How to effectively present in English in the 21st Century

I have a friend who is from France. My friend, like most people from non-native English speaking countries, learned English at school and has had to use English both in his work and when he travels. However, unlike my Korean friends, my French friend has never attended a language institute to learn English, all the English he knows was either learnt at school or has been picked up as he has used English in his everyday life.

My friend has excellent English. Yes, he makes a few grammatical errors, and yes, sometimes the word he wants to use he has difficulty finding. But he never thinks “I can’t speak English” English to him is a part of life and something that he has to use from time to time. It is a little like driving a car. He can do it when he needs to, but it is not his whole life.

Unfortunately, I find in Korea that people are striving for something called “perfect English”. Perfect English does not exist. English, by its very nature is continuously changing and because it is spoken by far more non-native speakers than native speakers has so many variations it really is impossible to figure out what “perfect English” is.

However, what I have noticed is that the really good English speakers do not care about perfect English. They use English to communicate and that is it. To the really good English speakers English is a tool to communicate with their foreign friends and business partners. They don’t care about occasionally not knowing a word or how to express themselves – they know they can describe the feeling or word to their partners and they will eventually understand. They do not care about making a few grammatical errors because they know their partners will not notice the occasional mistake.

This has made me realize that the difference between good speakers of English and the not so good speakers of English is “attitude” Those people who have the “I only want to communicate in English” attitude are the ones who speak good English and the ones who worry about making a mistake or are trying to speak perfectly are the people who struggle with English.

When it comes to speaking in English you need the attitude of “I can do it” rather than “I cannot do it perfectly” Perfect English does not really exist, and by the time you have found something close to near perfect English it will have changed anyway.

So, stop worrying about making mistakes – mistakes are natural anyway. Start communicating and enjoying English. That attitude will serve you much better and will enable you to achieve greater communication success than worrying about whether you have used the correct preposition or article.

Beginning your presentation is often the most difficult part of presenting, because you are full of nerves and feelings of fear.

There are many ways to begin; you could begin with a simple “Good morning. Thank you for coming today” the Steve Jobs’ approach. Or, if you have been introduced, you could begin with something a little more elaborate “Thank you Mr Chairman. Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen”.

But whichever way you begin, starting strong and starting confidently is important.

A well rehearsed beginning is the key, and below is a list of ways you could begin your presentation. Whichever way you decide to use, the important thing to do is to feel comfortable and relaxed with the words:

Use can use these simple openings as often as you like. Choose one that you feel comfortable with and then give it a go.

I have lived and worked in Korea for eight years, and during that time I have come to realise that, in general, the English ability of Korean people at speaking in English is good. The weakness that Korea has with English is confidence. There is a lack of confidence among most Korean people when they have to speak in English. This largely comes from the fact that most Korean people do not have many opportunities to use the English they know, and therefore do not get enough real practice.

However, there are a few things you can do, that can help with your English that can make you sound and feel more confident.

Here are my top five tips for speaking better and more confident English:

1 Use Shorter Sentences.

Shorter sentences makes your English more understandable and is easier for you to say. For example:

“I do not like the rain because it makes me feel gloomy.”

This sentence is too long. We do not need to know that you feel gloomy, because the reason most people do not like the rain is because it makes them feel gloomy. All you need to say is:

“I do not like the rain”

If we want more information, we will ask for it.

2 Stop Treating English An Academic Subject

When you are at school, you are usually learning English to pass exams. Because of this we often see English in a negative way. When you see something in a negative way, you never feel inspired to learn or improve. Once you start working, English should be used to communicate. Just like your typing skill gets better by typing more, your English will improve by using it more.

So, start having fun with English. Throw away all those boring textbooks and grammar books, and start reading newspapers, magazines and blogs. You are an adult now and so start using English as a tool, not as a school subject. With practice and a little bit of time your English communication skills will improve.

