Presentation Skills. Use of English B1+

A presentation can be viewed as a kind of process with specific steps, each … to be managed effectively for the presentation to be successful.

Never forget Murphy's law: what can go wrong, will go wrong. You should plan the logistics … a military operation: leave conference organisers in no doubt about your technical needs; arrive in plenty of time to test equipment (the day before if possible); have back-ups for everything, and have back-ups of back-ups! Imagine what could go wrong, and plan for it happening!

All presentations have a beginning, a middle (with three or four parts) and an ending. For a presentation to … , international presenters need to manage five critical process factors correctly.

Tailoring and communicating presentation targets clearly:

The opening minutes of a presentation are vital. This is when you can communicate clearly to your audience why the presentation is important for them and how you intend to … .

I often use an ABC approach to opening presentations:

Audience first!

Show an understanding of the audience's circumstances.

Be personally involved!

Identify with your audience personally.

Clear business logic

Show that the presentation … are based on your and their professional needs.

A lack of planning is likely to lead to failure. Of course, effective planning is something we always aim to do but never quite … .

There's always a convenient distraction, whether it's that urgent business proposal to write, set of figures to submit or phone call to make. And anyway, there's usually enough time on the morning of the presentation to throw … slides together from last year's collection of Power Point presentations.

Forget it! A presentation should be viewed as a product to be delivered to an important customer, … , the audience. It's an offering that has to be developed very carefully to meet very specific requirements.

Luckily, there are plenty of ideas to help you prepare that special offering, so that you can satisfy, perhaps even … , your waiting customers, whether they are external buyers of your company's products or internal colleagues to whom you have to deliver timely information.

Some people love to plan: they love to structure, to research details, to minimise risks. Others enjoy the risks and … of improvisation; they work with their creativity during the moment.

The starting point for effectiveness for any international presenter is to develop sensitivity to your own approach and its potential consequences for your audience. Rate your own attitude to … on this scale.

However, your excessive sensitivity makes you highly emotional and vulnerable to … .