There isn't a plain CSS method for this. You might have to go with JavaScript + Regex to pop in a span.
Ideally, there would be a pseudo-element for first-word, but you're out of luck as that doesn't appear to work. We do have :first-letter and :first-line.
You might be able to use a combination of :after or :before to get at it without using a span.
I have to disagree with Dale... The strong element is actually the wrong element to use, implying something about the meaning, use, or emphasis of the content while you are simply intending to provide style to the element.
Ideally you would be able to accomplish this with a pseudo-class and your stylesheet, but as that is not possible you should make your markup semantically correct and use <span class="first-word">.
display:block;
Width:40-100px; /* just enough for one word, depends on font size */
Overflow:visible; /* so longer words don't get clipped.*/
float:left; /* so it will flow with the paragraph. */
position:relative; /* for typeset adjustments. */
Didn't test that. Pretty sure it will work fine for you tho.
I've applied block rules to pseudo-classes before.
You might be stuck with a fixed width for every first word,
so text-align:center; and give it a nice background or
something to deal with the negative space.
Sadly even with the likes of CSS 3 we still do not have the likes of :first-word:last-word etc using pure CSS. Thankfully there's almost a JavaScript nowadays for everything which brings me to my recommendation. Using nthEverything and jQuery you can expand from the traditional Pseudo elements.
TEXT A <b>text b</b>
<h1>text b</h1>
<style>
h1 { /* the css style */}
h1:before {content:"text A (p.e.first word) with different style";
display:"inline";/* the different css style */}
</style>