Basic rules of successful presentation

Handle the difficult questions The most difficult part of making a presentation in a second language is not the presentation itself. It’s the question and answer session at the end. You can prepare and rehearse the actual presentation as carefully as you like, but you can never be quite sure what questions people will ask you.

Remember that people ask questions for a variety of reasons, and not only as a genuine request for further information. Often they want to impress the rest of the audience, or their boss, with their own knowledge of your subject. Or they want to test you to see if they can knock you off balance. But however aggressive the questioning, the golden rule is never to react in an emotional way yourself, or you will have ‘lost the game’.

So what can you do if someone asks a question and you are not sure what they mean? Or you are not sure of the answer?

Keep control As presenter you are in authority. Do not surrender this automatic authority to someone else. Act like the chairperson in a meeting. Take time to think of your answers but then be firm in your replies - no hesitancy. Keep eye contact with the whole audience during your answer, and not only with the questioner. This prevents a dialogue situation from occurring. And if you are expecting strong reactions to your presentation, give a clear agenda at the beginning making it clear you will only take questions at the end. This prevents your logical flow from being interrupted and allows you to put all your arguments on the table before the questions start.

Clarify complicated questions There are several ways of dealing with these. First of all, say that you are not sure you have understood the question and then:

ü Ask the questioner to repeat the question.

o ‘I’m not sure I understood that. Could you repeat the question, please? ’

ü Ask the questioner to explain the question in another way.

o ‘I’m afraid I didn’t get that. Could you explain what you mean exactly? ’

ü Try to paraphrase the question.

o ‘If I understand you correctly, what you are saying is…’

Admit you don’t know the answer Never try to bluff the audience into thinking you know the answer to a question when you don’t. You will be found out. But there are several positive things you can do in this situation. First of all, say that you don’t know the answer and then:

• Promise to find out the answer later.

I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to your question right now but I’ll find out and let you know tomorrow. Is that OK? ’

• Refer to an absent expert colleague.

‘I’m not sure about the answer, but my colleague Mr Kent is an expert in this area. I’ll ask him to contact you tomorrow. Is that OK? ’In both of these situations get the agreement of the questioner on the procedure you suggest, and then make sure you carry out your promise!

• Throw the question back to the questioner.

‘I don’t know, but what’s your experience in this? ’

Often the questioners know the answer to their own questions and are only too happy to have the chance to show off their knowledge.

• Throw the question open.

‘I don’t have the answer, but does anyone in the audience have any experience in this area? ’

Use humor Humor always makes an audience more sympathetic to your situation as presenter. ‘Thank you Mike. I was hoping no-one would ask me that - trust you to ask the one thing I don’t know! ’But it must be successful and appropriate. It normally only works if you know your audience or are totally confident that what you are saying is amusing and relevant.

Finally, if you have nothing more to say, say nothing! Ambrose Bierce, the American writer and journalist, said ‘A bore is a person who talks when you wish him to listen.’

Don’t be a bore.

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes What is the key thing you need to think about in order to make your presentation a good one? The answer is: your audience. They are the reason you are there. So you need to start by defining and assessing who your audience are, and try to put yourself in their shoes. There are five things you should think about when preparing a presentation, and to help you remember them you can use the acronym MEETS.

Motivation Why are your audience there? Why should they be listening to you? Do they really want to be there? You might have a lot of good ideas, but are they relevant to this particular group of people? Are your audience fresh, or are they suffering from jet-lag? Are they there simply because it’s the weekly meeting, or because their boss has told them to go? If people are not particularly motivated, then it’s up to you to motivate them. On the other hand, if people are highly motivated for particular reasons, then you need to address those reasons.

Expectations Most audiences have certain expectations. Are they expecting to be informed, entertained, amused, convinced, challenged or bored? Whenever someone in an audience is listening to you, they are also mentally tuning in to an internal radio station: WIIFM - What’s In It For Me? Somewhere along the line you need to give an audience what it needs or expects. Occasionally you might need to change the unrealistic expectations of some audiences, or deliberately upset their expectations in order to create an impact.

Experience What does your audience already know? This can be their level of knowledge of the subject area, their previous experience of you, your organization, your products or services. Has this previous experience been positive or negative? What is the cultural and linguistic background of your audience? In other words, at which level should you pitch your message?

Time How long do you have for the presentation? Most presentations suffer because the presenter tries to cram too much information into too short a time. Plan your material to fit the time limits and your audience’s.

