2. In this unit you are going to learn how to make an effective
presentation in English. You will need this skill at the end of
semester when you will have to present your project to your
colleagues and to your teacher. Presentations skills are
important in general: quite often during your study, and also
later in your career, you will need to use this skill.
Presentations can have different objectives: to inform, to sell
something, to persuade someone, or to train people. Academic
presentations are mainyl meant for informing and training.
You will agree that not all presentations are good. Just think
how many presenations you attend every day: lectures given
by your teachers or presentations by your colleagues during
seminars, etc. A presentation is one of the most effective ways
of communicating your message What irritates people most
during presentations? Think abou this before you go on.
3. • the speaker was nervous
• the speaker was disorganised
• the speaker never looked at me
• the speaker had bad accent
• the speaker did not sound enthusiastic
• the speaker was monotonous
• the visuals were bad
• I was irritated by his/her clothing
• the speaker was speaking too softly
• the speech was confused; I didn’t know what
he/she was trying to tell me
This is what irritates people during presentations
4. To avoid any negative outcome the following aspects
are important in making a presentation:
Preparation and planning
Language of presentations
Visuals/equipment
the presentation itself.
5. When you plan your presentation you need to answer
the following questions:
1. Who is my audience (how much do they know
about my topic?)
2. How am I going to organise my topic? (it needs to
tell a story)
3. How long should my presentation be? (you will
have time limits and you need to say everything
within that limit)
4. What visual support shall I use?
(PowerPoint, transparencies, models, objects...?)
6. “A presenter should be like a mini skirt:
Long enough to cover the vital parts,
and short enough to attract attention.”
7. This is the basic structure of a talk:
1. Introduction
2. Main part (body)
3. Conclusion
4. Question & Answer session
Plan you presentation carefully
This means that you need to plan every part carefully.
Your presentation must tell a story. At this stage you are like a screen-writer,
someone who is writing a play.
8. Introduction
Introduction is probably the most important part. The
Purpose of the introduction is “to tell the audience what
you are going to tell them”. You should remember that there
is no second chance for a first bad impression. If you start off badly
you will spoil everything.
During the introduction you need to achieve the following aims:
Gain Attention
attract Interest
create Desire
stimulate Action
9. Getting started - greeting the audience
• Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
• Welcome to my presentation.
• It’s very nice to see you all here today.
• Can we get started?
• Let me say just a few words about my background...
What you need to do first is to greet your audience. Here are some useful phrases:
Then you proceed to the introduction to your topic
10. Making an effective opening
• Give them a problem to think about (Suppose you... Why is it that...)
• Give them some amazing facts.(Did you know that ...)
• Give them a story or a personal anecdote (stories always atract attention)
• Use a citation (if you want to start on a more philosophical note)
• Make a funny remark (but be careful with humour, not all jokes work well)
• Record a music piece perhaps (if appropriate for the topic)
There are several ways how to attract the audience right from the beginning. Think of
one of the following techniques to introduce your talk:
11. Possible Introduction Scheme:
1. start with welcoming courtesies/introduce yourself
2. state the purpose of your talk, using one of the techniques
3. give a route map (tell them how long will your presentation take)
4. give the rules (do you allow to be interrupted or should your
audience keep questions until the end)
12. Some useful phrases
• What I want to do this morning is to …..
• My talk will take about 30 minutes.
• During my presentation, I’m going to be focusing on four main areas.
• I’ll be giving out copies of my transparencies at the end.
• If you have any questions, or comments you’d like to make,
please don’t hesitate to stop me.
You can find more useful phrases here.
Open the file and print it out.
13. Putting parts together
Particularly if you are working in a group it is important that you put the parts
of your speech in a logical sequence. Your presentation needs to tell a story
and be told in a simple language so that the audience can follow you. You will
no doubt discover many ideas that you want to include in your presentation
but you must be selective. Include only the information that is relevant to
your audience and your objective. Leave all other ideas out. What approach
should you use? Formal or informal? Lots of visual aids or only a few? But
remember, your time is always limited, therefore be selective.
