributed towards treating the poor and needy people.

We have gathered here to discuss the scope of radiology in treating cancer. Our hospital uses and employs several methodologies in detecting the cause of cancer and subsequently treating the same, but technology has made several advancements in the field of medical science. Radiology is one of such technologies which we are going to discuss in detail today in this seminar.

Radiology employs imaging technologies like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) , X-ray radiography, Nuclear Medicine, Computed Tomography (CT), Ultrasound and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to observe within the body of the human being in order to detect diseases and abnormalities and subsequently treat the same. A further analysis exhibited that a radiographer is a health professional who is university-trained and works with progressive technology to produce CT Scan, X-rays, MRI Scans and several other medical images to support clinical radiologists and doctors identify, observe or treat the injury and illness of patients.

We will also discuss the scope of other modern technologies which have brought a revolution in the field of medical field. Having said this, I would like to reiterate that science has no bar. It has endless scope and opportunities. Like you all know, the mission of our hospital is to treat maximum patients with positive result; with the same objective, we have arranged this seminar and invited several dignified personalities from the field of Research & Development, Radiology Department, Senior Medical Doctors, Cancer Specialists and Chemotherapists. We would request them to share their experience and expertise which would help us in making our hospital more prominent and renowned worldwide.

I hope you all find this seminar highly engaging, fruitful and beneficial for your future venture.

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Hon’ble Chief Guest, Respected Principal, Respected Vice Principal, Respected Board Members, Dear Staff, Dear Students, Ladies and Gentlemen!

It gives me immense pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to all of you present here on behalf of the entire school council. I would also like to express our gratitude to our esteemed judges who have accepted our invitation to preside over this School Seminar on Personal Development.

St. Mary’s High School, established in the year of 1967 has completed 50 glorious years in providing quality education as well as exposure to its students in different fields. It is extremely gratifying that the school has reached great heights and realized its goals and objectives. The school conducts seminar every year for the students to gain knowledge and actively engage in the school’s activities. Each and every topic chosen is in the best interest of the students of this school. It is also made sure that the topics are engrossing and well-liked by the participants. Last year, the seminar was based on ‘’Accent Improvement’’ which has helped a lot of students in acquiring a finer accent in English language. The purpose of the seminar was to make our students as well as the staff, speak English more smoothly and accurately and to emphasize the importance of linking, stress, pausing and pitch while speaking.

Personal Development, this year’s topic, too will help the students to gain an understanding of life-changing skills and the focus would be mainly on the critical aspects like goal setting, improved confidence, leadership development, effective communication and life coaching. Like every year, faculties from different schools and professional bodies are called upon to communicate their ideas, views and knowledge on the subject matter. But today’s seminar is going to be somewhat different than the previous ones, as a private counselling session will also be conducted thereafter for the interested candidates.

Personal Development is essential for professionals and students who desire to achieve brilliance in their respective fields. Through this seminar, the students will be able to identify their weak spots that require improvement as well as the usual changes required in their living style. Apart from the personal development skills, students will also be taught on how to improve their social skills.

The agenda of the seminar will include debates, viewpoints of different experts and motivation through real life examples. The school will ensure to display all the key details on its official website for quick and easy access to all the significant aspects of the seminar.

I expect that the seminar will be productive and the next few hours will be enjoyable and fruitful to you all.

Thank you very much! Welcome Speech for Boss in English

Welcome Speech for Class Seminar

Hon’ble Chief Guest, Hon’ble Vice President, Respected Principal, Respected teachers, Respected Heads of departments, Dear staff colleagues, Dear students and Ladies and Gentlemen!

It’s indeed a matter of great honour for me to welcome all of you today, on behalf of the entire college, to the 3 rd annual seminar of the ——— College of Arts. The college was established in the year 2011 with a vision to create future leaders of tomorrow by imparting education, knowledge and skills. The objective of the college was not only to impart theoretical education, but also to nurture our students and keep them rooted to the social culture and ethics. It’s highly thrilling to share that the college has reached the heights of success and achieved its goal to a large extent.

To make the subject interesting, we have started conducting the annual seminar since 2015. We keep fresh and emerging topics every year to keep the students interested and engaged; motivate them to participate warmly and discuss and share their thoughts and opinions. Last year the topic was ‘Internet Security’ and it was a great success. Since internet has become the necessity of almost every individual today especially the youth generation, it’s important that the security measures are also adopted while using Internet in order to save oneself from unseen danger due to the security breach.

This year the topic we have chosen is the ‘Social Cause’. You must be aware that our college has partnered with two Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) working for the poor and deprived students and facilitate studies, education and means of living to those. In this one-day Seminar, we will discuss the importance of social cause, its impact on our college and society and how and why should our students contribute to the larger social cause.

Like every year, we have invited the subject matter experts and some common people who would share their views, experience, expertise and thoughts on the topic. The youth is the future of the nation and it is the responsibility of the college to create a better human being along with creating a good professional.

The seminar has been divided into certain segments like debates and discussions, theoretical views, facts and figures followed by the practical assignment which need to be accomplished by the next year. Even though working for the betterment of the society is one’s individual choice, but we highly encourage our students and staff to vigorously participate in the activities that promote social cause. Philanthropic activities not only bring accolades and reputation to the college but also boost the morale and consciousness of participants.

We are extremely hopeful that this seminar is also going to be a great success like every other year and we request for your support in making it a memorable and successful event.

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To welcome students for a seminar, start by greeting them warmly and introducing yourself. Then, provide some context about the seminar's topic and its importance. Mention any special guests or speakers. Encourage students to actively participate and express their thoughts throughout the seminar.

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To give a welcome speech, begin by addressing the audience and expressing your gratitude for their presence. Introduce yourself and your role if necessary. Share some positive remarks about the event or occasion. Keep the speech concise and engaging, and end with an invitation for everyone to enjoy the event

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To welcome other college students, be friendly and approachable. Smile and introduce yourself, offering assistance if needed. Engage in small talk to make them feel comfortable and part of the college community. Encourage them to join clubs, attend events, and seek help if required.

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To welcome freshers in a college speech, begin with a warm greeting. Share your excitement about their arrival and express the college's commitment to their academic journey. Offer guidance on campus resources, clubs, and activities. Make them feel valued and encouraged to explore the college experience.

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To start a good welcome speech, begin with a friendly greeting and introduce yourself. Express gratitude for the audience's presence or participation. Set a positive tone by highlighting the significance or excitement of the event. Keep your introduction concise and engaging to capture the audience's attention from the start.

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Why Republicans are calling Walz 'Tampon Tim' — and why Democrats embrace it

Rachel Treisman

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, pictured at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday, is getting attention for a law he signed last year requiring public schools to provide free period products. Matt Rourke/AP hide caption

For more on the 2024 election, head to the NPR Network's live updates page.

Republican critics of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz have given him a new nickname: “Tampon Tim.”

After Vice President Harris announced her pick , Stephen Miller, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, tweeted , “She actually chose Tampon Tim.” Chaya Raichik, who runs the far-right social media account Libs of TikTok, photoshopped Walz’s face onto a Tampax box.

