I saw a thing, actually a study that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. I found that amazing. Number two, was death. Death is number two!? This means, to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.
Jerry Seinfeld
Though it may be an exagerration, the joke nicely captures the fact that speaking in public is dreaded by most people. In my experience, the same goes for business presentations in English. This is not entirely irrational fear either as a business presentation in a foreign language can be a truly harrowing experience if you do not know what to do. Here is what you need to know to give a successful and professional presentation in English.
Generally speaking, the main aim of any presentation is getting through to your audience. This can be achieved in different ways depending on the context and the specific goal of an individual presentation. However, what all good presentations have in common is:
- Clear structure (opening, body, conclusion, questions)
- Good language for presentations (signposting)
- Good delivery (voice and body language)
In this blog post I am going to deal with the first two items on our list of presentational must-haves. The remaining one, delivery, will be dealt with next time. To illustrate my points, I’ll be using a presentation of my own.
Structure
Good structure makes your presentation easy to follow. Basic structure consisting of an introduction, a body, a conclusion and a dealing with questions part works well for most business people.
a) Introduction
Greet your audience properly. Tell them what the topic of your presentation is and what you are planning to do. State that you will be more than happy to answer any queries when you are done to avoid unnecessary interruptions.
Example: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming along here today. I am Refija Mujkic, a Freelance Professional English Trainer. I have a Master degree in English, and I am based in Heggedal, Norway. The aim of this presentation is to present my needs analysis regarding English skills of the customer service in your firm.
First of all, I am going to address methodology used, secondly, I am going to present my findings, and finally, I am going to finish off by recommending a specific set of measures that can improve English communication skills in this department. At the end, I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.
b) Body
This is where you present your key arguments or findings supported by examples, be it statistics, diagrams, visual illustrations and whatnots.
Example. Methodology I have used is self-assessment, placement test and observation at work. A self-assessment survey has shown that that the staff often have trouble understanding customers on the phone, which corresponds with my own observations. They also lack vocabulary to deal with demanding costumers. Much as they would like to, they find it difficult to incorporate an English course into an otherwise busy schedule.
Moving on now to my next point … etc.
c) Conclusion
Sum up or say what conclusion(s) can be drawn on the bases of what you have just presented.
Example: To conclude, the staff are in need of improving their English telephone skills. Due to their busy schedule, I recommend a 7 week online course in telephone English, intermediate, 1 hour, once a week, combining flexibility – the staff can participate from the comfort of their own homes – and necessary instruction.
d) Questions
At the end, invite questions and comments.
Example: Does anyone have any questions or comments? Any questions?
Language
When we talk about language for presentations, we normally mean ‘signposting,’ which means giving people signals what you are going to do, so your presentation will be easy to follow. Knowing these phrases is essential to any presentation e.g.
Let me begin by/ First of all …
Secondly …
Finally …
Moving on now to …
For example …
To sum up/conclude …
I’m happy to answer any question/queries … Does anyone have any questions or comments?
As you may have noticed these are the ones I have used in my own text, but there are many others.
The above is just a rough outline of a possible presentation in English, but I hope you think it is helpful. I shall be looking at the subject in much greater detail as well as offering more useful tips on another occasion.