Opening a Presentation

Opening a Presentation

English 10

The Opening Stage (Introduction) In the opening stage of a problem-solution presentation or TED Talk, you can choose to use one or combination discourse characteristics, or communicative techniques, for introducing your talk. Below is a list of some common communicative features of a TED talk introduction:

Common communicative features

Greeting

Attention getter (hook)

Self-introduction

Lead-in

Topic of the talk

Overview of the talk

Purpose of the talk

Thesis of the talk

Decide which of these eight techniques you would like to incorporate into your problem-solution talk. Try combining 1-2 of these techniques in your own problem-solution opening section (introduction).

Entertaining ways to begin a presentation –the “hook”

1. Rhetorical Question2. Question to the Audience 3. A Hypothetical situation “What if…”4. A Short story, anecdote or joke5. An Example of statistics or shocking numbers. 6. An opening statement that contextualizes the problem/situation7. Historical Backgroud8. A picture or other type of media9. A quote or poem or saying

Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat.

Jaime Oliver

5. An example of statistics or shocking numbers.

Okay, now I don't want to alarm anybody in this room, but it's just come to my attention that the person to your right is a liar. (Laughter) Also, the person to your left is a liar. Also the person sitting in your very seats is a liar. We're all liars. What I'm going to do today is I'm going to show you what the research says about why we're all liars, how you can become a liespotter and why you might want to go the extra mile and go from lie spotting to truth seeking, and ultimately to trust building.

Pamela Meyer

6. An opening statement that contextualizes the problem/situation.

Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary. Well, I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D.

Rick Elias

4. A Short story, anecdote or joke

Useful Language

• I’m here to talk to you about…
• The leading view(s) on this is/are…
• What’s interesting about this ______ is ……

Can you think of any other words which may be useful?

Presentations need to have an introduction which tells the listener what to expect.

Use facts and figures as examples, but don’t overload the listener.

Use signposting words, or voice intonation to tell the listener about important things or to show the beginning of a new section

You need to conclude and add something that makes people think at the end.

Next steps...

Project Description (BN)

Opening and Closing a Presentation (BN)

Organizational Structure and Signposting phrases (BN)

Problem Solution Stages and Signposting Phrases (BN)

Outline Problem Solution Talk (Submission)