#TamponTim pic.twitter.com/eBPyEOSWPC — Chaya Raichik (@ChayaRaichik10) August 6, 2024

“Tampon Tim is hands down the best political nickname ever,” tweeted conservative commentator Liz Wheeler. “It’s so… savagely effective. In one word tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about Tim Walz’s dangerous radicalism.”

The moniker refers to a law that Walz, the governor of Minnesota, signed last year, requiring public schools to provide menstrual products — including pads and tampons — to students in 4th through 12th grades.

The products are free for students, with the state paying about $2 per pupil to keep them stocked throughout the school year.

Takeaways from Tim Walz's introduction to the national stage

The law, which was the result of years of advocacy by students and their allies, took effect on Jan. 1, though students say the rollout has so far been smoother in some school districts than others .

It makes Minnesota one of 28 states (and Washington D.C.) that have passed laws aimed at giving students access to menstrual products in schools, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies.

The issue enjoys broad popular support: 30 states have eliminated state sales tax on menstrual products, and Trump himself signed a 2018 package that requires federal prisons to provide them.

But Republicans appear to be taking issue with the wording of the legislation, which says the products must be available “to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students.”

Some Minnesota Republicans initially tried to limit the initiative to female-assigned and gender-neutral bathrooms, but were unsuccessful. Even the author of that amendment ultimately voted for the final version of the bill, saying his family members “felt like it was an important issue I should support.”

The bill’s inclusive language reflects that not all people who menstruate are women, and not all women get periods, which was important to those who lobbied for the legislation.

“It will make it more comfortable for everyone … then people can use whatever restroom they want without being worried,” Bramwell Lundquist, then 15, told MPR News last year.

But some in the Republican Party — which has increasingly promoted anti-transgender policies and rhetoric — see that aspect of the bill as a reason to attack Walz.

“Tim Walz is a weird radical liberal,” the MAGA War Room account posted on X, formerly Twitter. “What could be weirder than signing a bill requiring schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms?”

'Midwestern Nice' and 'Fun Dad' posts abound after Tim Walz is named VP pick

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt made a similar argument in a Tuesday appearance on Fox News .

“As a woman, I think there is no greater threat to our health than leaders who support gender-transition surgeries for young minors, who support putting tampons in men’s bathrooms in public schools,” she said. “Those are radical policies that Tim Walz supports. He actually signed a bill to do that.”

LGBTQ rights groups have cheered Walz’s selection and praised his track record, which includes a 2023 executive order making Minnesota one of the first states to safeguard access to gender-affirming health care, as dozens of states seek to ban it .

Walz, who once earned the title “ most inspiring teacher ” at the high school where he taught and coached football, hasn’t responded publicly to the “Tampon Tim” taunts. But he had strong words for his Republican opponents on Tuesday night.

“I'll just say it: Donald Trump and JD Vance are creepy and, yes, weird,” he tweeted , repeating the put-down he helped popularize in recent days. “We are not going back.”

Many on the left see “Tampon Tim” as a compliment

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Sandra Feist, the chief sponsor of the bill in the state House, sold it as a "wise investment" , explaining to her colleagues last year that “one out of every 10 menstruating youth miss school” due to a lack of access to menstrual products and resources.

She defended it again in a tweet on Wednesday morning, saying she was grateful to have partnered with Walz to address period poverty .

“This law exemplifies what we can accomplish when we listen to students to address their needs,” she wrote. “Excited to see MN representation at the top of the ticket!”

Feist ended the tweet with the hashtag #TamponTim.

Other Democratic figures have embraced both the hashtag and the policy behind it.

The case for free tampons and pads in schools

Many social media users responded that providing tampons in schools isn’t the bad thing that Republicans are making it out to be — and in fact, they see it as the opposite.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said it was “nice of the Trump camp to help publicize Gov. Tim Walz’s compassionate and common-sense policy,” adding, “Let’s do this everywhere.”

Former Georgia State Rep. Bee Nguyen said Walz, as a former teacher, understands how the lack of access to menstrual products impacts educational outcomes.

“This makes me an even bigger fan of Tampon Tim,” she added.

Nearly 1 in 4 students have struggled to afford period products in the United States, according to a 2023 study commissioned by Thinx and PERIOD. Experts say period poverty is more than just a hassle : It’s an issue of public and personal health, dignity and more.

The Minnesota students who lobbied for the bill testified last year about having to miss class because they were unable to afford menstrual products, being distracted from schoolwork and tests and feeling that adults didn’t take their concern seriously.

“We cannot learn while we are leaking,” high school student Elif Ozturk, then 16, told a legislative hearing in 2023. “How do we expect our students to carry this burden with them during the school day and still perform well? The number one priority should be to learn, not to find a pad.”

• menstrual products

Welcome Address Speech for Seminar

Ai generator.

Good [morning/afternoon/evening], everyone!

It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to today’s seminar on [topic of the seminar]. I am [Your Name], [your position], and I am honored to be your host for this significant event. We are thrilled to have such a distinguished and diverse group of participants here with us today.

Acknowledgments

Before we begin, I would like to extend a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to:

• Our esteemed speakers and panelists, [Names and Titles]
• Our sponsors and partners who have made this event possible
• All the attendees who have taken the time to join us today

Your presence and participation are what make this seminar meaningful and impactful.

Purpose of the Seminar

The purpose of today’s seminar is to [briefly describe the purpose and goals of the seminar]. This event serves as a platform for [sharing knowledge, discussing innovative ideas, fostering collaboration, etc.]. We aim to [learn, inspire, innovate, etc.] and hope that each of you will find this experience enriching and beneficial.

Highlights of the Seminar

We have an exciting program lined up for you, including:

• Keynote Speeches: Delivered by experts in the field who will share their insights and experiences.
• Panel Discussions: Engaging sessions where our panelists will discuss key topics and trends.
• Interactive Workshops: Opportunities for hands-on learning and practical application of ideas.
• Networking Sessions: Time to connect with fellow participants, exchange ideas, and build professional relationships.

We encourage you to take full advantage of these sessions and participate actively. Your engagement is what makes this seminar dynamic and productive.

A Few Housekeeping Items

Before we dive into the program, here are a few housekeeping items:

• Breaks: We will have scheduled breaks for refreshments. [Provide details on the timing and location of refreshments]
• Restrooms: Restrooms are located [provide directions].
• Q&A Sessions: We encourage you to ask questions during the Q&A sessions following each presentation. Please use the microphones provided or submit your questions in writing if requested.

In conclusion, I want to thank you all once again for being here. Your presence and participation are what make this seminar a success. Let’s make the most of this opportunity to learn, connect, and grow together.

Without further ado, let’s get started. Please join me in welcoming our first speaker, [Name of the First Speaker].

Thank you, and enjoy the seminar!

