How to present in English

Steve Jobs this morning gathered interested media organisations together and held a press conference about the iPhone 4′s antenna problems.

The presentation lasted around 30 minutes and these are some lessons all presenters can learn about having to give difficult and sometimes unpleasant news about a product or a business:

1. Admit there is a problem.

Steve Jobs came clean. He admitted straight away there was a problem. He said “We’re not perfect. We know that, you know that”. He explained the problem, showed the date of the tests that Apple had carried out and admitted that Apple knew that there was a problem before the launch.

2. Accept responsibility

Unlike BP, who refused to accept blame, Steve Jobs accepted blame immediately. By admitting the blame he was able to stop the ‘rumourmongering’ essentially with one sentence.

3. Show the data – in a simple way

By showing simple data, Steve Jobs was able to communicate to all customers, not just the tech savvy customers. Too often companies try to hide behind complex data that nobody but PH.D scientists can understand. This does not clear up the problem, it adds to the problem. Focus on simple data that explains the problem.

4. Say what you are going to do about it

This is perhaps the most important part. You must state very clearly what you will do about the problem and, more importantly, when. When you come up with a solution to the problem, the solution must be customer centred and not damage limitation centred – which sadly is what most companies try to do.

5. Make it Personal

Throughout the whole presentation, there was a deep feeling that Steve Jobs was taking this issue personally. Not in the BP CEO’s “personal way” (“I just want my life back”) but in a way that it hurt him personally that his customers were not happy and that he, and his engineers, were working round the clock to solve the problem. This kind of personalisation of the problem give your customers a feeling that you are with them and on their side.

There are hundreds of examples of successes and failures when it comes to companies and problems. Two of the most recent PR disasters are Toyota and BP, but this one, in my humble opinion, will go down as a successfully handled problem.

Remember, giving bad news is something that most companies will have to do at some point or another. Being able to present bad news in a clear and understandable way is the first step. Accept responsibility and tell everyone what you are going to do about it. And above all else – tell your customers you love them.

You can view the whole presentation here

Ever since I was twelve years old, when I was first introduced to the James Bond books, I have had a fascination and admiration for the creator and author of the James Bond novels, Ian Fleming.

Ian Fleming with his ever present cigarette

Ian Fleming had a brilliant ability to bring people alive through the way he described them. No small detail was ever over-looked, and he used everyday products to give his characters some authenticity. He was a “people watcher” – a person who enjoyed looking at people and observing their mannerisms, their fashion style and the way they interacted with other people. This interest in people and their surroundings gave him the ability to replicate his observations in minute detail through his books.

Ian Fleming also based many of his characters on people he actually knew. While this sometimes caused offence to some people, it also helped him to create authenticity in his characters.

So. how does this help the humble presenter?

As this blog, and many other presentation blogs and books continue to advocate, telling stories in your presentation can take your presentation from being ‘just another boring presentation’ to becoming a great presentation. One way of telling compelling and interesting stories is to ‘set the scene’ to actually help your audience imagine the scene, the situation or the person you are describing. Ian Fleming had this ability, and while Ian Fleming was not presenting his characters using PowerPoint or Keynote, he was using this ability to become one of the twentieth century’s greatest fiction writers.

Here is an example of Ian Fleming’s writing. In this paragraph, taken from the first James Bond book, Casino Royale, Fleming is describing Felix Leiter, a character that comes up in many of his stories, as the CIA representative, and eventual close friend of James Bond.

Felix Leiter was about thirty-five. He was tall with a thin bony frame and his lightweight, tan-coloured suit hung loosely from his shoulders like the clothes of Frank Sinatra. His movements and speech were slow, but one had the feeling that there was plenty of speed and strength in him and that he would be a tough and cruel fighter. As he sat hunched over the table, he seemed to have some of the jack-knife quality of a falcon. There was this impression also in his face, in the sharpness of his chin and cheekbones and the wide wry mouth. His grey eyes had a feline slant which was increased by his habit of screwing them up against the smoke of the Chesterfields which he tapped out of the pack in a chain. The permanent wrinkles which this habit had etched at the corners gave the impression that he smiled more with his eyes than with his mouth. A mop of straw-coloured hair lent his face a boyish look which closer examination contradicted.

Just from this paragraph, you can imagine Felix Leiter vividly, you can imagine the clothes he is wearing and even the way he smokes his cigarettes.

When we present, and when we try to describe a situation to our audience, giving vivid, and precise descriptions of the characters in our stories helps our audience to build a clear picture of the scene or character. This not only helps our presentation to become more interesting and even entertaining, it also makes our presentation much more memorable. And that is always the ultimate goal.

So, next time you begin preparing your presentation, take time to think carefully about the stories you will use, how you describe the scene and characters in your stories really does make a huge impact on your presentation.

Recently, I attended a presentation evening, where a number of speakers were given 20 minutes to talk on any subject they pleased. The presentations given were excellent, but there was a recurring, annoying habit by most of the speakers.

The microphones used that day were lapel microphones. These are microphones that are attached to the lapel or shirt of the person speaking. They are excellent microphones as the audience cannot see them, but there is a problem.

