1. A Quote 引用别人的话
任何你想的到的主题几乎都能找到相对应的名言佳句,确定报告主题后,可以找找那个领域的名人有没有讲过什么有名的话,又或者,文寻名著上有没有哪些句子也能套用到你想传达的概念。例如,你今天想讲时间管理的重要性,这个开头就非常吸引人:
“Mark Twain once said, ‘Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.’ Well, that may be what Twain believed, but I’m here to show you how you can get the most out of today!”
Mark Twain, Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi 等伟人常常是被 quote的对象,你爱的影星、歌手,甚至是你敬爱的老师,也都能帮你的报告开头加分不少。网路上轻而易举就能找到很多资料,像是 Brainy Quotes 连图片都帮你做好了!
2. A “What If” Scenario/An “Imagine” Scenario 制造情境
让观众完全融入你报告的情境,是最能抓住他们注意力的方式之一,设计一个情境,让观众发挥想像力并产生参与感,进而想继续听你的解答和后续答案,更重要的是,当你这么做时,观众会在脑中构图,图像远比文字更令人印象深刻。例如,你今天要讲关于社会心理学的报告,你可以这样开头:
Imagine that you are walking on the street. Suddenly, a couple of people in front of you shout aloud and look to the sky. What will you do?
当你要和观众分享一段亲身经历,也可以用imagine的句型:
Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary. Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D. (Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed)
3. A Question 丢个问题
用直接的语气丢出问题给观众,往往能直接让他们开始思考。不管你是不是真的需要知道他们的答案,用问句来开启你的报告不失为一个最简单、有效的做法。问问题又可分为两种:
Rhetorical question: “Speaking of the government, what have they ever done to help use, I mean, little people like us?” 你并不是真的预期观众给你答案,而是用问句吸引他们的注意力,带到你演讲的内容
Survey question: “How many of you have ever considered plastic surgery? Please raise your hands.” 直接叫观众举手或点头示意,能增进你和他们之间的互动,让报告更有趣生动
4. Declarative Statement 郑重声明
Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat.
这是名厨Jamie Oliver 在 TED 的演讲 Teach Every Child about Food 的开头,有力、吓人的数据让人吃惊,但也吸引人继续听下去。若你想讲某个疾病的可怕,或许也可以这样开头: “In the time it takes for me to speak to you tonight, twenty men will be diagnosed with colon cancer.”
希望大家下次用英文上台报告时,可以试试上述四种方法,让开头不再尴尬,成功吸引观众目光!
最后,让我们看一段影片,学学做投影片时要注意的地方,不要让powerpoint既没有power又没有point 吧!