Presentations - Planning and preparation

Presentations

3. Planning and preparation

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) part.

Im going to divide

First

Second

Third

In the first part

Then in the second part

Finally

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 question.

After my talk therell be time for a discussion and any questions.

Skills Checklist

Effective presentations planning and preparation

Audience

Expectations

Technical knowledge

Size

Questions and / or discussion

Speakers competence

Knowledge

Presentation technique

Content

What to include

Length / depth (technical details)

Number of key ideas

Structure

Sequence

beginning, middle, end

Repetition, summarizing

Delivery

Style

Formal / informal

Enthusiasm / confidence

Voice

Variety / speed

Pauses

Body language

Eye contact

Gesture / movement

Posture

Visual aids

Type / design / clarity

Relevance

Practice

Tape recorder

Script or notes

Room

Size / seating

Equipment (does it work?)

Sound quality

Language

Simple / clear

Spelling

Sentence length

Structure signals

Practice 1

Look at the following situations.

A medical congress in Tokyo with papers

on new techniques in open heart surgery.

The Purchasing and Product Manager of

a Taiwanese company interested in buying

some production equipment from your company.

An internal meeting of administrative

staff to discuss a new accounting procedure.

A staff meeting to discuss a charity event for

earthquake victims.

Imagine you have to give a brief presentation in two of the above situations. 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, twenty minutes, half an hour, 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?

Practice 2

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:

1 2 3 4 5

Subject / title of 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 structure of your talk.

A summary of the conclusions.

Reading

Read the text below and find:

a.       eight advantages of using visual aids

b.      three warnings about using visual aids

4. Image, impact and making an impression

Dinckel and Parnham (1985) say that The great danger (in using visual aids) is that presenters place the major emphasis on visual aids and relegate themselves to the minor role of narrator or technician. You are central to the presentation. The visual aid needs you, your interpretation, your explanation, your conviction and your justification.

Visual aids can make information more memorable and they help the speaker. However, they must literally support what the speaker says and not simply replace the spoken information. It is also not enough to just read the text from a visual aid.

There are many advantages to the correct use of visual aids. They can show information which is not easily expressed in words or they can highlight information. They cause the audience to employ another sense to receive information, they bring variety and therefore increase the audiences attention. They save time and they clarify complex information.

Relegate = a retrograda, a degrada

Language Checklist

Using visuals

Types of visual support

Visual: film / video / picture / diagram / chart / pie chart / plan / map

Table graph

x axis / horizontal axis

y axis / vertical axis

left hand / right hand axis

Line graph

solid line

dotted line

broken line

Equipment

(slide) projector

slides (B.E.)

diapositives (Am.E.)

overhead projector (OHP)

transparency (B.E.)

slide (Am.E.)

flip chart

whiteboard

metaplan board

Introducing a visual

Id like to show you

Have a look at this

This (graph) shows / represents

Here we can see

Lets look at this

Here you see the trend in

Comparisons

This compares x with y

Lets compare the

Here you see a comparison between

Pie chart = diagrama circulara (rotunda, placinta)

Flow chart = schema procesului tehnologic / organigrama

Diagram = diagrama

Bar graph = diagrama cu bare

Table graph = grafic stil tabel

Line graph = grafic cu linii

overhead projector = proiector

transparency / slide = slide-uri

(slide) projector = dia-proiector

slides / diapositives = diapozitive

flip chart = panou cu foi de hartie detasabile

whiteboard = panou alb din material sintetic

Describing the speed of change

A dramatic dramatically

A marked markedly

A significant increase / fall To increase / fall significantly

A slight slightly

Describing trends

Skills Checklist

Using visual supports

Visual must be:

well prepared

well chosen

clear

Available media

Use media which suit the room and audience size.

Overhead projector (OHP)

- Transparencies / OHTs / slides (Am.E.)

Slide projector

- Slides / diapositives (Am.E.)

Video / computer graphics / flip chart / whiteboard

Use of visual aids

Combination of OHP and flip chart with pens often good.

First visual should give the title of talk.

Second show structure of talk main headings.

Keep text to minimum never just read text from visuals.

Do not use too many visuals guide is one per minute.

Use pauses give audience time to comprehend picture.

