How to effectively present in English in the 21st Century

Here’s a trick I have used a lot on my presentations. I teach my audience a new language.

I live and work in South Korea, and so I have picked up quite a lot of the language during my seven years living here. Many of my presentations involve introducing new teachers to Korea, and giving them their ‘basic training’. In order to make my presentations more interesting and interactive I often teach the teachers how to introduce themselves in Korean. This is a simple exercise, and usually lasts around three or four minutes.

I have seen this trick used by Garr Reynolds in his superb presentation at the Synergy Conference in Las Vegas and it really is effective.

This technique is a great way to break the ice with your audience and it is a great way to give you a little confidence before you get in to the main part of your presentation.

All you do is read out the language to your audience, get them to repeat it with you and then ask them to introduce themselves to their neighbour. (Of course you can make a joke about them repeating the words “your name”)

This is a great way to build rapport with your audience because if they are your customers, next time they visit you in your country they can introduce themselves in your language, and you can have a laugh and joke with them. It really does help you build a much better relationship.

So why not give it a try the next time you do a pressentation in front of an English audience. Teach them how to introduce themselves in your language. You will have a lot of fun doing it, and your audience will appreciate this new feature of your presentation.

Carmine Gallo, a Businessweek columnist has written a highly acclaimed book on the secrets of presenting like Steve Jobs. Nancy Duarte of Duarte Design has written a very good review of the book and you can follow this link to see the review by Businessweek.

Highly recommended

You can also see a little video done by Carmine below: