INTRODUCTION TO PRESENTATION

SKILLS

“The human brain starts working the moment you are born and

never stops until you stand up to speak in public.”

– George Jessel

Overview

1. Presentation defined and its key elements2. Organisation and planning3. Parts of a presentation and presentation method4. Presentation notes5. Visual aids6. Managing the presentation event7. Signpost language

What is a presentation?

- a presentation is a means of communication that can be

adapted to various speaking situations, such as talking to a

group, addressing a meeting or briefing a team

- a way of communicating your thoughts and ideas to an audience

The key elements of a presentaiton

•Context

•Presenter

•Audience

•Message

•Reaction

•Method

•Impediments

Organisation and planning

• the single most important factor of making a succesful presentaiton

• the objective/clear purpose → WHY?

• subject

• target audience

• place

• time of day

• length

• notes

• presentation software / visual aids

No matter how great your delivery, or how professional and beautiful your supporting visuals, if your presentation is not based on solid content, you cannot succeed.

Importance of content

Parts of a presentation

3T rule

I. Introduction

(transition)II. Body

A. Main point

(transition)B. Main point

(transition)C. Main point

(transition)III. Conclusion

Presentation method

• depends on the event, occasion and its formality• very formal – formal – informal – very informal

Managing your presentation notes

• full text notes

• notes on cue cards

• keywords on cue cards

• mindmaps

Presenting data – you are telling your audience a story

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Visual aids• only if they are necessary to maintain interest and assist comprehension

• do not use visual aids just to demonstrate your technological competence

Types:

•whiteboards and interactive whiteboards

•flip charts

•over-head projectors

•slides

•video

•presentation software

•handouts

Presentation delivery tips

1. Start strong and show your passion – people came to hear YOU

2. Illustrate your points using personal stories

3. Keep it short

4. Make good eye contact

5. Move about

6. Vary pitch

7. Avoid annoying habits

8. Be professional

Managing the presentation event

• confidence: be well prepared and well rehearsed

• arrive on time

• check: room, seating, equipment and visual aids

• set up any visuals before you begin your presentation

• quickly review your notes and calm your nerves

• manage your voice, language, posture and body language

Sarnoff

Make sure you have finished speaking

before your audience has finishedlistening.

Dorothy Sarnoff

Signpost

Language

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzIxD1jXn44

Starting the presentation & introducing yourself

• Good morning/afternoon/night and welcome to (name of company/presentation/place).

• My name is … and I am from [company], where I’m responsible for… / I’m [name].

I’m a [job position] at [company].

Presenting the topic

• Today, I’ll be talking about/discussing [topic]

• I’m here to illustrate how…

• What I’m going to be talking about today is…

• The purpose of today’s presentation is…

• My objective is to…

• In today’s presentation, I’d like to talk to you about/show you/demonstrate…

Outlining the content of the presentation

• In today’s presentation I’m going to cover [three] points:

• Firstly, I’ll be looking at…

• Secondly, we’ll consider…

• Then, I’ll explain how…

• And finally, I’ll demonstrate how…

Introducing the first point

• So let’s start, shall we?

• To begin with, …

• To start with, …

• First of all, I’ll …

• Let’s start by [+ verb in -ing form] …

•

Explaining graphs, images or data

•This graph/image/video/data demonstrates…

• I’d like to illustrate this by showing you…

•Let’s have a look at this…

•Here we can see…

•Here are some facts and figures…

Concluding a point

• So, that concludes [name of section]…

• That’s everything for [name of section]…

• We’ve now covered [name of section]…

• I think that just about covers [name of section]…

Moving on to the next point

• Now, let’s move on to…

• Now that we’ve discussed [previous point], I’d like to move on to/talk about…

• Next…

• Let’s look at…

• I’d like now to discuss…

Concluding and summarising the presentation

• To conclude, …

• In conclusion, …

• Well, that brings us to the end of the final section. Now, I’d like to summarise by…

• That concludes my presentation. Now, if I can just summarise the main points…

• I think we’ve just about seen everything now. Let’s take a look back at what we’ve seen…

Inviting questions

• We’ve got a few minutes for questions.

• Does anyone have any questions?

• If anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.

• Are there any questions?

Thanking your audience and hosts

• I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has come today.

• I’d also like to thank [host] for letting us be here today.

• I hope that the presentation has been interesting/informative, thank you for coming.

• Finally, I’d like to finish by thanking you all for coming…

• Thank you for your attention/time.

• I hope to see you all soon.

TASK: If your audience could remember only three things

about your presentation, what would you want it to be?

1.______________________

2.______________________

3.______________________

Useful websites:

• BUSINESS ENGLISH SAMPLE PRESENTATION WITH PHRASES

• WEBSITE BY CARL KWAN

• HOW TO GIVE A GREAT PRESENTATION

• STEVE JOBS PRESENTAION SKILLS

• HOW TO COLLABORATE