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The Language of Presentations-1 (1) (5)
English for International Students I (EAP1850)
University of South Florida
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THE LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATIONS
MODEL INTRODUCTION (for an audience you don’t know)
Good morning/evening/afternoon everyone. My name is David Braasch. I am currently a professor in the INTO program at the University of South Florida. Previously I developed programs for the Olin School of Business, the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, and the School of Medicine at Washington University in Saint Louis, as well as corporate programs for AT&T, Emerson, Panasonic, Texas Instruments, and Pfizer.
Before I begin today, I’d like you to think about the following question. How many of you have ever had to give a presentation in your native language? Please raise your hands. How many of you have ever given one in English? What was that experience like?
My topic today is how to give an effective presentation. First, I’d like to discuss the importance of the first 90 seconds of your presentation. Then, I’ll talk about outlining and organizing the body. Finally, I’ll show you how to put together a memorable conclusion that sticks with your audience long after they have left.
The purpose is to persuade you that by following a few basic steps, planning, and a lot of practice, you will be able to put together a presentation that is clear, concise, and creative.
*Today’s presentation will take about one hour. Please feel free to ask questions at any time.
Let’s begin with the first part of the presentation....
*For shorter presentations, it is generally better to use: “Please hold your questions until the end of my presentation.”
MODEL INTRODUCTION (for an audience you know)
Hello everyone. Nice to see you again.
Before I begin today, I’d like you to think about the following question. How many of you have ever had to give a presentation in your native language? Please raise your hands. How many of you have ever given one in English? What was that experience like?
My topic today is how to give an effective presentation. First, I’d like to discuss the importance of the first 90 seconds of your presentation. Then, I’ll talk about outlining and organizing the body. Finally, I’ll show you how to put together a memorable conclusion that sticks with your audience long after they have left.
The purpose is to persuade you that by following a few basic steps, planning, and a lot of practice, you will be able to put together a presentation that is clear, concise, and creative.
Today’s presentation will take about one hour. Please feel free to ask questions at any time.
Let’s begin with the first part of the presentation....
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How are the two introductions different?
What kind of attention getter is used?
Find the topic of the presentation and underline it.
What is the purpose of the presentation?
How should the audience ask questions?
How many points will be covered in the presentation?
How does the introduction end and why does it end that way?
Let me ask you a question.
Here’s a question.
I have a question for you.
How many of you....?
ACKNOWLEDGING QUESTIONS *
- That’s a good/great question.
- I’m glad you asked that.
- Good/great question!
- That’s an interesting question.
RESTATING
- So, you’re saying that....?
- Are you saying that....?
- Your question is....., right?
- Let’s see if I got this straight. You’re saying.....
CONFIRMING
- Does/did that answer your question?
- Does/did that make sense?
- Is that the answer you’re looking for?
DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER
- I’m not sure, but I’ll find out.
- I’m not sure. Let me look into it and I’ll get back to you.
*Every time someone in the audience asks you a question, you should Acknowledge the question, Restate the question, Answer the question, and finally Confirm the question. You can remember this as ARAC, pronounced as “Eric.”
By acknowledging a question from an audience member, you are abiding by culturally-appropriate rules. If you listen to any interview on radio or on television, in almost every case the interviewee will respond to an interviewer’s question with an acknowledgement (see examples of acknowledgements above).
There are advantages to restating the question from an audience member. First, by restating the question, you are making sure that you understand what is being asked of you. Second, by restating the question you give yourself 5-6 seconds, or more, of processing time to figure out how you will answer the question. This is much more preferable to remaining silent, or saying “Ummm, Uhhhh.”
There is not much to say about answering the question, so let’s move on to the next part: confirming.
When you confirm whether you have answered a question or not, you are making sure the questioner is satisfied with your answer. In many cases, he/she is not, so you will have to possibly ask for the question to be repeated, which means you should restate or rephrase it, and then go through the whole process again.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
E = Eye contact D = Dress G = Gestures E = Enthusiasm S = Stance
Eye contact is crucial if you are going to engage your audience and keep them interested. While it is not necessary to look every individual in the eye as you present, it is necessary to look at different groups of people in different sections of the room. Lack of eye contact shows lack of interest in your own presentation and in your audience; prolonged eye contact is considered rude, perhaps even aggressive.
Dress for success and to impress. By dressing nicely you are communicating non-verbally to your audience that you care about your subject and you care about them! While there are no hard and fast rules for men and women, a minimum of “business casual” is considered appropriate.
Gestures enhance your presentation by adding emphasis to key points. One example of an effective gesture is when you reach the first point of the body of your presentation, you simply hold up your first finger to mirror the first point.
In the beginning stages of learning how to present gestures tend to be awkward and/or unnatural because you are trying to control too many things at the same time: grammar, organization, pronunciation, and so on. After time, your gestures will become more relaxed, and thus more natural, as you become more and more confident in your presentation skills.
A few tips about gestures are: ● Keep your hands in an area between your waist and your neck. ● Don’t fold your hands in front of you. ● Don’t put your hands behind your back. ● Don’t touch parts of your face. ● Don’t let your hands dangle at your sides. ● Don’t clench your fist unless it is used to strongly emphasize a point.
However, this takes a great deal of conscientious effort, and can be made easier by practicing differences in speech rate during practice. In fact, most problems with giving presentations can be solved in your practice sessions.
Intonation refers to the pitch of your voice, primarily on statements and questions.
Energy is important because in a sense you have to engage your audience and keep them interested. By being energetic your audience will pick up on that and respond in kind. If you lack energy during your presentation, your audience will also respond in kind.
Determined pauses can have a powerful effect on how your message is perceived by the audience. Remember the advice above under “Volume?” If you start with a question and then right before you give the answer at a lower volume, pause for 2-3 seconds. This short period of silence will immediately grab your audience’s attention and add significant impact to your message.
The Language of Presentations-1 (1) (5)
Course: English for International Students I (EAP1850)
University: University of South Florida
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