Presentational techniques

Vocal techniques The difference between a good presenter and a great presenter is often " presentational style." By style, I mean the intangible elements of a presentation including a speaker’s voice, movement, projection of enthusiasm, and comfort in front of the group. A common misconception is that good presentational style is inherent – you have it or you don’t. In fact, presentational style is made up of three main elements that everyone can learn to incorporate into their speaking: vocalic, body language, and use of space. In this lesson, we’ll break down each component of style and discuss how to plan and practice stylistic techniques to improve your presentations. Non-verbal communication reinforces verbal communication, thus your words will have more impact if you utilize non-verbal’s to emphasize key ideas. Even the best prepared presentations benefit from attention to these non-verbal elements of style, which give your speaking a polished, professional edge. Vocalic, or vocal techniques, are the way you speak your words to create emphasis and set the tone of your presentation.

Body language Body language is another non-verbal technique that can be used to enhance your presentations. By body language, I mean gestures, movements and mannerisms that people use to communicate. As with the use of vocal techniques, body language comes more easily to some than to others. Again, body language is something that can be learned.

Elements of body language to pay attention to as you practice your presentation are:

Eye contact: look your audience in the eyes. The number one reason to use good eye contact is it involves your audience in your presentation. If you look directly at a member of the audience, they are likely to return your gaze, and keep looking at you rather than looking at a paper on the table, staring out the window, or daydreaming. The second reason to use good eye contact is it leads people to trust you. Studies show that when people are lying, they tend to look up or look down. Looking people in the eyes demonstrates that you’re being sincere. The third reason to use good eye contact is that it shows confidence. Think about it – who are you more likely to follow? Someone who looks you in the eyes or someone who talks to their shoes? Listeners are more likely to believe you and trust you if you seem confident in yourself and your position on your topic. When speaking to a room full of people, you must speak to the whole room, not just one person. Thus, you must engage in eye contact with the whole audience, as well. Rather than staring down one audience member, scan the room, and be sure to include people sitting to your far right and far left who are often neglected. If you’re worried about your ability to give good eye contact, I recommend practicing your presentation in front of a good friend or family member. We are often more embarrassed to perform in front of people who know us well than to speak to people we’re not as familiar with. If you can get through your presentation looking your father in the eyes and not flinching, then you can definitely do so with an audience full of people you don’t know as well. If, upon presentation day, you’re so nervous you find yourself speaking to the ceiling tiles, try to bring your gaze down in stages. Start by looking at audience member’s foreheads – this gives the impression of eye contact. It doesn’t fool people for long, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Gesture: movement of your body or limbs to illuminate and emphasize the meaning of your words. Simple hand movements such as holding up the number one with your fingers when you say " my first point is, " are appropriate. Gesture can be used to demonstrate how something looks or acts, as well. For example, you might demonstrate a proper golf swing, mimic a beauty queen’s wave, or make tick marks in the air as you go through a shopping list. Some people naturally talk with their hands. Nervousness can accentuate this characteristic. Beware of gesturing too much as it can be distracting. On the other side, please use some gesture. I’ve seen presenters give thirty minute long speeches, desperately grasping the podium throughout. As with all the presentation techniques we’ve discussed, it’s important to vary your gestures. If the only gesture you use is to pound on the podium when you’re trying to emphasize your point, this gesture will lose its meaning. Pounding on the podium once can be powerful. Pounding on the podium at 30 second intervals can become ridiculous.

Posture: the bearing of your body, your stance. When speaking to an audience, stand straight with your shoulders back, your head centered above your body and your feet shoulder-width apart. Don’t slump. Don’t lean against the wall. If the situation absolutely calls for it (for example, you’re asked to give an impromptu presentation during a business meeting), you may sit – but sit up straight.

Exploiting visuals in a presentation Visuals are important in any professional presentation. Visual in­formation is highly memorable. Effective presenters introduce and highlight visual information briefly and clearly. You don’t need to know all the names of the different types of visual in order to present them. Simply say:

ü Have a look at this or Take a look at this. As you can see, here... and here... Let’s take a closer look for a moment at... The vertical axis shows... and the horizontal axis repre­sents...

ü As you can see, there are several surprising developments. Whatever the reasons for this, the underlying trend is obvious.

ü I’d like us to look at... in more detail. As you can see,...

ü I’d also like to draw your attention to....

ü If you look at it more closely, you’ll notice...

ü The graph we’re looking at very clearly demonstrates...

