Developing Public Speaking Skills at school.
“Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively”.
Gerald Ford
Presentations are communication activities where one person is speaking and others – listening
Skills needed
- Speaking / communication
- Dealing with an audience (1 person, 30, 500 people)
- Presentation skills
- Using special technical equipment
- Context
- Structure
- Language for presentations
Who do you communicate with every day? Do you communicate well with them? Why? / Why not?
Who is the best communicator you know? Why?
Presentation skills
- Coping with nerves,
- Checking body language,
- Tuning eye contact,
- Checking your facial expression and gesture
- Voice production
When preparing a presentation
Context
Make sure you understand the context. Here is a checklist of questions to ask:
- Who is the audience?
- What’s your main goal?
- What might be their expectations?
- What experience do you have as a presenter?
When preparing a presentation
context
- What is the theme of the presentation?
- What does the presenter want the audience to get from the presentation?
- What facilities are available?
- What aids is the presenter planning to use?
Presentation structure
- An introduction
- A middle section (usually contains the main substance)
- A conclusion
Arousal of interest
A description of the case that needs solving
A solution
Advantages of this particular solution
A statement about what the audience has to do next
All parts should be related to each other.
When preparing a presentation:
Introduction
- Open with an attention grabber,
- State the benefits of listening,
- Explain who you are,
- State what you will cover
- Give main direction to the presentation
Language. Introduction
- Hello. Thank you all for coming./ Good afternoon, everyone. It’s good to see you all here.
- Let’s get started / Let’s make a start.
- I’ve been asked to speak to you about…
Introduce the main points of your presentation
- First – Firstly / To begin with / To start with…
- After that – Next / I’d also like to…
- Finally – Lastly / The last point / Last of all
Make listeners feel involved:
- As I think you know / As you may know / As I’m sure you know…
- Inviting people to comment as you speak:
- Please make comments as I talk
- Please feel free to give me your feedback.
Dealing with questions:
- If you have any questions, please feel free to stop me.
- I’m happy to answer any questions as I talk.
- Please feel free to ask questions as we go along.
If you don’t want to be interrupted:
I’ll leave fifteen minutes at the end for questions.
I’d be happy to answer any question at the end.
There’ll be time at the end for questions and comments.
Please save any questions for the end of the talk.
When preparing a presentation:
Main body
- Your key points with visual aids,
- Include anecdotes to aid memory and add some humour,
- Include examples, figures, and statistics,
- Emphasize unusually, invite audience participation,
- Don’t be afraid to repeat important points
When preparing a presentation:
Conclusion
- Signpost clearly that you are reaching the end,
- End positively and with a bang
- Work out you’re your timing carefully
- Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice….
How to assess presentations?
Content (Purpose? / Interest? / Appropriateness?)
Structure (Organisation? / Signposting? / Linking?)
Grammar (Accuracy? / Appropriateness?)
Useful expressions for finishing your presentation:
…I’ve covered the points I needed to present today…
That sums up my description of…
Using quotations:
In the words of a well-known writer…
As … once said…
To quote a famous…
When assessing presentation:
- Content (Purpose? / Interest? / Appropriateness?)
- Structure (Organisation? / Signposting? / Linking?)
- Grammar (Accuracy? / Appropriateness?)
- Vocabulary (Accuracy? / Appropriateness? / Pronunciation?)
- Delivery (Pronunciation? / Projection? / Eye contact? / Body language? / Communication?)