THE PRESENTATION JOURNEY
Giving a presentation is like taking your audience from start to finish on a journey. At the start, your audience require some basic information before they can accompany you on this journey. Once they have the information, theyre on your side, attentive and ready to listen to every step of the journey along to your final message.
WHO
Introduce yourself. Clearly, the amount of information you give about yourself and your work and the level of formality you use, depends on the presentation youre giving. For example, for a presentation to a group of your colleagues, you probably dont need to give your name and background and you can use informal language. A presentation to a new client can require more detailed information about your background and experience and a more formal approach. Make sure that youre comfortable talking about your past and present experience in such cases.
WHY
Tell your audience your destination the reason theyre there to listen to you and the purpose of your presentation. If the audience dont know why they should listen, they wont have any reason to accompany you along your journey. The
why is linked to the conclusion, your final message probably, the most important part of your presentation.
WHAT
Outline the roadmap the main points that youre going to develop and the order in which you would like to develop these. When your audience have a clear view of the roadmap you want to navigate, they can follow you more easily and can also see youre planned, prepared and effectively managing the presentation. There are good reasons for giving the roadmaps, as research shows your audience listen better and remember better and more when they know the structure and shape of your presentation. The technique we use to give the roadmap is called sequencing. This is a very simple technique as it just involves using language such as one, two, three or firstly, secondly, thirdly. Nevertheless, it is also highly effective as sequencing or ordering, as it is sometimes called, is a principle of memory by which we recall information.
HOW
Put yourself into your audiences shoes: address your audiences needs. Your audience wont listen to you as you go into the main part of your presentation if they have other concerns. They may be thinking: How long do I have to sit there? Do I have to take notes? When can I ask questions? Is there any coffee here? It can therefore be useful to answer such questions in your start so that your audience are ready to listen.
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Your start should include these points but at the same time not be too long. Ninety seconds is a good guideline as theres evidence that you begin to lose listeners after this amount of time. Your audience tend to listen to your every word and form an impression of you in these ninety seconds. An accurate start helps to create a good impression and you should aim to be grammatically accurate at this stage.
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C. Read through these phrases. Write who, why, what or how next to each phrase.
1. On behalf of Mr Keane, may I welcome you to Jackson Inc. My names Jo Black and Im responsible for ..
2. My purpose today is to ..
3. Im going to develop three main points. First, Second, Third, ..
4. Let me introduce myself. I am I am a ..
5. Ill pass round copies of my slides so you can make notes as I go through the presentation. .
6. Before I continue, let me tell you something about myself. .
7. Today I would like to give you a general overview of ..
8. Ive divided my presentation into three main points. I would like to begin with ..
9. So, Ill be addressing three main points and the first one is going to be The second point will be And finally the last point is ..
10. Im going to outline three proposals. Firstly, Ill Then, Id like to and finally ..
11. Today, Im going to bring you up to date with
12. The presentation should last about five minutes. ..
13. Well take a short coffee break at about 10.30. ..
14. My objective today is to ..
15. Morning everyone. Thanks for coming. My name is Luca and Im in charge of ..
16. If you have any questions, Id be grateful if you could leave them until the end. ..
17. Im happy to take any questions after that. ..
18. For those who dont know me, my name is Carlos Lopez and Im the managing director. ..
19. We can take two or three questions at the end of each point. ..
20. You dont need to take notes as well be handing out presentation booklets. ..
21. I would like to start with And then Lastly ..
22. Today, Im going to tell you ..
23. What I am going to do today is review ..
24. Please feel free to interrupt me at any time if you have a question. ..
25.The reason we are here today is to ..
26. Morning everyone. Im Im a at ..
D. 1.01, 1.02 Watch Cesar and Zhans starts to their Step 1 presentations and tick the phrases they used.
| Find Your Voice Dont learn all these phrases now. Highlight one or two from each category that you really like or think are useful for you. Learn them by using them in your presentation that is typical of your work situation, using the phrases you wish to learn. When youre ready, stand up and present your start. |
