Speeches of Introduction
“Distinguished guests, the President of the United States...” If you are ever in a situation in which you have to introduce the President, you will need no more than the eight words that begin this paragraph. The President is so well known that any further remarks would be inappropriate and almost foolish.
Most of the time, however, a speech of introduction will be neither this brief nor this ritualized. If you are introducing another speaker, you will need to accomplish three purposes in your introduction:
Build enthusiasm for the upcoming speaker.
Build enthusiasm for the speaker’s topic.
Establish a welcoming climate that will boost the speaker’s credibility.
A good speech of introduction can be a delight to hear and can do much to ease the task of the main speaker. The basic message of such a speech should be “Here is a speaker you will enjoy, and this is why.” Usually you will say something about the speaker and about the topic – in that order. Following are some guidelines for speeches of introduction.
Be brief. The purpose of a speech of introduction is to focus attention on the main speaker, not on the person making the introduction. Under normal circumstances, a speech of introduction will be no more than two or three minutes long, and it may be shorter if the speaker is already known to the audience.
Make sure your remarks are completely accurate. Many introducers have embarrassed themselves as well as the main speakers by garbling basic facts about the speaker. Always check with the speaker ahead of time to make sure your introduction is accurate in every aspect. Above all, get the speaker’s name right—especially if it involves a foreign pronunciation.
Adapt your remarks to the occasion. Formal occasions require formal speeches of introduction. If you are presenting a guest speaker at an informal business meeting, you might be much more casual than if you were presenting the same speaker to the same audience at a formal occasion.
Adapt your remarks to the main speaker. No matter how well it is received by the audience, a speech of introduction that leaves the main speaker feeling uncomfortable has failed in part of its purpose.
Adapt your remarks to the audience. You need to adapt a speech of introduction to the audience you are facing. Your aim is to make this audience want to hear this speaker on this subject. Suppose, for example, the police commissioner of a certain city is going to address two groups – an audience of elementary-school children and the members of the city council.
The introduction to the schoolchildren might go something like this:
Children, we have a very important guest with us today. He is the number one policeman in our city, the head of all the other police officers. Besides knowing a lot about crime right here at home, the police commissioner has also spent time working with Interpol – a special group of police officers who deal with crimes around the world. Today he is going to talk about how all of us can work with our neighborhood police officers to prevent crime. Let’s give a big round of applause and listen carefully to Police Commissioner Robert Washington.
But the introduction to the city council would be along these lines:
Members of the city council and distinguished guests, it is my privilege to introduce to you today the police commissioner, who will address us on the subject of the community policing program. Most of you know that the commissioner has a distinguished record as head of our police force for more than 10 years. However, you may not know that he also holds a master’s degree on criminology and studied abroad for a year with Interpol, the international police force.
The commissioner first introduced the community program six years ago. The idea behind the program is....
Today the commissioner is going to tell us how this program can be extended to more of the city and made more effective for all of our citizens. Please welcome Police Commissioner Robert Washington.
Try to create a sense of anticipation and drama. You may have noticed one detail shared by the two speeches: the speaker’s name was saved for last. This is a convention in speeches of introduction. By doing this you build a sense of drama, and the speaker’s name comes as the climax of your introduction.
(Stephen E Lucas. The Art of Public Speaking. 2001)
Text 3
Read the text about effective goal setting and formulate one of your life goals according to the SMART criteria.
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SMART Goal Setting
SMART is an acronym that can be used to help you set effective objectives or goals.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Time-limited
Specific
Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. Ensure the goals you set is very specific, clear and easy. Instead of setting a goal to enlarge your vocabulary or to master your English, set a specific goal to learn 5 new words daily or to translate and learn 2 songs of your favourite music bands a week.
Measurable
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Be specific! “I want to read 3 chapter books of 100 pages on my own before my birthday” shows the specific target to be measure. “I want to be a good reader” is not.