Never show a visual until you want to talk about it.

Remove visual once finished talking about it.

Switch off equipment not in use.

Use of colour

For slides, white writing on blue / green is good. Use different colours if colour improves clarity of message (e.g. pie charts.).

Use appropriate colour combination: yellow and pink are weak colours on white backgrounds.

Use of room and machinery

Check equipment in advance.

Check organization of room, equipment, seating, microphones, etc.

Use a pointer on the screen (not your hand).

Have a good supply of pens.

Check order of your slides / OHTs, etc.

You in relation to your audience

Decide appropriate level of formality, dress accordingly.

Keep eye contact at least 80% of the time.

Use available space.

Move around, unless restricted by a podium.

Use gesture.

Practice 3

Draw a line graph for use in a presentation. Choose any situation or subject, real or imagined. If possible draw the picture on an overhead transparency.

Then present the graph as you would in a presentation. Your description should last no more than one minute.

If possible, construct a graph that makes comparisons possible. Use solid, dotted or broken lines (or colours) to make the picture clear.

5. The presentation

Reading

Read the following passage and identify at least six recommendations about speaking technique which can help to make the message in a presentation clear.

Youre lost if you lose your audience

Clear objectives, clear plan, clear signals: the secrets of presentation success.

Any presentation requires a clear strategy or plan to help you reach your objectives. The aim is not to pass away twenty minutes talking non-stop and showing a lot of nice pictures. It is to convey a message that is worth hearing to an audience who want to hear it. However, how many speakers really hold an audiences attention? What is the secret for those who do? First, find out about the audience and what they need to know. Plan what youre going to say and say it clearly and concisely.

A good speaker uses various signals to help hold the audiences attention and make the information clear. One type of signal is to introduce a list with a phrase like There are three things we have to consider. The speaker then says what the three things are and talks about each one at the required level of detail. For example: There are three types of price that we have to think about: economic price, market price and psychological price. Lets look at each of these in more detail. First, economic price. This is based on production costs and the need to make a profit and the speaker goes on to describe this type of price. After that, he goes on to talk about the market price and so on.

Another signaling technique is to give a link between parts of the presentation. Say where one part of the talk finishes and another starts. For example, a well organized presentation usually contains different parts and progression from one part to the next must be clear, with phrases like Thats all I want to say about the development of the product. Now lets turn to the actual marketing plan. This technique is very helpful to the audience, including those who are mainly interested in one part only.

Another type of signaling is sequencing of information. This usually follows a logical order, perhaps based on time. So a project may be described in terms of the background, the present situation and the future. Key words in sequencing information are first, then, next, after that, later, at the end, finally, etc.

Still another technique which helps to emphasize key points is careful repetition. Examples are As Ive already said, there is no alternative but to increase production by 100 per cent or Id like to emphasize the main benefit of the new design it achieves twice as much power with half as much fuel.

A final point concerns timing and quantity of information. Psychologists have suggested that concentration is reduced after about twenty minutes without a break or a change in activity. Furthermore, audiences should not be overburdened with technical details or given too many facts to remember. It is claimed that to ask people to remember more than three things in a five-minute talk is too much. Some say that seven is the maximum number of any length of presentation. Any such calculations are probably not very reliable, but every speaker needs to think about exactly how much information of a particular type a specific audience is likely to absorb and to plan accordingly.

Read the following text and identify the following:

a.       the relationship between the main body of the presentation and the introduction

b.      a recommendation on one way to divide the main body of the talk.

The main body of the presentation contains the details of the subject or themes described in the introduction. All the above techniques are especially useful in making the main body easily understood. They help the audience to follow the information and to remember it.

They also help the speaker to keep to the planned structure and to know exactly what stage has been reached at all times during the presentation. Clear structure doesnt just help the audience! In many presentations the main body can be usefully divided into different parts. The main parts, each with a main heading, are referred to in the Introduction. Clearly there are many ways to divide the main body of presentation and often different parts will themselves be divided into smaller sections of information:

Introduction Main body of information

First part Second part Third part

Practice 4

The information below is part of a Product Managers notes for a presentation on an advertising mix for a new range of beauty products, with the brand name Cheri. He is talking to a marketing team set up to promote the new range. Use the notes to give a presentation of about 5 minutes using listing, linking and sequencing where necessary.