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• Published: 09 August 2024

Responsible development of clinical speech AI: Bridging the gap between clinical research and technology

• Visar Berisha   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-8874 1 &
• Julie M. Liss 2  

npj Digital Medicine volume  7 , Article number:  208 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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This perspective article explores the challenges and potential of using speech as a biomarker in clinical settings, particularly when constrained by the small clinical datasets typically available in such contexts. We contend that by integrating insights from speech science and clinical research, we can reduce sample complexity in clinical speech AI models with the potential to decrease timelines to translation. Most existing models are based on high-dimensional feature representations trained with limited sample sizes and often do not leverage insights from speech science and clinical research. This approach can lead to overfitting, where the models perform exceptionally well on training data but fail to generalize to new, unseen data. Additionally, without incorporating theoretical knowledge, these models may lack interpretability and robustness, making them challenging to troubleshoot or improve post-deployment. We propose a framework for organizing health conditions based on their impact on speech and promote the use of speech analytics in diverse clinical contexts beyond cross-sectional classification. For high-stakes clinical use cases, we advocate for a focus on explainable and individually-validated measures and stress the importance of rigorous validation frameworks and ethical considerations for responsible deployment. Bridging the gap between AI research and clinical speech research presents new opportunities for more efficient translation of speech-based AI tools and advancement of scientific discoveries in this interdisciplinary space, particularly if limited to small or retrospective datasets.

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Introduction.

Recently, there has been a surge in interest in leveraging the acoustic properties (how it sounds) and linguistic content (what is said) of human speech as biomarkers for various health conditions. The underlying premise is that disturbances in neurological, mental, or physical health, which affect the speech production mechanism, can be discerned through alterations in speech patterns. As a result, there is a growing emphasis on developing AI models that use speech for the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of conditions such as mental health 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , cognitive disorders 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , and motor diseases 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , among others.

The development of clinical speech AI has predominantly followed a supervised learning paradigm, building on the success of data-driven approaches for consumer speech applications 16 , 17 . For instance, analysis of published speech-based models for dementia reveals that most models rely on high-dimensional speech and language representations 18 , either explicitly extracted or obtained from acoustic foundation models 19 , 20 and language foundation models 21 , 22 , to predict diagnostic labels 9 , 23 , 24 , 25 ; a similar trend is observed for depression 5 , 26 . The foundational models, initially pre-trained on data from general populations, are subsequently fine-tuned using clinical data to improve predictive accuracy for specific conditions. While data-driven classification models based on deep learning have worked well for data-rich applications like automatic speech recognition (ASR), the challenges in high-stakes clinical speech technology are distinctly different due to a lack of data availability at scale. For example, in the ASR literature, speech corpora can amount to hundreds of thousands of hours of speech samples and corresponding transcripts upon which models can be robustly trained in supervised fashion 16 , 17 . In contrast, currently available clinical datasets are much smaller, with the largest samples in the meta-analysis 9 , 24 , 25 consisting of only tens to hundreds of minutes of speech or a few thousand words. This is because clinical data collection is inherently more challenging than in other speech-based applications. Clinical populations are more diverse and present with variable symptoms that must be simultaneously collected with the speech samples, ensuring proper sampling from relevant strata.

Compounding the data problem is the fact that the ground truth accuracy of diagnostic labels for different conditions where speech is impacted varies from 100% certainty to less than 50% certainty, particularly in the early stages of disease when mild symptoms are nonspecific and present similarly across many different diseases 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 . Retrospective data often used to train published models does not always report diagnostic label accuracy or the criteria used to arrive at a diagnosis. Collecting representative, longitudinal speech corpora with paired consensus diagnoses is time-intensive and further impedes the development of large-scale corpora, which are required for developing diagnostic models based on supervised learning. Unfortunately, supervised models built on smaller-scale corpora often exhibit over-optimistic performance in controlled environments 35 and fail to generalize in out-of-sample deployments 36 , 37 . This begs the question of how we can successfully harness the power of AI to advance clinical practice and population health in the context of data availability constraints.

Here we propose that the clinical data constraints provide an opportunity for co-design of new analytics pipelines with lower sample complexity in collaboration with the clinical speech science community. The clinical speech science community has long studied the correlational and causal links between various health conditions and speech characteristics 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 . This research has focused on the physiological, neurological, and psychological aspects of speech production and perception, primarily through acoustic analysis of the speech signal, and linguistic analysis of spoken language. They involve interpretable and conceptually meaningful attributes of speech, often measured perceptually 43 , via functional rating scales 15 , or self-reported questionnaires 44 . Contributions from speech scientists, neuroscientists, and clinical researchers have deepened our understanding of human speech production mechanisms and their neural underpinnings, and particularly how neurodegeneration manifests as characteristic patterns of speech decline across clinical conditions 43 , 45 .

A co-design of a new explainable analytics pipeline can intentionally integrate scientific insights from speech science and clinical research into existing supervised models. We hypothesize that this will reduce timelines to translation, therefore providing an opportunity to grow clinical data scale through in-clinic use. As data size grows, data-driven methods with greater analytic flexibility can be used to discover new relations between speech and different clinical conditions and to develop more nuanced analytical models that can be confidently deployed for high-stakes clinical applications.

Bridging the gap between speech AI and clinical speech research leads to new opportunities in both fields. There is a clear benefit to the development of more sensitive tools for the assessment of speech for the clinical speech community. Existing instruments for assessment of speech exhibit variable within-rater and between-rater variability 46 . Developing objective proxies for these clinically-relevant constructs has the potential for increased sensitivity and reduced variability. More sensitive objective measures can also catalyze scientific discovery, enabling the identification of yet-to-be-discovered speech patterns across different clinical conditions. Conversely, effectively connecting speech AI research with clinical research enables AI developers to prioritize challenges directly aligned with clinical needs and streamline model building by leveraging domain-specific knowledge to mitigate the need for large datasets. To date, model developers have often overlooked feasibility constraints imposed by the inherent complexity of the relationship between speech production and the condition of interest. For example, recent efforts in clinical speech AI have focused on the cross-sectional classification of depression from short speech samples 5 , 26 . Given the well-documented variability in speech production 47 , the limitations of existing instruments for detecting depression 40 , and the heterogeneity in the manifestation of depression symptoms 48 , it is unlikely that stand-alone speech-based models will yield high-accuracy diagnostic models. Other studies have proposed using speech to predict conditions like coronary artery disease 49 or diabetes 50 . However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no substantial literature supporting the hypothesis that speech changes are specific enough to these conditions to serve as stand-alone indicators. In working with small data sets, understanding the approximate limits of prediction is critical for resource allocation and avoiding unwarranted conclusions that could lead to premature model deployment.

