ORAL PRESENTATION 2014

UNIT 3: ORAL PRESENTATION

Pre-lesson Task
You are going to choose one of the topics below and prepare a short presentation for the topic you
have chosen. Your presentation should be 4 minutes long. It will be videotaped for group analysis
and feedback.
Topics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Why tourism is good or bad for Malaysia?

My favourite piece of technology.
The three things I like most about polytechnic.
A problem I have in my life in polytechnic and how I would solve it.
A book I am reading at the moment.

The following equipment will be available for your use

Whiteboard
Laptop
LCD

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3.1 Use appropriate oral presentation skills

INTRODUCTION
What is a presentation?
Oral presentation involves expressing and sharing ideas and information as well as influencing others through
verbal and nonverbal symbols.
An effective presentation
What makes an effective presentation?

A presentation checklist

What do I need to do?

Analyse the audience.
Write down your aims and objectives.
Brainstorm your subject.
Select the key ideas and remove the information you wont use.
Develop these key ideas into headings.
Put the headings into a structure (introduction, middle, conclusion).
Decide on timing and content of introduction and conclusion.
Make notes under the headings i.e. the real content.
Decide on visual aids and design them.
Reduce the notes back to headings plus key words.
Rehearse several times and revise if necessary

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3.1.1 Brainstorm ideas for presentation topics
Presentation Brainstorming Activity
1. Think of at least three topics of general areas of your interest and then, for each of these areas think of
five topics you could do a presentation on
Example:

Topic 3

Hamsters
Topic 4
Topic 2

General Area

What do you need

Pets

to have a pet?

Where to get
pets?

Topic 5
Topic 1

Gold Fish

Possibility 1

Cats

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Possibility 2

2.

Choose several of your favorite topics from your brainstorming possibilities. Then list subheadings or
main ideas you could talk about on that topic. Write ideas for visual aids you could use. (If you cant think
of any, maybe you could give a public speech on the topic.)

3.

When you are done, look over all of your ideas. Determine what type of presentation would be best for
that topic. Finally, choose the one that interests you and that has several subheadings you can talk
about. Preparing your presentation will now be easy!
Examples:

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Topic Idea

Topic Idea

Topic Idea

Hamsters

Making Smoothies

Football

Subheadings/Main Ideas

Subheadings/Main Ideas

Subheadings/Main Ideas

1. Type of hamsters

1. Nutrition

1. History

2. Housing and bedding

2. Recipe

2. Rules

3. Feed and water

3. Ingredients

3. How to play

4. Grooming

4. Show how to make

4. Safety

5. Showing

5. Food safety

5. My experience

What visual aids could I use?

What visual aids could I use?

What visual aids could I use?

Hamster
Cage/bedding
Toys
Food
This would make a good

Blender
Ingredients
Cool Cup
Recipe
This would make a good

This would make a good

Illustrated Talk because there

are several ideas to talk about,
it is educational, there are
interesting visuals to use

Demonstration because there is

a step process I can
demonstrate, there will be a
finish product to share.

Public Speech because there

are no visuals, I can share a
personal story, I can get the
audience to react.

Not sure; pictures

might be too
disturbing

Now, your turn!

Topic Idea

Topic Idea

Topic Idea

Subheadings/Main Ideas

Subheadings/Main Ideas

Subheadings/Main Ideas

What visual aids could I use?

What visual aids could I use?

What visual aids could I

use?

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This would make a good

This would make a good

This would make a good

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3.1.2 Plan and organize an oral presentation

1. Preparation
There are two questions to ask yourself. The first is who are the audience? The second is what is
my purpose?
In group decide the points you should consider:

audience

What is my purpose?
Setting objectives and aims

Objectives describes what you are going to do

Aims give the reason why

Objectives states exactly what you are going to cover in the presentation.

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Objectives should be:
SMART:

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time

e.g. to describe the five features of the new XYZ mobile

phone to a group of ten dealers in fifteen minutes.

Aims are a statement of what

you want your audience to do
not what you want to present.
e.g. The aim is to persuade the
audience to order stacks
of the XYZ mobile phone.

A simple acronym used to set objectives is called SMART objectives. SMART stands for:
1. Specific Objectives should specify what they want to achieve.
2. Measurable You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not.
3. Achievable - Are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?
4. Realistic Can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you have?
5. Time When do you want to achieve the set objectives?

Writing objectives and aims

It is important that the objective (what you are going to do) and the aim (why you are doing it) are
clear. If they are not completely clear to you then they will not be clear to the audience.
For example:
Im going to say a few things to a group of tour operators about selling holidays in Malaysia, why
they should promote Malaysia and all that sort of thing
Is this clear enough?
A SMART structure would be:
Objective: To describe the four Malaysian attractions of beaches, cities, wildlife parks and the hill
country to a group of twenty UK tour operators. The time limit is 20 minutes.
Aim

: To persuade the tour operators to promote Malaysia to their clients.