A great English newspaper for Korean people is Chosun Ilbo English

3 Seek Out Opportunities to use English

English is a skill, and like all skills you need to practice regularly. Professional golfers spend hours and hours practicing everyday, Yuna Kim spends six to eight hours a day practicing. You never become good at anything without practice. So stop making excuses for not using English and start making excuses for using English. Volunteer to write English emails for colleagues, make telephone calls in English instead of putting it off and writing an email. Become the English expert in your office.

4 Make English Fun!

Too often I hear my students say they see English as a chore. If English really is a chore to you then perhaps you should give up on English and learn something else. To become more confident and better at English, like anything else, you really do have to have fun with it. Find a blog or magazine on a subject you like, for example a photography blog if you like photography, or a cooking magazine if you like cooking. Find friends who enjoy English and hang out with them more, use English phrases whenever you can. But the most important thing is have fun!!!

5 Watch Arirang TV News Every Night

CNN and BBC news is not going to help you very much. Their news items are often about Afghanistan, Iraq or something you neither have interest in or know anything about. By watching Arirang TV news the subjects will be on Korean news items and things you either know about or have an interest in.

Remember the important thing is that you have fun with English and you stop seeing English as just another academic subject you must learn. By having fun and seeking out opportunities to use English, not only will you become more confident with English, you will also improve your English ability without even trying.

In the final part of how to turn a presentation in to a great presentation I want to focus on 5 tips you can use that will help you with the language you should be using when you present.

So, here are the five language tips you can use that will help turn your next presentation in to a great presentation.

1. Use short sentences.

In modern day English, the trend is for us to use short, simple sentences. The reason for this is that shorter sentences are easier to follow and also helps your presentation feel like it is flowing faster. Another advantage of using short sentences is that it helps you, a non-native English speaker, to remember the key phrases and sentences you need to use.

2. Use Action words

English is an action language, not a descriptive language. So always try to use an action verb or action phrase. Doing this will keep your audience interest high. For example. Use words like:

Developed, produced, created, designed, sold and shipped

Notice how Steve Jobs always begins his presentations with an ‘update’. By doing this he allows himself to begin his presentation with positive, action words that get his audience excited and amazed.

3. Tell personal stories

One of the biggest criticisms I hear from native English speakers when talking about how Korean people present in that Korean presenters always sound inhumane. It is as if they are not human. One way round this is to tell stories from your own life. It is possible that you are taught from an early age that you should not mix your personal life with your professional life. This is just BS! Business is human. Doing business is about human relationships and contacts. So, tell stories from your personal life.

Before is an example of a speaker at TED telling a personal story to begin his presentation. Doing this makes him sound much more human and allows him to connect with his audience

4. Use positive adjectives

In English we like to hear positive words. Positive words stimulate our minds and keeps our attention. A presentation full of negative adjectives is likely to send us to sleep. So, when you are preparing your presentation, check through it carefully to make sure that the majority of words you are using are positive. Examples of positive words are:
Brilliant, cool, excellent, fantastic, great.

WARNING! - Do not keep using the same words over and over again. If you do, you create a Mark Anthony situation (This situation comes from Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar where Mark Anthony repeated the words “for they are honourable men” over and over again during his speech following the murder of Julius Caesar, to the point where his audience began not to believe these words – they became sarcastic)
5. Use Emotional words

The best presentations create emotion. The emotion they create does not matter, it can be funny or sad. It really does not matter. Presentations that evoke emotion are always memorable and always get talked about.
To create emotion in a presentation get your audience to imagine a situation. For example:
“Imagine how you feel when you are stuck in a huge traffic jam and you are five minutes away from the most important interview of your life”

By asking your audience to ‘imagine’ how they would feel in a given situation, allows your audience to feel the emotion you want them to feel. It’s a great trick and it keeps your audience involved in your presentation.
By following the advice given here and in my previous two posts you can turn any presentation in to a great presentation. Good luck and stay positive.

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.