This perspective article advocates for a stronger link between the speech AI community and clinical speech community for the development of scientifically-grounded explainable models in clinical speech analytics. We begin by presenting a new framework for organizing clinical conditions based on their impact on the speech production mechanism (see Fig. 1 ). We believe such a framework is important to facilitate a shared understanding of the impact of clinical conditions on speech and stimulate interdisciplinary thought and discussion. It is useful in categorizing health conditions by the complexity and uncertainty they present for speech-based clinical AI models and provides a mental model for considering the inherent limitations of speech-based classification across different conditions. It orients researchers to consider the challenges posed by limited clinical datasets during model development, and helps prevent frequent methodological errors. This has the potential to expedite progress and further foster collaboration between the speech AI community and the clinical speech community. We then explore various contexts of use for speech analytics beyond cross-sectional classification, highlighting their clinical value and the value they provide to the clinical speech research community (see Fig. 2 ). The discussion further examines how the selected context of use influences model development and validation, advocating for the use of lower-dimensional, individually-validated and explainable measures with potential to reduce sample size requirements (see Fig. 3 ). The paper concludes with a discussion on ethical, privacy, and security considerations, emphasizing the importance of rigorous validation frameworks and responsible deployment (see Fig. 4 ).

The clinically-relevant information in speech

The production of spoken language is a complex, multi-stage process that involves precise integration of language, memory, cognition, and sensorimotor functions. Here we use the term ‘speech production’ to refer broadly to the culmination of these spoken language processes. There are several extant speech production models, each developed to accomplish different goals (see, for example 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ). Common to these models is that speech begins with a person conceptualizing an idea to be communicated, formulating the language that will convey that idea, specifying the sensorimotor patterns that will actualize the language, and then speaking 56 :

Conceptualization: the speaker forms an abstract idea that they want to verbalize (Abstract idea formulation) and the intention to share through speech (Intent to speak).

Formulation: the speaker selects the words that best convey their idea and sequences them in an order allowed by the language (Linguistic formulation). Then they plan the sequence of phonemes and the prosodic pattern of the speech to be produced (Morphological encoding). Next, they program a sequence of neuromuscular commands to move speech structures (Phonetic encoding).

Articulation: the speaker produces words via synergistic movement of the speech production system. Respiratory muscles produce a column of air that drives the vocal folds (Phonation) to produce sound. This sound is shaped by the Articulator movements to produce speech. Two feedback loops (Acoustic feedback and Proprioceptive feedback) refine the neuromuscular commands produced during the Phonetic encoding stage over time.

Figure 1 introduces a hierarchy, or ordering, of health conditions based on how direct their impact is on the speech production mechanism. This hierarchy, motivated by initial work on speech and stress 57 , roughly aligns with the three stages of speech production and has direct consequences for building robust clinical speech models based on supervised learning.

The production of spoken language is a complex, multi-stage process that involves precise integration of language, memory, cognition, and sensorimotor functions. The three stages are Conceptualization, Formulation, and Articulation. This figure introduces a hierarchy, or ordering, of health conditions based on how direct their impact is on the speech production mechanism.

This hierarchy compels researchers to ask and answer three critical questions prior to engaging in AI model development for a particular health condition. First, how directly and specifically does the health condition impact speech and/or language? In general, the further upstream the impact of a health condition on speech, the more indeterminate and nuanced the manifestations become, making it challenging to build supervised classification models on diagnostic labels. As we move from lower to higher-order health conditions, there are more mediating variables between the health condition and the observed speech changes, making the relationship between the two more variable and complex.

The second question the model compels researchers to ask and answer is what are the sensitivity and specificity of ground truth labels for the health condition? In general (but with notable exceptions), the objective accuracy of ground truth labels for the presence or absence of a health condition generally becomes less certain from lower to higher-order conditions, adding noise and uncertainty to any supervised classification models built upon the labels. High specificity of ground truth labels is critical for the development of models that distinguish between health conditions with overlapping speech and language symptoms. The answers to these two questions provide a critical context for predicting the utility of an eventual model prior to model building.

Finally, the hierarchy asks model developers to consider the relevant clinical speech symptoms to be considered in the model. In Table 1 , we provide a more complete definition of each level in the hierarchy, a list of example conditions associated with the hierarchy, and primary speech symptoms associated with the condition. The list is not exhaustive and does not consider second and third-order impacts on speech. For example, Huntington’s disease (HD) has a first-order impact on speech causing hyperkinetic dysarthria (e.g. see Table 1 ). But it also has a second- and third-order impact to the extent one experiences cognitive issues and personality changes with the disease. Nevertheless, the table serves as a starting point for developing theoretically-grounded models. Directly modeling the subset of primary speech symptoms known to be impacted by the condition of interest may help reduce sample size requirements and result in smaller models that are more likely to generalize.

Ordering of health conditions based on speech impact

Zeroth-order conditions have direct, tangible effects on the speech production mechanism (including the structures of respiration, phonation, articulation, and resonance) that manifest in the acoustic signal, impacting the Articulation stage in our model in Fig. 1 . This impact of the physical condition on the acoustic signal can be understood using physical models of the vocal tract and vocal folds 58 that allow for precise characterization of the relationship between the health condition and the acoustics. As an example, benign vocal fold masses increase the mass of the epithelial cover of the vocal folds, thereby altering the stiffness ratio between the epithelial cover and the muscular body. The impact on vocal fold vibration and the resulting acoustic signal are amenable to modeling. These types of conditions are physically verifiable upon laryngoscopy, providing consistent ground truth labeling of the condition; and the direct relationship between the condition, its impact on the physical apparatus, and the voice acoustics is direct and quantifiable (although, note that differential diagnosis of vocal fold mass subtype is more difficult, see refs. 59 , 60 ). Thus, zeroth-order health conditions directly impact the speech apparatus anatomy and often have verifiable ground-truth labels.

First-order conditions interfere with the transduction of neuromuscular commands into movement of the articulators (e.g. dysarthria secondary to motor disorder). As with zeroth-order conditions, first-order conditions also disturb the physical speech apparatus and the Articulation stage in our model, however the cause is indirect. Injury or damage to the cortical and subcortical neural circuits and nerves impacts sensorimotor control of the speech structures by causing weakness, improper muscle tone and/or mis-scaling and incoordination of speech movements 61 . The sensorimotor control of speech movements is mediated through five neural pathways and circuits, each associated with a set of cardinal and overlapping speech symptoms: Upper and lower motor neuron pathways; the direct and indirect basal ganglia circuits; and the cerebellar circuit . Damage to these areas causes distinct changes in speech:

The lower motor neurons (cranial and spinal nerves, originating in brainstem and spinal cord, respectively) directly innervate speech musculature. Damage to lower motor neurons results in flaccid paralysis and reduced or absent reflexes in the muscles innervated by the damaged nerves, and a flaccid dysarthria when cranial nerves are involved.

The upper motor neurons originate in the motor cortex and are responsible for initiating and inhibiting activation of the lower motor neurons. Damage to upper motor neurons supplying speech musculature results in spastic paralysis and hyperreflexia, and a spastic dysarthria.

The basal ganglia circuit is responsible for facilitating and scaling motor programs and for inhibiting involuntary movements. Damage to the direct basal ganglia circuit causes too little movement (hypokinesia, as in Parkinson’s disease), resulting in a hypokinetic dysarthria; while damage to the indirect basal ganglia circuit causes too much movement (hyperkinesia, as in Huntington’s disease), resulting in a hyperkinetic dysarthria.

The cerebellar circuit is responsible for fine-tuning movements during execution. Damage to the cerebellar circuits result in incoordination, resulting in an ataxic dysarthria.

Speech symptoms are characteristic when damage occurs to any of these (or multiple) neural pathways, although there is symptom overlap and symptoms evolve in presence and severity as the disease progresses 61 . The diagnostic accuracy and test-retest reliability (within and between raters) of dysarthria speech labels from the speech signal alone (i.e., without knowledge of the underlying health condition) is known to be modest, except for expert speech-language pathologists with large and varied neurology caseloads 62 . Diagnosis of the corresponding health conditions relies on a physician’s clinical assessment and consideration of other confirmatory information beyond speech. Diagnostic accuracy is impacted by the physician’s experience and expertise, whether the symptoms presenting in the condition are textbook or unusual, and whether genetic, imaging, or other laboratory tests provide supporting or confirmatory evidence is available. For example, unilateral vocal fold paralysis is a first-order health condition with direct impact on the speech apparatus (impaired vocal fold vibration) and high-ground truth accuracy and specificity (can be visualized by laryngoscopy). In contrast, Parkinson’s disease (PD) has a diffuse impact on the speech apparatus (affecting phonation, articulation, and prosody) which is hard to distinguish from healthy speech or other similar health conditions (e.g., progressive supranuclear palsy) in early disease. The reported ground-truth accuracy of the initial clinical diagnosis ranges from 58% to 80%, calling into question clinical labels in early stage PD 28 .

Second-order conditions move away from the speech production mechanism’s structure and function and into the cognitive (i.e., memory and language) and perceptual processing domains. These conditions impact the Formulation stage of speaking and manifest as problems finding and sequencing the words to convey one’s intended message and may include deficits in speech comprehension. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a second-order condition that deserves particular attention because of the burgeoning efforts in the literature to develop robust supervised classification models 63 . AD disrupts the Formulation stage of speaking with word-finding problems, and the tendency to use simpler and more general semantic and syntactic structures. Natural language processing (NLP) techniques have been used to characterize these patterns and acoustic analysis has identified speech slowing with greater pausing while speaking, presumably because of decreased efficiency of cognitive processing and early sensorimotor changes 9 , 24 , 25 .

While the clinical study of speech and language in AD has consistently found evidence of such pattern changes in individuals diagnosed with probable AD, progress toward developing generalizable speech-based supervised learning clinical models for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD has been relatively slow despite optimistic performance results reported in the literature 35 , 63 . We posit that this can be explained by answers to the first two questions that model in Fig. 1 compels researchers to consider. First, there is a lack of specificity of early speech and language symptoms to MCI and AD, given that the output is mediated by several intermediate stages and the variability associated with speech production. Mild and nonspecific speech and language symptoms will always pose a challenge for the development of clinical early detection/diagnostic speech tools until sufficient training data can result in the identification of distinct signatures (if they exist). Furthermore, given the current difficulty in accurately diagnosing MCI and AD, models based on supervised learning may be unwittingly using mislabeled training data and testing samples in their models. At present, AD is a clinical diagnosis, often preceded by a period of another clinical diagnosis of MCI. MCI is extremely difficult to diagnose with certainty, owing to variability in symptoms and their presentation over time, the overlap of speech and language symptoms with other etiologies, and the diagnostic reliance on self-report 33 . With the current absence of a definitive ground truth label for MCI or early Alzheimer’s disease, and the lack of specificity in speech changes, supervised learning models trained on small, questionably labeled data likely will continue to struggle to generalize to new data.

Third-order conditions impact the Conceptualization stage of speech production and include mental health conditions affecting mood and thought. These conditions can manifest in significant deficits and differences in speech and language, and this has been well-characterized in the literature 4 . For example, acoustic analysis can reveal rapid, pressed speech associated with mania, as well as slowed speech without prosodic variation that might accompany depression. Natural language processing can reveal and quantify disjointed and incoherent thought in the context of psychiatric disorders 64 . Despite this, the impact of these mood and thought conditions on the speech apparatus and language centers in the brain may be indirect and nonspecific relative to low-order conditions. Mental health conditions frequently cause a mixture or fluctuation of positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, mania) and negative symptoms (e.g., despondence, depression), which can present chronically, acutely, or intermittently. The associated speech and language patterns can be attributed to any number of other reasons (fatigue, anxiety, etc.) With regard to ground-truth accuracy and specificity, studies have shown that around half of schizophrenia diagnoses are inaccurate 65 . This problem has resulted in a push to identify objective biomarkers to distinguish schizophrenia from anxiety and other mood disorders 66 , 67 . This complicates the development of models for health condition detection and diagnosis; however, machine-learning models may be developed to objectively measure speech and language symptoms associated with specific symptomatology. For example, distinguishing between negative versus positive disease symptoms may be achievable with careful construction of speech elicitation tasks and normative reference data, given the central role that language plays in the definition of these symptoms 68 , 69 .

Across all health conditions, extraneous and comorbid factors can exert meaningful influence on speech production. For example, anxiety, depression, and fatigue, perhaps even as a consequence of an underlying illness, are known to impact the speech signal. It would not be straightforward to distinguish their influence from those of primary interest, adding complexity and uncertainty for models based on supervised learning, regardless of the health condition’s order. However, the increased variability in both data and diagnostic accuracy for many higher-order conditions makes speech-based models trained using supervised learning on small datasets vulnerable to reduced sensitivity and specificity. This is not merely a matter of augmenting the dimensionality of speech features or enlarging the dataset; it reflects the intrinsic variability in how humans generate speech. Finally, the accuracy and specificity of ground truth labels for health conditions are critical to consider in assessing the feasibility of interpretable model development. Unlike the static link between speech and the health condition, as diagnostic technologies advance and criteria evolve, the accuracy of these labels is expected to improve over time, thereby potentially enabling more robust model development.

Defining an appropriate context of use

As mentioned before, most published clinical speech AI development studies are based on supervised learning where developers build AI models to distinguish between two classes or to predict disease severity. This approach generally presumes the same context of use for clinical speech analytics across different applications: namely, the cross-sectional detection of a specific condition or a prediction of clinical severity based on a speech sample. As we established in the foregoing discussion, this approach, when combined with limited training data, is less likely to generalize.

Nevertheless, there are a number of use cases, in which speech analytics and AI can provide more immediate value and expedite model translation. These are outlined in Fig. 2 , where we explore these applications in greater depth. Focusing on these use cases will reduce timelines to translation, providing an opportunity to grow clinical data scale through in-clinic collection. With increased data size and diversity, researchers will better characterize currently-unknown fundamental limits of prediction for speech-based classification models for higher-order conditions (e.g. how well can we classify between depressed and non-depressed speech); and can bring to bear more advanced data-driven methods to problems that provide clinical value.

A listing of different contexts of use for the development and validation of clinical tools based on speech AI.

