In modern English, Presentations tend to be much less formal than they were even twenty years ago. Most audience these days prefer a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain structure to the opening of a Presentation that you should observe.

Get people's attention

Welcome them

Introduce yourself

State the purpose of your presentation

State how you want to deal with questions.

When we are giving a presentation, there are certain key words we use to ’signpost’ different stages in our presentation. These words are not difficult to learn but it is absolutely essential that you memorize them and can use them when you are under pressure giving a presentation.

When you want to make your next point, you ‘move on’.

When you want to change to a completely different topic, you ‘turn to’.

• I’d like to turn to something completely different.
• Let’s turn now to our plans for next year.

When you want to give more details about a topic you ‘expand’ or ‘elaborate’.

• I’d like to expand more on this problem we have had in Chicago.
• Would you like me to expand a little more on that or have you understood enough?
• I don’t want to elaborate any more on that as I’m short of time.

When you want to talk about something which is off the topic of your presentation, you ‘digress’.

• I’d like to digress here for a moment and just say a word of thanks to Bob for organizing this meeting.
• Digressing for a moment, I’d like to say a few words about our problems in Chicago.

When you want to refer back to an earlier point, you ‘go back’.

• Going back to something I said earlier, the situation in Chicago is serious.
• I’d like to go back to something Jenny said in her presentation.

To just give the outline of a point, you ’summarize’.

• If I could just summarize a few points from John’s report.
• I don’t have a lot of time left so I’m going to summarize the next few points.

To repeat the main points of what you have said, you ‘recap’.

• I’d like to quickly recap the main points of my presentation.
• Recapping quickly on what was said before lunch,……

For your final remarks, you ‘conclude’.

• I’d like to conclude by leaving you with this thought ……
• If I may conclude by quoting Karl Marx …….

• I am terribly sorry. What I meant to say was this.
• Sorry. What I meant is this.

If you have been going too fast and your audience is having trouble keeping up with you.

• Let me just recap on that.
• I want to recap briefly on what I have been saying.

If you have forgotten to make a point.

• Sorry, I should just mention one other thing.
• If I can just go back to the previous point, there is something else that I forgot to mention.

If you have been too complicated and want to simplify what you said.

• So, basically, what I am saying is this.
• So, basically, the point I am trying to get across is this.

If you realize that what you are saying makes no sense.

• Sorry, perhaps I did not make that quite clear.
• Let me rephrase that to make it quite clear.

If you cannot remember the term in English.

• Sorry, what is the word I am looking for?
• Sorry, my mind has gone blank. How do you say 'escargot' in English?

If you are short of time.

• So just to give you the main points.
• As we are short of time, this is just a quick summary of the main points.
  
  

When you stand up in front of that audience, you’re going to be really nervous.

Poor speakers pay little or no attention to their audience as people. Big mistake.

If you can see your audience as a group of individuals, you’ll be much more likely to connect with those individuals.

Start looking around your audience. See that big guy with his arms folded and an ‘impress me’ look on his face? Best not to look at him too much. How about that lady with the big smile, looking encouragingly towards you? OK, that’s your mother, she doesn’t count. But that other lady with a similar smile is someone you don’t know. But from now on she’s your ‘friend’. Every time that you need any encouragement, look in her direction. Make good eye contact. Establish a form of communication between you.

And now you’ve found one ‘friend’, you’ll begin to see others in the audience. Pick out ‘friends’ all round the room. If you see an ‘impress me’ person and get discouraged, switch your view back to one of your ‘friends’.

Once you are aware that there are people in your audience who want you to succeed, you’ll be much more likely to succeed.

Microphones can be a real problem. Very few of us use them frequently and so, when we have to talk into them in an already nervous state, we can easily make elementary mistakes.

As a general rule, try to speak more clearly when you are using a microphone. (It will probably help if you speak a bit more slowly.)

If you have a free-standing mike, step back from it a bit. This will enable you to speak louder and to vary your tone and inflection. If you are too close, your voice will sound monotonous and your audience will fall asleep.

Don’t turn your head away from the microphone while you are speaking. But do turn it away if you cough or sneeze!

Any little movement you make, such as shuffling your papers, will be amplified by the mike. Cut out the nervous gestures!

If you are wearing a clip-on mike, make sure it is not rubbing up against some clothing or jewellery. The noise this makes could ruin your presentation.

If you have a radio-mike, make sure it is switched on when you are presenting and switched off at all other times. This particularly applies when you go to the restroom!

