“First,” he said, “you write an
exciting opening that will draw the
attention of everyone in the room.
Then you compose a dramatic summary and closing words that will leave
the audience spellbound*. Then,” he advised, “you put them as close
together as possible!”
An introduction is a very important
part of a presentation. It should
not only arouse curiosity, but also provide an overview* of the most
important points. The audience should get the impression that your
topic is well thought out (an interesting, informative title), that you
have done the audience analysis (well-chosen style and register*), and
that you have a clear idea about the actual content of the presentation
(outline of the main points). Here are some tasks that will help you
practice the introduction.
Task 1
Complete the following introduction with words from the
list.
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 teaching
methodology. What I’d like to do today is
teaching methods at
Czech universities. This
talk will hopefully
a springboard* for discussion. I’m
going to
the methods from three
: firstly, the students;
secondly, the teachers; and
, the materials. If you have any
, just interrupt me as I
.Your point of view may
well be different, and we’d like to
from you.
Task 2
As introductions can become repetitive, it is important
to have a
choice of words and expressions ready.
Use one of the following expressions to replace the synonyms in bold.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It’s
a pleasure () to be with you
today. My name is Gordon Mathews and I’m in charge* () of the
University
Research Programme at the Rector’s Office. We are here today () to review* () some key figures and to
outline our
strategy over
the next five years.
So what I intend to do is to break down* () this presentation into
three parts (
) : first, the current situation;
second, the
options* facing
us,
and third () , the strategy I propose.*
If you
have any
questions,
please,
feel free () to interrupt* me, but I
should also
say that
there’ll be an
opportunity () to discuss issues at
greater
length* () after my
talk.
Task 3
Give an introduction to one of the following
presentations.Use your
working title from last week!
As an MU (FF/FSS) student, you are going to present
the life of a
university student at an MU Open House Day to future students
(mostly teenagers, but also some parents) in a large hall (150 people).
You, as a student of your branch, will present your
field of studies
to other MU students.
As a member of a project team, you will present a new
project in
your field to the Dean’s Project Committee (15 people) at the Dean’s
Office.
ENDING
Signal to End – Summary – Conclusion – Recommendation –
Closing – Questions
The ending should contain a summary of
the data, where the main points
of the presentation should again be stressed. There must be an
evaluative conclusion, i.e. a comment on the importance of the
findings*. Then there should be a recommendation for future research,
development, proceedings*, etc. and a closing – thanking the audience
and inviting questions.
Task 4
Try to match the phrases with their functions.
FUNCTIONS:
1. Signal to
end
2. Summarizing
3.
Concluding
4. Recommending
5.
Closing
6.Inviting questions
PHRASES:
a) So, I would suggest that we…
b) Briefly…
c) As you can see, there are some very good reasons…
d) That completes my presentation.
e) Thank you for your attention.
f) Before I stop/finish, let me just say…
g) I’d like to propose… (more formal)
h) In conclusion…
i) Let me just run over the key points again.
j) So, let’s throw it open to questions.
k) I hope you will have gained an insight into…
l) If you have any questions, I’d be pleased to
answer them.
m) I’ll briefly summarize the main issues.
n) Any questions?
o) That brings me to the end of my presentation.
p) I’d like to leave you with the following
thought/idea.
q) In my opinion, the only way forward is …
r) Thank you for listening.
s) I’d be glad to try and answer any questions.
t) I’d be happy to answer any questions.
u) That covers all I wanted to say today.
v) I would welcome any comments/suggestions.
w) To sum up
Task 5 The sentences a-e below are the end of a presentation,
but they are in
the wrong order. Put them into the right order.
a) So, I’d now be glad to answer any questions.
b) I hope you’ll all go away with a more complete
picture of the principal activities of Masaryk University.
c) Very briefly, there are three areas. Firstly,
teaching; secondly research; and thirdly academic materials.
d) So, that brings me to the end of my presentation.
e) Finally, I’d like to leave you with something
which I heard recently. “You can’t please all of the students all of
the time, but we should certainly be able to be ready to help all of
the students all of the time.”
Task 6
Make complete sentences by matching the correct parts.
a) Before we come to the end,
1 - there are four major features.
b) I’d be glad to answer
2 - we start the discussion now.
c) To summarize,
3 - by *quoting a well-known saying.
d) We can conclude
4 - we should change the Bachelor’s programme.
e) In my opinion,
5 - any questions now.
f) I’d like to suggest
6 - I’d like to thank you for your *participation.
ENDING – CONCLUSION
A conclusion reinforces* the main
ideas you wish your audience to
remember and allows you to emphasize the main points, the importance of
specific ideas, and to value* particular concepts. In short, the design
of your conclusion will depend on your initial purpose. A strong
conclusion is as important as a strong introduction, as both the
beginning and the end will be the parts that are most likely
remembered.
Task 7
Complete the following ending with words from the list.
So,
I have planned to say about the
topic. Let me summarize
the main
. Very
, they are four. First, nation
states,
, confederations, then,
multinational empires,
and
multinational democracies. I’d like
to
by
emphasizing the fact that the majority of today’s countries are
multicultural societies. Well, I
suggest we
start the
now. But before we
, let me thank you for your
attention. OK, I’d be glad to answer any
now.
Task 8
Endings can become repetitive, so it is important to
have a choice of
words and expressions ready. Use one of the following expressions to
replace the synonyms in bold.