Diagnostic assistance

Despite rapid advancements in biomedical diagnostics, the majority of neurodegenerative diseases are diagnosed by the presence of cardinal symptoms on clinical exams. As discussed previously and as shown in Table 1 , many health conditions include changes in speech as a core symptom. For example, diagnosis of psychiatric conditions involves analysis of speech and language attributes, such as coherence, fluency, and tangentiality 70 . Likewise, many neurodegenerative diseases lead to dysarthria, and a confirmatory speech deficit pattern can be used to support their diagnoses 61 . Tools for the assessment of these speech deficit patterns in the clinical setting typically depend on the clinical judgment or on scales reported by patients themselves. There is a large body of evidence indicating that these methods exhibit variable reliability, both between different raters and within the same rater over time 46 , 62 . Clinical speech analytics has the potential to enhance diagnostic accuracy by providing objective measures of clinical speech characteristics that contribute to diagnosis, such as hypernasality, impaired vocal quality, and articulation issues in dysarthria; or measures of coherence and tangentiality in psychosis. These objective measures can provide utility for manual diagnosis in clinic or can be used as input into multi-modal diagnostic systems based on machine learning.

Non-specific risk assessment tools

While differential diagnosis based on speech alone is likely not possible for many conditions, progressive and unremitting changes in certain aspects of speech within an individual can be a sign of an underlying illness or disorder 61 . Clinical speech analytics can be used to develop tools that track changes in speech along specific dimensions known to be vulnerable to degradation in different conditions. This could provide value as an early-warning indicator, particularly as the US health system moves toward home-based care and remote patient monitoring. Such a tool could be used as a non-specific risk assessment tool triggering additional tests when key speech changes reach some threshold or is supported by changes in other monitored modalities.

Longitudinal tracking post-diagnosis

In many conditions, important symptoms can be tracked via speech post-diagnosis. For example, tracking bulbar symptom severity in ALS, as a proxy for general disease progression, can provide insights on when AAC devices should be considered or to inform end-of-life planning 71 . In Parkinson’s disease, longitudinal tracking of speech symptoms would be beneficial for drug titration 72 , 73 . In dementia, longitudinal tracking of symptoms measurable via speech (e.g. memory, cognitive-linguistic function) can provide valuable information regarding appropriate care and when changes need to be made.

Speech as a clinically meaningful endpoint

Speech is our principal means of communication and social interaction. Conditions that impair speech can severely hinder a patient’s communicative abilities, thereby diminishing their overall quality of life. Current methods for assessing communication outcomes include perceptual evaluations, such as listening and rating, or self-reported questionnaires 61 , 69 . In contrast to the use case as a solitary diagnostic tool, employing clinical speech analytics to objectively assess communicative abilities is inherently viable across many conditions. This is due to the direct correlation between the construct (communicative ability) and the input (speech). For instance, in dysarthria, clinical speech analytics may be utilized to estimate intelligibility, the percentage of words understood by listeners, which significantly affects communicative participation 74 . In psychosis, speech analytics can facilitate the creation of objective tools for assessing social competencies; these competencies are closely tied to quality of life indicators 69 . Similarly, in dementia, a decline in social interaction can lead to isolation and depression, perhaps hastening cognitive decline 75 . A related emerging use case in Alzheimer’s disease is providing context for blood-based diagnostics. As new biomarkers with confirmatory evidence of pathophysiology emerge, there will likely be an increase in Alzheimer’s diagnoses without co-occurring clinical-behavioral features. The group of patients with AD diagnoses, but without symptoms, will require context around this diagnosis. Speech analytics will be important as measures of behavioral change that are related to quality of life.

Improving clinical trial design

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prioritizes patient-relevant measures as endpoints in clinical trials. They have also identified speech and communication metrics as particularly underdeveloped for orphan diseases 76 . Objective and clinically-meaningful measures based on speech analytics that are collected more frequently can result in an improved sensitivity for detecting intervention effects. Such measures have the potential to decrease the required sample sizes for drug trials, enable more efficient enrollment, or to ascertain efficacy with greater efficiency 77 .

Facilitating development of digital therapeutics

There has been significant recent interest in development of digital therapeutics for various neurological and mental health conditions. Several of these devices target improving the patients’ social skills or communication abilities 78 . In this evolving space, introducing concrete digital markers of social competence allows for more efficient evaluation of efficacy and precision approaches for customizing therapeutics for the patient.

Development and validation of robust models

The context of use profoundly influences the development of clinical speech AI models, shaping their design, validation, and implementation strategies. For example, for contexts of use involving home monitoring, robustness to background noise, variability in recording conditions and usability are essential. For longitudinal monitoring, developed tools must be sensitive to subtle changes in speech characteristics relevant to the progression of the condition being monitored. This necessitates longitudinal data collection for development and validation to ensure stability and sensitivity over time. Screening tools in diverse populations require a training dataset that captures demographic variability to avoid bias. Solutions based on noisy diagnostic labels may require uncertainty modeling through Bayesian machine learning or ensemble methods that quantify prediction confidence 79 . Concurrently, techniques like label smoothing 80 and robust loss functions 81 can enhance model resilience under label noise.

Each context of use presents a custom development path to address the unique challenges and a parallel validation strategy that spans hardware, analytical validation, and clinical validation - see Fig. 3 . The current approach focused on data-driven supervised learning on diagnostic labels limits the development and understanding of new models and makes model validation challenging. While there are many validation metrics for evaluating AI model performance, the prevalent metrics in published speech-based models primarily focus on estimating “model accuracy” (e.g. what percent of the time does the model correctly classify between Healthy and Dementia labels based on speech) using a number of methods (e.g. cross-validation, held-out test accuracy). However, accurately estimating the model accuracy of high-dimensional supervised learning models is challenging, and current methods are prone to overoptimism 35 . In addition, many supervised machine learning models are sensitive to input perturbations, which is a significant concern for speech features known for their day-to-day variability 82 . Consequently, model performance diminishes with any temporal variation in the data.

The development of clinical speech AI models begins with a context of use. The context of use informs downstream development and validation of resulting models. The Verification, Analytical Validation, and Clinical Validation (V3) framework has been proposed as a conceptual framework for the initial validation of biometric monitoring technologies.

A starting point for clinical model validation is the Verification/Analytical Validation/Clinical Validation (V3) framework, a framework for validating digital biometric monitoring technologies. The original version of the framework proposes a structured approach with three evaluation levels: Verification of hardware, Analytical Validation, and Clinical Validation 83 . This framework has roots in principles of Verification and Validation for software quality product management and deployment 84 . While these existing validation systems are designed to confirm that the end system accurately measures what it purports to measure, the V3 framework adds the additional step of confirming that the clinical tools are meaningful to a defined clinical population. To that end, Verification ascertains the sensor data’s fidelity within its intended environment. Analytical validation examines the accuracy of algorithms processing sensor data to yield behavioral or physiological metrics, and clinical validation evaluates clinical model outputs with clinic ground truths or established measures known to be meaningful to patients. This includes existing clinical scales like the PHQ-9 (depression) or the UPDRS (Parkinson’s disease). In Fig. 3 we provide a high-level overview of the end-to-end development and validation process for clinical speech AI. It is important to note that the V3 is a conceptual framework that must be specifically instantiated for the validation of different clinical speech applications. While it can help guide the development of a validation plan, it does not provide one out of the box. Furthermore, this level of validation is only a starting point as the FDA suggests constant model monitoring post-deployment to ensure continued generalization 85 .

