Readers tend to remember the beginning and the end of texts or presentations, so introductions and conclusions are important.
Use the introduction to summarise your message and to show why it is important for your audience.
You can “hook” an audience with a fact, quote or question which is surprising or impressive so that they want to find out more. For example:
“Do cats control our emotions?”
“In the last ten years, an amazing 50% of libraries have closed permanently.”
“The only person who can teach you is yourself.”
In the conclusion you can summarise the main points that you want the audience to remember. You can end with something memorable that directly relates to your message. This could be highlighting how your main point could impact the world in general or your audience in particular. Here are some examples:
“If these conclusions are correct, your cat is controlling your buying choices.”
“If the government does not take action soon, there will be no libraries left.”
“The major implication of all this is that teachers will need to concentrate not on teaching students, but on motivating them to teach themselves.”
Have a look at the sentence choices below and choose the best ones for an introduction to a piece of lay communication.