The speaker often forgets that they are wearing them and keeps touching them during the presentation. The noise this touching creates is horrible and incredibly distracting to the audience.

So, if you are presenting and have to wear a lapel microphone, make sure that you keep your hands and arms away from them, or at least make sure that they are placed in an area that you will not be touching.

평범한 프레젠테이션을 훌륭한 프레젠테이션으로 바꾸는 방법 3

평볌한 프레젠테이션을 훌륭한 프레젠테이션으로 바꾸는 방법편 마지막에서는 프레젠테이션에서 사용해야 할 영어에 관하여 여러분들에게 많은 도움이 될 5가지 팁을 알려드리고자 합니다.

여기 아래의 5가지 팁을 사용하신다면, 다음에 있을 여러분의 프레젠테이션을 훌륭한 프레젠테이션으로 바꾸실 수 있을 것입니다.

1. 짧은 문장 사용하기

요즘 영어의 트렌드는 짧고 간단한 문장을 사용하는 것입니다. 이런 트렌드의 이유는 짧은 문장이 이해하기 더 쉬우면서도 청중으로 하여금 프레젠테이션이 빠르게 진행되고 있다고 느끼게 해주기 때문입니다. 그리고 또 다른 장점은 영어가 모국어가 아닌 여러분들에게 프레젠테이션에서 사용해야 할 핵심 구문과 문장을 더 기억하기 쉽도록 해주기 때문입니다.

2. Action word 사용하기

영어는 동작을 나타내는 언어이지, 묘사하는 언어가 아닙니다.실제로 영어에서 동작을 나타내는 동사의 수는 감정을 나타내거나 서술하는 형용사에 비해 훨씬 많습니다. 이것은 우리 한국어와 정반대인 셈이죠. 예를 들어 한국어인 “정”을 영어로 표현하기란 매우 어렵습니다. 굳이 영어로 표현하자면 “bonding between friends”가 됩니다. 여기서 보시면 bonding도 동작을 나타내는 단어입니다. 이렇듯, 대부분의 영어가 동작을 나타내는 언어로 이루어지므로, 영어로 프레젠테이션을 하실때에는 항상 행동을 나타내는 동사나 구문을 사용하도록 노력하셔야 합니다. 이렇게 하신다면, 동사에 익숙한 청중들에게 더욱 더 흥미를 고취시킬 수 있을것입니다. Action word의 예로는 다음과 같습니다.

Developed, produced, created, designed, sold and shipped

스티브 잡스가 항상 최근 제품에 관한 업데이트 소식과 함께 프레젠테이션을 시작한다는걸 알고계셨나요? 이렇게 함으로써 스티브 잡스는, 긍정적인 느낌을 갖도록 해주는 단어나 Action word들로 프레젠테이션을 시작하도록 합니다. 이런 단어들은 청중들로 하여금 흥분과 놀라움을 느끼게 해주기 때문입니다.

3. 개인적인 이야기 꺼내기

한국인 프레젠터에 관하여 영어 원어민들로부터 제가 가장 많이 들었던 비평은, 발표자들의 프레젠테이션을 들어보면 항상 사람냄새가 나지 않는다는 것이었습니다. 마치 사람이 아닌 로봇이 발표하듯 내용이 너무 딱딱하고 건조하다는 것입니다. 이런 문제를 해결할 좋은 방법은 여러분 자신의 삶에 관하여 이야기하는 것입니다. 아마도 어린시절 여러분들은 비즈니스 생활과 개인적인 생활은 별개라고 배워왔을 것입니다.그러나 비즈니스는 인간이 하는 것입니다. 즉 비즈니스란, 사람과 사람사이에서 관계를 맺고 교제를 하는 것입니다. 그러므로 프레젠테이션에서 여러분의 개인적인 삶에 관한 스토리를 이야기하셔도 전혀 무방합니다.

아래의 동영상은 테드에서 한 발표자가 프레젠테이션을 시작하면서 자신의 개인적인 이야기를 하는 내용입니다. 이렇게 함으로써, 발표자로 하여금 사람냄새가 물씬 풍기고 청중과 마음이 통하도록 해주고 있습니다.

4. 긍정적인 형용사 사용하기

영어에서 우리는 긍정적인 단어를 듣기 좋아합니다. 이런 단어들은 우리들의 마음을 자극시키고 집중하도록 해줍니다. 프레젠테이션이 부정적인 형용사들로 가득차 있다면 이건 뭐 아주 우리를 꿈나라로 보내주시는거나 마찬가지 입니다. 그러므로, 프레젠테이션을 준비하실 때는 여러분이 사용하고 있는 단어들이 긍정적인 느낌을 가지고 있는지 세심하게 확인하시기 바랍니다. 긍정적인 느낌을 갖는 단어들로는 아래와 같습니다.
Brilliant, cool, excellent, fantastic, great.

