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Business Presentations - Part 1

This document provides guidance on giving business presentations and public speaking in English. It discusses the importance of preparation, suggesting the three most important things are preparation, preparation, preparation. It then covers recommended equipment for presentations such as overhead projectors, whiteboards, notebooks, and handouts. The document stresses that the presenter is the most important piece of equipment and to ensure you are ready to present. It provides tips for each type of equipment and its best uses.

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Alex Alexandru
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40 views3 pages

Business Presentations - Part 1

This document provides guidance on giving business presentations and public speaking in English. It discusses the importance of preparation, suggesting the three most important things are preparation, preparation, preparation. It then covers recommended equipment for presentations such as overhead projectors, whiteboards, notebooks, and handouts. The document stresses that the presenter is the most important piece of equipment and to ensure you are ready to present. It provides tips for each type of equipment and its best uses.

Uploaded by

Alex Alexandru
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS & PUBLIC SPEAKING IN

ENGLISH
A presentation is a formal talk to one or more people that "presents" ideas or information in a
clear, structured way. People are sometimes afraid of speaking in public, but if you follow a
few simple rules, giving a presentation is actually very easy. This tutorial guides you through
each stage of giving a presentation in English, from the initial preparation to the conclusion
and questions and answers. This paper, along with parts 2 and 3, is itself set out like a mini-
presentation.

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.


Preparation

Can you name the 3 most important things when giving any presentation?

Number 1 ... is preparation

Number 2 ... is preparation

Number 3 ... is preparation

Equipment

Easily your most important piece of equipment is...YOU! Make sure you're
in full working order, and check your personal presentation carefully - if
you don't, your audience will!

The overhead projector (OHP) displays overhead transparencies (OHTs or OHPTs). It


has several advantages over the 35mm slide projector:

it can be used in daylight


the user can face the audience
the user can write or draw directly on the transparency while in use

The whiteboard (more rarely blackboard or greenboard) is a useful device for spontaneous
writing - as in brainstorming, for example. For prepared material, the OHP might be more
suitable.

The duster is used for cleaning the whiteboard. It is essential that the duster be clean to start
with. You may consider carrying your own duster just in case.

Markers are used for writing on the whiteboard (delible - you can remove the ink) or
flipchart (indelible - you cannot remove the ink). They are usually available in blue, red, black
and green. Again, it's a good idea to carry a spare set of markers in case you are given some
used ones which do not write well.

"A good workman never blames his tools."

The flipchart consists of several leaves of paper that you 'flip' or turn over. Some people
prefer the flipchart to the whiteboard, but its use is limited to smaller presentations.

The Slide projector - which must be used in a darkened room - adds a certain drama. Some
slide projectors can be synchronised with audio for audio-visual (AV) presentations. These
projectors are typically used for larger presentations. The majority take 35mm slides or
transparencies (as seen here), but projectors for 6x6cm slides are also available.

Transparencies are projected by an overhead projector or a slide projector onto a screen - in


this case a folding screen which can be packed up and transported.

The notebook computer is increasingly being used to display graphics during presentations.
It is often used in conjunction with an overhead projector, which actually projects the image
from the computer screen onto the wall screen.

Handouts are any documents or samples that you 'hand out' or distribute to your audience.
Note that it is not usually a good idea to distribute handouts before your presentation. The
audience will read the handouts instead of listening to you.

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