14. Language matters: Spoken vs. Written Style
The language of presentations is different from the language that is used in
publications or course books. The language used in books was meant for
reading, so the sentences are rather complex and long, with lots of
technical words. However, when we talk to someone we try to tell
things in a simple and understandable way. The same goes for
presentations. You should make your language as simple and clear as you
can. This means that you cannot use the same text as you used in your
reports but rather “adapt” and simplify the text, to make it easier for your
audience to follow you. Make your sentences short and simple. Apply the
KISS principle: Keep it Simple Stupid. Use active verbs instead of
passive verbs. Active verbs are much easier to understand. They are much
more powerful. Consider these two sentences, which say the same thing:
Toyota sold two million cars last year.
Two million cars were sold by Toyota last year.
15. Chemistry is a science which touches our lives at many points. It
forms a bridge between physics and biology, earth sciences and medical
sciences. We can say that with chemistry we can better understand life
cycles on the one hand, and man-made processes on the other.
Chemistry
Chemistry is an area of study which touches human life at innumerable points. It is
the science which forms a bridge between physics and biology as well as between
earth sciences and life and medical sciences. It is therefore a central science which
holds the key to an appreciation and understanding of life cycles on the one hand
through to man-made processes on the other.
Just look at the example above: it has been taken from a course-book. It was meant
for reading and not for speaking. You cannot possibly use the same text for
speaking. The language is much too condensed and complicated, the sentences are
too long, and difficult to follow. The same idea can be simplified by paraphrasing,
as for example:
16. Ending your talk
When you come to the end of your presentation you need to indicate this to
the people. Don’t just end up abruptly without giving a conclusion.The
purpose of the conclusion is to “tell the people what you have told them”.
Follow this scheme:
• summarise facts
• give recommendations
• give proposals
Thank the audience
Invite questions
17. Ending your talk : useful phrases
Thanking the audience & Inviting questions
•Thank you for your attention and if you have any questions I’ll be pleased
to answer them.
• I’ll be happy to answer any questions.
• Are there any questions you’d like to ask?
Wrapping up
• This brings me to the end of my presentation.
• Let me just run over the key points again…
• To sum up briefly…
• To conclude …
• As we’ve seen…
• So, my recommendation is ….
• I would welcome any suggestions.
18. When you come to stand on the podium you become the actor of your
presentation. During your presentation you are going to speak and not read from
your notes. This means using your voice, and also your body language. What is
importnat is that you establish eye contact with each member of your audience.
Each person should feel that you are speaking directly to him or her. You need to
think in advance: Where shall I stand? How shall I keep eye contact? Where shall I
keep my hands? What if I get lost? How to manage audience phobia?
Most speakers are a little nervous during a presentation but there are some
strategies to control your nerves. Also, you need to be aware of your body
language. Open the links to learn more about these.
19. Rehearsal is a vital part of preparation. You should leave
time to practise your speech two or three times and also
practise with your group. In this way you will:
◦ become more familiar with what you want to say
◦ identify weaknesses in your presentation
◦ be able to practise difficult pronunciations
◦ be able to check the time that your presentation takes and make
any necessary modifications
So practise, practise, practise! Prepare everything:
words, visual aids, timing, equipment. Rehearse your
presentation several times and time it. Is it the right length?
Are you completely familiar with all your illustrations? Are
they in the right order? Can you give good comments to your
visuals? How will you answer difficult questions? Do you
know the room? Are you confident about the equipment?
When you have answered all these questions, you will
become more confident .
20. Consider this in preparing your presentation:
• Simplify the text.
• Focus your material. You can’t say everything.
• Use transitions (signsposting) to move smoothly.
• Use examples, anecdotes, statistics to support your message.
• Use a lot of visuals to reinforce the message.
• Consider timing.
• Apply the KISS principle.
• Practise alone and with the whole group.
Conclusion
