If occurred to me that people who have a talk to present, usually look for a humorous beginning. It get's the audience relaxed and makes way for a good lecture or talk.
I've been at a few in my time, however, where the only person who thought the link was clever or funny, was the lecturer themselves. This set me thinking - what are the worst ways to attempt a nice link-in to tricky subject matter. Here are my first two thoughts:
One
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the North-East's first ever virginity seminar. It's lovely to see you all here tonight, and thanks for asking me to present this talk.
I received a package from Viking Direct, the mail order stationary company, the other day - and I glanced at the packaging, noticing that it bore the words: "tamper evident opening". And, you know, it put me in mind of our subject here, tonight.....etc."
Two
"I was leafing through a newspaper the other day, and I had it in mind to look through the adverts - and as I did, I noticed one which bore the strap line: "Your business is our pleasure." These comforting words put me in mind of our own field of work. As workers in the sewage industry, we.......etc."
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Oh yeah, I can hear you. "That /so/ isn't funny." But I bet you notice next time one of those presents itself. Look for advertising slogans.
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