Attainable
A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. For instance, if you aim to become more fluent at speaking in one day, we all know that isn’t achievable. But setting a goal to prepare a series of 1-minute speech on different topics daily during a fortnight will keep it achievable for you. It is also challenging because it require energy and dedication to achieve. The feeling of success which this brings helps you to remain motivated.
Realistic
The goal needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment. A goal of never again eating sweets, cakes, crisps and chocolate may not be realistic for someone who really enjoys these foods. For instance, it may be more realistic to set a goal of eating a piece of fruit each day instead of one sweet item. You can then choose to work towards reducing the amount of sweet products gradually as and when this feels realistic for you.
This is also not a synonym for “easy”. Realistic, in this case, means “do-able. Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren’t very capable. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying achievement!
Time-limited
Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in three months, by the end of the year. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don’t set a time, the commitment is too vague. Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic.
Everyone will benefit from goals and objectives if they are SMART.
(Adapted from http://www.goal-setting-guide.com)
Just for Fun!
No speech can be entirely bad if it is short enough.
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It is better to leave your audience before your audience leaves you.
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Many speakers need no introduction; what they need are conclusions.
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It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.
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“I’m glad I attended your lecture on insomnia, Doctor.”
“Good, and did you find it interesting?”
“Not especially, but it did cure me of my insomnia.”
Vocabulary File for Unit 2
Words and word combinations
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For your notes |
1. ability (n) to have the ~ to do sth to do the best of your ~
2. ahead (predict.) to be/get ~ of sb to get ~ in sth to be ~ of your time to be ~ of its time
3. communicate(v) to ~ with sb on different issues communication (n)
4. confident (adj) a ~ public speaker a self-confident/ overconfident person to be ~ about sth to make sb feel more ~/ not ~ confidence (n) to give sb ~ to shake sb’s ~
5. depend (v) to ~ on sb/sth (role, efforts, motivation) to ~ on sb for sth depending on sth It depends. dependable (adj) dependence (n)
6. encourage (v) to ~ lifelong language learning to ~ students encouragement (n)
7. enlarge (v) to ~ vocabulary enlargement (n)
8. equip (v) to ~ sb with communicative/ intercultural/ linguistic competences equipment (n) video/ sports ~
equipped (adj) to be ~ with to be ill-~ with
9. enrich (v) to ~ oneself to ~ sb culturally syn.: improve, upgrade ant.: impoverish enrichment (n)
10. fluent (adj) a ~ speaker to speak ~ English to become ~ in sth. fluently (adv) to speak French ~
11. good (adj) to be ~ at sth/ at doing smth. to be ~ in quality the ~ thing about ant. to be bad at sth, to be weak in sth to get better at sth/ at doing sth
12. increase (v) to ~ career prospects to ~ efficiency to ~ in activity to ~ in number or amount to ~ greatly/considerably/enormously increase (n)
13. improve (v) to ~ one’s knowledge of English to ~ speaking and reading skills improvement (n) to make ~s
14. influence (v) to ~ sb/sth influence (n) to have an ~ on to be under the ~ of sb/sth influential (adj)
15. know (v) to ~ perfectly well to ~ what sth/sb means to ~ how to do sth to ~ a little about to ~ a few words to ~ your own mind knowledge (n) to have no ~ of foreign languages to the best of my ~ to have common ~ knowledgeable (adj) to be ~ about
16. language (n) a foreign/ modern / official ~ first ~ (=mother-tongue) to become a world ~ a ~ barrier
17. make (v) to ~ a good specialist to ~ progress to ~ a presentation to ~ preparations maker (n)
18. mind (n) to broaden one’s ~ to keep in ~ to come to the ~ to make up one’s ~ to my ~ mind (v) to ~ your own business
19. outcome (n) teaching ~ the ~ of the discussion
20. proficiency (n) linguistic/ business ~ 21. skill (n) grammar ~ to develop oral speech ~s skillful (adj)
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