Unit

1
:

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

Look at the picture. Discuss or make notes on

the characteristics of a good presentation.
Think about both the content and the way the
speaker presents information.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

1. Presentation Technique
and Preparation

GEORGE: Right, now let's think about the

preparation of the presentation. What
has to be ... what do you have to do to
prepare it?
SARA: The most important thing is to know
about the audience, find out about them
LUIGI: Yes, but you need to make sure about
your objectives first, so decide on the
objectives - what you want the talk to
achieve.
SARA: Yes, but to do that you need to know
about the audience - their knowledge,
what they want to know, you know
everything like that.
LUIGI: Yes, all that's important ...
HAL: Yes, true ...
GEORGE: SO, audience and objectives.
OTHERS: Yes / Right / Okay.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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HAL: And the third thing you have to sort out

is content, collect information, organise
it, decide on a structure.
SARA: Yes, get a good structure, I agree ...
Then once the structure is okay, well,
you need visuals, any graphs, you know,
that sort of thing ...
GEORGE: Yes, the visual supports.
SARA: Then, well, you could write it all out. At
least the introduction - just to practise
it. Some people write out everything,
some don't. It depends.
GEORGE: Yes, I think that's a good point. But
practice is really very important. A key
... key part of the preparation is to
actually practise it, to give the
presentation - practise ... until you
could do it just from notes. Then well ...
what else?
LUIGI: Check all the language, keep it simple,
make sure there're no mistakes on the
visuals. Spelling and all that.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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HAL: And I think you should check that the

room is okay, check the equipment is
okay. And maybe also ... PowerPoint,
you know. If you use PowerPoint, make
sure your computer and the disk, or the
data projector, make sure it all works.
GEORGE: Yes, PowerPoint, of course.
SARA: If you don't know PowerPoint, go on a
course. Learn it.
GEORGE: Yes, using presentations software can
help enormously.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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2. The
audience

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

Read the comments from the audience who are

listening to a presentation at an international
conference.
What caused the problem in each case?
1. What on earth is he
talking about? Ive
no idea!
2.

Hey, Sarah! Wake

up! Hes finished!

3. Read that! I cant

read that! Id need a
pair of binoculars!
4. Speak up! I cant
hear a thing!
5. Summarize four
main points? I only
noticed one! Have I
been asleep?

a) Technical level of talk is

too high / Speaker is saying
something completely
wrong or
incomprehensible.
b) The talk is boring, too
long, or delivered
monotonously, no changes
in pace, volume,
tone, etc.
c) The visual is too small or
too detailed.
d) The speaker is talking too
quietly.
e) The structure of the talk
was not clear.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

Look at the following situations.

A medical congress in Tokyo with papers on new
techniques in open heart surgery.
An internal meeting of administrative staff to
discuss a new accounting procedure.
The Purchasing and Product Managers of a
Taiwanese company interested in buying some
production equipment from your company.
A staff meeting to discuss a charity event for
earthquake victims.

Imagine to have to give a brief presentation in

two of the above situations, plus one other
situation that you decide.
Make brief notes on the following:
a.Will your talk be formal or informal?
b.What are the audiences expectations in terms of
technical detail, expertise, etc.?
c.What is the audiences probable level of specialist
knowledge? Are they experts or non experts ?
d.How long will your talk be: five minutes, half a day,
or longer?
e.What is your policy on questions? Will the audience
interrupt or will they ask questions afterwards? Will
there be any discussion?
f.How will you help the audience to remember what
you tell them?

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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3. Structure (1)
Introduction
In any presentation the beginning is crucial.
Certainly some things are essential in an
introduction and others are useful. Here is a list
of what could be included in an introduction.
Mark them according to how necessary they
are using the following scale:
Essential
necessary

Useful

Not

Subject / Title of the talk

Introduction to oneself, job title, etc.

Reference to questions and/ or discussion.

Reference to the programme for the day.

Reference to how long you are going to speak for.

Reference to the visual aids you plan to use.

The scope of your talk: what is and is not included.

An outline of the structures of your talk.

A summary of the conclusions.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

Read the beginning of a presentation on the

marketing plans for a new telecommunications
system produced by Telco.
a.Is it a good introduction?
b.Why? Why not?
c.Label the structure of the talk.

