Talk can be this engaging at first, appearing in person (5)
I believe the answer is:
cheap
'talk can be this' is the definition.
(as in the phrase 'talk is cheap')
'engaging at first appearing in person' is the wordplay.
'at first' says to take the initial letters.
'appearing in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'person' becomes 'chap' (chap is a kind of person).
The first letter of 'engaging' is 'e'.
'e' inserted within 'chap' is 'CHEAP'.
(Other definitions for cheap that I've seen before include "not doing much damage" , "A snip" , "Tawdry - inexpensive" , "Economical - rubbishy" , "Budget -cheesy" .)