How to effectively present in English in the 21st Century

This week I decided to go through the elements of making a great presentation. In part one I explained about how stories, whether they flow throughout the whole presentation, or they are simple short stories linked together by a theme can make a huge difference in your presentation. Today, I want to show you how by linking your words to the relevant images your story can contain the emotions of surprise, sadness and drama.

I grew up with BBC’s David Attenborough teaching me about wildlife and nature. In his early days, David Attenborough was in the video, but in his more recent TV shows he only does the voiceover (VO)

However, recently I have been watching BBC’s Life programme and I was amazed how the way the video and the voice work together to create stories that have drama, excitement and intrigue. Below is a clip that tells the story of how a Venus Fly Trap captures its food.

You can watch the video clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7eQKSf0LmY

If you took away the words, this video would not have the same dramatic feel, neither if you only heard the voice would you get the same sense of drama. This video works because both the visuals and the words work together as one to stimulate all the emotions.

When we are presenting, this is exactly how we need to present. Images alone do not make your presentation, if you are using images they need to be relevant to your subject and they need to follow exactly the flow of your words. When you marry your words with your images and you couple that to your story, then, and only then, are you delivering a great presentation.