A Brief Introduction to Presenting in English Part 1
– Looks, Manner and Voice
Have you ever been asked to make a presentation in English?
Being able to present professionally in English can give your
career a boost and propel you up the corporate ladder.
Surveys have shown that to capture and then to keep an audience's
attention the most important thing is how you look and how
you move your body (body language); the second most important
is how you talk; the third most important (in fact, the least
important) is what you say. It is too easy to concentrate
all your efforts on the content of your presentation
neglecting the
'performance' aspect of it.
So, the first thing you have to do is to be smart. OK, that's
easy, you just have to buy a new outfit at El Corte Inglés.
Now, what about body language? Well, try to face the audience;
don't look at your Powerpoint presentation when you're speaking;
use your hands; move around; make eye contact with members
of the audience. Don't put your hands in your pockets or look
at the floor.
Keep them on their toes.
Next thing. How you talk. Don't talk too quickly. Stress
important words or phrases for emphasis and pause afterwards
to ensure the audience understands the significance of the
points and have time to absorb them. Use repetition and contrast
opposing points again for emphasis. Ask rhetorical questions,
the ones that you know the audience would likely want to ask
themselves. This makes it easy for the audience to follow
the presentation and to differentiate the main subject matter
from background contextual content. Listen to the way that
politicians speak.
The actor John Wayne once said: “talk low, talk slow and
don't talk too much”.
Bear this in mind when you are planning your presentation
and you'll be
starting off on the right foot.
Part 1 - Vocabulary - English and Spanish
Manner - the way that something is done or
somebody behaves - forma. Boost - something that helps something else
- estimular, fomentar. Propel - to push or move something somewhere,
often with a lot of force - lanzar. Survey - an investigation of opinions done
by asking questions - encuesta. How you look - your appearance - tu aparencia. Corporate Ladder – the hierarchical structure
of a company. The higher you are up the ladder, the more senior
you are - jerarquía corporativa. Neglect - to not pay enough attention to
something - desatender. Performance - how well or badly something
is done - rendimiento, interpretación. Smart - having a clean, tidy and stylish
appearance - elegante. Outfit - set of clothes worn for a particular
occasion or activity - conjunto. Eye Contact - when two people look at each
other's eyes at the same time - contacto visual. To keep people on their toes – to keep people
attentive and prepared - hacer que las personas presten atención.
Afterwards - at a later time - despues. (See more linkers.) Ensure - to make sure that something happens
- asegurar. Rhetorical questions - questions asked to
produce an effect and not to get an answer - preguntas retóricas. Likely - probable or expected - probable. Background - the context and circumstances
of the presentation - fondo. To bear in mind – to remember a piece of
information when you are making a decision or thinking about
a matter - ten lo presente. (See more linkers.) To start off on the the right foot – to begin
a project or challenge in an effective way - empezar con buen
pie.
A Brief Introduction to Presenting in English Part 2
– Planning and why all this Preparation is Important.
You may have noticed that in Part 1 all the advice could equally
apply to giving a presentation in German, Chinese and even Spanish!
So how will it give you any particular help when you present
in English? Well, this part will also be applicable to any language
but both will be invaluable for non-native English speakers
preparing presentations in English. Just wait and see and all
will become clear.
Your presentation will have an introduction, a main part and
a conclusion. The introduction will include a summary of the
main part (what you are going to say) and the conclusion will
also include a summary of the main part (what you said). The
main part will be divided into sections or topic areas. Each
of these sections should also include a brief introduction and
conclusion. This will allow the audience to understand the structure
of the presentation and to follow its logical flow.
The majority of the presentation will be 'ad hoc' (or unscripted)
in that you will be using your own words as you follow the pre-prepared
plan. However, you should write a script for the first part
of the introduction and the last part of the conclusion beforehand
and learn both by heart. In addition, you should derive approximate
timings for each part of the presentation as a help in estimating
the duration of the talk and as a means of reviewing your progress
as you speak.
You should print a copy of the scripts and the plan and keep
them within reach as you make the presentation.
So, why are Looks, Manner and Voice (Part 1) and Planning (Part
2) important for your English presentation? First of all,
it is the professional way to do things and will give you
the best chance
of giving an effective talk. Secondly, and most importantly,
for non-native English speakers, it will give you time and
help you conserve your mental energy. You need more time and
energy (perhaps better described as concentration) to convert
what you want to say into English words and sentences than
you do in your native language.
