Introduction-Communication Skills-Lecture Handout, Exercises of Communication and Presentation Skills

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Lesson 15

Introduction

Before you reach this step you have decided upon your topic, designed your thesis, formulated your reasons, and collected your supporting material. The next few steps consist of putting your ideas in order. In preparing your speech, you have worked very hard gathering information. You know what the information means to you. Now you need to create meaning for the audience. Putting your information in order will help to create meaning for the audience. Every speech has these general parts. Usually it is organized by dividing it into these three areas:

1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusion Every speech, no matter how poorly constructed and poorly organized, has some kind of introduction (you have to begin), some middle section (the body), and some kind of conclusion (at some point in time you have to finish). Introduction An introduction is a beginning. It is a very important part of the speech process because it is during the introduction that the audience first sees you and learns about your topic. At what point does an introduction begin? It begins the moment you address the audience. The moment you turn to look at the audience and utter your first sounds or communicate something nonverbally, you have: begun your introduction. In the introduction phase, the audience may decide if you are credible and if your speech will be worth their attention. Your introduction should have four purposes:
4. Getting the audience's attention
5. Introducing your thesis
6. Adapting to the audience
7. Establishing your rapport or credibility with the audience Getting the audience's attention It is obvious that you must get the audience's attention before you can inform them or persuade them about your subject matter. There are many methods for getting people's attention. Before you decide on a method, you must consider the audience, their background, interests, attitudes, and the tone of your subject. The device you use to get the audience's attention must be appropriate for the audience and the subject, matter. If you are talking to an audience of intelligent, mature adults about the problems caused by inflation, you could get their attention by walking into the room and beginning to shout. The loud unexpected noise would certainly get their attention initially, but if the loud noise did not have anything to do with the subject, you would quickly lose their attention, and your credibility with that audience might suffer greatly. There are several more desirable tools for getting the audience's attention:  Startling statements

 Stories docsity.com

 Rhetorical questions  Quotations  Style of delivery  Humorous anecdotes  Reference to the subject or occasion  Personal reference A startling statement is a strong statement designed to evoke a powerful emotional response. It gets attention by creating suspense, conflict, humor, or by the sheer intensity of the statement. Many stories, magazines, or advertisements use startling statements to get the audience's attention. "Calories can kill" is a startling statement. It encourages you to ask how or why, "Every day you are being poisoned" is a strong statement designed to get your audience's attention. This statement might alarm you, so you will probably listen to reduce your fears or simply to find out what the statement means. All of us like stories; we generally relate best to information that is real, exciting, or familiar to us. If you are talking about child abuse, a story of such an occurrence makes an effective beginning. The story makes the situation real; it brings us closer to the situation by making the information personal. The story makes us pay attention. For example, if your thesis statement is "Child abuse is a serious problem in this country," you might begin your speech with the following story: “A sick baby is crying. It is four o' clock in the morning. A young, tired woman gets out of bed for the third time tonight in a week, of sleepless nights. She picks up the child trying to comfort her, but the sick child begins to scream louder. The woman tries again to quiet and comfort the child but is unable to do so. Finally the woman begins to smack, then hit, and eventually to beat violently the sick child. Thirty minutes later the child is finally, permanently still.” This defenseless child was one of many small children who were seriously harmed or murdered in the past year as a result of child abuse. Child abuse is a serious problem in this country. The story, horrible as it is, does get your attention. A third introductory technique is to ask your audience a rhetorical question. This encourages them to think about the subject and become involved with the speech. For instance, "How many of you know what the prime cause of divorce is?” You are not expecting an answer; you are really just asking them to think about it. If, however, someone does decide to answer aloud, do not get angry or lose your composure: just incorporate the response, whether accurate or not, into your speech. Remember that the member of the audience who vocalizes his response is paying you, the speaker, a compliment by being interested enough in your message to respond. A quotation is also an effective means of beginning a speech, providing it is effectively worded and appropriate for the subject matter. You should select a quotation whose source has a positive, or at least a neutral, effect on the audience. If the audience reacts negatively to the source of the quotation, the quotation itself may be discounted. Your style of delivery may be an attention-getter in itself. The vocal tones, pauses, facial responses, and body positions that accompany your verbal message may be means of getting your audience's attention.

If you are going to talk about a very serious problem, you could begin your speech at a very slow pace,docsity.com

with a low solemn tone and a serious facial expression. These behaviors would suggest that the subject is important. The style of delivery may set the tone and mood of the speech. It may get the attention of the audience, but it is helpful to couple this device with one of the other attention-getting devices. Most of us like to laugh and have fun. We enjoy stories, jokes, and witty remarks. These humorous anecdotes are a delightful way of beginning a speech, introducing your thesis, and getting your audience's attention. However, humorous anecdotes are effective only if they are in good taste and if they reflect the tone and mood of the entire speech. People who are unaccustomed to giving speeches sometimes call us for suggestions. They often request a joke with which to begin their speech; when asked what the subject matter is, they will say it is not important, "I just want a joke." Someone somewhere said that a joke is always a good way of beginning a speech. It is a good way, but if and only if you are comfortable telling the joke, if the audience will probably appreciate it, and if it is appropriate to the subject. You wouldn't tell a joke to introduce a very serious or sad subject, it wouldn't be appropriate because it wouldn't be in keeping with the subject. You can begin your speech by a reference to the subject or to the occasion itself. For example suppose you were going to talk about the new television programs for the fall. You might begin your speech by stating, "Tonight I would like to give you a glimpse of the exciting new television season for the fall." All of us have heard a speaker refer to the occasion as an attention-getter. These are statements like "it's nice to be here in Lahore during Spring time," or "Tonight at graduation, I am proud to… " and so on. You may also begin your speech with a personal reference that relates to the subject. For instance, at a recent graduation the speaker began the commencement address by stating that the speech was the first one she had given to such a large audience. She went on to say that, prior to taking a speech course, she would never have been able to give a commencement address. Her personal reference was an appropriate attention-getter because her topic was 'The value of continuing one's education." Introducing your thesis The second purpose of the introduction is to indicate to the audience what the subject of the speech is. The thesis sentence is typically stated in the introduction. All the purposes of the introduction serve to reinforce each other but especially to reinforce the second purpose-to introduce the thesis. Refer back to the story concerning child abuse. The story was designed to introduce the thesis, child abuse is a serious problem, as well as get the audience's attention. Check your introduction. Does your introduction get the audience's attention? Does it also clearly introduce your thesis to the audience? Adapting to the audience Your attention-getting device should be clear and memorable, and your thesis should be a clearly de- signed, appropriately limited, declarative sentence. In order for both to be really effective, you must design them with your audience in mind. When you construct your attention-getting step and design your thesis statement, make sure they are appropriate for the audience. Ask yourself if your attention-getting device will get your audience's attention. Will they find it

interesting, thought-provoking, witty, or memorable? Does it relate to or deal with the audience'sdocsity.com

interests, needs, or reasons for listening to the speech? If it does, then it will probably be of interest to the audience. Now examine your thesis statement. Is it designed for your particular audience? Does the thesis involve them or relate to their needs or interests? Is it worded in such a way that it will hold the audience's interest? Reread your thesis statement. Now ask yourself if there is any reason why your audience might not want to listen to your thesis. If you can answer “No,” then you have accomplished your purpose-you have adapted your introduction to the audience. Establishing rapport with the audience In the introduction, the audience has the opportunity, to see and hear you for the first time. In those first moments you have the opportunity to establish rapport or a sense of good will with the audience. In those moments the audience may decide that they will or will not want to listen to you.

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