Part 3. How to make presentations

Presentation is a special kind of communication with audience, people to whom you convey the matter of mutual interest.

What’s the Difference between a Speech and a Presentation?

First, speeches are more formal and are given to larger groups of people. No visuals are used, and no interaction with audience is possible.

Presentations are given to a narrow group of people, delivered on a special topic/ They are detail-focused and the speaker often comes into contact with the audience answering or even asking some questions.

What is the difference between a presentation and lawyer’s statement in court?

Presentation skills are extremely essential for lawyers to succeed professionally as a large part of lawyer’s work is public speaking.

However, statements lawyers make in court and for the court exclusively are logical, analytical and persuasive.

Though traditional presentation structure doesn’t match the layout and style of advocate’s statement in court the skills will be perfected during practising academic presentations and further professional communications.

Presentation skills include:

1. Preparation skills (ability to collect and process the material properly, making good notes and perfect slides)

2. Verbal presentation skills (correct pronunciation of terms, names, dates and figures; fluent speech with no pauses – no reading; signposting and making transitions between the presentation parts, highlighting the major points, drawing attention to the slides, using examples)

3. Non-verbal presentation skills (eye-contact; good posture; appropriate facial expression, few gestures with hands)

4. Question answering techniques (direct answers, no stammering and mumbling, knowing how to answer difficult questions)

5. Summarizing skills (making proper conclusions)

Presentation

Presentations may be given for different reasons, on different subjects and on various occasions, but the structure is always the same. There are three main sections:

• Introduction

• Main body ( 1,2, … points)

• Conclusion

You needn’t make the language of a presentation formal as in a report. What you really need is appropriate sequence markers, which will help to move from one point to another. Besides, logical connectors and textual links will serve to develop the ideas and convey them to the audience.

1 Introduction consists of the following points:

a) greeting the audience and introducing yourself.

• Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce myself …….

• Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m ……. from ……

b) introducing the topic: the purpose of the presentation, what the speaker is going to speak about

• Today I’m going to talk about …………

• I’ll be talking about …….

• The subject of my presentation is ……..

c) signposting – the order in which the presenter is going to develop the main idea.

• My presentation will be in …. parts

• I’ve divided my presentation into ….. parts.

• First / Firstly I’ll be talking about …..

• Secondly, I’ll move on to ……. / Then, I’m going to look at ……..

• Finally, I will / am going to ………

d) stating the rules

• I am going to answer the questions in the end.

• If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to interrupt me.

• If you’re not clear about anything, go ahead and ask any questions.

2. The main body of presentation.

Moving from one point to another:

• So, let’s get started.

• I’d like to go on to the next point which is ……..

• I’d like to move on to the next point …..

• Here I’ll turn to …….

• Now let’s look at …………..

Highlighting:

• I’d like to draw your attention to ………

• The main thing here is ……….

• It should be pointed out that ………

Language for using visuals

• This graph / chart shows you…

• Take a look at this…

• If you look at this, you will see…

• I'd like you to look at this…

Drawing conclusions of the ideas:

• This means that …..

• As you now can see ……….

• Consequently, ……………

3. Closing the talk:

• To sum up, ………..

• To finish I would like to say / remind you

• In conclusion, ……………

Task 1

Presentation

Read, highlight all the useful expressions.

Make up texts for the slides.

Hello, everybody. We appreciate your participation in our summer program for international students.

My name is Alice Blake, I’m a university Professor.

Today I’m going to speak about the US State structure.

My presentation is divided into three parts.

First, I’ll give an overview of the whole system. Then I’m going to be talking about the three branches of power. Finally, I’ll look at the policy of checks and balances. I am going to answer your questions afterwards.

So let’s get started.

The United States of America is a federal republic that consists of 50 states and one federal district, namely Washington District Columbia. It is important to understand that though the states form one nation, each of them has been vested with large powers by the US Constitution.

Let me quote here:

ARTICLE IV

SECTION 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records, and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Now I’d like to move on to the next point and to speak about the three branches of power. Take a look at this slide which illustrates the structure. You can see 3 Federal branches: legislative, executive and judicial, and below the State branches which are the same. I’d like to draw your attention to the role of these branches and turn to the slide Legislative branch. This graph outlines the functions of the Congress and mainly its chambers the House of Representatives and the Senate. The members of the Congress create laws and so do the legislatures of the states that also have their houses of representatives and senates.

.The next slide concerns the Executive Branch. The power of the Executive Branch is vested in the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress. The Vice President is also part of the Executive Branch, ready to assume the Presidency should the need arise. The Cabinet and independent federal agencies are responsible for the day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws.

And the last slide I’d like to draw your attention to is the diagram representing the structure of US courts and their subordination. The main thing to point out here is the fact that where the Executive and Legislative branches are elected by the people, members of the Judicial Branch are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. I’m going to speak about US court system at our next seminar.

Now I’d like to turn to the final part of my presentation – the principle of checks and balances.

It means that each branch of government is balanced by powers in the other two coequal branches: The President can veto the laws of the Congress; the Congress confirms or rejects the President's appointments and can remove the President from office in exceptional circumstances; and the justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

To conclude I’d like to say that it has been a rather brief review of the basic facts concerning US state structure.

So, I’m ready to answer your questions if you have any.

Task 2

Preparing a presentation

Prepare a presentation either about the UK Legislation Process or the USA legislative branch of power.

Use the requirements first to follow them and then to check if you’ve done it properly

Read the following requirements. Fill out the information about yourself. Comment on each point – what is meant by the statement, why it is necessary to do so etc.

	Not at all	Rarely	Some times	Often	Very Often
1. The visuals in my presentation match well with the information I'm communicating, and they help carry the speech.
2. To prepare for my presentation, I think carefully about the message I want to send
3. Before I present, I become familiar with the room and the space in which I'll be speaking
4. I plan and practice my presentation until I can speak comfortably and fluently
5. I assume my audience knows very little, and then I give them all the information they need
6.Anxiety gives me stress, and brings negative energy to my presentation
7. I encourage my audience to ask statements at the end of the presentation.
8. I pay attention to my nonverbal behavior, like facial expressions and eye contact, to make sure I stay engaged with the audience.
9. I use examples to support my points
10. My presentation takes longer than planned.
11. I focus on the main part of the presentation more than the beginning and end, because that's where most of the information is given.
12. I thoroughly prepare the slides to make them laconic, informative and illustrative

After you’ve made a presentation make proper assessment.

PRESENTATION ASSESSMENT

1 2 3 – very poor; 4 5 – poor; 6 7 – good; 8 9 10 – outstanding

1. Logical structure with introduction, signposting, the main body and conclusion.
2. Clear transition from one part to another
3. Highlighting the key points in the material with reference to the visuals.
4. Creative ideas are used for the presentation
5. The language involves the active vocabulary
6. The speaker speaks fluently, not stammering, without any pauses
7. The speaker avoids using difficult passages with many unknown words
8. Material of the slides is relevant to the ideas represented.
9. No long texts are used on the slides
10. The use of proper font and layout for the slides
11. The speaker looks confident, looks at the audience and does not read their notes
12. The presenter acts effectively in a team

REVIEW Look back at this UNIT’s parts and sections. What is the material that you best remember? What information has been new to you? What exercises have been most difficult? What exercises have been most interesting? What issues or matters have you scrutinized or would you like to scrutinize later yourself?