That brings me to the end of ( ) my presentation (
). Let me
just run over ( ) the key () points again. Very briefly,
there are
three. First,
socio-biology
in contrast to ecology, second ( )to economy, and third () to
political
science. From what you have heard ( ), there are some very good ( ) reasons to
see socio-biology as any treatment of social phenomena that basicallydraws ( )on neo-Darwinist
theory. At
this point ( ), I’d like
to leave you
with the following thought ( ): remember that politics,
ecology, as
well as
economy are part of life, and biology is the study of life. In my
opinion ( ), the only possibility is to
accept the existence
( )of
socio-biology as an equal to other social sciences. Thank you for your
attention ( )and now, if you
have any
questions, I’d be pleased ( ) to answer
them.
Task 9 Give an ending to one of the following presentation
situations.
As an MU (FF/FSS) student, you have presented the
life of a
university student at the MU Open House Day for future students (mostly
teenagers, but also their parents) in a large hall (150 people).
You, as a student of your branch, have presented your
field of
studies to other MU students.
As a member of a project team, you have presented a
new project in
your field to the Dean’s Project Committee (15 people) at the Dean’s
Office.
QUESTIONS
Handling questions is a very important part of any presentation, so it
is important to get accustomed* to certain tactics.
Task 10
What would you say or do in the following situations?
SITUATIONS:
Instead of asking a question, a person strongly and
rather angrily
disagrees with you.
Instead of asking a question, a person states their
viewpoint that
agrees with yours.
A person says that some of your information is
inaccurate*, but you
are absolutely sure that you are correct.
A person says that some of your information is
inaccurate, and you
are not sure whether your information is correct or not.
A person asks you a question that will require a very
long,
complicated answer.
Match the situations with the following responses.
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
RESPONSES:
Do not regard this as an attack. You can say: “I
appreciate your
bringing this to my attention. I’ll have to recheck my sources to see
what is correct.”
If possible, give your source of information. If you
cannot do so,
you can say: “I believe that my information is correct, but I will
certainly recheck my facts.”
You can say: “That’s an interesting question, but it
would take much
too long to answer it. Perhaps we can discuss it later.”
Listen politely, then restate your point of view,
with additional
evidence, if possible. Do not argue with the person. If they repeat
their position, you can say: “Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree on
this point.” or “Unfortunately, there’s no time to go into this more
deeply right now.”
Show how this person’s ideas support your own point
of view. You can
say: “Yes, that fits in exactly with what I was
saying.”
IALS TEST materials (1997) in M. Pavlovová,
Oral Presentations, 2002.
USEFUL HINTS* ABOUT HOW TO PROCEED*:
welcome the question – take time to think before answering – clarify*
the question –
accept criticism positively – reply positively – check whether the
questioner is satisfied
Task 11 Put the questions and answers in these three dialogues
into the correct
order.
A
a) I’d like to ask you about the
new university campus.
b) We’ve got a meeting next week. I’ll let you
know
as soon as I can, if that’s OK.
a) Excuse me, could I interrupt?
a) Sure, that’ll be fine.
b) Sure, what exactly would you like to know?
a) Well, could you tell me at this stage whether
you
have fixed a budget?
b) Of course.
B
a) Would you
mind telling us when you’re going to retire?
b) When is it?
a) May I ask a question?
b) That sounds fine. I’ll look forward to it.
b) Not at all. I’m planning to stop working just
after
Christmas.
a)
Oh, good! We’d like to invite you to our Christmas party. Can you come?
a) It’s on the 23rd from seven onwards.
b) Go ahead.
C
a) I see what you
mean. Yes, of course we’ve looked at all the options and think this is
the best one.
a) Are there any questions?
a) I’m afraid that’s all we have time for now.
Perhaps
you’d like to talk about that later.
b) Well, you know, other possibilities such as
relocating
the campus to a cheaper area.
a) I’m not sure what you’re getting at.
b) Yes, I wonder if you have considered any
other options?
b) But surely relocation would be better for the
staff?
Handling Questions – Phrases
Welcoming the question
That’s a good question.
That’s interesting.
I’d like to know / Could you tell me
Could I ask / Would you mind if I ask you …
Go ahead / Please do / Certainly.
Good point.
Asking for clarification of the question
If I understand you correctly, you are saying / asking…
I didn’t quite catch that.
Could you go over that again?
I’m not sure what you’re getting at.
I’m afraid I don’t see the connection.
Rephrasing the question (for others)
Do you mean to say …
Have I understood correctly that …
Checking that the questioner is satisfied
Does that answer your question?
Is that clear?
Can we go on?
Avoiding giving an answer
Perhaps we could deal with that later.
Can we talk about that on another occasion?
I’m afraid that’s not my field.
I don’t have the figures with me.
I’m sure Mr (…) could answer that question.
That’s interesting, but I prefer not to answer that today.
I think I answered that earlier.
SPEAKING CONFIDENTLY IN PUBLIC
Why is standing up and speaking in
public so terrifying? Some people
spend their life avoiding giving presentations, afraid that the day
they talk to a large audience they will face complete humiliation.
However, presentations skills are more important than ever and are
essential for anyone who needs to make a proposal or express an idea to
a group.
Listening
You are going to listen to an interview with a representative of a
communications training company giving advice about public speaking.
Task 12
Because it can be difficult to take notes while
listening to someone
speak, just write down the main points in the box below and then expand
them into notes afterwards.
Tips for Public
Speaking
The key to being a good speaker
How to cope with nerves
1
_____________________________________________________________________________
2
_____________________________________________________________________________
3
_____________________________________________________________________________
Telling jokes
The most important moment / main advice
Task 13 Compare your key words with a partner and expand your
notes. Listen
again and add any extra information. What do you think is the most
useful advice?
Listening