diff --git a/examples/foundational/22-natural-conversation.py b/examples/foundational/22-natural-conversation.py
index 9b6471f7c..5e6b0e501 100644
--- a/examples/foundational/22-natural-conversation.py
+++ b/examples/foundational/22-natural-conversation.py
@@ -104,8 +104,11 @@ async def main():
         )
 
         # This processor keeps the last context and will let it through once the
-        # notifier is woken up.
-        gated_context_aggregator = GatedOpenAILLMContextAggregator(notifier)
+        # notifier is woken up. We start with the gate open because we send an
+        # initial context frame to start the conversation.
+        gated_context_aggregator = GatedOpenAILLMContextAggregator(
+            notifier=notifier, start_open=True
+        )
 
         # Notify if the user hasn't said anything.
         async def user_idle_notifier(frame):
diff --git a/examples/foundational/22b-natural-conversation-proposal.py b/examples/foundational/22b-natural-conversation-proposal.py
index 8f19618a8..57639fe20 100644
--- a/examples/foundational/22b-natural-conversation-proposal.py
+++ b/examples/foundational/22b-natural-conversation-proposal.py
@@ -129,9 +129,9 @@ class CompletenessCheck(FrameProcessor):
 
 
 class OutputGate(FrameProcessor):
-    def __init__(self, notifier: BaseNotifier, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, *, notifier: BaseNotifier, start_open: bool = False, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
-        self._gate_open = False
+        self._gate_open = start_open
         self._frames_buffer = []
         self._notifier = notifier
 
@@ -252,7 +252,9 @@ async def main():
         # sentence, this will wake up the notifier if that happens.
         user_idle = UserIdleProcessor(callback=user_idle_notifier, timeout=5.0)
 
-        bot_output_gate = OutputGate(notifier=notifier)
+        # We start with the gate open because we send an initial context frame
+        # to start the conversation.
+        bot_output_gate = OutputGate(notifier=notifier, start_open=True)
 
         async def block_user_stopped_speaking(frame):
             return not isinstance(frame, UserStoppedSpeakingFrame)
diff --git a/examples/foundational/22c-natural-conversation-mixed-llms.py b/examples/foundational/22c-natural-conversation-mixed-llms.py
index e4509da9c..1a24af21c 100644
--- a/examples/foundational/22c-natural-conversation-mixed-llms.py
+++ b/examples/foundational/22c-natural-conversation-mixed-llms.py
@@ -333,9 +333,9 @@ class CompletenessCheck(FrameProcessor):
 
 
 class OutputGate(FrameProcessor):
-    def __init__(self, notifier: BaseNotifier, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, *, notifier: BaseNotifier, start_open: bool = False, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
-        self._gate_open = False
+        self._gate_open = start_open
         self._frames_buffer = []
         self._notifier = notifier
 
@@ -461,7 +461,9 @@ async def main():
         # sentence, this will wake up the notifier if that happens.
         user_idle = UserIdleProcessor(callback=user_idle_notifier, timeout=5.0)
 
-        bot_output_gate = OutputGate(notifier=notifier)
+        # We start with the gate open because we send an initial context frame
+        # to start the conversation.
+        bot_output_gate = OutputGate(notifier=notifier, start_open=True)
 
         async def block_user_stopped_speaking(frame):
             return not isinstance(frame, UserStoppedSpeakingFrame)