English language Seminars Do’s don’ts tips, hints and so on August 2009

How to prepare winning presentations Introductions and closings How to structure a presentation Appropriate language Dealing with questions Evaluation sheet Please leave questions to the end of the presentation

Introduction “... Good jokes are hard to find, harder still to deliver, and quick to expire.” - don’t tell opening jokes the 1st couple of minutes in a presentation are nearly always the worst

Opening question “how can I get this dull talk started with something that will show my audience I’m really a fun person?” X “How can I best draw this particular audience into the subject I’m there to talk about?”

Five winning ways to start a presentation tell a parable – consider underlying emotions – consider key decision point or dilemma tell a personal anecdote about how you got engaged in the particular topic ask a question that either surfaces the underlying emotion you wish to evoke or begins the overall story that you wish to tell

Five winning ways to start a presentation tell a bit of a story from a classic movie or a popular TV show play a scenario game that contains the elements of your broader story 1998 by the president and fellows of Harvard College

Use an effective opening – Goals – alternative techniques use humor refer to the unusual refer to the familiar Hunter, Mary - Guide to Managerial Communication, 1992

Bravo: dare in the first slide – shake them up in the first couple of minutes! Not losing your audience

Straightforward: start by the end. Leave arguments for later. Research shows that the first 30 seconds are key to call the attention

Not losing your audience Graphics: use images to conduct thinking and give rhythm to the presentation. People get the information faster and more easily.

Not losing your audience Blocks: the average human being can only hold their attention for 17 to 20 minutes. Use independent, self- sustained blocks

Not losing your audience Fast: take as much fat from the presentation as possible. The faster the better. After you write the presentation cut it back to 50%. If the content is not harmed, keep it like that.

Introductions Introduce yourself and your subject outline what you are going to talk about say whether people should ask questions during the talk or at the end

Introducing yourself and your subject Greeting, name and position title and subject purpose/objective length outline/main parts questions reference to the audience

Outline I’ve divided my presentation into four parts.They are... The subject can be looked at under the following headings... We can break this area down into the following fields: 1st..., then..., next..., and then we come to..., finally..., lastly..., last of all... Let me briefly take you through what we’ll be looking at today

Intro language The subject of my presentation is... What I’m going to talk about tonight is... I’d like to give you a brief overview of... The reason I am here today is to talk about...

Structuring a presentation give a preview state your main points clearly follow your preview limit your main points use explicit transitions provide internal summaries use an effective closing your audience is likely to remember your last words

Structure language I’ve divided my talk into (N) main sections... My presentation will be in (N) parts... – First of all / Firstly – Secondly – Thirdly – Then – After that – Lastly / finally

Moving to a new point language Turning now to... What I’d like to to talk about now is... Now I would like to describe... Now let’s move on to the next point which is

Language focus Introducing yourself and your talk linking ideas describing trends, charts and graphs emphasizing and minimizing endings asking and answering questions delivery and style Comfort, Jeremy - Effective Presentations OUP, 1995

Endings Signaling the end summarizing concluding recommending closing inviting questions

Effective closing You may feel as if you are being repetitive, but it is effective to summarize your main points. Refer to the introduction (story, rethorical questions, promise, image) Call to action, emphasize the benefits

Summarizing and concluding language Don’t say: “Well, that’s all I have to say” or “I guess that’s about it” Say: “to summarize” or “in conclusion” To sum up... To recapitulate what I’ve been saying... So, to go over the main points again... I’d like to conclude by saying...

Closing - sample “Let me sum up. Firstly, we looked at..., secondly, at... and last but by no means least... In my view,... That brings me to the end of my presentation. Are there any questions?”

Ending language Thank you for listening to me. If there are any questions, I’ll be pleased to answer them.

Answering questions Clarifying a question avoiding giving an answer checking if the questioner is satisfied

When answering questions That’s a fair point. That’s confidential. That’s not really my field. The questioner would like to know... Is that right? Well, I think that goes beyond the scope of today’s presentation. I’m afraid we’ve run out of time. Sorry, I didn’t catch the question I think that’s a good point to stop. Thank you listening

Evaluation sheet poor satisfactory good excellent

Evaluator's name: Presenter's name: Presentation Subject: PoorOkGoodExcellent Subject relation to class General Organization Introduction Ending Delivery/flow Language – Grammar Language – Pronunciation Language – Vocabulary: general, presentation specific, emphasizers, linking words Technical vocabulary Visual Aids

Grading system 1st2nd Poor43 Ok65 Good87 Excellent10

Subject relation to class Possible subjects – Small business management – Entrepreneurship – Knowledge Management Possible approaches – Personal experience – Bibliography – preferrably originally in English

Delivery/flow Audience contact and interest Assurance/confidence Tempo (vary the speed, add silence) volume (vary it) expressiveness (vary the pitch, add questions) articulation (rehearse, focus on stress) sentence length register/style (avoid written language) linkers (helps with pace) emphasizers/minimizers (exagerate a little)

Language Grammar Pronunciation Vocabulary – General – Presentation specific – Emphasizers – Linking words

Other useful sentences As you can see If we took a look at this slide Let’s change the direction for a moment So, what have we looked at so far? Well... Turning to I would like to start by Another area for consideration is Let me begin by

Visual aids Number Design Relevance Use Source

Recapping Introductions and closings How to structure a presentation Appropriate language Dealing with questions Evaluation sheet

And finally Let’s all make extremely successful presentations. Let’s practice here to strike (impact) in the business world.

References COMFORT, Jeremy. Effective Presentations. Oxford Business English Series. Oxford University Press STRUTT, Peter. Market Leader – Business Grammar and Usage. Financial Times and Longman. 2000