Nowadays we often have to make presentations. Study the tips on making presentations and arrange them in order of importance (your opinion).

TIPS ON MAKING PRESENTATIONS

Dress smartly: don't let your appearance distract from what you are saying.

Smile. Have an upright posture. Try to appear confident and enthusiastic.

Say hello and smile when you greet the audience: your audience will probably look at you and smile back: an instinctive reaction.

Speak clearly, firmly and confidently as this makes you sound in control. Don't speak too quickly: you are likely to speed up and raise the pitch of your voice when nervous. Give the audience time to absorb each point. Don't talk in a monotone the whole time. Lift your head up and address your words to someone near the back of audience. If you think people at the back can't hear, ask them.

Use silence to emphasise points. Before you make a key point pause: this tells the audience that something important is coming. It's also the hallmark of a confident speaker as only these are happy with silences. Nervous speakers tend to gabble on trying to fill every little gap.

Keep within the allotted time for your talk.

Eye contact is crucial to holding the attention of your audience. Look at everyone in the audience from time to time, not just at your notes or at the PowerPoint slides. Try to involve everyone, not just those directly in front of you.

Walk around a little and gesture with your hands. Bad presenters keep their hands on the podium or in their pockets! Good presenters will walk from side to side and look at different parts of the audience.

You could try to involve your audience by asking them a question.

Don't read out your talk, as this sounds boring, but refer to brief notes jotted down on small (postcard sized) pieces of card. Don't look at your notes too much as this suggests insecurity and will prevent you making eye contact with the audience.

 It’s OK to use humour, in moderation, but better to use anecdotes than to rattle off a string of jokes.

 It can be very helpful to practice at home in front of a mirror. You can also record your presentation and play it back to yourself: don't judge yourself harshly when you replay this - we always notice our bad points and not the good when hearing or seeing a recording or ourselves! Time how long your talk takes. Run through the talk a few times with a friend.

It's normal to be a little nervous. This is a good thing as it will make you more energized. Many people have a fear of speaking in public. Practicing will make sure that you are not too anxious.

Build variety into the talk and break it up into sections: apparently, the average person has a three minute attention span!

 

Think about the things you should and shouldn’t do making presentations. Share your opinion with your partner. How many of your ideas coincide?

 

Listening 8. Listen to the tips on making presentation. Compare the information with your own ideas. What are similarities and differences?

Every presentation should have a definite structure. Read the text and make up a plan that would suit any presentation.

HAVE A STRUCTURE

 

Have a beginning, middle and an end. Use short sentences.

Consider:

Who are the audience?

What points do I want to get across?

How much time have I got?

What visual aids are available? Powerpoint projector? flip chart? Don't necessarily use these. Sometimes the best presentations are the most informal.

Firstly, welcome the audience.

Say what your presentation will be about: the aims and objectives.

The introduction should catch the attention. Perhaps a provocative statement or a humorous anecdote:

“Genetically-modified crops could save millions of people from starvation”

“The first day of my vacation job went with a bang, but it wasn't my fault that the microwave exploded.

The Middle should outline your argument or develop your story

In five minutes you will only have time for two or three main points and allow everything else to support these. List your main headings and any key phrases you will use.

Use graphics or anecdotes to add variety.

In conclusion briefly summarise your main points.

Answer any questions.

Thank the audience for listening. Look at the audience again, smile and slow down.

 The end should be on a strong or positive note – not tailing away to “..well that's all I've got to say so thank you very much for listening ladies and gentlemen”. You could try something along these lines:

“Hang-gliding is brilliant, so try it – you'll believe a man can fly!”

“The danger is increasing – if we don't all act soon it could be too late!

In preparing your talk, first jot down any interesting points you want to include in your talk, put these in a logical sequence, then try to find an interesting title, and a good introduction and ending.

Make a presentation on Alternative Sources of Energy. Use the information below. (Before making a presentation it’s advisable to watch the film “Inconvenient truth” paying attention to the way Al Gore (the main character) makes his presentation)

A Plan

1  Welcome the uadience

2  Introduce yourself

3  Introduce the topic

4  Tell the audience why they should be interested in the topic

5  Tell a short personal anecdote

6  Give an overview of the talk

7  Main point 1

8  Main point 2

9  Main point 3

10 Main point 4

11 Summary

12 final “bang” – leave the audience with a strong final impression   

 

Language function	Phrase
Welcoming the uadience	1 Hello, everyone, and thanks for coming along.
Introducing yourself	2 Let me just introduce myself….
Introducing the topic	3 Today I’m going to tell you about…
Telling the audience why they should be interested in the topic	4 The topic I’m sure will be of particular interest to you as …
Telling a short personal anecdote	5 I remember when I … 6 I know from my own experience that…
Giving an overview of the talk	7 There are (three) main points that I’d like to cover today. 8 First, I’ll start by giving you a little information about… 9 I’ll then go on to outline… 10 Finally, I’ll …
Introducing the next point	11 So, to start with, what is…? 12 This brings me to the next point: … 13 This leads directly to … 14 Let’s now move on to…
Concluding the presentation	15 To summarize, … 16 Finally, I’d like to remind you about what I said at the beginning of my talk today. …

 

Progress Test