주의사항!- 똑같은 단어를 계속해서 사용하시는 것은 금물! 계속 똑같은 단어를 사용하시면 Mark Anthony 현상을 만들게 됩니다. ( 이 현상은 세익스피어의 희곡, 줄리어스 시저에서 시저가 암살된 후 마크 안토니가 암살에 관하여 연설을 하면서, 암살자인 브루투스와 카시우스에 관하여 이야기 할 때마다 계속해서 “그들은 고결한 인사( 人士)들이다” 라는 말은 반복합니다. 이 말이 계속 반복되면서 그의 연설을 듣던 청중들은 이 말이 진실이 아니라는것을 알게됩니다. 즉 그들을 비꼬아 한 말이라는 것을 알게됩니다. 이렇듯, 똑같은 단어를 계속해서 사용하시다보면, 여러분의 의도와는 반대로 청중들이 부정적인 느낌을 가질 수 있으니 주의하시기 바랍니다.)

5. 감정에 호소하는 단어들 사용하기

가장 훌륭한 프레젠테이션은 감동을 불러일으키는 것입니다. 이것은 재미있는 감동이 될 수도 있고, 슬픈 감동이 될 수도 있습니다. 어떤 감동을 불러일으키는가는 중요하지 않습니다. 중요한 것은, 감동을 불러일으키는 프레젠테이션은 항상 기억에 오래 남고 사람들 입에 오르내리게 된다는 것입니다. 그러므로 감동적인 프레젠테이션을 이끌어 내기 위해서는 여러분의 청중들이 그 상황을 상상할 수 있도록 만들어야 합니다.

예를 들어:
“여러분은 지금 차가 미친듯이 막히는 곳 한가운데 서 계십니다. 그리고 여러분 일생일대 가장 중요한 인터뷰가 5분안에 시작된다고 생각해 보십시오”

청중들에게 하나의 상황을 주고 그들이 어떻게 느끼는지 상상해 보라고 권유함으로써, 청중들은, 여러분들이 그들에게 하여금 느껴보게 하고 싶었던 그 감정들을 느낄 수 있게 되는 것입니다. 이것은 청중과 여러분이 게속해서 하나가 될 수 있도록 이끌어 주는 훌륭한 방법 중 하나입니다.
여기에서 알려드린 5가지 팁들과, 이전 1,2 편에서 드렸던 좋은 정보들을 함께 따라하시면, 어떤 프레젠테이션도 훌륭한 프레젠테이션으로 만들게 될 것입니다. 프레젠테이션에 있어서 여러분들께 좋은 결과가 있기를 기원하며, 항상 모든지 긍정적으로 생각하시기 바랍니다. 아자아자 화이팅 !! ^^

I have been coming under increasing pressure from my wife to just tell all my readers what I think are the top five things to know when you present in English. So in interest of family harmony, and of course to give the best tips I know to all you guys, here is my top five list.

1. Never read your presentation. I know I have mentioned this many times, but it is so important, that I will continue to mention it for the rest of time. The simple reason for not reading your presentation is because you focus more on your reading than you do on your audience, and then you end up boring your audience to death. Reading your presentation also means the tone, passion and enthusiasm in your voice is lost. You sound robotic and ultimately boring.
2. Use images not text in your slides. Whenever you put text on your slides, your audience will read it. One thing that scientists have proved is that the human brain cannot read and listen at the same time. So, when your have a lot of text on your slide, your audience stops listening to you and reads your slides. When this happens there is really no point in you being there. However, when you use an image that is related to what you are talking about, your audience uses their imagination to fit the picture with your words and they experience true understanding. So even if your pronunciation is not great, your audience can understand your words by the use of the image.
3. Step away from the lectern. One of the biggest problems for people who come from a more conservative, ‘polite’ cultural background is that they stay behind the lectern or table when they give their presentation. When you are presenting to a largely English speaking audience this makes you look very nervous and unsure of yourself. European and American audiences expect you to move around, use hand and arm gestures and express your passion physically. Standing still with your arms firmly by your side, looks wooden, boring and shows a lack of confidence. Next time you are presenting, move the lectern to one side and stand ‘up front and centre’
4. Speak slowly. Quite often when you are presenting to an international audience, many of listeners are non-native English speakers. If you speak too fast they will not understand you at all. Equally, as a non-native English speaker yourself, your pronunciation may not be perfect all the time, and your native English speaking audience members may not catch the word or phrase you use. To help your audience, speak slowly and carefully and use your slides to help you with difficult words.
5. Use simple language. Quite possibly the biggest mistake any presenter makes is to assume that their audience has the same level of knowledge they have. Understand something. Your audience does not have the same level of knowledge. Quite often you will use words and phrases that many in your audience will simply not understand at all. Here is a great example. In Korea, medical doctors learn the Korean word for a condition as well as the medical name in English. However, when you are presenting at a medical conference, there will be people in your audience who are not doctors, but for example, pharmaceutical sales representatives. They may not know that “carcinoma of the lung” means “lung cancer” or my favourite “myocardial infarction” simply means “heart attack”. Use the simple, easily understood word so that your presentation can be understood by all your audience members.

I know many of these tips have been mentioned before, but they are so important I felt that they needed to be emphasised. I do hope that you will find them useful.