How Do a Good Presenter Make an Introduction and Conclusion Interesting?

Q. How do a good presenter make an introduction and conclusion interesting?

        The way a good presenter delivers their speech or presentation is special than any other speakers. In order to have a successful presentation, they are well-prepared not only to make an introduction interesting at the beginning of their speech, but also to complete their speech perfectly at the end of their speech .So we have two main factors, introduction and conclusion, to be discussed.

Introduction

         Skillful speakers know the main goals of the introduction_ grabbing audiences’ interests and attentions, and orienting the attracting materials to their listeners _ very well. As the beginning, let‘s look at how a talented presenter prepares their introduction alive. He or she seizes their audiences’ attentions since the beginning of their speech to deprive their listeners to keep their attentions in the entire speech. The “grabbers” mentioned below, which also called “attention materials”, are always used up in the first part of introduction.

Relate a story           

         Begin a speech by telling a story is one of the effective strategies for presenters to draw audiences’ attention and interests. One thing they should be aware is to prepare a comprehensible story for their audiences. One of my professors introduced his lecture with the story:

        In 1880s, there was a rich Italian lady named Florence. She had a great eagerness to study nursing and help people with her profession. As time passed and she became a nurse. Finally, it came to the moment when she could participate in curing the wounded soldiers from Crimea War. She not only took great care for the sick from the early morning till the midnight by carrying a lantern but also provided facilities for the hospital. That’s why she was named after Florence Nightingale.

        The professor went on to explain us about the philanthropy by telling an interesting real event.

        Apart from stories, speakers can use hypothetical illusion, imaginary scenario that illuminates a point, for their listeners. For instance;

        Several decades later, robots will take place in the place of human beings in every aspects of the fields. No people can be seen in workplaces but only things that are done automatically by the machines which are inserted artificial intelligence (AI).

        The professor was giving lectures for students on topic “Will robots intrude in the workplaces of human in 2050?’’

Ask a question

        Another way a good speaker can captivate their listeners is by asking questions about the topic they would like to discuss. In asking questions, there are two types of questions: rhetorical question and overt-response question

         Rhetorical question is a question asked solely to stimulate interest and not to elicit a reply. It‘s like ‘Isn’t it good if the education system is free from primary through university?’  This type of question both intrigues the listeners and lures their audience to listen the answer from the speaker’s questions. Next, a question asked to elicit a direct immediate reply is an overt-response question.  In this sort of question, presenters want their audience to reply by raising their hands or answering out loud. Speakers can ask question as:  The type of houses that Inuit (Eskimos) live is called ….’For that question, speakers wait to hear one or two answers from their listeners. And they keep on talking the rest of their speech.

           Avoid asking embarrassing or personal questions to listeners. Try to make sure that the audience is clear enough to know whether they are asked rhetorical or overt-response question. So that they will know to respond it or not.

Make a Provocative Statement

        An opening speech that amazes, wonders, or shocks the audiences can definitely get the audiences’ attentions and interests. One of my seniors began her speech with:

            A six-year-old girl who had died sometimes opened her eyes from time to time for several days after her death? Do you believe it?

 And the speaker continued her talk about the neural processes which can still alive in some people for several days although they died. There’s no doubt that such kind of an opener is really a grabber for their audiences.

Cite a quotation

        A quotation can provide a lively beginning for a speech. Quotation usually work best when they are short. The best way to indicate the quoting is to pause at the end of the quotation. The pause acts as an oral punctuation device, signaling the end of thought and the beginning of another.