If we called speech openings “leads,” would we write better ones?

“Introduction” has no sense of urgency. Neither does “opening.” And neither do most speech introductions or openings.

That’s why I think we should start referring to the things as speech leads.

“Greetings,” said President Obama one recent Sunday night. “Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist whoโ€™s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”

Now that, my fine lettered friends, is a speech lead.

Here’s another one, from a May 11 speech by one Lara Giddings, Premier of the Australian state of Tasmania:

Itโ€™s no secret that this week has been a terrible week for me and the Government and Iโ€™m not going to try to gloss over it.

First we lost Lin Thorp. Then David Bartlett informed me that he could no longer continue as a Minister and will resign as a Member of Parliament in the near future. Worse still, in last nightโ€™s Federal Budget we heard that Tasmania had lost a further $343 million in GST revenue.

I must say that of the three events, the one that concerns me most for the long term is the further blow to the Stateโ€™s revenue. Members of Parliament come and go, but the continuing erosion of the Stateโ€™s finances has very real implications for the future of Tasmania and will require ongoing strong budget management and tough decisions ….

That is one Tasmanian devil of a speech lead, is it not?

Speechwriters, go forth and do likewiseโ€”and as always, send us what you do! โ€”DM

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