How to give a presentation
in English - Session 8
By Viv Quarry
(www.vivquarry.com)
Referring to visuals
A good presentation which includes visuals will be much more effective than one without.
Visuals help focus the attention of your audience, reinforce your main ideas, illustrate points which are hard to visualise and involve and motivate the audience.
Preparing the audience for
a visual.
This ensures your audence is alert and ready and gives you time to position the visual.
********************************USEFUL
EXPRESSIONS*************************
Now, let's look at the position
for.... For....
the situation is very different
Now, I'll show you the.... Let's
move on now and look at the figures for....
The next slide shows.... If
we now turn to the....
Commenting on visuals.
Explain what the visual shows. This help focus attention and avoid misunderstandings.
You can also focus on a particular feature by using a dramatic piece of vocabulary.
********************************USEFUL
EXPRESSIONS*************************
This
chart compares the.... As
you / we can see ....
The upper
part of the slide gives information about.... I'd
like to draw your attention to....
You can see
here the .... It
is important/interesting to notice that...
The
position of this equipment is extremely dangerous.
The
sudden rise in prices was quite unexpected.
Advice on using visuals in
a presentation.
1 Keep headlines and other information on the visual to a
minimum.
2 Only point out the key features or information which you want
your audience to focus on.
3 Briefly restate key facts from the visual.
DON'T READ EVERYTHING ON
THE VISUAL!
4 Add other related information not on the visual in order to
make further points.
5 Give interpretations and/or any comments.
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EXERCISES
Prepare three visuals (a graph, a
table, and a list of points) on a work-related topic, or use a visual from a
presentation you have already given. Use the framework below to help you plan
your commentary.
1 Prepare
the audience for the visual and state its purpose.
2 Draw
the audience's attention to the first point.
3 Give
your interpretation / comments.
4 Focus
the audience on your second point.
5 Give
your interpretation / comments.
|
CHECKLIST |
YES/NO |
|
Is
there the right amount of information on the visual? |
|
|
Does
the layout help the audience to understand the point of the visual? |
|
|
Is the
lettering clear and easy to read from a distance? |
|
|
Do the
colours you've used really work? |
|
|
Are
there any spelling or grammatical mistakes? |
|
Now record yourself presenting the
three visuals.
|
CHECKLIST |
YES/NO |
|
Did you
prepare the audience by telling them what the visual was about in advance? |
|
|
Did you
direct the audience's attention to the main points on the visual? |
|
|
Did you
rephrase the main information you wanted the audience to focus on? |
|
|
Did you
analyse and comment on the information?: |
|