Effective Presentation Skills: Starting a Presentation

In modern English, Presentations tend to be much less formal than they were even twenty years ago. Most audience these days prefer a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain structure to the opening of a Presentation that you should observe.

Get people's attention
Welcome them
Introduce yourself
State the purpose of your presentation
State how you want to deal with questions


Get people's attention

If I could have everybody's attention.
If we can start.
Perhaps we should begin?
Let's get started.


Welcome them

Welcome to Microsoft.
Thank you for coming today.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of Intel, I'd like to welcome you.

Introduce yourself

My name's Jane Shaw. I'm responsible for travel arrangements.
For those of you who don't know me, my name's Tom Stotter.
As you know, I'm in charge of public relations.
I'm the new Marketing Manager.

State the purpose of your presentation

This morning I'd like to present our new processor.
Today I'd like to discuss our failures in the Japanese market and suggest a new approach.
This afternoon, I'd like to report on my study into the German market.
What I want to do this morning is to talk to you about our new mobile telephone system.
What I want to do is to tell you about our successes and failures in introducing new working patterns.
What I want to do is to show you how we've made our first successful steps in the potentially huge Chinese market.

State how you want to deal with questions.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them as we go along.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Perhaps we can leave any questions you have until the end?
There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.


source: http://effective-presentation-skills.com/

Effective Presentation Skills: Don't Panic

photo from my personal archive (noticed the date??hehe)


How to Beat Panic When You Present

taken from: http://effective-presentation-skills.com/


If you panic at the thought of making a presentation, you are not alone. Several studies have shown that public speaking is the thing that people fear most – more than snakes, flying or even death. That means that, at a funeral, most people would rather be in the coffin than making the eulogy!


How can you get over this fear? Here are some tips:
Get there early. Make sure you get familiar with the room. Stand where you are going to give your presentation until you begin to feel relaxed standing there. Try out the audiovisual equipment you will be using.


Introduce yourself to as many members of the audience as you can before you start. This helps turn the audience into a group of friendly faces rather than a wall of strangers.
Whilst you are doing this, pick out a couple of ‘friendly faces’. During the presentation, maintain regular eye-contact with your ‘new friends’.


Keep a photo of a child, a spouse (a boyfriend or girlfriend maybe) or a pet near you. Look at it from time to time for reassurance.Breathe deeply and rhythmically. This will bring oxygen into your system, relax your throat and help you breath more slowly.


Act confidently even if you are not feeling confident. You will find yourself becoming confident.
Wear a rubber band around your wrist. Snap it if you are feeling negative thoughts.
Remember that it will soon be over. Twenty minutes is not very long in your lifetime!