26 Mar Presentatations and talks
Taylor’s Business English Podcast
Episode 7 – Presentations
Now it’s time for our role-play conversation. Dave) Now it’s time for our role-play conversation.
OK. Listen everyone. In a moment I’m going to hand over to John Wyke. He’s an expert in
getting your message across when you’re presenting presentations. He’s very kindly agreed to come and talk to us today about maintaining high standards across our production process.
John) Thanks Dave.
Today I’m going to give you the keys to great presenting. It’s not difficult but you do have to follow some basic rules. I’m going to give you three rules. The first one is decide what do you want to communicate. The second is use facts to support your message. The third is keep it short. So let’s go into some more detail.
We have a bit of time for a Q & A at the end. So if you could save any questions you can save them until then that would be great.
Rule number 1: Decide what you want to communicate and communicate that and nothing else. You want one take home message and no more than 3 key points. And repeat them 3 times… or more. Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them that you’ve told them… Also tell them how that information is going to help them.
Rule number 2: Use facts, statistics… data. You can present the data in the form of graphs. Interesting ways to represent information. Projector – think outside the box
Don’t rely on powerpoint, remember you are presenting, not reading to them. Use slides as illustrations.
Rule number 3: Cut and edit. It’s better to have too little than too much. People are not going to remember everything you tell them so keep it brief and clear. If there’s something you think is interesting but it’s not 100% relevant to your main point – don’t cut it out. If you have a funny story that takes a minute to tell… cut it out. People don’t want to be sitting listening to you.
They want to be at home on the sofa. And that’s it.
You now have the tools you need to go and give great memorable presentations by 1: choosing your message
2: Using facts and statistics 3:Keeping it short
If you remember anything from this presentation remember how short it was and that you’ll be on the sofa 10 minutes earlier than if I’d told you an anecdote about my dog, or described the organisational structure of my company.
I have a few moments now, so does anyone have any questions?
Dave) Yes, could you tell us how you’d adapt a presentation to the type of audience you have. For example if you’re dealing with foreign guests……………
……………….
John) Any more questions?
Thank you very much for listening. I’ll hand back to Dave now.
Phrases
1. In a moment I’m going to hand over to
2. The first one, The second, The third
3. We have a bit of time for a Q & A at the end.
4. take home message
5. I have a few moments now, so does anyone have any questions?
6. I’ll hand back