attention getter

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 896: Preparing a Speech.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 896. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

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Our dialogue today is between Lourdes and Valerie, about giving a speech – talking to a large group of people. Let’s get started.

[start of dialog]

Lourdes: I need help.

Valery: Sure, what’s up?

Lourdes: I’m supposed to give a speech at the start of the conference next month and I don’t know what to do.

Valery: It’s not that hard to plan out a speech. You start with an attention getter using humor or telling a personal story.

Lourdes: Okay, I guess I can do that.

Valery: After that, in your introduction, you should tell the audience what your speech is about in a thesis statement. Along the way,