Advertising mix for Cheri beauty products

Above-the-line advertising Below-the-line advertising

television commercials

newspaper advertising

magazines

youth magazines in-store on-pack targeted

womens magazines  e.g. e.g. mailing

displays, coupons,

merchandising competitions,

free samples joint promotions

Begin as follow:

Good morning, everyone. Id like to talk about the advertising mix for the new Cheri range of beauty products. We are planning two categories of advertising, above-the-line and below-the-line. Ill talk first about

Vocabulary

Merchandising: Any direct efforts to encourage sales of a product, increase consumer awareness, etc.

Above-the-line advertising: Mass media advertising, such as television, radio and newspaper.

Below-the-line advertising: Forms of advertising at the point of sale or directly on the product, such as packaging, shop displays, etc.

Language Checklist

Structure (2) The main body

Signaling different parts in a presentation:

Ending the introduction

So that concludes the introduction.

Thats all for the introduction.

Beginning the main body

Now lets move to the first part of my talk, which is about

So, first To begin with

Listing

There are three things to consider. First Second Third

There are two kinds of The first is The second is

We can see four advantages and two disadvantages. First, advantages.

One is Another is A third advantage is Finally

On the other hand, the two disadvantages.

First Second

Linking: Beginning a new part

Lets move to (the next part which is)

So now we come to

Now I want to describe

Sequencing

There are (seven) different stages to the process

First / then / next / after that / then (x) / after x theres y, last

There are two steps involved.

The first step is The second step is

There are four stages to project.

At the beginning, later, then, finally

Ill describe the development of the idea.

First the background, then the present situation, and then the prospects for the future.

Skills Checklist

Structure (2) The main body

Organization of presentation

Logical progression of ideas and/or parts of presentation.

Clear development.

Sequential description of processes.

Chronological order of events, i.e. background -- present -- future

Topic

Main parts  Sections Subsections

A i a.

b.

ii

B i. a.

b.

ii.

iii. a.

b

c

C i. a.

b.

ii.

Internal structure of the main body of a complex presentation

Signaling the structure

Use listing techniques.

Link different parts.

Use sequencing language.

Signaling the structure

Makes the organization of the talk clear

Helps the audience to follow

Helps you to follow the development of your talk.

6.The end of the presentation

Reading

Read the following text and identify:

a.       a potential problem at the end of a presentation.

b.      three ways to avoid the problem.

Open for questions: The silent disaster

A nightmare scenario is as follows: the speaker finishes his talk with the words Any questions? This is met by total silence. Not a word. Then an embarrassed shuffling, a cough how can this be avoided? A possible answer is that if the presentation has been good and the audience is clearly interested, someone will have something to say.

Another way to avoid the nightmare of utter silence is to end with an instruction to the audience. This should ensure immediate audience response. Giving an instruction is often useful in sales presentations and where the audience has special requirements.

A sales presentation

After talking about his or her products or services, the speaker wants the audience to explain their needs and says:

Okay Ive told you about the ways Snappo can help companies like yours. Now for us to do that, we need to know more about the way you work. For example, tell me about your particular situation, tell me what in particular may interest you .

This places a responsibility on the audience to respond unless of course they have a completely negative view of both the presenter and the message! Assuming they are well-disposed towards the potential supplier, it is probably in their interests to offer some information and begin discussion.

A training manager

Speaking to an audience of Department Managers, vice-presidents, or potential trainees, the Training Manager has outlined recommendations and explained what is available. He/she can end with:

Right! Ive told you what we can offer. Now tell me what are your impressions, what are your priorities and what else do you need to know now?'

Another option is for the speaker to have a question prepared. Ask something which you know the audience will have to answer. This often breaks the ice and starts discussion. It may be possible to single out an individual who is most likely to have a question to ask you or a comment to make, or it may be apparent from earlier contact perhaps during the reception or coffee break, that a particular individual has something to say or to ask.

Handling questions is thought by many speakers to be the most difficult part of a presentation. Why do you think this is?

Here you have a list of the pieces of advice you need in handling questions:

Be polite.

Check understanding if necessary by paraphrasing.

Listen very carefully.

Dont say anything youll regret later.