Supervised learning approaches based on uninterpretable input features and clinical diagnostic labels make adoption of the complete V3 framework challenging. Analytical validation is especially challenging as it’s difficult to ensure that learned speech representations are measuring or detecting physiological behaviors of interest. For example, in Parkinson’s disease, both the speaking rate and the rate of opening and closing of vocal folds is impacted. Uninterpretable features have unknown relationships with these behavioral and physiological parameters. As an alternative, model developers can use representations that are analytically validated relative to these constructs. This would lead to more interpretable clinical models. Validation should be approached end-to-end during the development process, with different stages (and purposes of analysis) employing different validation methods. Small-scale pilot tests may focus on parts of this framework. However, for work with deployment as a goal, ensuring generalizability and clinical utility requires validating the hardware on which the speech was collected, ensuring that intermediate representations are valid indicators of behavioral and physiological measures (e.g speaking rate, articulatory precision, language coherence), and clinical models developed using these speech measures are associated with existing clinical ground truths or scales that are meaningful to patients 86 .

Interpretable, clinically-important measures based on speech are currently missing from the literature. Clinically-relevant feature discovery and model performance evaluation in speech analytics are challenged by the high-dimensionality of speech, complex patterns, and limited datasets. Table 1 highlights several speech constructs that have been studied relative to various conditions; however, most of these constructs do not have standardized operational definitions in the clinical speech analytics literature. Instead, model developers rely on high-dimensional representations that have been developed for other purposes. For example, adopted from the ASR literature, many clinical models use representations based on mel-frequency cepstral coefficients or mel-spectra 18 ; or representations learned by pre-trained foundation models 19 , 20 . However, these features are not interpretable, making analytical and clinical validation challenging.

Development of a clinically-tailored speech representation could significantly refine the development process, favoring smaller, individually validated, and clinically-grounded features that allow scientists to make contact with the existing literature and mitigate model overfitting and variability. This field would benefit from a concerted and synergistic effort in the speech AI community and the speech science community to operationalize and validate a measurement model for the intermediate constructs like those listed in Table 1 87 . For example, in our previous work, we made progress in this direction by developing measurement models for the assessment of hypernasality and consontant-vowel transitions and used it to evaluate cleft lip and palate and dysarthria 88 , 89 ; several measures of volition and coherence for schizophrenia 69 ; and measures of semantic relevance for dementia 10 . Individually-validated interpretable measures allow for easier alignment to different contexts of use, integration within larger multi-modal systems, and establish a more direct link to the existing clinical literature. Furthermore, they can be used as a way of explaining the operation of larger, more complex models via bottleneck constraints 90 or they can be combined with new methods in causal machine learning for development of explainable models 91 .

Finally, clinically-interpretable representations can also play a pivotal role in integrating the patient’s perspective into the design of algorithms. The idea is that by aligning closely with the lived experiences and symptoms important to patients, these representations ensure that algorithmic outcomes resonate with the quality of life impact of health conditions. The hypothesis is that this patient-centric approach could have the added benefit of reinforcing patient trust and engagement in digital health.

Ethical, privacy, and security considerations

The deployment and regulation of clinical speech models in healthcare present multiple challenges and risks. Prematurely launched models (without robust validation) risk delivering clinically inaccurate results and potentially causing patient harm, while biases in model training can lead to skewed performance across diverse populations. Moreover, the use of speech data for health analytics raises significant privacy and security concerns. We outline these considerations in Fig. 4 and expand on them below.

An overview of key risks and corresponding mitigation strategies for the development of clinical speech AI models.

Premature deployment of inaccurate models

A primary risk of prematurely-deployed models is that they will provide clinically inaccurate output. As discussed in previous work 35 , current strategies to validate AI models are insufficient and produce overoptimistic estimates of accuracy. Several studies have highlighted this as a more general problem in AI-based science 92 , 93 . However, reported accuracy metrics carry much weight when presented to the public and can lead to premature deployment. There is considerable risk that these models will fail if deployed and potentially harm patients 94 . For example, consider the Cigna StressWaves Test model, deployed after only internal evaluation and no public efficacy data. This model analyzes a user’s voices to predict their stress level and is publicly available on the Cigna Website. Independent testing of the model reveals that it has poor test-retest reliability (measured via intraclass correlation) and poor agreement with existing instruments for measuring stress 37 .

Biased models

An additional risk of clinical speech-based models stems from the homogeneity of the data often used to train these models. Biological and socio-cultural differences contribute significantly to the variation in both the speech signal and the clinical conditions (impacting aspects from risk factors to treatment efficacy). Careful consideration of these differences in model building necessitates robust experiment design and representative stratification of data. However, a recent study demonstrates that published clinical AI models are heavily biased demographically, with 71% of the training data coming from only three states: California, Massachusetts, and New York, with 34 of the states not represented at all 95 . Similarly, analysis of clinical speech datasets indicates a significant skew towards the English language, overlooking the linguistic diversity of global populations. To accurately capture health-related speech variations, it’s essential to broaden data collection efforts to include a more representative range of the world’s native languages as health-related changes in speech can be native language-specific 96 . It becomes challenging to determine how models trained on unrepresentative data would perform when deployed for demographic groups for which they were not trained.

Privacy and security considerations

Speech and language data is widely available and, as we continue to interact with our mobile devices, we generate an ever-growing personal footprint of our health status. Previous studies have shown that this data (speeches, social media posts, interviews) can be analyzed for health analytics 97 , 98 , 99 . There is a risk that similar data on an even larger scale and over longer periods of time can be accessed by technology companies to make claims about the health or emotional state of their users without their permission or by national or international adversaries to advance a potentially false narrative on the health of key figures. The risks to the privacy of this type of analysis, if used outside of academic research, is considerable, with national and international political ramifications. Internally, political adversaries can advance a potentially false narrative on the health of candidates. Internationally, geopolitical adversaries could explore this as an additional dimension of influence in elections.

There is no silver bullet to reduce these risks, however, there are several steps that can be taken as mitigation strategies. With the public availability of speech technology, building AI models has become commoditized; however, the bottleneck remains prospective validation. Thorough validation of the model based on well-accepted frames such as the V3 framework is crucial prior to deployment 83 . This validation must extend beyond initial data sets and include diverse demographic groups to mitigate biases. Moreover, developers should engage in continuous post-deployment monitoring to identify and rectify any deviations in model performance or emergent biases. Transparency in methodology and results, coupled with responsible communication to the public, can reduce the risks of misperceived model accuracy.