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In pairs set a SMART objectives and aims for the following situations (you will have to use your
imaginations a little)
1. Ill just talk for a bit about the new car we are selling
2. My talk based around presentations, different things you need to do planning, then
something about structure, body language and so on
3. The talk is to introduce the company to some new employees. Ill run through all the
background of what they need to know about our company

2. Structure of a presentation
A presentation is divided into three parts:
Introduction

Content

Preparing for a presentation

Stage 1: Content
Stage 2: Introduction
Stage 3: Conclusion
Stage 4: Visual aids.

3.1.3

Use an appropriate introduction

Planning the Introduction

1.
2.
3.
4.

Attention seeking methods

Greetings and introductions
Topic
Section preview

Conclusion

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Attention-seeking Methods
You can hook the audience by:

Make a startling statement

Ask a question
Tell a story
Quote someones famous
Begin with a well-known proverb or a saying

Starting a Presentation

In modern English, Presentations tend to be much less formal than they were even twenty years
ago. Most audience these days prefer a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain
structure to the opening of a Presentation that you should observe.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Get people's attention

Welcome them
Introduce yourself
State the purpose of your presentation
State how you want to deal with questions

Get people's attention

If I could have everybody's attention.

If we can start.
Perhaps we should begin?
Let's get started.

Welcome them

Welcome to Microsoft.
Thank you for coming today.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of Intel, I'd like to welcome you.

Introduce yourself

My name's Jane Shaw. I'm responsible for travel arrangements.

For those of you who don't know me, my name's Tom Stotter.
As you know, I'm in charge of public relations.
I'm the new Marketing Manager.

State the purpose of your presentation

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This morning I'd like to present our new processor.

Today I'd like to discuss our failures in the Japanese market and suggest a new approach.
This afternoon, I'd like to report on my study into the German market.
What I want to do this morning is to talk to you about our new mobile telephone system.
What I want to do is to tell you about our successes and failures in introducing new working
patterns.
What I want to do is to show you how we've made our first successful steps in the
potentially huge Chinese market.

State how you want to deal with questions.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them as we go along.

Feel free to ask any questions.
Perhaps we can leave any questions you have until the end?
There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.

Of course, these are only suggestions and other language is possible. Even within this limited group
of phrases, just choose a few you feel comfortable with and learn and use those.

ACTIVITY

1. Fill the gaps below with a/ an/ the/ any/ my/ or (nothing). Sometimes more than one
answer is possible.

Hi, everyone, Im _______ Dominique Lagrange.

Good to see you all. If theres anything youre not
clear about, go ahead and ask ________ questions
you want.
_______ talk is in three parts. Ill start with
__________ background to _______ campaign,
move onto _________ media we plan to use, and
finish with _______ storyboard for
________ commercial.

On behalf of myself and ______ Focus Advertising,

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Id like to welcome you. Im going to tell you about ______ ideas weve come up with for _____ ad
campaign. This morning, Id like to outline ________ campaign concept weve developed for you.
Ive divided _______ presentation into three parts. Firstly, Ill give you __________ background to
___________ campaign. Secondly, Ill discuss __________ media we plan to use. Finally, Ill talk you
through __________ storyboard for __________ TV commercial.
If you have _____ questions, please dont hesitate to interrupt me

2. Look at these introductions. Which one do you think is the best? Why?
a. Id like to begin my presentation with some statistics, so please pay attention.
b. If you have any questions, or dont follow anything I say, please feel free to interrupt me at
any time.
c. My presentation will last for about one hour and I hope well have time for a few questions
at the end.
d. Good morning everyone. My name is Peter and my presentation is going to be about the
recent developments on stem cell research. Im planning to speak for about 30 minutes, and
Ive divided the talk into two main sections.

3. You are going to find hook for the following presentations

a) Introducing a new way to organize the office.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
____________________________________________
b) Persuading the management to invest in new computers
_____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______________________
c) One of your organizations product or services
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
d) A new system to cut down on electricity bills
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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4. Prepare your introduction for your delivery of the presentation. Include the following:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Attention seeking method

Greeting audience
Introducing self/group
Previewing of main points to be covered in the presentations

3.1.4 Express ideas clearly through elaboration of main points and supporting details

We will have chicken tonight

Hmmmroasted,

Roasted! with potatoes

fried or in a curry
TOPIC

DETAILS
KEY POINTS

Start by putting down as many ideas as you can think of then discard those that do not meet your
objective. It is better to start with too much materials and select, than it is to start off with too little.
Then arrange the ideas so that they form a logical sequence. You will need an outline. Generally, it
will have a classical structure as follow:
Oral Presentation Outline Format
Introduction/Opening
I.

