How to give a good presentation

A good presentation:

• is well planned, with a clear logical structure

• has clear and explicit links between the parts

• has information that is relevant to the audience

• has a memorable introduction and finish.

In preparation the speaker:

• plans the presentation thoroughly. What is the purpose of the presentation - to inform, to persuade, to review? What information needs to be communicated? How will this information be structrured?

• thinks about the audience. Who are they: colleagues, business partners, customers? How formal or informal does the presentation have to be? How much does the audience know about the subject? How long will they be able to concentrate? What is their first language?

• thinks about how visual aids can help the audience understand what is being said.

During the presentation the speaker:

• speaks loudly enough to be heard by everybody

• does not speak too fast or too loud

• does not read a prepared text, but improvises from notes or visual aids

• pauses for emphasis when necessary

• looks relaxed, positive and confident

• seems competent, organized and enthusiastic

• makes eye contact with the audience

• uses appropriate body language and gestures to convey meaning.

The introduction to a presentation should contain:

• a welcome to the audience Good morning/afternoon, ladies and gentelmen.

• (perhaps) a thank you to the audience Thank you all for coming today.

• your name and position (if necessary) My name is ... and I am the...

• the subject or title of your presentation

The subject of my talk is ...

This morning I'm going to talk about ...

The theme of my presentation today is ...

• a statement of the purpose of your presentation

... because this is something we will all have to think about in the future.

... because you will be responsible for carrying out these new procedures.

• (perhaps) a statment of the length of time you will take

I'm going to talk for about 15 minutes

My presentation will take about 20 minutes.

• an outline of the structure of your presentation (a list of the main points to be covered)

My presentation will be in four parts.

I've divided my talk into three parts

First ... Second ... Third ...

In the first part ...

Then .... After that ... Next ....

Finaly...

• (perhaps) a statement of when the audience may ask questions

If there's anything you don't understand, please don't hesitate to interrupt.

Please feel free to ask questions at any time.

I'd appreciate it if you would save any questions until the end.

The main part of a presentation is the most difficult. Beginnings and ends of talks often contain similar phrases, but in the main part you give your audience the information they have come to hear. If you have said in your introduction that you are going to divide your presentation into several parts, you should clearly signal the beginning and end of each of these parts as they occur.

That completes the first part, so now we come to ...

So, to move on to the second part of my talk ...

That concludes the second part, so let's move on to ...

That's all I want to say about ... so unless you have any questions let's turn to...

The ending should:

• include a clear signal that you have finished or are about to finish the last point

That ends the third part of my talk, so ...

That's all Im going to say about ...

• briefly summarize the main information ( This means that speaker often make their most important points three times: in the introduction, they tell the audience what they are going to tell them; in the main part of the talk, they say it; and in the summary and conclusion, they tell the audience ehat they have just told them. This should make certain that everyone hears the key points at least once! They won't necessarily all hear them three times, because they won't all be concentrating all the time.)

So, to sum up ...

I'll end by emphasizing the main points.

So noe I'll just summarize my three points again

• perhaps draw some logical conclusion from what has been said

So what we need to do now is ...

This shows that we have to ...

So, to conclude, I have two reccomendations.

• perhaps include a thanks for listening

Thank you for attention ...

Thank for listening ...

• include an invitation to ask questions.

... and now I'd like to invite your comments.

Now I'd be interested to hear your comments.

Right, does anyone have any questions or comments?

Now we have 20 minutes for discussion

Visual aids

PowerPoint slides (or whatever you use) should be:

• large and clear, not too detailed, and visible to the whole of your audience

• displayed for long enough for the audience to read them (you should not use more than one a minute)

• possibly laid out in bullet points like this, rather than long sentences or paragraphs.

You can refer to visual aids with expressions like:

As you can see from this slide ...

I'd like you to have/take a (closer) look at this ...

I'd like to draw your attention to ...