132 CHAPTER 10^ Introductions and Conclusions
and research findings that show your interest and expertise. If relevant, you can mention
your major, courses you have taken, a movie that sparked your interest in the topic, and
so on. Here are some examples:
Topic: Safe drinking water. As a nursing major, I know how vital water is to the body, so
I wanted to research how unsafe drinking water affects people globally.^16
Topic: Musical frisson. As a musician and pianist, I have always been engrossed by how
music affects us physically and emotionally.^17
Topic: Retirement Planning. My grandparents are 80 years old. My grandmother still
works two jobs, and my grandpa was working until dementia forced him to sell his
business. Their social security benefits just don’t cut it for them. If they had planned
for retirement better, they wouldn’t struggle so. Concern for them led me to do
research on ways to prevent poverty in retirement.^18
Of course, explicitly stating your credibility is optional when another person intro-
duces you and connects you with the subject or when your expertise on the topic is well
established.Preview Your Ideas
You may have heard the old saying “Tell them what you’re going to say; say it; then tell
them what you said.” The preview statement, as described in Chapter 5, serves the first
of these functions and provides the transition between the introduction and the body of
your speech. In the preview, answer the audience question, What will you cover?, by stat-
ing some form of your central idea and indicating how you will develop it.
When appropriate, a creative approach, such as alliterating or rhyming your points,
is more memorable. Here are three previews:
Straightforward and clear. I will first speak about water’s function in the body followed
by diseases caused by dirty water; then I will explain how water affects the economic
success of a community and conclude by highlighting an organization dedicated to
bringing clean water to impoverished areas.^19
Alliteration. In 1990, when Photoshop was first released, the doors opened for a whole
new level of media manipulation—creating a perception of beauty that is unhealthy,
unethical, and unrecognized.^20
Using a metaphor. Today, I’ll retell the story of the boy who cried “wolf,” with a few
character changes. The boy who cries “wolf” is the American government, and the
wolf we are to fear is industrial hemp.^21
In summary, a good introduction draws attention to your topic, relates the subject
to your listeners, links you to the subject, and previews your major ideas.Conclude with Impact
Your conclusion leaves your listeners with their final impression of both you and your
subject. Appearing disorganized at the end takes away some of the positive impressions
you’ve built up during the speech. And failure to restate your thesis and review your
main points is a missed opportunity to reinforce your speech goals.
Like the introduction, the conclusion has several important functions: to signal the
end, to summarize the main points, to provide psychological closure (often by a refer-
ence to the introduction), and to end with impact.Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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