Quote Originally Posted by birdgirl73
Hey, DMO. I've thought about your intro since earlier, when I read this thread while I was at school. Before going back to school several months back, I worked as an executive speechwriter and marketing copywriter for many years at a big corporation.

I liked Afghooey's idea about asking questions a lot. That be a good way to grab your listeners' attention. But I might think about going for some real drama if you want to strongly persuade people. One or another of these ideas may work with your speech's content better, so think about the angle of the rest of your message. If it's about legalization for recreational use, that is, or medical use. (Or if it's about both.)

What about an intro where you paint a very dramatic scenario: "Imagine you're a 26-year-old with an aggressive form of lymphatic cancer. You have pain all over your body. You're nauseated and vomiting from heavy doses of chemotherapy. You don't have any appetite at all. And you're having trouble sleeping."

"Now imagine that there's a single, medically beneficial, natural substance that can alleviate each of these miserable symptoms better than all the various prescribed, factory-made pharmaceuticals available from a doctor. . . . "

"And yet imagine that that substance is illegal and unavailable to you and to all the others who need it. That's the case with cannabis. . . ."

I got a little carried away there. And I wrote like I'd talk rather than the way you would, I'm sure. But that's the general idea . . . I love homework questions. Especially when they deal wtih writing.
^Smart person.

If your trying to get their attention, I find it best to say something almost unrelated (to them) about the subject, something in general, then once their listening and waiting for you to announce your topic you tie it in with what you were talking about, basically what birdgirl did.

Also, Dmo, about damaging your lungs with smoke, surprisingly there is no connection between regular cannabis and lung cancer. I don't know about other stuff though. I'd imagine you would find people who smoked would have lung problems, but I really don't know if thats even true.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...501729_pf.html