Présentation Orale Anglais

The Skills and Language of Making Presentations in English

A Handbook for Trainers and Students

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Before we start

2. Knowing your audience

3. A clear objective

4. Brainstorming and choosing material

5. Rhetorical questions

6. A strong introduction

7. A clear structure

8. Spoken language

9. Body language

10. Visual aids

11. Rehearsal

12. Making Notes

13. Summarising, concluding and closing

14. Asking for questions and answering them

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Before we start

Whether you are making presentations in English or in another language the

same basic techniques apply. Of course, the additional challenge you are

faced with is the language. How do you improve your presentation skills in

English? Well, the first step is to make sure that you have the basic skills

and techniques required in your own language, and then learn the language

needed to put these techniques into practice in English.

2. Knowing your audience

Knowing your audience is perhaps the single most important factor in any

presentation. Before you begin to plan what to include in your presentation,

find out as much as you can about the people you will be speaking to. Here

are some of the questions you should ask yourself:

* What do they know?

* What do they want to know?

* What are they interested in?

* Why are they attending my presentation?

* What type of language and jargon do they use?

Once you have answered these questions you will be better equipped to begin

planning what to include in your presentation. Should you begin planning

your presentation before you have satisfactory answers to the above

questions, you run the risk of including a lot of material that is not

relevant to your audience.

3. A clear objective

A clear objective is vital. The clearer you can be about your objective the

easier it will be for you to include relevant material.

* I'm here today to

* My purpose today is to

* What I want to do today is to give you some facts and figures.

* My objective today is to introduce British Petroleum's new services.

* My aim this morning is to

* My primary target is to

* My main priority is to

4. Brainstorming and choosing material

Once you have worked out your objective and have a good idea about who your

audience are, then you can begin collecting material and ideas to use in

your presentation. Sometimes you can even ask your audience directly the

points they wish you to cover!

Only include information which helps you reach your objective and which is

directly relevant to the audience. Use anecdotes where possible to involve

your audience, and analogies to simplify complicated ideas.

A good presentation is 90% preparation!

5. Rhetorical questions

In what other ways can you increase your audience's involvement? Well, why

not use rhetorical questions? Rhetorical questions are questions that are

asked not for information but to produce an effect. They are useful because

they help your audience to get involved.

Rhetorical Questions

* Can we achieve these targets by 1995?

* Can they increase sales?

* Can IBM solve these problems?

* So, who was responsible?

* So, what would you have done?

* So, what should we do?

* So, how much would it cost?

* Where did we go wrong?

6. A strong introduction

It is very important to have a strong introduction to your presentation and

to give your audience a reason for listening. You should rehearse your

introduction thoroughly; get it right and it will give you confidence and

your audience will want to listen. Here are some of the points you should

cover in your introduction:

* A greeting

...