I recently moved to the United Kingdom from Australia. Previously I always started presentations with a land acknowledgement, partly because it was the norm and partly to make a point about how Australia had come to exist. I would always be able to relate this to what I was talking about or at the very least create a smooth change of subject. Now that I’m in the UK I need to give a presentation, but I don’t know how to start it off.
How else do people start presentations
Comments
“I’m happy to be here today and I’d like to thank the organizers for inviting me and for putting together this great event. Today, I’m going to be talking about blah blah blah…”
You could acknowledge all the countries that the UK stole land from – but that might take a while.
Thank your hosts? Session housekeeping?
Start with by introducing the scientific questionÂ
I’ve seen some folks who adapt land acknowledgements into “I am [name] and I am accountable to…” It can incorporate land acknowledgements, but also your community, the people who you do your work for, who you hope benefits from your work, who funds you, etc. You pick what is most meaningful for your work. It serves a similar context/grounding purpose, but is true wherever you are living.
It might be quite interesting for your current audience to learn about these considerations that are going through your head. “When I used to give a presentation like this in Australia, we would customarily start with a land acknowlegment. This is to acknowledge the ancestral stewards of the land we are on and the historical context of our institutions in Australia. For example, in [city/university] I would acknowlege the [XYZ people]. Now that I’m here, I automatically think about how the historical layers, conflicts and displacements [you could mention a few broad peoples here depending on place – Celts / Picts / Romans / Angles / Saxons] that have shaped this place and that provide the context for this institution to exist. [optinally: And also how these were also the ancestors of some of the colonizers that have shaped my original country. or make your transiton to what you want to talk about]”
But that’s just for the first few times, or if you were visiting the UK. Otherwise it’s simply “Good morning / afternoon! My name is XY and I’m a professor of whatever at ABC University. It’s a great pleasure to be here [if you’re visiting] / to welcome you to our seminar. Before we start [talk about fire exits, coffee, agenda…] Our topic today is XYZ. [transition]”
Just start with your presentation. Literally just start talking.
Land acknowledgments are the worst sort of feel good, do-nothing pseudo-activism anyway. Their purpose is to soothe your conscience while producing no material change.
We acknowledge that the land now called the United Kingdom was once home to the Celtic Britons—diverse tribes with rich cultures, languages, and spiritual traditions—whose sovereignty was violently disrupted by the Roman invasion in 43 CE. Though Rome imposed roads, cities, and imperial rule, it met fierce resistance from peoples like the Iceni under Queen Boudica, the Brigantes in the north, and countless others who fought to defend their homelands. We recognize that the foundations of modern Britain were laid atop this resistance, and that the legacy of the Britons endures in the surviving Celtic nations, whose histories, identities, and languages remain a testament to survival and resilience in the face of conquest.
Usually, I start by telling people what I am going to talk about rather than virtue signaling.
I thank the Chair for introducing me (i.e. “thank you Chair”, not a lengthy speech) and then I say “good morning” and then I start my talk. If you need to talk about land as an intro, write an intro that doesn’t involve saying we’re on the lands of the X and Y. Though you could say something about the Danes and the Normans or whoever if that works for you. But seriously get to the point instead of making a side point. If the land acknowledgement was more important to you than what your talk is about, change your research focus to land things.
Brit living in the US: I usually start by faffing around with trying to turn the microphone on for a couple of minutes.