Communication Part 7: Plan a talk in three parts

A talk people remember has a clear shape: an opening that gives them a reason to listen, a few points with real examples, and a close that tells them what to do.

Start from one sentence

Before you make any slides, write the one sentence you want people to remember. Aman's final-year project talk: "Our app helps hostel students split bills without arguments." Everything in the talk should support that sentence. If a slide doesn't, cut it.

The opening: about 30 seconds

Greet the room briefly, then go straight to a hook and a promise.

• The hook is a question, a surprising fact or a very short story: "Last semester, my roommate and I didn't speak for a week over a ₹600 food order."
• The promise tells them what they'll get: "In the next five minutes, I'll show you how our app makes that fight unnecessary."

Skip the long list of everything you're going to cover. It wastes your best 30 seconds.

The middle: three points, each with an example

Three points are enough for most talks. For each one, say the point, show an example, and link it back to your one sentence. Aman's three:

1. The problem: hostel bills are messy. Example: the food-order fight, and what other students told him.
2. How the app works. Example: a 30-second demo of splitting a bill.
3. What users think. Example: two short quotes from students who tried it.

The close: about 30 seconds

• Say your one sentence again.
• Give people one thing to do: "Try it with your roommates this week. The link is on the last slide."
• End on a clear line, say thank you and stop. Don't trail off with "So, yeah, that's it."

Fit it to the time

For a five-minute talk, that's roughly 30 seconds to open, four minutes for your points and 30 seconds to close. At a calm pace of around 130 words a minute, five minutes is about 650 words. Write much more than that and you'll rush.

Try it

Pick a topic you know well, like your project or a hobby. Write your one sentence, a hook, three points with one example each, and a closing action. That's your outline. Part 8 turns it into slides.

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Next: Communication Part 8: Slides, rehearsal and Q&A