5. SO, your presentation is all planned out,
rehearsed many times and ready to be performed.
You’re nervous, but definitely not as much as you would
if you didn’t all this hard preparation work in advance.
Now, it’s show time. You get in front of everybody,
inhale, and launch into your presentation’s
introduction.
6. THE aim of the introduction part
is to motivate the audience
to listen and understand why they are there.
You should:
present yourself, your topic
and the presentation’s plan;
and say something interesting to attract attention.
7. BEFORE you start talking,
make sure everybody is listening.
The very first minutes give the audience
time to settle down. The best way for you
would be to wait, silently, a little.
9. Presentation of the speaker
Welcoming the audience
✣ Good morning/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
✣ Hello / Hi, everyone.
✣ First of all, let me thank you for coming here today.
✣ I’m happy/delighted that so many of you could make it today.
✣ Ladies and gentlemen, it’s an honor to have the opportunity
to address such a distinguished audience. (very formal)
10. Presentation of the speaker
Introducing yourself
If the audience knows who you are, you can omit this part.
✣ Let me introduce myself. I’m Dave Elwood from ...
✣ For those of you who don’t know me, my name’s ...
✣ As you probably know, I’m the new HR manager.
11. THE first few minutes of a presentation
are the most important.
Here are a few techniques you can use
to start your talk.
13. Getting the audience’s attention
An interesting fact
Start with an interesting fact, something the audience does not know. Sometimes a
shock tactic is needed — say something provoking.
✣ According to an article I read recently, central banks are now
buying euros instead of dollars.
✣ Did you know that fast food consumption has increased
by 600 % in Europe since 2002?
14. Getting the audience’s attention
Tell a story or anecdote
✣ I remember when I attended a meeting in Paris. ...
✣ As a conference in Madrid, I was once asked the following question: ...
15. Getting the audience’s attention
Ask a rhetorical question
✣ Is market research important for brand development?
✣ Do we really need quality assurance?
16. Getting the audience’s attention
Give them a problem to think about
✣ Suppose you wanted to set up a new call centre.
How would you go about it?
✣ Imagine you had to reorganize the sales department.
What would be your first step?
17. Getting the audience’s attention
Bring an object
A physical object attracts people’s attention, especially if they don’t know what it is
and are intrigued to find out.
✣ Do you know what that is?
18. Getting the audience’s attention
An interesting and thought-provoking quotation
Try not to use the over-used ones, find something unexpected.
✣ You know, as Oscar Wilde said once, ‘There is no other sin except stupidity’...
19. Getting the audience’s attention
Relate to the presentations before you
If there are several presentations during the event, a good choice would be to
relate to some words said before you. This will give your audience the sense of
connection between the known and the new.
✣ As Mr Miller pointed out before me ..., but I would like to show you
a somewhat different perspective.
21. Introduction of your talk
Introducing your topic
In most formal presentations it is recommended to introduce your topic before
starting talking about it.
✣ As you can see on the screen, our topic today is ... / today’s topic is ...
✣ The topic/subject of my presentation/talk is ...
✣ What I’d like to present to you today is ...
talk about ...
say a few words about ...
✣ I’m going to
brief you on ...
✣ I plan to
inform you about ...
✣ I’d like to
give you an overview of ...
present the recent ...
explain our position on ...
22. Introduction of your talk
Introducing your topic
Mind the grammar!
would like + infinitive
✣ Today I’d like to tell you about our new plans.
going to + infinitive
✣ I’m going to talk to you today about
new developments in the R & D Department.
will + infinitive
✣ I’ll start off by reviewing our progress.
will be + verb -ing
✣ During the next hour we’ll be looking
at the advantages of this system.
23. Introduction of your talk
Introducing the purpose of the talk
You should always make the topic of your talk relevant to your audience, they
must understand why it is important to specifically them.
✣ We are here today to decide ...
agree ...
learn about ...
✣ The purpose of this talk is to
update you on ...
put you in the picture about ...
give you the background to ...
! Remember to use words like we, us, and our to highlight common interest.
24. Introduction of your talk
Explaining why your topic is relevant for your audience
Why is it important? Because the audience is always
more interested in themselves than in you and your talk.
Always remember this!
✣ My talk is particularly relevant to those of you/us who ...
✣ The topic is very important for you because ...
✣ By the end of this talk you will be familiar with ...
25. AS in case with introducing the purpose of your talk,
in most formal presentations it’s necessary
to make the whole presentation’s plan
clear for your audience.
They should know what to expect —
not in terms of actual content,
but in terms of timing and other organizational details.
27. Explaining your talk
Briefly explaining the structure
✣ I’ve divided my presentation into three (main) parts/sections: x, y, and z.
✣ In my presentation I’ll focus on three major issues.
✣ First (of all) / in the first part, I’ll be looking at ..., second ..., and third ...
✣ I’ll begin / start off by explaining ...
✣ Then (in the second part) / Next / After that, I’ll go on to ...
✣ Finally / lastly / last of all, I’ll offer some solutions.
28. Explaining your talk
Explaining the organization
how long it will last, whether there will be handouts,
and how questions will be handled:
29. Explaining your talk
— Timing
✣ It should take about 30 minutes to cover these issues.
✣ The presentation will take about two hours, but there’ll be
a twenty minute break in the middle. We’ll stop for lunch at 12 o’clock.
30. Explaining your talk
— Handouts
✣ Does everybody have a handout/report? Please take one, and pass them on.
✣ Don’t worry about taking notes. I’ve put all the important statistics on a handout.
✣ I’ll be handing out brochures at the end of my talk.
✣ I’ll email the PowerPoint presentation to you.
31. Explaining your talk
— Questions
✣ Feel free to ask questions at any time during my talk.
✣ There will be time for discussion and questions after my presentation.
33. REMEMBER: All is relative.
There are no fixed rights and wrongs.
Adjust our tips to the result you want to get,
to your audience, to the specifics of your talk
and to your own preferences.
34. For example, some people criticize phrases like, ‘In this
presentation I will tell you ...’, ‘First, I’m going to be talking about...’
They say, using them makes the speech too formal and should
be avoided: ‘Why won’t you tell it already, instead of telling what
you want to tell?’
This may be true if you’re, say, presenting in front of a young
creative audience. You need to be as intriguing and creative
as possible. The emphasis in such a talk should be placed upon
the emotional impact of it, ability to motivate the audience.
But if you’re in front of a relatively conservative audience
(especially senior one), used to a certain way of presenting,
it would be better not to break the rules.
35. Another example: many people criticize the so-called
‘I’-approach: starting your first sentences with ‘I...’ and thus
talking about you. ‘Who in the audience is interested in you?
Everybody is minding their own business and would rather hear
something about them.’ So, if you feel like it, you can always
rephrase. But don’t forget that your words should sound
natural.
38. KEY POINTS
Once again — your checklist for the introduction:
1. Welcome the audience.
2. Introduce yourself.
3. State your topic.
4. Explain importance of your topic.
5. Outline the structure of the talk.
6. Clarify organizational details.
39. KEY POINTS
... and above all:
Talk clear, but stay intriguing.
