A tip if you give speeches: Never start out with a canned joke. Or a joke of any kind, unless you are dead certain you’ve read the room perfectly. A better way to start any speech is with a question. Asking a question does three things, all good. One, it makes the speech about the audience, not the speaker. Two, it helps the speaker get a “read” on the audience. Three, it is a wonderfully calming way to start a speech. It kills the fear that one will stumble out of the gate. That used to be my own biggest speech fear until I learned the trick of starting with a question.
-- Rich Karlgaard, Forbes.com