How to start An English Oral

[Cata]

Hi guys,
I have to write an English oral and I want it to be directly engaging with the audience. I'm a bit stuck on how to start?
any advice/tips
btw my topic is Alcohol should be made illegal, I am supporting this statement.
this is my first post

[kiraxxx]

well...last year when i did mine, I started off with this quote that really supported my argument (oh and my topic was stem cell research). Afterwards I remembered I used a lot of "how would you feel if..." "how would you react if...blah blah" - so you drag the audience into the situation. And yeah, try to involve the audience a lot such as "put up your hand if you agree with what I'm saying..." kind of thing.

But yeah...good  luck : )

[lexitu]

Welcome Cata

You might want to start with something really big-picture to 'drag the audience into the situation' as kiraxxx said. So some ideas (that I haven't thought much about) could be:
- "Imagine if you were able to walk in the street at night, feeling completely safe..."
- Pretend to be an alcoholic for a few seconds, then say "I don't make much sense, do I? - but this does"
- "What have we become?" Then a barrage of statistics.
- "Feed this (animal) this (much alcohol) and it will die, what we put ourselves through is minor suicide"

Hope that helps, they're just some of many approaches of course

[cltf]

Anecdote or analogy or imaginative scenarios are you best bet.

[pi]

well...last year when i did mine, I started off with this quote that really supported my argument (oh and my topic was stem cell research).

That's my way of starting too! I always love a quote to start things off!

[dyaner]

I started mine with a true story then launched into the debate.

[sanam]

i started mine with a rhetorical question that incorporated inclusive language.This is my intro:
"Do we all want to be treated equally regardless of our origins and the colour of our skin? Do we all want the same rights to dress, preach and practice our religion freely? Well then to all those opting for the ban against the Burqa, I want you to stop and think about what you’re really protesting against....."
its a bit cheesy! but theres an idea for you! and could anyone maybe give me some constructive critisism on it?

[Cata]

Thanks heaps guys!
My speech is meant to go for 10 minutes, im currently on 1500 :S im scared im going to go over time! what happens if you go over time?
Any tips on how to start a rebbuttal??

[lexitu]

Depends on the school but usually you'll be fine unless you are excessively under or over. Try reading your speech (in the same manner as a speech; slowly) and see how long it is.

Rebuttals can be embedded within your actual discussion and they don't have to be overt (e.g. not "some people say this but my rebuttal is..."). Or you can devote a section of your speech to rebuttal but I think the former method is much better because the audience will have logical doubts about what you are saying so it's best to address these immediately.

[cltf]

1500

Thanks heaps guys!
My speech is meant to go for 10 minutes, im currently on 1500 :S im scared im going to go over time! what happens if you go over time?
Any tips on how to start a rebbuttal??

1500 is probably a tad too long, remember to make your oral persuasive, pauses and speed of speech is vital.

[EvangelionZeta]

Rule of thumb for word count is about 150 words per minute maximum.  I think scientifically speaking, the human ear can only process about 120 words per minute, but if you talk really quickly (and you probably will, under pressure in the SAC conditions) about 150 wpm is still safe.

[Cata]

Hey guys!
I timed myself at 10 minutes and about 46 seconds which is okay i think!!! time to memorize some of it..