EVENT 31 - Giving an oral presentation

EVENT 31 Giving an oral presentation

Giving an oral presentation is sometimes quite scary, isn't it?

But a positive note is:

Public speaking and presentation skills can be learned and refined!

Some dos and don'ts for your oral presentation:

Do:

Use short, simple sentences to express your ideas clearly.
Pause from time to time and don’t speak too quickly. This allows the listener to understand your ideas.
Speak clearly and at the right volume.
Have your notes ready in case you forget anything.
Practice your presentation. If possible record yourself and listen to your presentation.
Make your opinions very clear.
Eye contact: Look at the people who are listening to you.

Write out the whole presentation and learn every word by heart.
Write out the whole presentation and read it aloud.
Use very informal language.
Only look at your notecard. It’s important to look up to your listeners when you are speaking.

Explain what your presentation is about at the beginning:

The main focus of this presentation is ...

Use these expressions to order your ideas:

First of all, ...
Firstly, ...
Then, ...
Secondly, ...
Next, ...
Finally, ...
Lastly, ...
To sum up, ...
In conclusion, ...

Use these expressions to add more ideas from the same point of view:

In addition, ...
What’s more, ...
Also, ...
Added to this, ...

To introduce the opposite point of view you can use these words and expressions:

However, ...
On the other hand, ...
Then again, ...

Source: The British Council