Speaking at Workplace
Presenting at workplace
Section A: Definition
Giving a presentation at workplace means giving new information or ideas to the audience, ranging from one person to many people with a specific intention in mind for obtaining such information. The presentation should be given in a clear and structured manner.
Section B: Purpose
The purpose of a presentation varies depending on the requirement of the situation. This may be persuading the audience to take a course of action, selling something to the audience, training the audience or giving useful information to the audience in order for them to make a decision on what to do next.
Section C: Audience
Knowing who will listen to your presentation is very important. Consider the following when you prepare for your presentation:
- Who are they? Are you familiar with them?
- Where do they come from? Are they your colleagues or people from another company you are longing to do business with?
- Are you presenting to local people or to people from other countries?
- How many people will be listening to your presentation?
- How much do they know about the topic you are presenting?
All these will have great influence on how you are going to give your presentation.
Section D: Venue and equipment
You need to think about the venue and equipment for your presentation.
Venue:
- Is it a small conference room in your office or a big hall in a community centre or even bigger?
- You also need to consider the seating arrangements. This will affect the way you stand in front of the audience.
Equipment:
- What types of equipment are available for you to use? Do you know how to use them?
- Will you prepare any handouts? If so, do you need to print them yourself? When will you give them to the audience: before the presentation, at a certain moment during the presentation, or at the end?
- Do you need to use any PowerPoint slides? If you do, make sure that each slide is relevant to your topic and try to find some interesting pictures to show to the audience.
- Are there any other visual aids you want to use to facilitate your presentation? How will you prepare them?
Section E: Planning and rehearsing
As mentioned before, you need to make your presentation clear and structured so that the audience will understand you easily. Therefore, you have to spend much time on planning your presentation. Decide what type of information you should give first, next and last so as to make the audience feel that you are giving them the details in a very systematic way.
Moreover, doing rehearsals will make you more confident. Remember to use positive body language, such as having eye contact, having a smile, using good facial expressions, positive gestures and body posture. Always show your enthusiasm. In the process of rehearsing your presentation, you may discover there are mistakes or suitable amendments to improve the way you convey your message. You can also check if the timing is good or not, and if your presentation will be given smoothly.
Section F: Oral delivery skills
Pay attention to effective oral delivery skills such as the following:
- Pace: Don’t speak too fast or too slowly.
- Volume: Remember to speak loudly enough for everyone to hear you without any problem.
- Stress: Emphasize key words for the audience to notice the important information at once.
- Intonation: The correct pitch and rising or falling intonation will enable the audience to get your message more easily.
Section G: Useful expressions for giving a presentation
The following are some useful words and phrases for you to use when giving a presentation.
1. Opening
- Good morning/afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to my presentation today.
- My name is … and I am the …
- Thank you very much for coming here today.
- I’m very pleased to be here today to talk about …
- It’s my honour to be here to give a presentation to you today.
- I’m now going to give you information about …
- The topic of my presentation is … which is relevant to all of you here.
- Let me start by showing you …
- In my presentation, I will focus on … aspects, namely, …
- After I have finished, please don’t hesitate to ask me questions during our Q & A Session.
2. Sequence
- Firstly, I’m going to talk about …
- First of all, let me mention …
- I’d like to start by …
- Without further ado, let me start by …
- Next, I will give you information on …
- The next point concerns …
- After that, I will focus on …
- Then, I will address the issue of …
- Let me now turn to …
- Finally, please allow me to relate to …
3. During the presentation
- Another point is that …
- From this chart, you can see that …
- This graph shows the …
- If you look at these figures, you will notice that …
- The reason why I mention this is that …
- Now, I would like to highlight the importance of …
- I’d like to discuss in detail about the …
- To look at the issue in another perspective …
- That’s all I would like to say about this issue. Let me continue by …
4. Conclusion
- In conclusion / To conclude
- In summary / To sum up
- Let me conclude by …
- Please allow me to reiterate the points I’ve mentioned before.
- Let us have a quick recap/recapitulation of the main issues discussed before.
- I’d like to conclude by reiterating my points about …
5. Asking for questions
- If you have any questions, do feel free to ask me.
- Please don’t hesitate to raise your questions now.
- Are there any questions from the audience?
- I am very happy to answer any questions from you.
- I would be very glad to listen to your questions and answer them now.
- I’d be very interested to know if you have any questions for me, please.
6. Ending the presentation
- That’s the end of my presentation. Thank you very much for listening to me.
- Thank you all for your patience in giving your full attention to my presentation today.
- Well, that’s all for my presentation today. Thank you very much and wish you a nice day.
- I really hope you have had a very fruitful day today by coming to my presentation.
- I hope this presentation will be very useful to you.
- Thanks a lot for listening to me. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me by phone or by email.
- We have come to the end of my presentation. I have really enjoyed my time talking to you today!
- This has been a very enjoyable experience for me today. Thank you very much.
Exercise
Watch the video below and answer the questions which follow.
School principals in the Greater Bay Area
West Kowloon Cultural District
The architecture and collections of the Museum, as well as the activities of the multi-cultural Qing court
“From Dawn to Dusk: Life in the Forbidden City”
China’s ceramic traditions
Gallery 4
Gallery 8 and Gallery 9
They have adopted a modern day approach by bringing traditional art and culture to modern lives.
There are special arrangements for shipping, insurance, storage and display.
Further References
1. 52 Phrases for Better Flowing English Presentations
This webpage gives information on the useful expressions for giving presentations including the introduction, the main body and the ending.
https://impactfulenglish.com/52-phrases-english-presentations/
2. What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation
The information of this website includes tips on how to become good presenters by using fewer slides and bullet points, by enhancing the vocal delivery, by creating “wow” moments and by rehearsing.
https://hbr.org/2020/01/what-it-takes-to-give-a-great-presentation
3. How to give a presentation in English
This video gives us tips for delivering outstanding presentations, key vocabulary and phrases, and an example of a good presentation.