A lecture is usually an essay and so it has an introduction. An introduction can begin in two ways: 1. with a hook
2. or not a hook.
We will look at these two ways to begin an introduction and then the thesis statement. First to the hook and not hook.
Most don’t take notes for the hook but we do take notes to not a hook where there is a review of information, an assignment given and or a definition.
Knowing whether there is a hook or not helps the listener.
1. A hook. Some speakers begin with a hook because they want to capture the attention of the audience from the start. There are different ways to capture the listeners’ attention.
Before we look at the different types of hooks, it is important to know what kind of speaker usually begins with a hook. Typically a conference speaker as in a TED talk, a popular organization aimed at spreading knowledge in an interesting way, starts with a hook. They start with a hook because they are either paid to speak and/or want the listener coming back for more.
If the speaker is a professor for a typical course and not a one-time guest lecturer, the speaker usually doesn’t start with a hook because the audience wants information more than being entertained. Also, part of a hook is to connect with the audience. A professor and a class are usually connected in the sense that they see each other and have interactions on a regular basis. We’ll look at introductions that don’t begin with a hook in a minute.
Here are some of the most popular introductions that begin with a hook:
1.A Joke. The speaker could start with a joke. Students don’t need to try to figure out the joke because audience’s typically politely laugh even when the joke is not funny at all. You can hear the laughter and know you need to start listening for the thesis statement.
2.A type of Support that is not an explanation or definition. The speaker could give any kind of support as in a statistic, study, quote or example.
3.Some Background Information. Some start with how they got interested in the topic and start with background information.
4.A Question. It is easy to create a question but it is not easy to create interesting questions. Some don’t start with a question because it is hard to come up with a question and the first two types are typically more effective.
5.A Combination. A combination of more than one of the hooks and/or a combination of hooks and not a hook.
Not a Hook. Most professors don’t begin with a hook.
Some of the typical ways they begin are as follows:
1.A Definition. One of the most popular ways to begin when the introduction is not a hook is with a definition. What is the definition typically of? The title or background information. How will you know the speaker is giving a definition? It will be the same as the title and often the speaker will ask a question like “what does strategy mean?” or will use a technical word that needs to be defined for the audience to understand. You should take notes on the definition. We will talk about how to take notes on a definition later.
2.A Background of who they are or a background of the topic. For some lecturers, it is important to explain how they got interested in the topic or it is important to give a history/a background of the topic because the audience needs that information to understand the topic.
3.A Review. Some professors will give a review each class of a previous class. For the most part, you don’t need to take notes to that review since you hopefully attended the class.
4.An Assignment. Obviously, on the first day the professor will explain the syllabus and you do need to listen and make sure you understand. If the information is added information about the information and not on it, you do need to take notes. On other days, you do need to take notes on what homework the professor is assigning. Usually the professor will mention words like homework, project, quiz, paper, etc. to let you know that the speaker is talking about an assignment.
Now, let’s review a bit of the two ways to start an introduction: 1) hook and 2) not a hook. Some of the most popular hooks are jokes, support, interesting background information, a question or combination. You don’t need to take notes on hooks but you do need to predict and recognize hooks because you don’t want to miss the thesis statement. For introductions that don’t begin with a hook (a definition, a background, a review and an assignment), you need to take notes on the definition and assignment.
Prepare and predict the thesis statement.
A thesis statement is the title + controlling ideas. The title is typically the same as the title of the lecture and/or video. We preview for that in step 1. Many professors don’t give the main points/the controlling ideas in their lecture. If they do, you’ll often see them to be rhetorical structure and we will talk about that later. For now since most thesis statements just contain the title, let’s listen for the title.
The question is how do we know the second part of the introduction, the thesis statement is coming?
We can figure that out through a variety of ways:
It is after the hook or not a hook. Please know that some professors who are the professor for the particular course that the student is taking will just start with a thesis statement. There won’t be a hook or not a hook. These professors like other speakers will use the other ways below for identifying the thesis statement.
Listen for signal words. There are some words that professors give to let you know that the thesis statement is coming. Some possible signal words include:
Let’s look at/let’s focus on
Today, we’ll…I’m going to talk about…
Let me start today by…
So let’s begin…
What I want to talk about today…
Some even use transitions like now or okay to say they are ready to move on to the main point.
The most popular signal word for the thesis statement is the word today.For most professors, if they don’t give a signal word, they will give the title as they feel that is enough to let the audience know they are at the thesis statement.
3. Listen for the speaker to slow down, pause and stress the thesis statement.
Speakers focus on the main ideas and so they slow down on main ideas like the thesis statement.They have more pauses and phrases on main ideas as well.
4.Look to see if there is a PowerPoint or other visual material that the speaker is using. If they are giving a hook, they may put the hooks on the slides. So watch that but if it is not a hook, you know if they go to the 2nd slide, you are not at step 3, the topic sentence and have just missed the thesis statement.
If you miss the thesis statement, don’t freak out.The speaker will go to his main points about the topic, the title next.
Before we go to step 3, let’s practice step 2. Let’s look at the lecture that we already did step 1 for, Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
Let’s look at our two parts for step 2: identifying whether a hook or not and identifying the thesis statement.
Now, what do you think? Is Amy Cuddy going to begin with a hook in this lecture? Why or why not?
Most Ted talks try to be interesting and so they typically begin with at least one hook if not a combination of hooks.
What will the thesis statement be? Let’s see if it is the same as the title, if she uses a signal word and if she slows down when giving the thesis statement. Remember the title has the phrase “body language.” That’s what we are listening for. Do you remember the two ideas that we said she would talk about?
Here is possibly what it might be:
I.How others see us
II.How we see ourselves –
change other people’s perceptions even our own body chemistry
by changing body positions – “power posing” – standing in a posture of confidence
affects testosterone and cortisol in the brain
Please remember that you don’t need to write down the hook or hooks; it would be great if you could listen for the thesis statement with the word body language in it. You might hear today or another signal word in front of it.
Here is the listening -http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html.
How did she begin with a hook or not?
What was the thesis statement? Did you hear it or at least heard where she started with body language?
Let’s go back and listen and you can also see the transcript. Let’s identify how they started:
With a question about how the audience’s nonverbal, how they are posing now
With an example – handshake with Prime Minister and Pres.Obama
Was the thesis statement hard to find or easy? Why or why not?
The thesis statement had the title in it but it was not a direct thesis statement. It wasn’t easy to determine. Here is the thesis statement:
“So what is your body language communicating to me? What's mine communicating to you?”
If you missed the thesis statement, don’t worry. We’ll go and work on topic sentences and step 3.
Let’s review quickly. Step 1 is plan, preview and predict. Step 2 is to prepare for the introduction: looking for whether there is a hook or not and identifying the thesis statement.