
A graph demonstrating the serial-position effect. More words are remembered from the beginning and end of the series than the middle.
The human mind has a tendency to focus on the first and last things in a series. Social scientists call this the serial-position effect, a combination of the primacy effect (remembering the first thing one hears) and the recency effect (remembering the last thing one hears).[1][2]
In practical terms, the serial-position effect means that you should always try to go first or last at auditions and interviews. More importantly for our purposes, it means that introductions and conclusions are extremely important.
In this section, we’ll explore ways to start your speech that both grab your listeners’ attention and help them understand what they’re about to hear.
Candela Citations
- Serial position effect. Authored by: Obli. Located at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Serial_position.png. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Introduction to Introductions. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution