8 Dos and Don’ts for improving your English presentations.

1. 8Dos and Don’ts for improving your English presentations. from The Business English Godfather

2. 1 Have a clear and specific purpose • Know exactly what you want to achieve with your presentation. • Make sure your purpose is practical and easy to achieve: get this client, sell this product, get your proposal accepted etc. • Always aim to impress your audience with your business knowledge and your presentation skills. • If they are impressed with you, they will be impressed with your message. • This will help you to make your presentations more effective.

3. 2 Before you start, find out… • …as much as you can about your audience. • …where they come from. • …what their English level is if they are non-native speakers. • …what they expect from your presentation. This will help you decide what kind of language to use.

4. 3 Practice the opening and closing • Your audience will probably only remember the opening and closing. • In the opening your audience will remember you. • In the closing your audience will remember your message. This will help you make more impactful presentations.

5. 4 Focus on the pronunciation of key vocabulary • Vocabulary equals ideas, ideas equals vocabulary. • To make your message clear, spend time practicing pronunciation of key vocabulary. • Use your MP3 player to record yourself and make sure your pronunciation is clear. This will give you confidence and make your presentations easier to understand.

6. Don’t worry about your grammar • Your audience has come to listen to your message, not your grammar. • Focus on your pronunciation and vocabulary instead of grammar. • Make sure your organization language is accurate. You can use the same organization set-phrases for every presentation you give. 5 This will give you confidence that your language is correct.

7. Don’t forget to breathe! • When people get nervous, they stop breathing properly. • If you don’t breathe properly, your body will start to shut down for lack of oxygen. This will make you more nervous. • If you get nervous, stop, relax your shoulders, take a brief pause and breathe naturally for a few seconds. • Your audience will wait for you. 6 This will help you to deal with your nerves and give you confidence.

8. Don’t apologise if something goes wrong • Probably your audience didn’t notice the mistake. • If you apologise, you draw attention to the mistake and you weaken your position in front of the audience. • Just ignore the mistake and continue as if nothing happened. 7 Only apologise for equipment failure: the computer, the projector the microphone etc.

9. Don’t put too much information on each slide • If your audience is reading the slide, they are not listening to you. • Use bright colours and very large letters. • Use slogans instead of texts. • Put your hard data in a handout and give it to the audience at the end of your presentation. • Don’t present every piece of information in the slide. Just select the information which will help you achieve your purpose. 8 This will stop your audience from getting bored. If they get bored, you’ve failed.

10. Three things to remember: 1 • Your audience doesn’t want you to fail. They want you to do a good job. If you fail, it will embarrass them as much as you. • Your audience doesn’t know how you feel. If you feel nervous, try to hide it. If you feel stupid, smile and be brave! • When you are presenting, you are in control. Be cool and take control! It’s your show! 2 3

11. Check it out for more useful advice… from The Business English Godfather www.betamedia.com.tw