Almost everybody is nervous when they stand up to speak. There’s no shame in being nervous. However, if you are too nervous, your anxiety will spread to your audience, making them nervous in turn.

So how can you stop yourself from feeling too nervous? Here are a few tips.

1. Don’t get hung up about being nervous. It’s a normal human reaction. Don’t make yourself more nervous because you’re nervous.

2. Walk off your excessive nervousness. If possible, walk outside and get some fresh air at the same time. But a walk down the corridor is better than no walk.

3. Don’t let your legs go to sleep. Keep the blood supply moving. Keep both feet on the floor and lean forward. Wiggle your toes. If you can stand up without disturbing anybody, do so.

4. Work your wrists, arms and shoulders to get the tension out of them. Gentle movements, not a major workout, will remove that tension.

5. Work your jaw. Gentle side-to-side or circular motion will help to loosen it.

6. Repeat positive affirmations quietly to yourself. “I am a good presenter.” It may seem corny but it works.

7. Above all, breathe deeply. Make sure your stomach is going out when you breathe in.

Don’t be self-conscious about these warm-up activities. Most good speakers do them. Most people won’t even notice that you are doing them. They’re here to hear you speak, they’re not interested in what you do when you are not in the limelight.

I don’t think you’re going to like today’s point. I don’t like it very much myself but it’s got to be done. For most purposes, when you give a presentation you should stand. Not clutching the back of your chair for support, not leaning against the podium but two feet on the floor facing your audience.

There are times when sitting is right. When it’s an informal discussion, for example, where everybody is to contribute. But most of the time you need to stand.

• You can move around the room. This has the simple effect that people will look at you, not shut their eyes and drift off
• You can make eye contact with everybody
• You can reach all your props and teaching material easily
• You’re involving your whole body in the presentation. Many people think this makes it more memorable.
• You’re sending out the signal to the participants that ‘this will be short’. Only a few self-obsessed people stand up in front of audiences for longer than they need to. And you’re not one of those, are you?

The worst part of standing up is the actual standing up. Most people don’t feel at ease as they get out of their chair and walk forward to their speaking position. Here are a couple of tips.

• As you’re waiting, keep your feet flat on the floor. Don’t have them crossed. Trust me, getting up and walking will be so much easier.
• Decide in advance where you are going to stand. Focus on that spot
• Walk forward briskly and confidently.

And that’s how you become a stand up sort of person.

It is important to state your purpose clearly at the beginning of your talk. Here are some ways to do this:

talk about = to speak about a subject

report on = to tell you about what has been done.

take a look at = to examine

tell you about = to speak to someone to give them information or instructions

show = to explain something by doing it or by giving instructions.

outline = to give the main facts or information about something.

fill you in on = to give some extra or missing information

give an overview of = to give a short description with general information but no details.

highlight = draw attention to or emphasize the important fact or facts.

discuss = to talk about ideas or opinions on a subject in more detail.

• I'm now going to go on to discuss our options in more detail.
• After a brief overview of the results, I'd like to discuss the implications in more detail.

We have seen how to emphasize points but sometimes you want to soften the impact of what you are saying and give them less importance. Here are some ways to do that:

Compare:

We made a huge loss.
We made a loss.
We made a slight loss.

The situation has improved enormously.
The situation has improved.
The situation has improved slightly.

It is always incredibly difficult to …
It is difficult to …
It is sometimes a little difficult to …

At the end of your talk, you may get questions. You don't have to answer all the questions - they may not be good questions!

When you get a question, comment on it first. This will give you time to think. Here are some useful expressions to help you do that:

Here are some ways of dealing with questions when you are the SPEAKER:

When you don't want to answer:

When someone interrupts you:

When you finally understand what they want to know:

When you realise they don't understand what you said:

If you don't want to tell everyone:

To close off the presentation:

Here are some ways of getting an answer when you are the QUESTIONER:

When the answer doesn't give you the information you want:

When the answer is evasive:

If you are sceptical and want more detail:

If you don't agree:

Presentations are more interesting if you use a conversational style. They are more lively and you establish a rapport between you and your audience. You can do this by using a question and answer technique – you ask a question and then answer it. Your questions create anticipation and guide your audience to your point of view.

For example:
Late delivery is a big problem. What is the best solution? There are two possible solutions. First …

When we really want to focus the attention of our audience on an important point, we can use this "What ……. is …."

Look at these examples: