3. INTRODUCTION TO PRESENTATIONS 1. Warm-up: Talk in small groups. a) Speak about the presentations questionnaire (HW). Compare your answers. b) How often do you have to present something? Cany you give examples of your past presentations? Have you ever had a presentation in English? c) What do you think is essential for you when giving presentations? Is there an area where you need any training? What are your strong and weak points? d) Do you think you will need to present anything in the future (at the university, at your future job)? In what situations? e) Think of the lectures given by your teachers at the university. Can your remember a particularly good or a very bad presentation? What was good / bad about them? f) Think of the features of good and bad presentations. What makes them good / bad? g) How do you make the content interesting and relevant? 2. Watch Video 1 ‘What is the point’ (0-3:18)^1 and compare your experience with the way Joanna is presenting. What is wrong with her? 3. Discuss the following statements with a partner. Are they true or false? Compare your ideas with those of other students. a) It is a good idea to write your speech in advance and to read from a prepared script. T/F b) You can improve your delivery by recording yourself as you practise your speech and then watching or listening to the recording critically. T/F c) You should find out as much as you can about your audience in advance. T/F d) It can help to have a drink before you present your speech. T/F e) What you wear when speaking in public is very important. T/F f) Starting your speech with a joke will relax both you and your audience. T/F g) You will give a better speech if it is more spontaneous and less carefully planned. T/F h) There is no point in using visual aids. T/F i) It can help your confidence if you imagine your audience are all chickens. T/F j) Poor pronounciation does not influence understanding. T/F k) Even a naively delivered presentation may succeed if the presenter is enthusiastic T/F about the topic. 4. Can you now identify the basic rules of giving effective presentations? Work with paperstrips and together decide in which box they belong. System Delivery (using the language +your voice) Body language Visual aids INTRODUCING THE TOPIC^ 5. Read the statements and choose the best answer: a) The first three minutes of a presentation - don´t play any role - are the most important - are the least important b) A good start makes you feel - more nervous - more worried - more confident c) You - should memorize the introduction - should improvize the introduction - can omit the introduction 6. Video 2 ‘Making a start‘ (poor 3:18-6:00)^2. Geoff is introducing a factory. Watch the presentation and observe what is and what is not included. Write down the poor and the good points. a. poor: b. good: 7. Match the phrases and the headings (there can be more phrases for one heading): 1. Greeting a) I‘d be glad to answer any questions at the end of my talk 2. Introducing yourself b) I‘ve divided my presentation into x parts 3. Introducing the topic c) Finally 4. Outlining the structure d) Let me introduce myself. My name‘s … I‘m a….. / I work...as a… at……in…. 5. Mentioning the questions e) I‘d like to talk today about… 6. Linking to the 1^st part f) The topic of my paper/presentation is… g) Then/ next h) Good morning/afternoon ladies and gentlemen i) First of all… j) If you have any questions, please do not hesitate/feel free to interrupt. k) Let´s start with… 8. Introductions can become repetitive. It’s important to have a choice of words. Use one of the following expressions to replace each of the expressions in italics in this introduction. don’t hesitate - a chance - I take care - I’m delighted - sections - go through - in more depth - my purpose is - divide - Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a pleasure ^a to be with you today. My name’s Gordon Matthews and I’m in charge ^b of corporate finance at our headquarters here in Brussels. We are here today ^c to review ^d some key figures and to outline financial strategy over the next five years. So what I intend to do is to break down ^e this presentation into three parts ^f : first, the financial review; second, the options facing us; and finally, the strategy I propose. If you have any questions, please feel free ^g to interrupt me, but I should also say there’ll be an opportunity ^h to discuss issues at greater length ^i after my talk. 9. Prepare an introduction on the topic of your choice (e.g. studies at the Faculty of Science, keeping a pet, public transport…). Memorize it. Then practice your introductions aloud. Tips for an interesting opening: If you want to get attention of the audience, you can ask a question, ask the audience to do something, say a joke, quote interesting statistics, or even say a poem, sing/play a song… J 10. HOMEWORK. a) Complete these sentences. Choose the correct verb. a. I’d like to ………….. you of the latest news. speak inform describe b. Could you ................up? We can’t hear you at the back. talk say speak c. I’ll have to .................the place as I don’t have any photographs with me. explain describe present d. He’s going to ..................the latest results. describe inform present e. Let me .....................why we need to cut costs. explain describe talk f. We’ll have time to .....................about this over lunch. discuss say talk g. I couldn’t ...................... how long will it take. talk speak say h. We will ....................you when the project comes to an end. say describe tell b) Complete the sentences with the following words: go, turn, recap, moving, conclude I’d like to ………………. on the main points. Let’s ……………….back to our topic. Let’s ……………….now to the new methods. I’d like to ………………. by a quotation. ……………….to the question of higher education, ... c) Complete this presentation introduction with words from the list. talk about - look at - points of view - questions - brief - finally - hear - act as - go along - Good afternoon and thank you for making the effort to be here with us today. My name’s Rachel Rawlins and I’m responsible for public affairs. What I’d like to do today is ^a _____________ our recent corporate campaign. This ^b ________________ talk will hopefully ^c ________________ a springboard for discussion. I’m going to ^d _______________ the corporate campaign from three ^e _______________ : firstly, the customers; secondly, the financial institutions; and ^f _________________, the shareholders. If you have any ^g ______________, just interrupt me as I ^h ________________ . Your point of view may well be different, and we’d like to ^i ______________ from you. Sources: ^1, 2 Comfort, Jeremy and Utley, Derek: Effective Presentations. OUP 2000 Lesson adapted from Hana Němcová and Milada Pavlovová.