How to present in English

Over the last few days, there has been much comment of the slide that was featured in the New York Times newspaper regarding the slide that Gen. Stanley A McChrystal, leader of the American and NATO forces in Afghanistan was shown when took over the leadership in Afghanistan.

Gen. McChrystal was heard to comment “when we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war”.

There are far too many problems with this slide to go in to here, but here is my take on the whole debate:

PowerPoint and Keynote are tools that can be used to enhance our presentations, and can both be useful in conveying our message in a stronger and more friendly manner than by words alone. However, over the years our presentation software has become the main focus of our presentation, and that is where we are going wrong. PowerPoint and Keynote were never developed to be the main focus of the presentation. They were developed to help the presenter.

The above slide is creating news now, but I have sat through hundreds of presentation with slides similar to this one. Presentations where the text was too small and there was far too much detail in the slides. This never enhances our message, this always confuses our message and our audience will just turn off.

During the Battle of Britain in World War II, there was no PowerPoint or Keynote software, and so the British airforce used a table, with models for aircraft and a map to follow the war. This not only simplified a very complex battle, it also enabled the leaders of the war to fully understand what was happening in a clear and accurate way.

While today we may not have access to tables with maps and models, we do have access to white boards and flip charts. When we are faced with describing a very complex situation, the use of flip charts and white boards can make the explanation much easier for our audience. We must always remember, that when it comes to presenting, PowerPoint and Keynote are just one kind of tool from many different kinds. The key to a good presentation is simplicity, not detail.

There is a lot of comment on this article. For more insights and opinions please see:

Nancy Duarte of the Slide:ology blog

Guy Kawasaki on the Holy Kaw blog

It seems everyone loves lists, and so in that spirit here is my top five list of things you can do to improve your presentations instantly:

1. Move Around

This one I have mentioned before, but it is so important when you are presenting to an international audience. Staying behind the lectern tells your audience to are nervous and that you are not used to doing presentations. Essentially, you tell your audience that you are an amateur. To make yourself look more confident, come out from behind the lectern, walk around on stage. Now you do need to be careful. Walking up and down aimlessly can cause you to distract your audience, the way to do this is to move to the left of the stage and speak to the audience members on that side, then move to the right (or centre) and speak to the audience there. This shows confidence and also helps you to connect better with your audience because they feel that you are speaking directly to them, and not to the back wall of the room.

2. Ask Rhetorical Questions

A rhetorical question is a question you so not expect to be answered. For example:

” When we developed our new cell phone we came across the problem of consumer expectation. How did we overcome this problem?”

What you are doing here is asking your audience a question, and then answering the question yourself. In English a rhetorical question is not answered, and you need not worry about your audience shouting out an answer as the trick is to answer your question immediately after you ask it. If you pause too long, there may be some members of your audience who will answer the question. So be careful, ask the question and provide the answer immediately.

Asking rhetorical questions involve your audience, it makes your audience feel that they are part of your presentation, and this can only help you deliver an interesting and memorable presentation.

3. Use Relevant Images

I often talk about using images instead of bullet points on this blog, but there is an important warning here. If you use images that are not relevant to the word or words you are using then the impact of your image is lost. Make sure that the image you use is relevant to your subject or point.

4. Speak In A Conversational Style

Too often we make our presentations too formal, this perhaps is a consequence of the differences between English and Korean. English is a neutral language because it does not have a formal and informal style. If you meet meet President Barack Obama you can say “Hello Mr Obama”. If you meet a little child called Sarah, you can say “Hello Sarah”, there is little difference. However in Korean there are three distinct styles of language depending on who you are speaking to.

To be more engaging with your audience and for your audience to feel part of your presentation, you need to speak to them as if you were speaking with a friend. Always look at your audience as your friends, they want you to succeed, not fail. They are your friends. A simple way to do this is to use pronouns such as “I”, “you” and “we”. Using these words softens your speaking style and makes for a more conversational presentation.

5. Keep Your Presentation Short

Here is an endemic problem. When we are asked to do a presentation, one of the questions we ask is “how long do I have?” We then prepare a presentation that lasts as long as the time we are given. If we are given sixty minutes, for some strange reason we thing we should speak for sixty minutes. This is not true. What that sixty minutes means is that we can speak for up to sixty minutes. Therefore if you can communicate your message in thirty minutes, then fantastic! Either your audience can have an extra thirty minutes break (and they will love you for that) or you will have much more time to answer questions.

Either way, your presentation should only last as long as it takes for you to communicate your message, and not a minute more.

BONUS TIP

6. Keep Your Presentation Fresh

Quite often companies have a standard presentation that was created two or three years ago that they use time and time again to introduce their company. Usually this presentation was made by an employee that no longer works for the company and used an old version of PowerPoint. Not only does this presentation look dated, it also looks bad.

If you are asked to do a presentation, and are given a copy of the presentation to deliver, go through the presentation, update old images, upgrade it to the latest version of PowerPoint, or Keynote and check to see if it is as relevant today as it was two or three years ago. There is nothing worse for an audience to have to sit through a presentation that is clearly out of date.

Being aware of your audience’s needs is the single most important factor when it comes to presenting. Too many times a presenter is doing to impress their boss, and they do not care at all for their audience. Your audience can tell this very quickly, and are never impressed. So forget your boss, you are not presenting to them, and really think about what your audience want.

I am a big fan of an advertising style that is called “concept ads” These ads are just simple pictures with a very powerful message.