Attention-getting statement - gain the attention of the audience by using a quotation, telling a brief
story or humorous anecdote, asking a question, etc.

II.

Thesis statement - state the specific purpose of your presentation here.

III. Preview statement - overview of all of your main points.

Body

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Note: The number of main points, subpoints and sub-subpoints you use will vary depending on how
much information you have to convey and how much detail and supporting material you need to use.
Subpoints and sub-subpoints are comprised of the supporting material you gather in your research.
You should rarely have more than five main points in any presentation.
Conclusion
I. Summary statement - review all of your main points.
II. Concluding statement - prepare a closing statement that ends your presentation smoothly

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3.1.5 Use an appropriate conclusion
Remember the ending to every fairy tale you've ever heard? "And then they lived happily ever
after". Your speech may not have much in common with a fairy tale, but you can create a similarly
perfect ending for it.
A good conclusion plays a key role in determining how your audiences will remember you and your
message, summing up your points or providing a final perspective on your topic. All the conclusion
needs is three or four strong sentences which do not need to follow any set formula.
Here are the main tips:

Use the conclusion to:

Sum up
The conclusion must provide a summary of your major points. But don't go on forever. Sum up
and sit down.

Provide closure
Here is a simple formula for setting up your final line. Just say: "I have one final thought that I
want to leave you with "

Make a great final expressions

You want to end on a high note. The conclusion should grab their attention. It should possess an
emotional appeal that illuminates the compelling nature of your entire presentation.

Make the last word memorable!

Ronald Reagan once gave a speech in an unusual time slot - before a luncheon: "Thank you and
God bless you. And now the words you've been waiting to hear from me: "Let's eat!" Go for an
emotional connection with the audiences members. Make them laugh. Make them think. Make
them stand up and applaud!

Thank your audience

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you for the time and effort spent on listening to my
presentation! "Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you for your attention!

Invite questions

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1. 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 Summing up

To conclude,...
In conclusion,...
Now, to sum up...
So let me summarise/recap what I've said.
Finally, may I remind you of some of the main points we've
considered.

2 Giving
recommendations

In conclusion, my recommendations are...

I therefore suggest/propose/recommend the following strategy.

3 Thanking your
audience

Many thanks for your attention.

May I thank you all for being such an attentive audience.

4 Inviting questions

Now I'll try to answer any questions you may have.

Can I answer any questions?
Are there any questions?
Do you have any questions?
Are there any final questions?

ACTIVITY
You will be given a topic. In groups decide on the content of the presentation and write on a mahjong
paper provided to show this. Then one member of the group will give the conclusion to the
presentation. (You do not need to plan the whole presentation you only need to practice the
conclusion).

Brainstorm the facts and ideas

Select the relevant ideas

Put them in the order

Write the outline on a mahjong paper

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3.1.6 Use sign-posting / transition markers

Signposting
When we are giving a presentation, there are certain key words we use to signpost different stages
in our presentation. These words are not difficult to learn but it is absolutely essential that you
memorize them and can use them when you are under pressure giving a presentation.
When you want to make your next point, you move on.

Moving on to the next point.

Id like to move on to the next point if there are no further questions

When you want to change to a completely different topic, you turn to.

Id like to turn to something completely different.

Lets turn now to our plans for next year.

When you want to give more details about a topic you expand or elaborate.

Id like to expand more on this problem we have had in Chicago.

Would you like me to expand a little more on that or have you understood enough?
I dont want to elaborate any more on that as Im short of time.

When you want to talk about something which is off the topic of your presentation, you digress.

Id like to digress here for a moment and just say a word of thanks to Bob for organizing this
meeting.
Digressing for a moment, Id like to say a few words about our problems in Chicago.

When you want to refer back to an earlier point, you go back.

Going back to something I said earlier, the situation in Chicago is serious.

Id like to go back to something Jenny said in her presentation.

To just give the outline of a point, you summarize.

If I could just summarize a few points from Johns report.

I dont have a lot of time left so Im going to summarize the next few points.

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To repeat the main points of what you have said, you recap.

Id like to quickly recap the main points of my presentation.

Recapping quickly on what was said before lunch,

For your final remarks, you conclude.

Id like to conclude by leaving you with this thought

If I may conclude by quoting Karl Marx .

Survival Language!!!
If you get your facts wrong.

I am terribly sorry. What I meant to say was this.

Sorry. What I meant is this.

If you have been going too fast and your audience is having trouble keeping up with you.

Let me just recap on that.

I want to recap briefly on what I have been saying.

If you have forgotten to make a point.

Sorry, I should just mention one other thing.

If I can just go back to the previous point, there is something else that I forgot to mention.

If you have been too complicated and want to simplify what you said.

So, basically, what I am saying is this.

So, basically, the point I am trying to get across is this.

If you realize that what you are saying makes no sense.

Sorry, perhaps I did not make that quite clear.

