Introduction. Language of Presentation

The Presentation

Language of Presentation

Audience Reaction

Remain calm and polite if you receive difficult or even hostile questions during your presentation. If you receive particularly awkward questions, you might suggest that the questioners ask their questions after your presentation.

If you want your audience to understand your message, your language must be simple and clear:

- use short words and short sentences;

- do not use jargon, unless you know that your audience understands it;

- talk about concrete facts rather than abstract ideas;

- use active verbs instead of passive verbs.

Most presentations are divided into 3 main parts (+ questions):

	INTRODUCTION	(Questions)
	BODY
	CONCLUSION
	Questions

As a general rule in communication, repetition is valuable. In presentations, there is a golden rule about repetition:

1. Say what you are going to say,

2. say it,

3. then say what you have just said.

In other words, use the three parts of your presentation to reinforce your message. In the introduction, you tell your audience what your message is going to be. In the body, you tell your audience your real message. In the conclusion, you summarize what your message was.

We will now consider each of these parts in more detail.

The introduction is a very important - perhaps the most important - part of your presentation. This is the first impression that your audience has of you. You should concentrate on getting your introduction right. You should use the introduction to:

1. welcome your audience

2. introduce your subject

3. outline the structure of your presentation

4. give instructions about questions

The following table shows examples of language for each of these functions. You may need to modify the language as appropriate.

Function	Possible language
1. Welcoming your audience	Good morning, ladies and gentlemen Good morning, gentlemen Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman Good afternoon, everybody
2. Introducing your subject	I am going to talk today about... The purpose of my presentation is to introduce our new range of...
3. Outlining your structure	To start with, I'll describe the progress made this year. Then I'll mention some of the problems we've encountered and how we overcame them. After that I'll consider the possibilities for further growth next year. Finally, I'll summarize my presentation (before concluding with some recommendations).
4. Giving instructions about questions	Do feel free to interrupt me if you have any questions. I'll try to answer all of your questions after the presentation. I plan to keep some time for questions after the presentation.

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