Introduction

SPEAKER: Thank you for coming today. As you

know, I want to talk about the marketing plans.
Brand identity is a key issue and what it means is
how we are seen by our customers and how our
products are recognised and what our consumers
think of us as a company. And I should also say,
what they think of our products and the name ...
what Telco means for them. And advertising is part
of it of course, though not something I am going to
talk about now except to say that as for brand
image, it's important in that area too, advertising
that is.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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Now read the second example of an

introduction to a presentation. This one is about
plans to develop a new production plant in
Taiwan.
Think about these points:
a.Is it a good introduction?
b.Why? Why not?
c.Label the structure
of the talk.
Introduction

End/ Discussion

SPEAKER: Okay, thanks. I'm here to talk about the design

proposals
for the production plant at Taipei. My talk will be in three pa
followed
by a 30-minute discussion. I'm going to start with the
background to
each proposal -something about our negotiations with the
Taiwanese
government - then in the second part I'll go over the main
characteristics of each proposal, Proposal One and Proposa
Two.
Then in the third part I'll highlight some key considerations
have
to bear in mind. Finally, I'll end with an invitation to ask
questions
or make any comments you like. We'll discuss matters aris

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

Work in pairs.
Each of you should suggest a possible phrase
for each of the prompts below.
a.Greet your audience.
b.Introduce yourself.
c.Give the title of your talk.
d.Describe the structure of your talk.
e.Explain that the audience can interrupt if they want.
f.Say something about the length of your talk.
g.Say a colleague will be showing a video later.

SPEAKER:
a) Good afternoon everyone.
b) My name's Arnold Layton. I'm a (geophysicist) for
(Elf Aquitaine), with special responsibility for
(analysing new
fields in the North Sea).
c) I'm going to talk about (some recent research into
new methods of detecting oil in shallow waters).
d) I've divided my talk into three parts. First,
(research that we have don
e). Then (I'll report on some published research from
other companies), and finally (I'll talk about what
this may mean for our exploration activities).
e) Please interrupt if at any time you have any
questions or something is not clear.
f) My talk will last about (half an hour).
g) Later my colleague Jacques. Flambert will be
showing a video on ...

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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Practice 1:
Use the notes below to prepare a brief introduction to
talk on safety for a manufacturing company.

New safety conditions for

production staff
1 Protective clothing
2 Training in accident prevention
3 Changes to working practices
Questions/ discussion
SPEAKER: Right, I want to say something
about
the new safety conditions for production staff.
My talk will be in three parts. First, I'll tell
you about the
new protective clothing. Then I'll explain
about the training in accident prevention, and
the final part of my
talk explains changes to working practices.
After my talk I'll be happy to answer any
questions and we can have a
discussion about these new proposals.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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Practice 2:
Give a one minute introduction only to talk on any
topic you like! If you cannot think of a topic, choose
from the list below:
Your hometown
your favorite sport tourism
Your first ever job eating out
A thing you really like
your previous job
hobbies

holidays
your

Transfer
Prepare an introduction to a short talk on one of the
following:
Your company and/ or its products/ services
Any company you know well
An institution that you know well

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

Language Checklist
Structure (1) The introduction to a
presentation
Greeting
Good morning/ afternoon
ladies and gentlemen.
(Ladies and) Gentlemen . . .
Subject
I plan to say a few words
about
Im going to talk about
The subject of my talk is
The theme of my
presentation is
Id like to give you an
overview of
Structure
Ive divided my talk into
(three) parts.
My talk will be in (three)
parts.
Im going to divide
First
Second
Third
In the first lunch
Then in the second part
Finally

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Timing
My talk will take about ten
minutes.
The presentation will take
about two hours but therell
be a twenty minute break in
the middle. Well stop for
lunch at 12 oclock.
Policy on questions/
discussion
Please interrupt if you have
any questions.
After my talk therell be time
for a discussion and any
questions.

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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Skills Checklist
Effective presentations planning and
preparation
Audience
Expectations
Technical knowledge
Size
Questions and / discussion
Speakers competence
Knowledge
Presentation technique
Content
What to include
Length/ depth (technical
detail)
Number of key ideas
Structure
Sequence beginning,
middle, end
Repetition, summarising

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

Started

Delivery
Style
-formal/ informal
-enthusiasm / confidence
Voice
-variety/ speed
-pauses
Body Language
-eye contact
-gesture/ movement
-posture
Visual aids
type/ design/ charity
relevance
Practice
tape recorder
script or notes

PRESENTATIONS: Planning and Getting

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Room
Size/ seating
Equipment (Does it work?)
Sound Quality
Language
Simple / clear
Spelling
Sentence length
Structure signals