Making presentations

Prepare and Give Presentation of Your Choice
Introduction: I’d like to talk today about…
Outlines: I’ve divided my talk into…
Questions: If you have any questions, please…
Part I: Let me start with…
Part II: That brings me to…
Part III/IV etc: …and turn to…
Summary: To sum up…
Conclusions: In conclusion I’d like to…

Before the Presentation
Define the audience
Clarify the objective
Plan the content
Design suitable visual aids
Control length
Follow a clear structure!

Making a Start
The subject of my paper today is…
I’d like to tell about…
My aim is to update you on recent research and to draw some tentative conclusions
I plan to take only ten minutes of your time this morning

During the Presentation
Keep eye contact with the audience
Don’t rush – remember to pause
Articulate clearly and project your voice
Don’t forget about facial expression and movement

What’s the Difference?
WRITTEN ENGLISH
SPOKEN ENGLISH
Long sentences
Complex vocabulary
Complex arguments
Impersonal style
Shorter sentences
Simpler vocabulary
Simpler arguments
Personal style

Example of Introduction
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a pleasure to
be with you today. My name is Matthew White and
I’m in charge of corporate finance at our headquarters
here in Brussels. We are here today to review some key
figures and to outline financial strategy over the next
five years. So what I intend to do is to break down this
presentation into three parts: first, the financial review;
second, the options facing us; and finally, the strategy I
propose. If you have any questions, please feel free to
interrupt me, but I should say there’ll be an opportunity to
discuss issues at greater length after my talk.

Summarizing
…so, before we move on to discuss these matters,
let me just summarize the main issues as I see
them. Firstly, on the product side, there’s no
question of diversity of product range. Secondly,
on the marketing front, we need to review our
distribution network. And thirdly, on the personnel
side, we need to look at the of employer we are and
want to become. So, I suggest we look at things in
that order: product, distribution, and people.
Hopefully this will help us to agree on a clear way
forward. Right, before we start, are there any
questions you’d like to ask?

Question Time
Avoiding giving an answer:
Perhaps we could deal with that later
I’m afraid that’s not my field
I don’t have the figures with me
That’s interesting, but I’d prefer not to answer that today…

Finishing Off
The final part of the presentation should include:
A clear signal that you are about to end
A brief summary of what you have said
A conclusion or recommendation
An invitation for questions, to make comments, or start a discussion

Endings
So, that brings me to the end of this presentation
I sincerely hope you’ll go away with a more complete picture of the principal activities of…
Let me just run over the key points again
I’d like to leave you with the following idea
So, I would suggest that…
So, I’d now be glad to answer any questions
Thanks for your attention