In todays world when most people are in too much of a rush to even notice advertisements on billboards and in magazines, these ads have such a powerful image, that they make the viewer stop and think. The example above is from the World Wildlife Fund, and the message is simple and clear. There really is no need for a lot of text to explain these pictures.

We can learn so much from these kinds of ads when it comes to designing our slides. These ads show that we really do not need to write a lot of text to get our message across. All we need is an image that is relevant, simple and clear.

For more images on these kinds of ads you can view some examples by going to the following websites:

Flickr’s concept ad group

The graphic design blog

If you have to do presentations in English on behalf of your company, then there is a good chance that you will need to introduce your company at the beginning of your presentation. Sadly, most people do a terrible job when presenting their company. However, with a little foresight, and some planning and preparation, you can turn this part of your presentation into something amazing.

Below is a step by step guide to planning your company introduction

:

First, prepare simple table as in the example above. Then complete the details. Once you have completed the table, begin making sentences to link the information together. For example

“Our company is called Fandcorp English Solutions and we were established in 2005.

We specialise in teaching specialised English programmes to companies throughout Korea, for example, medical and hotel English. We also do seminars in presenting in English and offer translation and English teacher recruitment services.

We have four employees at the moment and we operate throughout Asia. We are hoping to expand into Europe in 2011 and to employ an additional four employees to help us expand.”

What we have done here is to take the basic information and to link it together with link words such as “and”, “also” and “for example”

Quite often we over complicate our English because of what we are taught at school. The truth is, if you simplify your English, you make your message clearer and easier to understand. A presentation is not a TOEIC or TOEFL test, a presentation is about communicating a message clearly and understandably.

This method does not only work for your company introduction, you can do this with almost any part of your presentation. Start with the basic information, then link it together with the link words. By preparing your presentation in this way, you not only create a simple message, you also create a style that is unique to you.

프레젠테이션 10분의 규칙

John Medina 교수는 그의 책 “Brain Rules” 에서 강의나 수업중 두뇌가 어떻게 작용하는지에 관한 내용을 다루었습니다. 이 책에서 Medina 교수는 전형적인 50분 수업에서 우리들의 두뇌가 실제 어떻게 수업에 집중하는지 그래프를 통하여 보여주었습니다.

이 실험에서 흥미로운 점은, 우리의 뇌가 단10분가량만 집중을 할 수 있다는 것입니다. 그 이후에는 집중력이 떨어지고 흥미도 잃기 시작합니다. 대부분의 프레젠테이션이 40분에서 45분정도이므로, 10분을 훨씬 넘기는 전형적인 프레젠테이션을 하는 발표자에게는 이러한 집중력 저하가 문제가 될 수 있습니다.

그렇다면 우리는 이런 집중력 저하를 어떻게 방지할 수 있을까요?

첫번째로, 프레젠테이션을 십분 단위로 준비하는 것입니다.즉, 우리가 하고 있는 프레젠테이션의 스타일과 속도등을 매 10분마다 바꾸어줄 필요가 있다는 것입니다. 짧은 동영상을 보여준다던지, 제품 시연을 한다던지, 청중에게 질문을 한다던지 등의 방법을 이용해서 말입니다. 이전의 10분과 다른것이면 어떤것이라도 괜찮습니다.

여기서 흥미로운 점은, 제 강의에 이 이론을 적용해본 결과, 정말 효과가 있다는 것을 알게되었습니다. 강의를 할 때, 10분은 이론에 관하여 설명을 하고, 그 다음엔 각각 학생들에게 질문을 하거나 짝을 지어 연습하도록 강의 구조를 바꾸었습니다. 또 이따금 재미있는 이야기들을 해주거나 화이트보드에 예문을 제시해 주기도 했습니다. 이렇게 12개월이 지나자, 시계가 없어도 제 자신 스스로 학생들이 집중하는 10분이 언제 끝나는지를 알게 되었고, 그때마다 본능적으로 강의의 속도 및 구조를 바꾸게 되었습니다.

이것은 학생들에게 도움이 될뿐 아니라, 학생들이 이전보다 더 나은 방법으로 학습하는 것이 무엇인지를 저에게 알려주는 큰 도움이 되었습니다. 이전에는, 15분에서 20분정도가 지나면 학생들이 주의력을 잃어버린다고 생각했으나, 지금은 10분이 지나면 집중력이 저하된다는 것을 정확하게 배우게 되었습니다.

프레젠테이션을 준비할 때 생각해야 할 주의사항들이 정말 너무나 많은데, 여기에 추가사항이 하나 더 늘어나니 여러분들에게 포화상태가 될 수 있다는 것, 저도 충분히 이해합니다. 그렇지만, 이것만은 꼭 기억해 주시기 바랍니다. 프레젠테이션을 하는 것은 발표자 자신을 위해서가 아니라 (물론, 승진등을 위한 프레젠테이션이라면 발표자에게도 유익한 시간이 되겠죠 ^^), 청중에게 유익한 정보를 제공하고자 하는 것이 프레젠테이션입니다. 그러므로 프레젠테이션을 교육적이고 흥미롭게 만들 수 있도록 여러분께서 최선을 다하시기 바랍니다.

10분 규칙에 관한 더 많은 정보를 원하신다면, 여기 Brain Rules 웹싸이트를 방문해 보시기 바랍니다. 아래에 있는 동영상은 Brain Rules DVD 에서 나온 내용으로 효율적으로 학습할 수 있는 활동과 운동에 관한 설명입니다. 참조하시고, 여러분께 좋은 정보가 되었으면 합니다.