On the privacy front, there are emerging technical solutions to parts of this problem based on differential privacy and federated learning 100 , 101 , 102 ; however, a complete socio-technical solution will require stringent data protection regulations and ethical guidelines to safeguard personal health information. First, it is wise to reconsider IRB review protocols in light of new technologies and publicly available data; in industry, proactive collaboration with regulatory bodies (e.g. FDA) can help establish clear guidelines. This is clear for companies focused on clinical solutions, however, the regulation of AI-based devices for technology companies, particularly those focused on wellness, is less well-defined. Recent guidance from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advising companies to only make evidence-backed claims about AI-driven products is a step in the right direction 103 .

Data availability

There is no data associated with this manuscript as it is a perspectives article centered around a theoretical framework.

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This work is funded in part by the John and Tami Marick Family Foundation, NIH NIA grant 1R01AG082052-01, NIH NIDCD grants R01DC006859-11 and R21DC019475, and NIH NIDCR grant R21DE026252-01A.

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Berisha, V., Liss, J.M. Responsible development of clinical speech AI: Bridging the gap between clinical research and technology. npj Digit. Med. 7 , 208 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01199-1

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-harris-holds-first-rally-with-minnesota-gov-tim-walz-after-choosing-him-as-running-mate

WATCH: Harris holds first rally with Tim Walz, saying he’s ‘the kind of vice president America deserves’

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kamala Harris introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the nation at a raucous rally Tuesday in Philadelphia aimed at building momentum for the newly minted Democratic presidential ticket in the sprint toward Election Day.

Watch in the player above.

“He’s the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big. … That’s the kind of vice president America deserves,” Harris said.

Taking the microphone after Harris, Walz revved up the crowd for the rigorous campaign to come. “We’ve got 91 days. My God, that’s easy. We’ll sleep when we’re dead,” he said.

READ MORE: 5 things to know about Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ VP pick

The remarks reflected the urgency of the moment, with Harris tapping Walz for the ticket during one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics. Republicans have rallied around former President Donald Trump after he was targeted in an attempted assassination in July. Just days later, President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, forcing Harris to scramble to unify Democrats and decide on a running mate over a breakneck two-week stretch.

In choosing the 60-year-old Walz, Harris is elevating a Midwestern governor, military veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families.

It was her biggest decision yet as the Democratic nominee and she went with a broadly palatable choice — someone who says politics should have more joy and who deflects dark and foreboding rhetoric from Republicans with a lighter touch, a strategy that the campaign has been increasingly turning to since Harris took over the top spot.

WATCH: A look at Walz’s record and how he could bolster Democratic support in the Midwest

Harris hopes Walz will help her shore up her campaign’s standing across the upper Midwest, a critical region in presidential politics that often serves as a buffer for Democrats seeking the White House. The party remains haunted by Trump’s wins in Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016. Trump lost those states in 2020 but has zeroed in on them as he aims to return to the presidency this year and is expanding his focus to Minnesota.

Since Walz was announced, the team raised more than $10 million from grassroots donations, the campaign said.

Walz is far from a household name. An ABC News/Ipsos survey conducted before he was selected but after vetting began showed that nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults did not know enough to have an opinion about him.

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Harris devoted much of her speech to telling the audience about Walz’s life and work, which included stints as a social studies teacher and a football coach.

“To those who know him best, Tim is more than a governor,” she said.

WATCH: Klobuchar says Walz is a ‘unifying, optimistic force’ that has been missing in politics

Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to lead a major party ticket, initially considered nearly a dozen candidates before zeroing in on a handful of serious contenders.

Trump has focused much of his campaign on appealing to men, emphasizing a need for strength in national leadership and even featuring the wrestler Hulk Hogan on the final night of the Republican National Convention. Harris’ finalists — all white men — marked an acknowledgement of the Democrat’s need to at least try to win over some of that demographic.

She personally interviewed three finalists: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Walz. Harris wanted someone with executive experience who could be a governing partner, and Walz also offered appeal to the widest swath of the diverse coalition.

His selection drew praise from lawmakers as ideologically diverse as progressive leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a moderate who left the Democratic Party earlier this year.

READ MORE: Here’s how Americans feel about Tim Walz

A team of lawyers and political operatives led by former Attorney General Eric Holder pored over documents and conducted interviews with potential selections. Harris mulled the decision over on Monday with top aides and finalized it Tuesday morning, according to three people familiar with Harris’ decision who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations.

Shapiro, an ambitious politician in his own right, struggled with the idea of being No. 2 at the White House and said he felt he had more to do in Pennsylvania, according to one of the people familiar with Harris’ decision. There was also public pushback to Shapiro for his stance on Israel from Arab American groups and younger voters angry over the administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.

The other contenders threw their support behind the ticket Tuesday, and Shapiro was one of the speakers at Tuesday’s Philadelphia rally. Biden described the Harris and Walz ticket as “a powerful voice for working people and America’s great middle class.”

Walz coined one of Democrats’ buzziest campaign bits to date, calling Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance “just weird,” a label that the Democratic Governors Association — of which Walz is chairman — amplified in a post on X and Democrats more broadly have echoed.

During a fundraiser for Harris on Monday in Minneapolis, Walz said: “It wasn’t a slur to call these guys weird. It was an observation.”

POLL: Harris boosts confidence that Democrats could win the 2024 election

Harris, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Walz will spend the next five days touring critical battleground states, visiting Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday and Arizona and Nevada later in the week.

Vance, for his part, planned stops in some of the same areas. He said Tuesday that he called Walz earlier in the day and left a voice message.

The Trump campaign on Tuesday immediately tried to tag Walz as a far-left liberal.

“It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate – Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary. “Walz is obsessed with spreading California’s dangerously liberal agenda far and wide.”

Walz, who grew up in the small town of West Point, Nebraska, was a teacher, coach and union member at Mankato West High School in Minnesota before entering politics.

He won the first of six terms in Congress in 2006 from a mostly rural southern Minnesota district and used the office to champion veterans issues. Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard, rising to command sergeant major, one of the highest enlisted ranks in the military, although he didn’t complete all the training before he retired so his rank for benefits purposes was set at master sergeant.

He ran for governor in 2018 on the theme of “One Minnesota” and won by more than 11 points.

David Ivory, a 46-year-old St. Paul resident, rode over to Walz’s residence on his bike with his kids shortly after the announcement to deliver their congratulations.

“He’s just down to earth. He gets it. He can talk to anybody,” Ivory said. “He doesn’t seem like he’s above anybody.”

As governor, Walz had to find ways to work in his first term with a legislature split between a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-led Senate. Minnesota has a history of divided government, though, and the arrangement was surprisingly productive in his first year.

Walz easily won reelection in 2022, and Democrats flipped the Senate to win full control of both chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in eight years. A big reason was the Dobbs decision from the conservative-majority Supreme Court that overturned a federal right to an abortion.

Walz currently serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Council of Governors, advising the president and the Cabinet on homeland security and national defense issues. He was first appointed to the position by Trump, then later reappointed by Biden.

Miller, Long and Kim reported from Washington. Karnowski reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Michelle L. Price in New York and Michael Goldberg in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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