Ask for repetition or clarification.

Agree partially before giving own opinions: Yes, but

Keep calm.

Tell the truth (most of the time!)

Practice 5

Imagine that you have given a talk on Marketing in Japan at a conference on business trends. What would you say in these situations? If you need to, refer to the Language Checklist.

At the end of your presentation, move to comments / discussion / questions.

A member of the audience suggests that you said that many small retail outlets, small shops, had actually closed down in recent years. In fact, you said this process has been going on for a long time. Politely correct the other person.

Ask the audience for comments on why this has happened.

Agree with someones suggestions, but suggest other factors. One is the increasing number of take-overs of smaller companies.

A member of the audience says the following: I understand that a report showed that 700 new drinks came out in Japan in 1990 and one year later 90 % had failed. Thats a pretty amazing figure Paraphrasing this, ask if in the USA or Europe that could not happen.

Someone suggests that in Japan there has always been an emphasis on quality and on products. In the West market research has been more developed. Agree, but say the situation is changing.

A speaker says something you dont understand. What do you say?

Language Checklist

The end of presentation

Ending the main body of the presentation

Right, that ends (the third part of) my talk.

Thats all I want to say for now on

Beginning the summary and/or conclusion

Id like to end by emphasizing the main point(s).

Id like to finish with

A summary of the main points.

Some observations based on what Ive said.

Some conclusions / recommendations.

A brief conclusion.

Concluding

There are two conclusions / recommendations.

What we need is

I think we have to

I think we have seen that we should

Inviting questions and/or introducing discussion

That concludes (the formal part of) my talk.

(Thanks for listening) Now Id like to invite your comments.

Now we have (half an hour) for questions and discussion.

Right. Now, any question or comments?

So, now Id be very interested to hear your comments.

Handling Questions

Understood but difficult or impossible to answer

Thats a difficult question to answer in a few words.

it could be

in my experience

I would say

I dont think Im the right person to answer that. Perhaps (Mr. Holmes) can help

I dont have much experience in that field

Understood but irrelevant or impossible to answer in the time available

Im afraid thats outside the scope of my talk / this session. If I were you Id discuss that with

Ill have to come to that later, perhaps during the break as were short of time.

Not understood

Sorry, Im not sure Ive understood. Could you repeat?

Are you asking if ?

Do you mean ?

I didnt catch (the last part of) your question.

If I understood you correctly, you mean ? Is that right?

Checking that your answer is sufficient

Does that answer your question?

Is that okay?

Skills Checklist

Structure (3) Ending the presentation

A summary

Restates main point(s).

Restates what the audience must understand and remember.

Contains no new information.

Is short.

A conclusion

States the logical consequences of what has been said.

Often contains recommendations.

May contain new and important information.

Is short.

Questions

Inviting questions implies that the audience is less expert than the speaker.

Beware of the nightmare scenario total silence! Have one or two prepared questions to ask the audience.

Keep control of the meeting.

Discussion

Inviting discussion gives the impression that the audience have useful experience, so is often more diplomatic.

You still need to control the discussion.

Inviting discussion and questions

Offer the best solution.

Keep control, limit long contributions, watch the time.

Handling questions

Listen very carefully.

Ask for repetition or clarification if necessary.

Paraphrase the question to check you understand it.

Give yourself time to think perhaps by paraphrasing the question.

Check that the question is relevant. If not, dont answer if you dont want to.

Refer questioner to another person if you cant answer.

Suggest youll answer a question later if you prefer.

Check that the questioner is happy with your answer: eye contact and a pause is often sufficient.

Keep control.

Dont allow one or two people to dominate.

Be polite.

Signal when time is running out Time for one last question.

At the end, thank the audience.

Exercise 1 The new product

Read Mr. Lopez presentation and try to match the titles (used in his rough plan) of the different parts of his presentation to the right text body.

