Public Speaking

Review
Introduction

 People speak in public for many reasons. One of the most common forms of public speaking
is the 'Presentation'. In a presentation, you 'present' or introduce something (a product, an
idea, financial results, a project etc) to your audience. You give a presentation because you
want to 'communicate' something. Generally, you want to do one of four things. You want:
 to inform
 to train
 to persuade
 to sell
 A presentation is one of the best ways of communicating your message. And because English
is so widely used in international business, a knowledge of the vocabulary and techniques
used in an English language presentation is very useful.
 This article will give you 7 of the most important areas to consider when giving any
presentation.
Preparation and Structure

 Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Good preparation is essential for any

presentation. With good preparation and planning you will be fully confident.
Your audience will feel your confidence. And so your audience will be
confident in you. This will give you control. With control, you will be 'in
charge' and your audience will listen positively to your message.

 A good presentation has a clear structure, like a good book or film. A good
presentation has:
 a beginning (introduction & preview)
 a middle (main message)
 an end (review & conclusion)
Beginning Short welcome your audienceintroduce
introduction your subject
explain the structure of your
presentation
explain rules for questions

Middle Body of present the subject itself

presentation

End Short summarise your

conclusion presentationthank your audience
invite questions

Questions and Answers

NOTE :

 When you give your presentation, you should be - or appear to be - as spontaneous as

possible. You should not read your presentation! You should be so familiar with your subject
and with the information that you want to deliver that you do not need to read a text. Reading
a text is boring! Reading a text will make your audience go to sleep! So if you don't have a
text to read, how can you remember to say everything you need to say? With notes. You can
create your own system of notes. Some people make notes on small, A6 cards. Some people
write down just the title of each section of their talk. Some people write down keywords to
remind them. The notes will give you confidence, but because you will have prepared your
presentation fully, you may not even need them!

Rehearsal
Rehearsal is a vital part of preparation. You should leave time to practice your presentation two
or three times.
Equipment and Visual Aids

 You may have any of the following pieces of equipment at your disposal:
 whiteboard
 flipchart
 overhead projector
 35mm slide projector
 computer graphics
Each of these has advantages and disadvantages. The important thing is to be the master of your
equipment, not the slave. You should know and understand your equipment perfectly.
 4 "A picture is worth 1,000 words."
 There are many types of visual aids - photographs, graphs, pie charts, maps, tables, real
samples etc. But you should use visual aids with care. Do not overload your audience with too
much information in a short time. A good rule is: use one image to give one message. Do not try
to give two messages with one image.
Signposting and 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:
 Toyota sold nine million vehicles last year.
 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.

 When you read a book, you know where you are. You know the title of the book, the subject, the chapter,
the end of one chapter and beginning of another, the section and even the page number. But when you give
a presentation, your audience does not know where they are - unless you TELL them! You can use special
language called 'signalling' or 'signposting' that helps your audience know where they are. Here are a few
examples:
 Let's begin by..., That's all I have to say about..., Now we'll move on to...
 Let's consider this in more detail..., I'd like to deal with this question later, if I may...
 I'd like now to recap..., To start with...later...to finish up...
 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."

Introduction •Welcome
•Explanation of structure (now)

Body •Europe
•Asia
•Africa

Conclusion •Summing up
•Recommendations
 Audiences 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 giving •Where does that lead us?
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 concluding •In conclusion,...

•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...
Audience Rapport and Body Language

 You need a warm and friendly relationship with your audience. How do you
achieve this? Well, enthusiasm is contagious. If you are enthusiastic, your
audience will be enthusiastic too. Try to make eye contact with each member
of your audience. Each person should feel that you are speaking to him or her
personally.
 What you do NOT say can be more important than what you say. Your BODY is
speaking to your audience even before you open your mouth. Your clothes,
your walk, your glasses, your haircut, your expression: it is from these that
your listeners form their first impression as you enter the room.
As a general rule in communication, repetition is valuable.
In presentations, there is a golden rule about repetition:

 Say what you are going to say...

 say it...
 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.
Function Possible language

1 •Good morning, ladies and gentlemen

Welcoming your audience •Good morning, gentlemen
•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 this year.
Outlining your structure Then I'll mention some of the 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
Giving instructions about questions any questions.
•I'll try to answer all of your questions
after the presentation.
•I plan to keep some time for questions
after the presentation.
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 are...

Giving 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 may have.

Inviting questions •Can I answer any questions?
•Are there any questions?
•Do you have any questions?
•Are there any final questions?
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unzc731iCUY

 "Well Done!!!! All the basics, in an easy to use, easy to follow format!
Finally, my students have some high quality, free material to use!"John
Herzig, Teacher, USA