Introducing the Topic, Thesis, and Main Points

Introducing the Topic, Thesis, and Main Points

Public speakers should introduce a topic and state a thesis (or purpose) as soon as possible. After the attention-grabbing opening, there is only a small window of time in which to convince the audience that you have something useful to say .

Introducing the Topic

• Name your topic,
• Explain the topic at a level that is appropriate for your audience,
• Define key concepts,
• Explain how the topic relates to your listeners and remind them of their stake in the matter.

Introducing the Thesis

Make your initial thesis statement (or the statement of purpose in an informative speech) short and sweet.

Remember: the thesis statement should summarize your argument in one to three sentences.

Introducing the Main Points

Before your introduction is finished, give the audience an overview of your main points. It may help to refer to your outline, which should provide a concise list of your main points, in order. Translate that list into complete sentences, and voila! You will have a good overview.

Example: Topic, Thesis, and Main Points

Vitamin D deficiency may be the hottest topic in nutrition today. Scientists are flooding academic journals, fashion magazines, and talk shows with arguments about all things D, ranging from sunscreen to supplements.

No one is disputing its importance: vitamin D helps with calcium absorption, promotes bone health, boosts immunity, and reduces inflammation. That is why recent studies estimating that 10 to 75 percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin D are so scary.

Hold on—10 to 75? That range is huge!

In order to discover the extent of the problem, we need to take a closer look at those numbers—and that is exactly what we will do in this presentation. I have prepared a chronological overview and analysis of methodologies for measuring vitamin D levels in the U.S. population, beginning with a study conducted at this university.

Analysis

The opening of this speech names a topic (vitamin D deficiency), explains its importance, explains its relevance to the audience, and then states the purpose of the presentation—to investigate the improbably wide range of deficiency-rate estimates from different studies—and outlines the main points.