How to draw conclusion

1. EFFECTIVE
INTRODUCTIONS AND
CONCLUSIONS

2. Introductions
Its function is
- to capture your
listeners’ attention,
- to create interest
in the subject,
- to introduce
the subject.

3. Components
Opening
Introduction to the presentation

4. Which one?
 „I’d like to talk about the results of a survey I’ve
conducted about adult SLL. After interviewing 10
successful and 10 unsuccessful learners, it
seems that the keys to success are an
„obsession”, a positive attitude or a strong
career-related motivation.”
 „I’d like to talk about the results of a survey I’ve
conducted about adult SLL. On the basis of
interviews with 10 successful and 10
unsuccessful learners, I’ll discuss the main
factors that guarantee success in language
learning.”

5. Opening strategies
1. The Bettger technique (profit or experience)
 If it were possible for you to …?
 Do you have a ….?
 What would you say …?
 Have you ever seen/observed …?
 What do you think about …?
 Do you think it is true …?

6. 2. Novelty
“The Governor of the State of California
(USA) is planning to initiate the
elimination of the licence for gun
ownership.”

7. 3. The striking idea
“Did you know that we remember
10% of what we have read,
20% of what we have heard,
30% of what we have seen and only
50% of what we have seen and
heard?”

8. 4. Imagination
„Imagine that you, a mother/father of two
little children with a career, get an
opportunity to spend two years working
in a foreign country. You can relocate
with your family but only you speak the
language – would you take this chance?”

9. 5. Personalisation
“Having learnt at least one language
successfully, you must have some ideas
about what makes a good language
learner.”
“As some of you have spent an Erasmus
year at a foreign university, you may be
able to remember some phases in your
acculturation process.”

10. 6. Personal testimony
„When in Leeds a couple of years ago, I was
utterly taken aback when I was regularly
called „duck” and „luv” by telephone
operators, shop assistants and others.
That somewhat shook my idea of English
„cold-bloodedness” and made me
uncertain how to react.”

11. 7. The story
“When at the end of the 16th century,
Montaigne wrote an essay about the Brazilian
Indians, he said they were brave, genteel, and
even gifted in their own way. Then he added,
somewhat reiterating his contemporaries’
concern: how come they do not wear
breeches? It seems that Western
communication research has been more or
less missing the wearing of its own “breeches”
in developing countries for a good one and a
half decades.” (Szecskő Tamás, 1978)

12. 8. The quotation
“How does language work? If you
remember Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland,
there Humpty Dumpty very nicely
illustrates how it does not, when he says,
‘When I use a word, it means just what I
choose it to mean – neither more not
less.’”

13. Avoid
 being negative.
 excusing yourself.
 making the introduction too long.
 talking down to your audience.
 being confused.
 leaving out a real introduction.
 revealing your main ideas too soon.

14. Conclusions
A good conclusion
 is formulated in simple language,
 inspires further interest in your audience,
 reiterates or summarises your subject
 includes a brief, final evaluation of topic.

15. Effective conclusions
1. The summary conclusion
2. Reiterative conclusion
“Give your child a chance for early foreign
language learning – and you won’t regret it.”

16. 3. Perspective conclusion
“At the speed present research is going,
we can expect that in twenty years genetic
engineering will be everyday practice.”

17. 4. Inciting conclusion
“As you have seen, homeopathy can
provide you with an alternative form of
healing and prevention without the side
effects of traditional medicine. So when
you go to the chemist’s next time to ask for
something for the common cold, don’t
forget to ask about the homeopathic
alternative!”

18. 5. The challenge question
“Shall we have the courage to utilize the
benefits of genetic engineering? Shall we
undergo genetic testing to reveal any
perspective diseases – or should we
rather remain in the dark?”

19. 6. The quotation

20. What to avoid?
1. Dragging it out.
2. Negative or redundant statements.

21. 3. Statements that leave room for doubt.
4. Excuses and justifications.
5. Not stopping being afraid of silence,
rambling on without knowing what to say.
6. „Thank you for your time and attention”.
7. If you allow a question period, forgetting
to add a second conclusion at the end.

22. 9. Sudden speeding up or ending because
of lack of time.