Involving the audience When giving a presentation, it is very important to engage the attention of the audience right at the beginning of the presentation. One way to do this is to make your introduction as interesting Mid lively as possible. In Sample 2 (section 7.2), the presenter in­volves the audience by getting them to do something. In Sample 3, I he presenter uses surprising and relevant facts to gain the audi­ence’s attention. In some other cases, presenters ask the audience questions to involve them in the presentation. Specialists in the field recommend asking questions when you have a small audience: They give one-way communication the appearance of a dia­logue..."

Another way to make the audience feel involved in your presentation is to ask rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions " make your presentation sound more conversational and create anticipation in the mind of your audience", for example:

ü For the fifth year running we’ve managed to increase sales volume. So, how did we do it?

ü Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time our partners have been in breach of contract. So, what action do we propose to take?

A rhetorical question often precedes an emphatic statement. One I if the recurrent patterns is Rhetorical question + One-word answer.

To sum up: Presenting in English is a skill that foreign learners of Business English have to acquire and perfect. A line should be drawn between informative and persuasive presentations. Their respective structures should also be clarified. [16, 30].

 

7. Manage your ending

‘So, ladies and gentlemen, I’d just like to say once again that I’m sorry Mike Jones was unable to talk to you this evening, and I apologize for the fact that I didn’t have the time to prepare myself as well as I should, even if I did take over at short notice, but I do hope you feel you have got something out of this little talk anyway. That’s about it I think. Oh, does anyone have any questions? ... No? Fine, I must have managed to explain myself fairly clearly. Thank you for your attention.’

 

Not very impressive, is it? All too frequently the last words we hear in business presentations are unmemorable, lacking in impact, and full of platitudes. That example of a bad ending breaks five golden rules for closing international presentations.

Don’t apologize End on a positive feeling, not a weak, negative one. Of course there are times when you will need to apologize - if you turn up late, for example. Then you need to make a sincere apology earlier in the presentation. But don’t include this apologetic feeling in your final message.

Keep your final sentences short and simple This makes them easier to understand and more memorable. The first sentence in the example conclusion above contains about 70 words. Mentally, the audience will have left the room by the time the presenter has reached the end!

Don’t undermine your own professional status Phrases like ‘I hope’, ‘this little talk’ or ‘I think’ weaken your message by giving the impression that you are not convinced of the importance of what you are saying.

Don’t end with ‘Thank you ‘This simply indicates that your final sentence is not strong enough and that you need to tell your audience that you have finished! The ‘thank you’ is more for your sake than your audience’s. If you really do want to thank the audience, do it earlier in the presentation, where it is less likely to sound like a cliché.

Don’t end by asking for questions If you do, you run the risk of giving the final word to your questioners. And when you do ask for questions, remember it is more positive to ask for ‘some questions’ rather than ‘any questions’. ‘Some’ indicates you expect a positive response.

So how should you end your presentation?

ü Summarize the main points of your talk. If you can do this with just three key messages, your ending will be easier to remember and you can build up to a climax.

ü Ask for questions before you summarize. That way you can deal with any difficult questions and then take back control for your final message.

ü Pause before your ending; change your tone of voice, emphasis, and speed. Make it clear to your audience that this is going to be important for them.

ü Learn your last five or six sentences by heart, just as you learned your opening. This will allow you to concentrate on your audience and on how you are saying the words, rather than on what to say.

ü Finally, say the final sentence with emphasis, pause slightly, and then leave centre stage to prevent your key messages from being diluted by one more question!

‘So before we summarize, are there some questions?...(deal with questions)... Do you have some more? ... No? ...So let’s just summarize the three key points we’ve discussed.

Firstly, sales targets need to be more realistic. Secondly, customer care training needs to be available for all after-sales personnel. And, finally, the sales force needs to be reorganized to meet the demands of a changing market-place.’

 

POST-LECTURE QUESTIONS:

1. Have you ever given a presentation? What type was it?
2. What qualities make a good speaker?
3. In your experience, what makes a good/bad presentation?
4. What do people think about humor in presentations?
5. How is body language used in presentations in this country?
6. Which gestures are acceptable and which are not?
7. What are some of the potential problems?
8. How do you deal with nervousness before or during a presentation? What tips can you think of for dealing with nervousness?
9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using different types of equipment?
10. How often do you have to describe charts or graphs in English?
11. Which types of visuals do you use most frequently in your presentations?

 

EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES

 

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