- •Part I Let’s get started
- •Introducing yourself
- •Structuring a presentation
- •Hot tips to “jump start” your presentation
- •Dealing with nervousness
- •Visualize success
- •Today’s topic is …
- •Indicating the end of a section
- •Tips on presenting to an English-speaking audience
- •Visual aids
- •Describing a visual
- •Introducing a visual
- •Saying numbers
- •Talking about trends
- •Some advice to describe trends on graphs and charts
- •Concluding a presentation
- •Handling the question and answer session
- •Powerful techniques
- •Some additional techniques to help communicate the message
- •If we took at imagery first, what’s the difference between simile, metaphor and analogy?
- •Love your audience … not everyone is like you
- •If you are an Extravert, you probably …
- •If you are an Introvert, you probably …
- •If you are a Sensor, you probably …
- •Presentation activities for different personality types
- •Multiple intelligences
- •Some presentation activities for “intelligences”
- •Part II Test yourself
- •1. Match these less formal phrases with the more formal phrases in the table.
- •2. Complete sentences 1 – 8 with the correct form of the verb and a sentence ending from the box below.
- •3. Complete the sentences with the words in the box.
- •4. Complete the sentences with the prepositions in the box.
- •6. Replace the highlighted words in the presentation with words or phrases from the box.
- •7. Match the two parts to make typical sentences from the introduction.
- •8. Match items from the three columns to make attention-grabbing openings.
- •9. Put the words in the right order to make sentences.
- •10. Match examples of jump starts (a –g) with the techniques 1 – 7.
- •11. Make signpost sentences using elements from each column.
- •12. Complete the sentences with words from the box.
- •14. Choose the correct verb to fit the sentence.
- •15. Complete the sentences with the words from the box.
- •16. Match the two parts to make sentences used to refer to media.
- •17. Match the two parts to make sentences.
- •18. Complete the sentences with the correct adverb – adjective construction from the box.
- •19. Complete this presentation with words from the box.
- •20. Choose the correct word to fit the sentences.
- •21. Match the two parts to make sentences used to talk about visuals.
- •23. Use the notes to make sentences in the past simple or present perfect.
- •24. Read the following sentences and check whether rise and raise have been used correctly. If not, correct the sentences.
- •25. Choose the correct verb to fit the sentences.
- •26. Put the sentences that describe the graph in the correct order.
- •28. Sometimes it is necessary to interrupt the visual by explaining the reason behind the fact (the cause) or its consequence (the effect). Use the words from each column to make sentences.
- •29. Complete the presentation extract with the correct prepositions.
- •30. Unscramble the sentences to make typical sentences from a conclusion.
- •31. Complete the sentences with words from the box.
- •32. Match the two parts to make final statements from conclusions.
- •33. Complete the sentences with prepositions.
- •34. Look at the clues in brackets and underline the word which should be stressed in each sentence.
- •35. Match the two parts to make sentences.
- •36. Complete the dialogue with phrases from the box.
- •37. Complete the sentences with verbs from the box. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.
- •38. Test yourself. See how much you’ve learned about giving presentations in English.
- •39. Look at the text below containing three small ones.
- •42. Complete the gaps in these presentation extracts
- •43. Choose the best adverb or adjective for each sentence.
- •44. Complete this presentation extract with the correct prepositions.
- •45. Look at the graphs and complete these presentation extracts, using the correct form of the verbs in brackets
- •46. Now, look at this graph and complete sentences 1 – 6, describing the sales. What tenses did you use and why?
- •47. Read the statements below and write a rhetorical question that could go before each of them.
- •48. Read the statements below and write a rhetorical question that could go after each of them.
- •49. A Yale University study identified the following words as the twelve most powerful words in the English language. Why do you think these words are powerful?
- •50. Choose the best response (a, b or c) for questions 1 – 8. Then define the question and the strategy the presenter uses to answer each question.
- •Part III Full presentations Presentation 1
- •Presentation 2
- •Presentation 3
- •Presentation 4
Powerful techniques
When we’re presenting, it can feel unnatural to say the same words over and over again. But it is noticed that repetition really works. It really helps clarify and consolidate the key points. So, try to use repetition. If you can get over the unnatural feeling, it’s an easy technique and it actually makes presenting in English less difficult as you don’t have to find different words for the same things.
You can repeat a phrase or a slogan like a mantra. Sometimes it’s this mantra that everyone remembers long after the presentation is over. Classical orators used this technique and one of the most famous examples is the Martin Luther King speech where he used the “I have a dream” mantra. People even call it the “I have a dream” speech. Mantra has to be precise, to the point and memorable. When you get the mantra right, everybody remembers it.
Remember the Rule of Three. It’s so easy. Good presentations often have lists with three different words, three identical words, three phrases or three sentences. Most experts attribute the Rule of Three to Aristotle’s Art of Rhetoric in which he referred to “three types of speeches” and “three forms of proof”. Pythagoras said three was the “perfect number”. Lists of three have a sense of completeness and research shows that listeners wait for and expect the third item in a list. It’s a fairly simple but highly effective technique.
Use rhetorical questions as they create expectation and a feeling of dialogue. They are also a useful tool outlining and signposting the structure. You should use grammatically correct questions though if you are presenting in another language. It’s no good asking a question if the audience don’t understand it or because you asked something too complex.
Give real life examples or examples that everybody knows. This really speaks to the audience as they remember things when they relate them to themselves, events or people. Examples bring things to life. It’s all about creating associations.
A number of effective techniques we use today go right back to the classical writers on rhetoric. Take contrast, for example – if you compare one thing to another, you are making a contrast. “We are bigger than our competitors” is an example. Another contrast technique is to use words that are opposites. Kennedy did it in that famous speech, “symbolizing an end not a beginning” and “United, there is little we can do … Divided, there is little we can do”. He used “not … but” in the same speech too. “We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom”. From a language point of view, these are really not complicated techniques for non-native speakers to use.
Some additional techniques to help communicate the message
What characterizes an effective presenter?
Effective presenters do a competent job and give well-organized and well-structured presentations. They give solid information to their audience and explain complex information effectively and logically. An expert presenter employs a whole range of additional techniques to help communicate the message.
Why do effective presenters need to learn more skills?
These presenters often put on their “business face”. They tend to be formal and objective and this sometimes makes it difficult for audience to follow and take in information. Such presenters can fall to truly inspire, connect and take their audiences to a different level.