How To Deliver A Successful Presentation

There is no such thing as presentation talent, it is called Presentation Skills. David J. P. Phillips, Canadian actor.

You have already learned how to grab the audience’s attention, but how to keep it? Let’s learn how to travel from the beginning to the end of the presentation using the expressions that will help you and your audience know at every step of the way where you are and where you are heading. Let’s take a look at 5 top tips for successful presentations:

1. Start with an end in mind. Ask yourself, ‘What do I want the audience to do after listening to my speech?’

2. Practice makes it perfect. First read it to yourself 2-3 times. Then rehearse in front of a mirror.

3. Use effective openings. It’s the first words your audience hears. Know your opening like the back of your hand.

4. Involve the audience. As the ancient Chinese proverb says: Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand.

5. End with a call to action. You can have a great opening and body and have a bad closing, and your audience will only remember how you ended. To prevent this, ask them to take action or think about an idea.

As we already know, a presentation usually consists of three main parts: an opening (tell them what you’re going to tell them), body (tell them what you’ve told them). It’s all crystal clear to you. But how can your audience know where you are and what is coming next? You have to tell them or put up signposts for them, at the beginning and all along the way. This technique is called ‘signposting’ or ‘signalling’.

During the opening, tell your audience what the structure of your presentation will be: I’ll start by describing our current position in Croatia. Then I’ll move on to some of the achievements we’ve made in Austria. After that I’ll consider the opportunities we see for further expansion in Italy. Finally, I’ll quickly recap before concluding with some recommendations.

If you want to make an outline of the above introduction, it would run something like this:

| Opening | Welcome|———|———| | Explanation of structure| Body | Croatia| | Austria| | Italy| Closing | Summing up| | Recommendations

When moving from one point to the other, you will put up signposts telling them where you are and where you are going: That’s all I have to say about Croatia. Let’s now turn to Austria. In the same way, when you want to sum up, you will inform your audience about this intention as well: Well, we’ve looked at the three countries Croatia, Austria and Italy. I’d like to sum up now.

In the table you can find some more phrases that can help you make a smooth transition among different parts of your presentation.

| Language of Presentations ||—————————|| Introducing the subject | I’ll start by…| | First of all, I’ll…| Ordering | Firstly…secondly…thirdly…lastly…| | First of all…then…next…after that…finally…| Inviting questions | If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.| | I’ll be glad to answer any questions at the end of my talk.| Finishing one subject… | That’s all I have to say about…| | So much for…| …and starting another | Let me now turn to…| | Now let’s look at…| Referring to visuals | If you look at the slide…| | Take a look at this…| Checking comprehension | Is that clear?| | Is everything all right so far?| Summarising and concluding | To sum up,…| | To summarize,…| Ending | Thanks very much. Any questions?| | This brings us to the end of the presentation.

Finally, when you want to give your conclusion: What does all this mean for us? Well, firstly I recommend…

And don’t forget to be concise, i.e. to keep your presentation short and simple!