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BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS
Introduction
All presentations have a common objective. People give presentations because they want
to communicate in order to:

inform
train
persuade
sell

A successful presentation is one of the most effective ways of communicating your

message. And because English is so widely used in international business, a working
knowledge of the vocabulary and techniques used in an English language presentation is
a valuable asset.
We will start by exploring
the importance of preparation.
After that, we will consider
what equipment to use.
Then we will look at
how to "deliver" a presentation.
After delivery, we will examine
the language of presentations,
before moving on to
the presentation itself.

Finally, we will conclude with

a review of what we have covered.
Afterwards, you will be invited to
take a test and ask questions.

Preparation
Can you name the 3 most important things when giving any presentation?
Preparation
Preparation!
Preparation!!
Preparation is everything!
With good preparation and planning you will be totally confident and less nervous. And
your audience will feel your confidence. Your audience, too, will be confident. They will
be confident in you. And this will give you control. Control of your audience and of your
presentation. With control, you will be 'in charge' and your audience will listen positively
to your message.
Objective
Before you start to prepare a presentation, you should ask yourself: "Why am I making
this presentation?" Do you need to inform, to persuade, to train or to sell? Your objective
should be clear in your mind. If it is not clear in your mind, it cannot possibly be clear to
your audience.
Audience
"Who am I making this presentation to?" Sometimes this will be obvious, but not always.
You should try to inform yourself. How many people? Who are they? Business people?
Professional people? Political people? Experts or non-experts? Will it be a small, intimate
group of 4 colleagues or a large gathering of 400 competitors? How much do they know
already and what will they expect from you?

Venue
"Where am I making this presentation?" In a small hotel meeting-room or a large
conference hall? What facilities and equipment are available? What are the seating
arrangements?
Time and length
"When am I making this presentation and how long will it be?" Will it be 5 minutes or 1
hour? Just before lunch, when your audience will be hungry, or just after lunch, when
your audience will be sleepy?
Method
How should I make this presentation?" What approach should you use? Formal or
informal? Lots of visual aids or only a few? Will you include some anecdotes and
humour for variety?
Content
"What should I say?" Now you must decide exactly what you want to say. First, you
should brainstorm your ideas. You will no doubt discover many ideas that you want to
include in your presentation. But you must be selective. You should include only
information that is relevant to your audience and your objective. You should exclude all
other ideas. You also need to create a title for your presentation (if you have not already
been given a title). The title will help you to focus on the subject. And you will prepare
your visual aids, if you have decided to use them. But remember, in general, less is better
than more (a little is better than a lot). You can always give additional information during
the questions after the presentation.
Structure
A well organised presentation with a clear structure is easier for the audience to follow. It
is therefore more effective. You should organise the points you wish to make in a logical
order. Most presentations are organised in three parts, followed by questions:
Beginning

Short introduction

welcome your audience

introduce your subject
explain the structure of your presentation

explain rules for questions

Middle

Body of presentation

present the subject itself

End

Short conclusion

summarise your presentation

thank your audience

invite questions

Questions and Answers

Notes
When you give your presentation, you should be - or appear to be - as spontaneous as
possible. You should not read your presentation! You should be so familiar with your
subject and with the information that you want to deliver that you do not need to read a
text. Reading a text is boring! Reading a text will make your audience go to sleep! So if
you don't have a text to read, how can you remember to say everything you need to say?
With notes. You can create your own system of notes. Some people make notes on small,
A6 cards. Some people write down just the title of each section of their talk. Some people
write down keywords to remind them. The notes will give you confidence, but because
you will have prepared your presentation fully, you may not even need them!

Rehearsal
Rehearsal is a vital part of preparation. You should leave time to practise your
presentation two or three times. This will have the following benefits:

you will become more familiar with what you want to say
you will identify weaknesses in your presentation
you will be able to practise difficult pronunciations
you will be able to check the time that your presentation takes and make any
necessary modifications

So prepare, prepare, prepare! Prepare everything: words, visual aids, timing, equipment.
Rehearse your presentation several times and time it. Is it the right length? Are you
completely familiar with all your illustrations? Are they in the right order? Do you know
who the audience is? How many people? How will you answer difficult questions? Do
you know the room? Are you confident about the equipment? When you have answered
all these questions, you will be a confident, enthusiastic presenter ready to communicate
the subject of your presentation to an eager audience.

