Language of Presentations

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Language of Presentations

This handout is about the words and expressions that we use when
making presentations in English.

Simplicity and Clarity


If you want your audience to understand your message, your language
must be simple and clear.

Use short words and short sentences.

Do not use jargon, unless you are certain that your audience understands
it.

In general, talk about concrete facts rather than abstract ideas.

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:

1. Toyota sold nine million vehicles last year.


2. Nine million vehicles were sold by Toyota last year.

Which is easier to understand? Which is more immediate? Which is


more powerful? #1 is active and #2 is passive.
Signposting

When you drive on the roads, you know


where you are on those roads. Each road has a name or number. Each
town has a name. And each house has a number. If you are at house
#100, you can go back to #50 or forward to #150. You can look at the
signposts for directions. And you can look at your atlas for the structure of
the roads in detail. In other words, it is easy to navigate the roads. You
cannot get lost. But when you give a presentation, how can your audience
know where they are? How can they know the structure of your
presentation? How can they know what is coming next? They know
because you tell them. Because you put up signposts for them, at
the beginning and all along the route. This technique is called
'signposting' (or 'signalling').

During your introduction, you should tell your audience what the structure
of your presentation will be. You might say something like this:

"I'll start by describing the current position in Europe. Then


I'll move on to some of the achievements we've made in
Asia. After that I'll consider the opportunities we see for
further expansion in Africa. Lastly, I'll quickly recap before
concluding with some recommendations."
A member of the audience can now visualize your presentation like this:

Introductio  Welcome
n  Explanation of structure (now)

Body  Europe
 Asia
 Africa

Conclusion  Summing up
 Recommendations

He will keep this image in his head during the presentation. He may even
write it down. And throughout your presentation, you will put up signposts
telling him which point you have reached and where you are going now.
When you finish Europe and want to start Asia, you might say:

"That's all I have to say about Europe. Let's turn now to


Asia."
When you have finished Africa and want to sum up, you might say:

"Well, we've looked at the three continents Europe, Asia


and Africa. I'd like to sum up now."
And when you finish summing up and want to give your
recommendations, you might say:

"What does all this mean for us? Well, firstly I


recommend..."
The table below lists useful expressions that you can use to signpost the
various parts of your presentation.
Signposting

Function Language

Introducing the subject  I'd like to start by...


 Let's begin by...
 First of all, I'll...
 Starting with...
 I'll begin by...

Finishing one subject...  Well, I've told you about...


 That's all I have to say about...
 We've looked at...
 So much for...

...and starting another  Now we'll move on to...


 Let me turn now to...
 Next...
 Turning to...
 I'd like now to discuss...
 Let's look now at...

Analysing a point and  Where does that lead us?


giving
recommendations  Let's consider this in more detail...
 What does this mean for ABC?
 Translated into real terms...

Giving an example  For example,...


 A good example of this is...
 As an illustration,...
 To give you an example,...
 To illustrate this point...

Dealing with questions  We'll be examining this point in more


detail later on...
 I'd like to deal with this question later, if
I may...
 I'll come back to this question later in
my talk...
 Perhaps you'd like to raise this point at
the end...
 I won't comment on this now...

Summarising and  In conclusion,...


concluding
 Right, let's sum up, shall we?
 I'd like now to recap...
 Let's summarise briefly what we've
looked at...
 Finally, let me remind you of some of
the issues we've covered...
 If I can just sum up the main points...

Ordering  Firstly...secondly...thirdly...lastly...
 First of all...then...next...after
that...finally...
 To start with...later...to finish up...

That's all I have to say about the language of presentations. Next, we'll


look in detail at the  presentation itself  and how we structure it...
The Presentation
This handout is about the actual presentation itself as opposed to other
aspects of giving presentations in English.

Most presentations are divided into 3 main parts (+ questions):

1 INTRODUCTIO
N

(Questions)
2 BODY

3 CONCLUSION

  Questions

As a general rule in communication, repetition is valuable. In


presentations, there is a golden rule about repetition:

1. Say what you are going to say...


2. say it...
3. then say what you have just said.

In other words, use the three parts of your presentation to reinforce your
message. In the introduction, you tell your audience what your message
is going to be. In the body, you tell your audience your real message. In
the conclusion, you summarize what your message was.

We will now consider each of these parts in more detail.


Introduction
The introduction is a very important - perhaps the most important - part of
your presentation. This is the first impression that your audience have of
you. You should concentrate on getting your introduction right. You
should use the introduction to:

1. welcome your audience


2. introduce your subject
3. outline the structure of your presentation
4. give instructions about questions

The following table shows examples of language for each of these


functions. You may need to modify the language as appropriate.

Function Possible language

1  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen


Welcoming  Good morning, gentlemen
your audience  Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman
 Good afternoon, everybody

2  I am going to talk today about...


Introducing
your subject  The purpose of my presentation is to introduce
our new range of...

3  To start with I'll describe the progress made


Outlining your this year. Then I'll mention some of the
structure problems we've encountered and how we
overcame them. After that I'll consider the
possibilities for further growth next year.
Finally, I'll summarize my presentation (before
concluding with some recommendations).
4  Do feel free to interrupt me if you have any
Giving questions.
instructions
about  I'll try to answer all of your questions after the
questions presentation.
 I plan to keep some time for questions after
the presentation.

Body
The body is the 'real' presentation. If the introduction was well prepared
and delivered, you will now be 'in control'. You will be relaxed and
confident.

The body should be well structured, divided up logically, with plenty of


carefully spaced visuals.

Remember these key points while delivering the body of your


presentation:

 do not hurry
 be enthusiastic
 give time on visuals
 maintain eye contact
 modulate your voice
 look friendly
 keep to your structure
 use your notes
 signpost throughout
 remain polite when dealing with difficult questions

Conclusion
Use the conclusion to:

1. Sum up
2. (Give recommendations if appropriate)
3. Thank your audience
4. Invite questions

The following table shows examples of language for each of these


functions. You may need to modify the language as appropriate.

Function Possible language

1  To conclude,...
Summing up  In conclusion,...
 Now, to sum up...
 So let me summarise/recap what I've
said.
 Finally, may I remind you of some of the
main points we've considered.

2  In conclusion, my recommendations
Giving are...
recommendations
 I therefore suggest/propose/recommend
the following strategy.

3  Many thanks for your attention.


Thanking your
audience  May I thank you all for being such an
attentive audience.

4  Now I'll try to answer any questions you


Inviting questions may have.
 Can I answer any questions?
 Are there any questions?
 Do you have any questions?
 Are there any final questions?
Questions
Questions are a good opportunity for you to interact with your audience. It
may be helpful for you to try to predict what questions will be asked so
that you can prepare your response in advance. You may wish to accept
questions at any time during your presentation, or to keep a time for
questions after your presentation. Normally, it's your decision, and you
should make it clear during the introduction. Be polite with all questioners,
even if they ask difficult questions. They are showing interest in what you
have to say and they deserve attention. Sometimes you can reformulate a
question. Or answer the question with another question. Or even ask for
comment from the rest of the audience.

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