It doesn't matter if it is a written article, a speech, or an interview; get to the point as quickly as possible. Beating around the bush has a shady feel to it. Worse, you risk losing your audience if you don't get right to the point right away. You want to state the meat of what you are presenting within your first couple of sentences. You might try to catch the reader with a snazzy headline or you might soften a crowd with a joke but then state the point and make it clear. Something like, "I'm here to talk about the proposed development project in your neighborhood" is clear. Something like, "In the world of change that we live in, there are times when we must alter what is and replace it with what will be" is not clear.