Vocabulary. How to Make an Effective Presentation

How to Make an Effective Presentation

STEP I

Giving a presentation is like taking our audience from start to finish on a journey. At the start, your audience require some basic information before they can accompany you on the journey. Once they have the information, they’re on your side, attentive and ready to listen to every step of the journey along to your final message.

The Start

Who: Introduce yourself.

Why: Tell your audience your destination – the reason they’re there to listen to you and the purpose of your presentation.

What: Outline the roadmap – the main points that you’re going to develop and the order in which you would like to develop these. The technique we use to give the roadmap is called ‘sequencing’.

How: Put yourself into your audience’s shoes: address your audience’s needs. In your ‘start’ it can be useful to answer such questions as How long do I have to sit here? Do I have to take notes? When can I ask questions? Is there any coffee here?

Your ‘start’ should include these points but at the same time not be too long. 90 seconds is a good guideline. An accurate ‘start’ helps to create a good impression and you should aim to be grammatically accurate at this stage.

The Finish (signal, summary, conclusion, closing remarks)

Stay in control until the very last second and follow these steps at the ‘finish’ of your presentation.

Firstly, pause briefly and signal clearly that you are now ready to finish the presentation.

Then make your summary, giving a brief overview of what has already been said. The summary is a reflection of your ‘what’ and looks back.

After this, give your conclusion. This is a reflection of your ‘why’ and looks forward to what you want people to do or think after your presentation. It should follow logically from your summary. You can make a call for action, make a recommendation or assure your audience that they’re better informed.

Finally, make your closing remarks by thanking your audience, asking for questions or passing round your presentation handouts.

Vocabulary