Unit 1. The beginning of the presentation

Presentation technique and preparation

What makes a good presentation?

Recommendations for giving effective presentation:

a. Have a simple clear structure (a beginning, a middle and an end).

b. Consider the audience.

c. Choose visuals to support the presentation.

d. Use PowerPoint.

e. Make informal presentation.

f. Deal with nerves.

g. Show enthusiasm on the subject and be sincere; speak about things that you very strongly believe in and something that you really, really enjoy doing.

h. Consider the physical aspects: appearance, gesture, eye contact (80% of the time).

i. Write out some or all of the presentation.

j. Practice it.

k. Check all the language, make sure there’re no mistakes on the visuals.

 

The audience

The audience is the most important consideration in preparing a presentation.

Why the audience is so important? – A speaker needs to hold the audience’s attention – or the talk is a failure.

When you plan the presentation, think about the audience. Are they professionals or nonprofessionals? Providers or users? Your purpose and audience mix determine the tone and focus of the presentation.

 

Task 1. Read the comments from the audience who are listing to a presentation at an international conference. What caused the problem in each case?

a) “What on earth is he talking about?” “I have no idea!”

b) “Hey, Sarah! Wake up! He’s finished!”

c) “Read that! I can’t read that! I’d need a pair of binoculars!”

d) “Speak up! I can’t hear a thing!”

e) “Summarize four main points? I only noticed one! Have I been asleep?”

Possible explanations:

1. Technical level of talk is too high.

2. The talk is boring, too long, or delivered monotonously.

3. The visual is too small.

4. The speaker is talking too quietly.

5. The structure of the talk was not clear.

Visual aids: general principles

Three warnings about using visual aids:

1. You are central to the presentation. The visual aid needs you, your interpretation, your explanation and your conviction.

2. They must support what speaker says and not replace the spoken information.

3. It is also not enough to read text from a visual aid.

Key recommendations for how to use visual supports in a presentation:

a. Write clearly (print).

b. Check equipment in advance.

c. Use media which suit the room and audience size.

d. First visual should give the title of talk.

e. Second should show structure of talk – main headings.

f. Keep text to minimum – never just read text from visuals.

g. Do not use too many visuals – guide is one visual per two minutes.

h. Use pauses – give audience time to comprehend picture.

i. Never show a visual until you want to talk about it.

j. Remove visual once finished talking about it.

k. Turn off equipment not in use.

l. Always check the English in your visual supports.

m. Do not turn your back on the audience.

 

Language Checklist. Introducing a visual:

I’d like to show you … / Have a look at this …/This (graph) shows / represents …/ Here we can see …/ Let’s look at this …/ Here you see the trend in …

 

There is no one way and the best presenters have a different approach depending on the topic, the audience, etc.

 

Structure (I). The Introduction

It is important to give information on the structure of the talk. This helps the audience to follow the talk and clearly states what will be included.

We are going to focus on the main parts of any presentation:

1. The Introduction

2. The main body

3. The end

 

Introduction

I

Background

I

Proposal one

I

Proposal two

I

Key considerations

I

End / Discussion

 

The Introduction Content:

a. Greet the audience.

b. Introduce yourself.

c. Give the title of your talk.

d. Describe the structure of your talk.

e. Explain the policy on questions/discussion.

f. Say about the length of the talk.

g. Say that you will use the visual aids.

 

Language Checklist

Greeting

Good morning / afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

(Ladies and) Gentlemen …

Subject

I plan to say a few words about …/ I’m going to talk about …./ The subject of my talk is …/ The theme of my presentation is …/ I’d like to give you an overview of

Structure

I’ve divided my talk into (three) parts./ My talk will be in (three) parts./ First …/ Second …/ Third …/ In the first part …/ Then in the second part …/ Finally …

Note: Use will, going to and the contracted form I’ll to describe structure.

Length

My talk will take about ten minutes./ The presentation will take about …