Winding-up; Introducing yourself; Delivering the message; Preparing the audience

Good morning ladies and gentlemen; we havent all met before so Id better introduce myself. Im Luis Lopez from the development department of Citrus Incorporated I should say before we start that I hope youll excuse my English. Im a little out of practice

Anyway, Im going to be talking this morning about a new product which we are planning to launch in two months time; its called KOOL-OUT, thats K-O-O-L dash O-U-T, and its a lemon-flavoured drink

Well, Ill start with the background to the product launch; and then move on to a description of the product itself, Im going to list some of the main selling points that we should emphasize in the advertising and sales campaign. I think if you dont mind, well leave questions to the end

Now firstly, as you all know, we had a gap in our soft-drink product range for the last two years; we have been manufacturing mixed-fruit drinks and orange drinks for the last ten years, but we stopped producing lemonade two years ago; I think we all agreed that there was room on the market for a completely new lemon-flavoured drink Secondly, the market research indicated that more and more consumers are using soft drinks as mixers with alcohol, so in other words, the market itself has expanded.

This brings me to my next point which is that we have rather new customer-profile in mind; I must emphasize that this product is aimed at the young-professional, high-income, market and not the traditional consumer of old-fashioned lemonade. At this point we must consider the importance of packaging and design, and if you look at the video in a moment, youll see that we have completely re-vamped the container itself as well as the label and slogan

Now to digress for just a moment, the more sophisticated packaging means a high unit cost, and this may be a problem in the selling area, but well have a chance to discuss that aspect later so to go back to my earlier point, this is a totally new concept as far as Citrus Incorporated are concerned; as you see we are using both the new-size glass bottle and the miniature metal cans.

Finally, lets look at the major attractions of the product. In spite of the higher price it will compete well with existing brands; the design is more modern than any of the current rival products, and incidentally the flavour is more realistic and natural its low calorie, too.

O.K., so just before closing, Id like to summarize my main points again We have KOOL-OUT, a new design concept, aimed at a relatively new age and income group; its designed to be consumed on its own, as a soft drink, or to be used as a mixer in alcohol-based drinks and cocktails. It comes in both bottle and can and this will mean a slightly higher price than we are used to; but the improved flavour and the package design should give us a real advantage in todays market well, thats all I have today for the moment, thank you for listening, now if there are any questions, Ill be happy to answer them

Exercise 2 The product presentation

Use the phrases written below to construct a similar presentation to be given to a client.

a.       Now, to change the subject for a moment

b.      Before I finish, Id like to run through the main points again

c.       Ill begin by describing ---------, and then go on to ---------, and Ill end with -------- .

d.      In conclusion

e.       I want to stress

f.       Good afternoon.

g.       That brings me to the end of my presentation.

h.      Id like to talk about

i.        To return to the point I made earlier

j.        First, let me introduce myself; Im ------- from ---------- .

k.      Feel free to interrupt if you have any questions.

l.        Thank you for your attention.

m.    First of all Next

n.      Please excuse my rather poor English!

o.      Id like now to turn to

p.      If you have any questions, Ill be glad to answer them.

q.      At this point we have to bear in mind

Exercise 3 Can I interrupt here?

While you were speaking your colleague, or your customer may interrupt to make a point. You will have to deal with it! Look at the interruptions listed below and some possible replies. Match the reply to the interruption.

Interruptions

a.       You havent mentioned the price yet!

b.      Your product is more expensive than your competitors!

c.       Id like the exact specifications, please!

d.      I still dont understand the difference between the de-luxe and economy models!

e.       Your new model seems much heavier than the old one!

Replies

I take your point but have you taken into account the improved durability?

Ill be coming to that in a moment.

Youre right, but on the other hand our product has a number of unique design features.

Our technical department will be able to give you an answer on that.

Let me clarify that for you.

Exercise 4 Anticipating questions

It is a very good policy to try to anticipate questions or problems and to deal with them before your audience raises them. Here are some examples of how you can anticipate.

I can hear you say: why is this so costly?

Anticipates

I wonder why its so expensive?

Now, you may well ask, what does the mean by up-market?

Anticipates

Whats up-market?

You will have noticed that I havent given any figures.

Anticipates

Wheres the statistical data?

An obvious problem at this stage is the choice of colours.

Anticipates

Does it only come in black?

How would you anticipate the following questions? Example: Why is it so heavy? An obvious problem is the weight.

a.       Why is the delivery period so long?

b.      Whats top quality specification?

c.       Do the accessories have to be so expensive?

d.      Why doesnt he mention the price?

e.       Can he prove what he says with figures?