Trainer: Nicoleta Buzatu

GETTING STARTED

How often do you give presentations in your job?

When was the last time you gave a presentation in English? Was it a success? If yes, why? If not, why not? Explain your answer.

How do you feel about presenting in a foreign language?

Think of an excellent (or terrible) presentation that you have attended. What made it good (or bad)?

STATING YOUR PURPOSE

It is essential to state the purpose of your presentation near the beginning. To do this clearly and effectively, you need a few simple presentation verbs: take a look at, report on, give an overview of, etc.

When you give a presentation in English, clarity is very important, particularly if there are non-native speakers in your audience. It often helps if you state your purpose at each stage of your talk as well as at the beginning.

STRUCTURING A PRESENTATION

Most formal and many informal presentations have three main parts and follow this simple formula:

1. Introduction: tell the audience what you are going to say!

2. Main Part: Say it!

3. Conclusion: Tell them what you have said!

STRUCTURING A PRESENTATION

The purpose of the introduction is not only to tell the audience who you are, what the talk is about and why it is relevant to them, you also want to tell you audience (briefly) how the talk is structured:

Here are some useful phrases to talk about the structure:

STRUCTUREBeginning Short introduction Welcome your audience

Introduce your subject Explain the structure of your

presentation Explain rules for questions

Middle Body of presentation Present the subject itself

End Short conclusion Summarize your presentation Thank your audience Invite questions

ORGANIZATION

The final part of the introduction deals with the organization of the talk: how long it will last, whether there will be handouts or how questions will be handled.

Timing

- My presentation will last about 20 minutes

- It should take about 30 minutes to cover these issues

Questions

- There will be time for questions after my presentation

- If you have any questions, feel free to interrupt me at any time.

EFFECTIVE OPENINGSCommunication experts agree that the first three minutes of a presentation are the most important.

They talk about hooks simple techniques for getting the immediate attention of the audience. A good start makes you feel more confident.

Heres how the experts suggest you hook your audience:

Give them a problem to think about;

Give them some amazing facts;

Give them a story or personal anecdote;

Ask a rhetorical question