So, by speaking more slowly and pausing you will give yourself
time and you will conserve your energy. By memorising parts
of your presentation, you will save the energy involved in producing
'ad hoc' language and you will ensure that during the most important
stages of the presentation (the beginning and the end) you will
say what you planned to say. By effective planning you will
save on the concentration needed to navigate the talk giving
yourself the opportunity to be more relaxed and natural.
In the next part of the series we get down to business – the
performance itself.
Part 2 - Vocabulary - English and Spanish
You may have noticed - It is probable that you
noticed before now (having the consequence in the present that
now you know what the author is speaking about). - puede que te
hayas dado cuenta. Be applicable to - affecting or relating to
a person or thing; is usable, appropriate and relevant to. -
aplicable a. Invaluable - extremely useful. - muy útil,
valor incalculable. Just wait - to simply remain in expectation.
- simplemente espera. Allow - permit. - permitir. Ad hoc - improvised. - improvisado. Unscripted - Improvised. - improvisado. Beforehand - in advance of something, earlier.
- de antemano. (See more linkers.) Learn by heart - memorize. - memorizar. Timing - the ability to do something at the
right time. - sincronización, ritmo, la habilidad de
hacer algo en el mejor momento. Within reach - near enough so that you can
touch it or pick it up. - a tu alcance. The best chance - a very good possibility.
- la mejor oportunidad. Giving yourself the opportunity - making it
possible for you. - dándote la posibilidad. Get down to business - start work on. - entrar
en materia, ir al grano, ponerse manos a la obra.
A
Brief Introduction to Presenting in English Part 3 – The Performance
The obvious problem when presenting in a language other
than your own is nerves. However, by carefully planning your
presentation we have reduced the amount of ´thinking
on your feet’ that you will need to do. This will allow you
to concentrate on the content of your talk, reducing the mental
effort involved with navigating your way through the various
stages of the presentation.
Furthermore, by preparing your introduction beforehand, you will be able to ease your way into the presentation allowing yourself to get over the most nerve-racking part of all; the first five minutes. Similarly, a pre-rehearsed ending to the presentation will ensure you don't forget to leave the audience with the important points clear in their minds.
As we mentioned before, talk precisely and clearly; use
emphasis and pauses to ‘punctuate’ your points. Keep your
hands above your waist and use movement and body language
to complement your voice in
putting across your message. Do not turn your back on the
audience when referring to the screen and try not to read
verbatim from the displayed text; don’t forget, your audience
can read.
Keep your notes (with
timings) in front of you and refer to them when you need to.
Don’t forget it is important to check the progress of the
presentation against the schedule, so make sure you have some
kind of timer available. This could be a wall clock, mobile
phone or watch but if you use a wrist watch, take it off and
put it in front of you.
You will need to decide if you you prefer taking questions during the talk or leaving them until the end. We will cover this issue in the next episode.
Language to help you navigate the talk may include:
“To start off then ...............”
“To move on to my next point .............”
“To go back to what I was saying ...............”
“To give you an example of what I mean .............”
“To digress for a moment ...............”
“To summarise ................”
“To sum up then ................”
Language to help you with your visual material may include:
“Take a look at this. . .”
“As you can see. . .”
“I'd like to point out. . .”
You may ask, “what about questions and interruptions?” Well, in the next episode we will look at how to deal with unanticipated events and the language needed to overcome potential problems.
Part 3 - Vocabulary - English
and Spanish
allow: permit. Furthermore: also. (See more linkers.)
to say something in a language other than your own:
to say something in a different language. To think on your feet: to make a quick decision
or give an answer quickly. To ease your way (in context): to begin
an activity in a way that makes it more comfortable or easier.
To get over: to feel better after something
or someone has made you unhappy or nervous. Nerve-racking / nerve-wracking:
describes something that is difficult to do and causes a lot
of worry for the person involved in it. to rehearse: to practice. (to pre-rehearse
- to practice beforehand) To put across: to express your ideas and
opinions clearly so that people understand them easily. Verbatim: using exactly the same words as
were originally used.
to move on - to continue with. to go back - to return. To digress: to move away from the main subject
you are writing or talking about and to write or talk about
something else. To sum up: to describe or express briefly
the important facts or characteristics about something or
someone. to point out - to make aware of, señalar.
to deal with - to handle, tratar. to overcome - to succeed in dealing with
a problem, superar.
A Business English Activity
Manner - the way that something is done or
somebody behaves - forma.
