One tool that I have found to be very useful when trying to write an introduction is called "Inverted Triangle." This concept is used mainly in journalism, but it works great for speech introductions as well. When writing your introduction, visualize it as a triangle with its widest part at top and point at bottom.

This triangle represents how specific your information is at any given time in your introduction. The wide part at top represents fairly general information, and, as triangle becomes narrower, information becomes more specific. In essence, inverted triangle is just a way to remember that you should go from general to specific in your introduction.

Someone once told me that being a teenager is a second chance to learn what you missed when you were two. At first it sounded like a stretch but, after taking a closer look, it was right on target.

Growing up is a challenging process that does not end after passing those teen years. Hopefully, it will continue right on through adulthood and, for that matter, for as long as you live. For now let's take a closer look at that most difficult time of growth, both physically and emotionally.

This is a time when your body goes through a tremendous growth spurt. In a relatively short span of your life your body grows to almost twice size of what it use to be. Arms and legs seem to have a mind of their own as you try to coordinate their movement. Muscle mass increases to help you run faster and jump higher. Everything changes so fast that when you pass a mirror you may not be sure who that is looking back at you.

It is a time of considerable learning. Information pours in at such a pace and on a daily basis that it is amazing anyone could process it all. Even so, you manage to catalog most of it somewhere in your brain for future use. Then, each time one of those stored bits of information shows up again, everyone else in room can see your lights turning on. All that information will also be used to help you make decisions as to what is right and what is wrong. You learn more and more to avoid things that hurt and go toward those that bring you pleasure. Hopefully, you also learn which are good choices.

It is a time when communication is probably biggest issue. Yes, you have a vocabulary that allows you to get what you need but, in order to function, you need to learn more words and how to use them more eloquently. Not being able to do so can lead to insurmountable frustration, where you don't know whether to be upset with yourself or your parents, who simply don't understand you.