II.1.D Give title and introduce subject

What exactly are you going to speak about? Situate the subject in time and place, in relation to the audience and/or its importance. Give a rough idea or a working definition of the subject.

I plan to speak about...

Today I'm going to talk about...

The subject of my presentation is...

The theme of my talk is...

I've been asked to give you an overview of...

Why are you going to speak about it?

I have chosen to speak about this because...

I was asked to speak about X because...

Have you estimated the time it will take? It is useful to give the listeners some idea of how long you will speak so as to maintain their attention better.

I have limited my speech to…

My talk will last about 15 minutes

I will speak for 15 minutes.

You may want to give acknowledgements here too. If you have been sponsored, supported or encouraged by a particular firm, organization, professor, etc. you may want to recognize their contribution. Your research and paper may have been the work of a collaborative effort and you should acknowledge this too giving the names of all the participants.

At some point you may ask a question or somehow try to determine the attitude and knowledge of the audience. How do they feel about the subject?

Have you ever heard of...?

You may already know…

I feel sure that some of you…

Every day you encounter...

To get the audience's attention and perhaps to find out where they are you could introduce the subject by saying:

Have you ever heard of/seen X?

You've probably seen countless times...

You may have wondered...