Мистецтво оратора. Публічні презентації

Good talk or presentation requires good preparation. First of all, it is necessary to identify the audience you will be presenting to and their specific expectations. This will help you define both the content and the level of your presentation. Be sure that you know and clearly understand the reason why you were asked to make a presentation.

As a presenter you should be clear about the exact purpose of your presentation.

Any material in your presentation must be relevant. It is better to collect too much material than not enough. You should also consider the amount of detail required by your audience. They do not need to hear about all the data you have collected. The data should help you present only concise and relevant evidence to justify any point you make.

Your talk or presentation is to be clearly structured. This simple but very effective plan will help you: • state what you are going to say and do;

• describe how you are going to do it;

• do it;

• state what you have done.

When you start your presentation, the audience will immediately form an impression of you. It will be based on your appearance and manner. Your appearance should be consistent with the context and venue for the presentation. If you feel comfortable and look confident, this will be transmitted to your audience.

The instrument which can help you captivate the audience is your voice. In general try to avoid extremes of pitch and volume. Your tone should be firm and confident; it should rise at appropriate points to help you stress the most important areas of your talk or presentation.

Next you must choose the appropriate medium for your presentation. Most of the time in a great number of presentations is allocated to verbal communication, despite the fact that this may not be the best way to communicate information. It is generally accepted that we remember only 20 per cent of what we hear, but 80 per cent of what we see.

The measure of success of any presentation is the extent to which the audience's desired outcomes have been met. That is why it is vitally important for the presenter to know the exact purpose of the presentation. All that remains for you to do is to confidently deliver the material you have prepared. Confidence grows with practice. Preparation plus practice perfects presentation.

Exercises

*Task I. Have you ever had to give, or listen to a talk or presentation in English?

If the answer to this question is positive

Was the presentation successful or not?

Which of the following factors do you think are necessary to make your presentation successful:

• knowledge of audience;

• research;

• preparation;

• content and length;

• structure of the presentation or talk;

• application visual/aural/technical aids;

• manner of delivery (appearance, voice, speed, gestures, etc).

*Task II. Agree or disagree with the following.

1. It is not necessary to prepare your talk or presentation well.

2. The audience you will be presenting to and their specific expectations are not important to the presenter.

3. Any material in your presentation must be relevant.

4. It is better to collect less material than too much.

5. You do not need any plan for your presentation. It shouldn't

be clearly structured.

6. Your appearance and manner are of the least importance to the audience.

7. Extremes pitch and volume of your voice are required for good and successful presentation.

8. We remember only 40 per cent of what we hear, but 60 per cent of what we see.

9. Preparation plus practice perfects presentation.

*Task III. Put the following points in order of importance for you personally, from most implant (1) to least important (8).

1. Try it out.

2. Delivery.

3. Make sure You look attractive.

4. Distributing" handouts.

5. Find out wt10 will be at the presentation.

6. Select relevant information.

7. Make sure know the objective.

8. Organize what you want to say.

**Task IV. Read the text of the presentation and make a list of what you need to do to make a successful presentation

A.

Good morning, everyone. You are welcome to our seminar. Today I'll give you the guidelines for preparing and delivering talks and presentations. I have divided my presentation into

several sections. We'll begin with preparation, then we'll concentrate on language, and finally we'll discuss delivery. As you listen, you are welcome to take notes on key points. At the end of each section you'll get an opportunity to ask questions, but if there is anything you don't understand, you are welcome to interrupt me.

Well, let's begin with preparation. This part is very important, and when preparing your talk or presentation, you should remember about six key areas. The first area is objectives. You should carefully think about the aim of your talk, and what you are planning to achieve.

Next, you should think about the audience: who they are, and what they want to know»

Content is the third area. Be careful not to give your audience too much information. You should concentrate on what people need to know, on what will interest your audience most.

The fourth area is organization. Your presentation is to be clearly and logically organized so that any person can follow it without difficulties.

Visual information is the fifth area. Presenting information visually adds interest to your presentation and makes it easier to follow. But make sure you don't give too much information a time.

The last area is practice. When you have finished preparing your talk, I recommend to you practice giving it. This way you can discover if you have any problems and check the timing. This will help you feel more confident.

So, at the preparation stage I'd recommend you to think about six key areas: « objectives;

• audience;

• content;

• organization;

• visual information;

• practice.

Now, before I move on to the next part of my presentation, do you have any questions?

B.

Now let's talk about the use of language. I think it would be useful to look at the handout "Giving talks and presentations". I'd like to draw your attention to the specific phrases which may be used when delivering a talk.