Grammar for speaking Giving a lecture or a talk 1
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I’m going to talk to you about how to give a lecture or a talk and explain each phase of the preparation and delivery. The first thing to do is to choose and research your topic carefully. It should be something you are truly passionate about, for fear of boring your audience. In the same way that it should be something you are interested in, it must also be appropriate for your audience. So you might want to avoid hip-hop for older audiences or quantum mechanics for younger ones! Once you have chosen your audience-appropriate topic and completed your comprehensive research, it’s time to write your talk. As long as it’s clear and well-constructed, you should be OK. First, write your punchy introduction. This has to grab their attention and lead to the main body of your talk. Next, divide each part of the main body into sections, along with relevant examples illustrating each point. Finally, conclude with a summary of your main points and maybe include a call to action or reference for further information, or invitation for questions. Now you are ready to practise your delivery. Supposing you want people to follow and understand you, speak slowly and clearly. Don’t read from your notes or from a powerpoint presentation so that you don’t send them to sleep! It’s not only important to practise your oral delivery but to adopt the right body posture and to avoid making large, distracting gestures with your hands or body. Above all relax, smile and where possible involve your audience. If you are feeling super confident, you can even try out a joke or a personal anecdote as an ice-breaker. However, be prepared for this, to be met by stony silence if they don’t understand it! Always make eye contact, breathe and be yourself! So, to recap: plan your talk carefully; structure the talk into intro, main body and conclusion; practise your delivery; relax and try to be yourself. It’s simple!
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FUNCTIONS
The talk is about how to give a talk. Introduction Main body _______________________________________________________ Conclusion _______________________________________________________
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• Introduction • Main body • Conclusion
Introductions I’m going to talk about… / This talk is about… / My topic today is… Connecting ideas
First/Next/Finally/Once/ So/Now/As long as/ Supposing/For fear of/ In the same way that…/ Above all/However…
Conclusions
To recap/sum up/ In conclusion…
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Content Delivery Body language
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