07Beginning and Ending a Speech

stions for warming-up How to begin a presentation effectively and impressively? What should be avoided in presenting the beginning? How to produce an effective ending to be impressive? What should be avoided in putting an ending to the speech?
1. Beginning by straightforwardness To come straight to the point without any roundabout statement is the most common way of speaking. e.g. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, The title of my presentation is…
Well-prepared introductions and conclusions must satisfy the following purposes: (1)Allow a speaker and the audience to enter into and then depart from a clear relationship; (2)Orient the audience to his purposes and ideas and clarify both at the end; (3)Signal clearly when a speech starts and ends so as to keep the audience as comfortable as possible.
e.g. Mr. Chairman, fellow colleagues, First, I'd like to tell you briefly the background of my paper, and then present my three Hypotheses. e.g. Good morning, what I would like to talk about is mainly ... Now. I'm going to briefly list a number of its basic characteristics. They are…
2. Controlling the voice. 1). Volume (Loudness) 2). Speech Rate Speak neither too fast nor too slowly with the normal rate of 120-150words/min 3). Intonation/stress Unlike the reading of literary works, the presenter of an academic paper tends to avoid radical changes of intonation and too flavorful performance. Generally, speakers assume a rather plain intonation in such situations. Loudness, rate, enunciation (发音方法), and pronunciation interact to determine intelligibility. Changing rate, pitch, stress, and pauses provide a variety for presentation and help eliminate monotonous delivery.
I. General Requirements 1. Optimizing psychology and building up confidence Think of ways to overcome and avoid Stage Fright—overestimation of the audience Question: How to overcome nervousness?
2. Beginning by appreciation Before the speaker comes to the platform, the chairperson of the conference (or the session) usually makes a brief complementary introduction about him or her. Prior to the presentation, it is appropriate for the speaker to express thanks to the chairperson and send greetings to the participants. e.g. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, what I am going to say can be roughly summed up into the following three points. First, let's see PPT No. 1. (Turning to the computer) Please !
Ways to overcome stage fright:
(1)Realize that tension and nervousness are normal and even beneficial to speaker; (2)Take comfort in the fact that tension is physiologically reduced by the act of speaking. A careful preparation will work; the situation will be under control. (3)Analyze both the situation and the audience. (4)Careful preparation must be matched with a calm mood, and fear only results in even worse presentation. (5)We may lack confidence in English. Actually, most speakers use English as a foreign language at an international conference, the audience are likely to forgive the occasional mistakes made due to difficulties in the foreign language.
3. Beginning with background introduction When the author cannot be present at the conference, three measures can be taken: (1)Cancel the particular presentation from the agenda; (2)Change the oral presentation into poster display; (3)Be presented by someone else. While making a presentation on behalf of someone else, the speaker should first ask for permission from the chairperson and explain to the audience about the background when necessary.
e.g. Dear colleagues, First of all, I would like to thank our Mr. Chairman and our generous hosts, for providing many professionals who have come from all over the world with such a pleasant atmosphere to meet, exchange views, and share thoughts and findings. What I like to talk about is… e.g. Mr. Chairman, Thank you for your warm introduction and also for your efforts in making the opening of the conference so successful. Just now the over-praised introduction you have given me, I think, is meant for the study on "..." that I have been carrying on in recent years. Now I would like to say something about the study, I will welcome your comments at the end....
e.g. Ladies and gentlemen. Professor Jin Weihung of Donghu University of Wuhan may be known to not a few present. He's been engaged in the study on ABC for many years, and a number of his papers have been published. But today he couldn't come for health reasons though he's been invited to attend the conference. At the kind recommendation of our chairman, and as once an assistant of professor Huang, I feel very much honored to be permitted to present the following paper on his behalf. Well, now, in recent yews, Professor Hung has been working on ...