Let me rephrase that to make it quite clear.

If you cannot remember the term in English.

Sorry, what is the word I am looking for?

Sorry, my mind has gone blank. How do you say 'escargot' in English?

If you are short of time.

So just to give you the main points.

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As we are short of time, this is just a quick summary of the main points.

Stating your purpose

It is important to state your purpose clearly at the beginning of your talk. Here are some ways to do
this:
talk about = to speak about a subject

Today I'd like to talk about our plans for the new site.
I'm going to be talking to you about the results of our survey.

report on = to tell you about what has been done.

I'm going to be reporting on our results last quarter.

Today I will be reporting on the progress we have made since our last meeting.

take a look at = to examine

First, let's take a look at what we have achieved so far.

Before we go on to the figures, I'd like to take a look at the changes we have made.

tell you about = to speak to someone to give them information or instructions

First, I will tell you about the present situation, then go onto what we are going to do.
When I have finished, Jack will then tell you about what is happening in Europe.

show = to explain something by doing it or by giving instructions.

The object of this morning's talk is to show you how to put the theory into practice.
Today I'm going to show you how to get the most out of the new software.

outline = to give the main facts or information about something.

I'd like to outline the new policy and give you some practical examples.
I will only give you a brief outline and explain how it affects you.

fill you in on = to give some extra or missing information

I'd like to quickly fill you in on what has happened.

When I have finished outlining the policy, Jerry will fill you in on what we want you to do.

give an overview of = to give a short description with general information but no details.

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Firstly, I would like to give you a brief overview of the situation.

I'll give you an overview of our objectives and then hand over to Peter for more details.

highlight = draw attention to or emphasize the important fact or facts.

The results highlight our strengths and our weaknesses.

I'd now like to go on to highlight some of the advantages that these changes will bring.

discuss = to talk about ideas or opinions on a subject in more detail.

3.1.7

I'm now going to go on to discuss our options in more detail.

After a brief overview of the results, I'd like to discuss the implications in more detail.

Use appropriate visual aids to enhance presentations

Planning the Visual Aids

Visuals have two-fold purpose 5to help the presenter to get his message across and to help the
listener received the message.
Visual aids can include charts, PowerPoint slides, objects and models, sketches, etc.
Visual Aids

Purpose

Flip Charts

To summarise ponts

Sketches/Diagrams

To show details of objects

Statistical Graphs/Charts/Pictograms

-to present statistical information

-to show ideas or figures symbolically

Objects/Models

-To show the real thing

-To show how it works

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-To demonstrate how to perform an action
-to demonstrate how to use an object
PowerPoint Slides

To support the ideas

Use of Visual Aids

Visual aids are used to:

SUPPORT your presentation

ILLUSTRATE your ideas

GUIDE audience through content

HIGHLIGHT significant points.

Purpose of Visual Aids

Visuals have two-fold purpose 5to help the presenter to get his message across and to help the
listener received the message.
VISUALS HELP THE PRESENTER

VISUAL HELP THE LISTENER

To emphasize the spoken word

To focus attention

To display data

To visualize information

To clarify points

To comprehend

To add interest to the presentation

To maintain interest

To create a lasting impression

To remember

Pointers to Create Engaging Slides

KEY WORDS
VISUALS & GRAPHICS
COLOUR

Visuals & Graphics

Keep it simple
Use high quality graphic
Use Appropriate chart
Appropriate and enhance your message

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Limit Transitions & Animations

Use slide transitions carefully

Objects-build or animations should not be used on every slide
Use simple wipe left to right
Use clipart and sound sparingly

Use of Colour

Use no more than three colours in a slide

Maintain the same background colour for the entire presentation
Avoid:
1. Red and Green combinations
2. Brown and Green combinations
3. Purple and Blue combinations

ACTIVITY

Look at the following PowerPoint slides. In your opinion, what aspects make these slides suitable or
unsuitable for a presentation? Discuss the layout, font, and other relevant aspects of the slides.
1.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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2.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

3.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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3.1.8 Demonstrate verbal and non-verbal communication skills

Delivery
What does it take to make a great first impression?
First Impression
First impression refers to the opinion or the perception the audience forms about the presenter
when he/she gets on stage.

1. The key to creating good impression is:

Appropriate dressing and grooming
Positive body language
2. Dressing and Grooming
Dress accordingly
Hair to be neatly styled
Fingernails neatly trimmed
Shirt and pants are well ironed
Dont be shabby!
Body Language

The right gestures can enhance your presentation and provide the following benefits:

Clarify and support your ideas

Dramatize your ideas
Lend emphasis and vitality to your words
Help dissipate nervous tension
Stimulate audience participation

Gestures to Avoid During Presentation

Fig leaf
Pledge of allegiance
Praying hands
Hands in pocket
Machine gun
Body part pull
Waving hands
Restless leg