PRESENTATIONSPRESENTATIONS

Content

It is likely that you already have a topic and you know what you want to say about it. This is the content of your presentation. If you already have the content of your presentation in written form: for example in a written report already written down or you are beginning from scratch, you may need to cut it down for your presentation. Why?

You will need to fit your content within the time limit. You will need to hold the interest and attention of your

audience. Many people lose interest towards the end of presentations that contain too much information.

Think carefully about the key points that you want to get across and build your presentation around them.

Things to consider when preparing the content

What are your key points? Most good presentations have no more than 5 key points.

How will you support your key points with examples and illustrations?

How will you make it easy for your audience to follow your key points?

Main Structure

Structure Most presentations will consist of:

Introduction. The body of the talk. Conclusion.

Another structure: 6 steps

1. Signalling a start.2. Greetings and introducing yourself.3. The objetive of your presentation.4. Structuring ( firstly,secondly,

thirdly).5. Introducing topics ( moving on,

looking back, adding, dealing with interruptions).

6. Summarising and concluding.

Introduction: The introduction prepares the audience for what you will say in the body of the talk and the conclusion reminds them of your key points.

Introduction

A good introduction : Attracts and focuses the attention of the

audience. Puts the speaker and audience at ease. Explains the purpose of the talk and what the

speaker would like to achieve. Gives an overview of the key points of the talk.

It is often a good idea to begin a talk with a question, a short story, an interesting fact about your topic or an unusual visual aid. Many speakers follow this with an overhead transparency that shows the title, aim and outline of the talk.

Useful phrases for signalling a start, greetings, introducing yourself and people

Signalling a start: - Right, ladies and gentlemen. Shall we begin? - OK, I'd like to begin by ... - Greetings: - Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. - I'd like to welcome you all on behalf of NKS. - I'd like to say how happy I am to be here today. Introducing yourself and other people: - My name is Richard Delmas. - I'm the ( job) Marketing Manager here. - I'd like to introduce myself. My name is ... - Let me introduce myself. My name is ... - Let me introduce Mr / Mrs ……

Body

The body of a presentation must be presented in a logical order that is easy for the audience to follow and natural to your topic.

Divide your content into sections and make sure that the audience knows where they are at any time during your talk.

It is often a good idea to pause between main sections of your talk. You can ask for questions, sum up the point or explain what the next point will be.

If you have an OHT with an outline of your talk on it, you can put this on the projector briefly and point to the next section.

Useful phrases: defining the objective, lenght and structuring of your presentation

The objective of your presentation: - My objective this afternoon is to inform you... - I'm here today to give you... - My purpose today is to introduce you to... - My aim this morning is to... The length of time your presentation will

take: - I will talk for fifteen minutes. Structuring: - My presentation is split into three key areas. - Firstly ... Secondly ... Thirdly ... - To begin with ... After this ... Finally ...

Useful phrases:introducing topics, moving on, looking back, looking back, adding and interrupting.

Saying when your audience may ask questions:

- There will be time for questions at the end... - Please feel free to interrupt me as I go along.

Introducing topics: - I want to look at ..., I’d like to review….., I want to

discuss…., I want to cover…, I’d like to talk about - Moving on:

- Let's now move on to ... - I'd like to go on to ... - This brings me to ... - I now want to ...

Looking back: - Let's look back for a moment ... - As I said before ...

Adding: - In addition .., I might add that….,

Furthermore….., Moreover….. Dealing with interruptions:

- Perhaps I could return to that point later on?

- If I might just finish? - If you'd allow me to continue?

Examples Examples, details and visual aids add

interest to a presentation and help you get your message through. Here are some questions you can ask yourself about the examples you include: Are they relevant to the experience of the

audience? Are they concrete? Will the audience find them interesting? Are they varied? Are they memorable?

Conclusion A good conclusion :

Reminds the audience of your key points.

Reinforces your message. Your conclusion should end the

presentation on a positive note and make the audience feel that have used their time well listening to you.

Useful prases: concluding

Summarising and concluding - To sum up then, ... - To summarise my main points ... - I'd like to conclude by reminding you

that ... - I'd like to finish ... - In conclusion, may I remind you ... - Finally, ...

Questions Questions

One way of handling questions is to point to questions you would like to discuss as you are talking.

Leave pauses during your talk and ask for questions.

It is important not to let question and answer sessions during the talk go on too long, however.

Answer briefly or say you will deal with the question at the end.

Useful phrases: dealing with questions.

Asking for questions: - If there are any questions ... - I'm sure you have many questions ...

Playing for time: - That's an interesting question. - I'm glad you asked that question. - You've raised an important point there. - That's a difficult question.

Closing question time: - Perhaps on that note we could end? - I'm afraid that's all we have time for.

Thanking

Thanking: - I'd like to thank you all on behalf of

Company X. - I'd like to thank you all for your

participation.

Remember… Good presentations raise questions in the

listeners' mind. Good speakers encourage questions both during and after the presentation and are prepared to answer them.

Homework:

Now choose a topic and make your own presentation.

You can use a power point.

Thanks to :

www.thelanguagemenu.com http://ec.hku.hk/epc/presentation/