Delivery
'Delivery' refers to the way in which you actually deliver or perform or give your
presentation. Delivery is a vital aspect of all presentations. Delivery is at least as
important as content, especially in a multi-cultural context.
Nerves
Most speakers are a little nervous at the beginning of a presentation. So it is normal if you
are nervous. The answer is to pay special attention to the beginning of your presentation.
First impressions count. This is the time when you establish a rapport with your audience.
During this time, try to speak slowly and calmly. You should perhaps learn your
introduction by heart. After a few moments, you will relax and gain confidence.
Audience Rapport
You need to build a warm and friendly relationship with your audience. Enthusiasm is
contagious. If you are enthusiastic your audience will be enthusiastic too. And be careful
to establish eye contact with each member of your audience. Each person should feel that
you are speaking directly to him or her. This means that you must look at each person in
turn - in as natural a way as possible. This will also give you the opportunity to detect
signs of boredom, disinterest or even disagreement, allowing you to modify your
presentation as appropriate.
Body Language
What you do not say is at least as important as what you do say. Your body is speaking to
your audience even before you open your mouth. Your clothes, your walk, your glasses,
your haircut, your expression - it is from these that your audience forms its first
impression as you enter the room. Generally speaking, it is better to stand rather than sit
when making a presentation. Be aware of and avoid any repetitive and irritating gestures.
Be aware, too, that the movement of your body is one of your methods of control. When
you move to or from the whiteboard, for example, you can move fast or slowly, raising or
reducing the dynamism within the audience. You can stand very still while talking or you
can stroll from side to side. What effect do you think these two different approaches
would have on an audience?
Cultural Considerations
Because English is so widely used around the world, it is quite possible that many
members of your audience will not be native English-speakers. In other words, they will
not have an Anglo-Saxon culture. Even within the Anglo-Saxon world, there are many

differences in culture. If we hypothetically imagine a German working for an Israeli

company making a presentation in English to a Japanese audience in Korea, we can see
that there are even more possibilities for cultural misunderstanding. You should try to
learn about any particular cultural matters that may affect your audience. This is one
reason why preparation for your presentation is so important. Cultural differences can
also be seen in body language, which we have just discussed. To a Latin from Southern
France or Italy, a presenter who uses his hands and arms when speaking may seem
dynamic and friendly. To an Englishman, the same presenter may seem unsure of his
words and lacking in self-confidence.
Voice quality
It is, of course, important that your audience be able to hear you clearly throughout your
presentation. Remember that if you turn away from your audience, for example towards
the whiteboard, you need to speak a little more loudly. In general, you should try to vary
your voice. Your voice will then be more interesting for your audience. You can vary your
voice in at least three ways:

speed: you can speak at normal speed, you can speak faster, you can speak more
slowly - and you can stop completely! You can pause. This is a very good
technique for gaining your audience's attention.
intonation: you can change the pitch of your voice. You can speak in a high tone.
You can speak in a low tone.
volume: you can speak at normal volume, you can speak loudly and you can
speak quietly. Lowering your voice and speaking quietly can again attract your
audience's interest.

The important point is not to speak in the same, flat, monotonous voice throughout your
presentation - this is the voice that hypnotists use to put their patients' into trance!
Visual aids
Of all the information that enters our brains, the vast majority of it enters through the
eyes. 80% of what your audience learn during your presentation is learned visually (what
they see) and only 20% is learned aurally (what they hear). The significance of this is
obvious:

visual aids are an extremely effective means of communication

non-native English speakers need not worry so much about spoken English - they
can rely more heavily on visual aids

It is well worth spending time in the creation of good visual aids. But it is equally
important not to overload your audience's brains. Keep the information on each visual aid
to a minimum - and give your audience time to look at and absorb this information.
Remember, your audience have never seen these visual aids before. They need time to
study and to understand them. Without understanding there is no communication.