HOW TO GIVE SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATIONS Unit 5 - Skills

What is a presentation? a presentation is a means of communication that can be adapted to various speaking situations, such as talking to a group, addressing a meeting or briefing a team IMPORTANT: to be effective you must consider - step-by-step preparation and the method and means of presenting the information a presentation requires you to get a message across to the listeners making a presentation is a way of communicating your thoughts and ideas to an audience 

The key elements of a presentaiton Context Presenter Audience Message Reaction Method Impediments

Preparing a presentation the single most important factor of making a succesful presentaiton the objective → WHY? the subject the audience the place time of day length of talk

Organising the presentation material whether formal or informal → a clear, well-structured delivery brainstorm / write down all the points 3 T rule visual aids / illustrations presentation software (e.g. PowerPoint…)

Writing your presentation magic number 3 What? → the key message Why? How? review and edit your first draft → friendly presentation language doublecheck spelling mistakes take a break

Presentation method depends on the event, occasion and its formality very formal – formal – informal – very informal audience interaction and participation

Managing your presentation notes full text notes notes on cue cards keywords on cue cards mindmaps

Visual aids Whiteboards and interactive whiteboards Flip charts only if they are necessary to maintain interest and assist comprehension in your presentation do not use visual aids just to demonstrate your technological competence Types: Whiteboards and interactive whiteboards Flip charts Over-head projectors Slides Video Presentation software Handouts

Presenting data – you are telling your audience a story A picture is worth a thousand words

Managing a presentation event final preparation arrive on time check: room, eating, supply and location of electric sockets and light switches equipment and visual aids and the microphone (if one is being used) set up any visuals before you begin your presentation quickly review your notes and calm your nerves – if possible confidence: be well prepared and well rehearsed manage your voice and language (volume, clarity, variety) positioning and body language

Sarnoff Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening. Dorothy Sarnoff Sarnoff

Signpost Language

Starting & introducing yourself Good morning/afternoon/night and welcome to [name of company/presentation/place]… My name is [name] and I am from [company], where I’m responsible for.. I’m [name]. I’m a [job position] at [company]. Let me introduce myself; I’m [name] and I work at [company], where I work in [name of the department].

Presenting the topic The topic of my presentation today is … What I’m going to talk about today is … Today I’m going to discuss… Today, I’ll be talking about/discussing [topic] I’m here to illustrate how… What I’m going to be talking about today is… In today’s presentation, I’d like to talk to you about/show you/demonstrate… The purpose of today’s presentation is…

Outlining the content of the presentation In today’s presentation I’m going to cover [three] points: Firstly, I’ll be looking at… Secondly, we’ll consider… Then, I’ll explain how… And finally, I’ll demonstrate how..

Introducing the first point So let’s start, shall we? To begin with, … To start with, … First of all, I’ll … Let’s start by [+ verb in -ing form] …  

Explaining graphs, images or data This graph/image/video/data demonstrates… I’d like to illustrate this by showing you… Let’s have a look at this… Here we can see… Here are some facts and figures…

Concluding a point So, that concludes [name of section]… That’s everything for [name of section]… We’ve now covered [name of section]… I think that just about covers [name of section]…

Moving on to the next point Now, let’s move on to… Now that we’ve discussed [previous point], I’d like to move on to/talk about… Next… Let’s look at… I’d like now to discuss…

Concluding and summarising the presentation To conclude, … In conclusion, … Well, that brings us to the end of the final section. Now, I’d like to summarise by… That concludes my presentation. Now, if I can just summarise the main points… I think we’ve just about seen everything now. Let’s take a look back at what we’ve seen…

Inviting questions We’ve got a few minutes for questions. Does anyone have any questions? If anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer them. Are there any questions?

Thanking your audience and hosts I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has come today. I’d also like to thank [host] for letting us be here today. I hope that the presentation has been interesting/informative, thank you for coming. Finally, I’d like to finish by thanking you all for coming… Thank you for your attention/time. I hope to see you all soon.

Useful websites: BUSINESS ENGLISH SAMPLE PRESENTATION WITH PHRASES WEBSITE BY CARL KWAN HOW TO GIVE A GREAT PRESENTATION STEVE JOBS PRESENTAION SKILLS