Studying presentations skills

Read and translate the text. Study the language expressions in the table and give their Russian equivalents.

Studying presentations skills

 

First of all, let’s define what is “presentation”. Presentation is the practice of showing and explaining the content of a topic to an audience or learners.

 

The elements of an effective presentation are:

- effective organization of the information;

- effective delivery of the information;

- effective use of language.

When looking at presentations in the broadest terms, perhaps it’s more important to focus on their purpose. There are three basic purposes for giving oral presentations:

- to inform;

- to persuade;

- to build goodwill.

 

To be effective, the speaker’s message must pass to the listeners, i.e. it must be heard and correctly understood. In other words,

“SAY what you are going to say, SAY it, then SAY what you have just said.”

To reinforce the message, most presentations are divided into 3 main parts (+ questions):

 

	INTRODUCTION
	BODY	Questions
	CONCLUSION
	Questions

 

In the introduction, say what your message is going to be.

In the body, say your real message.

In the conclusion, say what your message was.

 

Introduction 1. Welcome your audience. 2. Introduce your subject. 3. Outline the structure of your presentation. 4. Give instructions about questions.

Body Present the subject itself: 1. 2. 3. ...

Conclusion 1. Sum up. 2. (Give recommendations if appropriate). 3. Thank your audience. 4. Invite questions.

 

How do I start? You could introduce your talk or presentation formally: “Today I'm going to talk about... ”. Alternatively, you could grab your audience’s attention by starting with a question or a challenging statement: “So, how much do you know about …?”. Use pictures or objects.

How do I organize the presentation? Make it short. Write down the points you want to make, edit them down to, say, four, then decide which order you are going to make them in. Introduce each point with an expression from the list below.

What do I say? After introducing the point, add information briefly in two, three, or, at the most, four sentences. Use markers (signposting) to construct long, well-balanced sentences.

How do I finish? Conclude the presentation by briefly summarizing what you have said, or the points you have made. You could end by asking for comments or questions.

Signposting– a sign giving information such as the direction and distance to a nearby town, typically found at a road junction. When you are driving you can use signposts for directions and easily navigate the roads. The same happens when you are giving a presentation. You put up signposts for the audience, starting from the very beginning and all along the presentation. This technique is called ‘signposting’ (i.e. ‘signalling’).

In the introduction, tell your audience the structure of your presentation, for example:

“I’ll start with the current situation in the East. Then I’ll move on to the situation in the West. After that I’ll consider the opportunities we can get in the South. Lastly, I’ll quickly recap before concluding with some recommendations.”

Listeners can now visualise your presentation as follows: