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STATING YOUR PURPOSE

It is essential to state the purpose of your presentation near the beginning. To do this clearly and effectively
you need a few simple presentation verbs:

take a look at, report on, give an overview of etc.

TASK:

Below you will find a number of ways of stating the purpose of your presentation. Complete them using the
words given.

showing talking taking reporting telling

OK, let's get started. Good morning everyone. Thanks for coming. I'm (your name). This morning I'm going to
be:

1. ……………….. to you about the electoral system in Austria.

2. ……………….. you about child maintenance payments.

3. ……………….. you how to draft legal contracts.

4. ……………….. a look at water regulation for Viennese vineyards.

5. ……………….. on the importance of the new EU regulations.

…… so, I'll begin by:

making outlining bringing giving filling

1. ………………. you in on the background to the project.

2. ………………. a few observations about dealing with non-cooperative parents.

3. ………………. our current policies.

4. ………………. you an overview of the number and type of elections.

5. ………………. you up-to-date on the latest ISO standards.

And then I'll go on to:

put discuss make highlight talk

1. ……………… what I see as the main advantages and disadvantages.

2. ……………… the situation into some kind of perspective.

3. ……………… you through our basic debt recovery procedure.

4. ……………… detailed recommendations regarding the new legislation.

5. ……………… in more depth the implications of the new environmental standards.

N.B. Talk ‘to you about’, ‘making a few observations’ about are verb phrases. It is not the verb alone, but the
whole phrase you need to learn.

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Concluding Presentations

Make your final message clear:

A. Pause briefly and signal clearly that you are now ready to finish the presentation. The audience will
start to listen again closely at this point.

B. Make your summary, giving a brief overview of what has already been said. The summary is a reflec-
tion of your 'what' and looks back. It should not be too long as you will lose your audience's attention again,
but detailed enough to cover your points. This can be a difficult balance to achieve! A good summary gives
your listeners time to reflect on the content and builds up to your conclusion, making your conclusion
stronger, more powerful and more effective. A conclusion without a summary can sound incomplete as your
audience may not have listened to every point during the main part of the presentation and the purpose can
be lost. Avoid giving any conclusions while you are making your summary.

C. Give your conclusion. This is a reflection of your 'why' and looks forward to what you want people to
do or think after your presentation, it should follow logically from your summary. There are different kinds of
conclusions: you can make a call for action, make a recommendation or assure your audience that they're bet-
ter informed. This is the destination of your journey and the most important part of your presentation.

D. Make your closing remarks by thanking your audience, asking for questions or passing round your
presentation hand-outs.

Match the following finishing phrases to the stages A, B, C, D above:

1. So, that brings me to the end of my presentation

2. Let me summarize what we've looked at.
3. Thank you for your attention.
4. I'll briefly run through the main issues I touched on/talked about..
5. I'll now hand out...
6. I suggest Johannes ... and Michel...
7. I'd like to summarize.
8. I'd like to conclude by strongly recommending...
9. So, that completes my presentation.
10. Let me just go over the key points again.
11. To sum up...
12. I trust/hope you gained an insight into...
13. To conclude, I'd like to leave you with the following thought /idea...
14. Well, that covers everything I want to say.
15. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
16. At this stage, I'd like to go over...
17. In my opinion, the only way forward is to...
18. Thank you for listening.
19. To summarize, my three topics were...
20. In conclusion, I'd like to leave you with the following idea...

Source: Williams, Erica J. Presentations in English. Hongkong: MacMillan, 2008.

How do Signposts work?

Signposting helps you structure and shape the main content of your presentation. Signposts create ‘verbal
paragraphs’ or ‘verbal signals’ and raise the attention curve at the beginning and end of each point of your
presentation. The technique allows you to guide the audience through the structure of your presentation
linking one point to the next. The audience can’t see your notes and can’t look forward to see what is coming.
You know where you’re going on your journey and you need to guide your audience by telling them exactly
where you are on the roadmap of your presentation. This is a simple but highly effective technique that adds
clarity to your presentations.

To move on To expand on To go back To recap To conclude To summarize To turn to To elaborate on To

digress

TASK

Choose one of the ‘signpost’ expressions from the box above for the following situations:

1. When you want to make your next point. To.............

2. When you want to change direction. To.............

3. When you want to refer to an earlier point. To.............

4. When you want to repeat the main points. To.............

5. When you want to give a wider perspective. To.............

6. When you want to do a deeper analysis. To.............

7. When you just want to give the basics. To.............

8. When you want to depart from your plan. To.............

9. When you want to finish your talk. To.............

Neat, short signposts are more effective than long explanations of the structure of your presentation.
Remember, the simplest way to signpost the end of one stage of your presentation and the beginning of the
next is to say:

OK. So,..
 JUMP START

A “Jump Start" to a presentation can be very effective - it captures the listeners’ attention and
makes them interested in hearing hear what you have to say next.

Read the text below. Write the techniques from the box below in gaps 1-7 in the text.

What's in it for me? (WIIFM)

Question and answer

Meet the people

Expert testimony or historical evidence

Shocking statement or startling statistic

Enrolment questions

Quotations

Hot tips to jump start' your presentation

1.........................
1. Make your audience feel welcome as they arrive. Smile,
make introductions, say a few words about yourself and
ask some questions. Offer some refreshments. This tech-
nique helps to: break the ice; initiate dialogue; calm
your nerves; create interaction; build a relationship

GOOD FOR: Presentations to small groups

2.........................
2. Address the audience's needs and concerns by telling them
what benefits they will gain from listening to your
presentation and use the word "you" when you do this.
This technique helps to: focus on the needs of your audi-
ence; focus on benefits and not features; create desire
and anticipation; raise expectations; build rapport.
GOOD FOR: Sales pitches or presentations where you need to persuade or convince

3.........................

3. Question the audience directly and get them to respond to

you by answering "yes" or "no" or by raising hands. This
technique helps to: focus the audience on the subject;
generate an interactive relationship; create dialogue;
build interest

GOOD FOR: Small to medium-sized audiences

4.........................

4. Find something original or exciting in newspapers, maga-

zines, books, on-house literature, press releases or on
the internet. Make it clear that you are using somebody
else's words. This technique helps to: give another
voice; create interest; build credibility.

GOOD FOR: All types of presentation

5.........................

5. Say something which is short and simple but unusual, sur-

prising and/or provocative. Clarify your source. This
technique helps to: get a high level of attention with
shock effect; give another voice.

GOOD FOR: Most presentations but take care the shock effect does not alienate the audience.

6.........................

6. Give objective evidence or facts from an authoritative

source. This technique helps to: give another voice;
build credibility; be convincing.

GOOD FOR: Specialist presentations

 7.........................

7. Ask something and then go on to answer it yourself. This

technique helps to: raise expectations; engage the audi-
ence in problem-solving thinking; make the audience want
to see "what's on the next page"

GOOD FOR: Presenting recommendations/solutions