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Robert esex.jpisearchey
'Delivery' refers to the way in which you actually deliver or perform or give your presentation. Delivery is a vital aspect of all presentations. Delivery is at least as important as content, especially in a multi-cultural context.
Nerves
Most speakers are a little nervous at the beginning of a presentation. So it is normal if you are nervous. The answer is to pay special attention to the beginning of your presentation. First impressions count. This is the time when you establish a rapport with your audience. During this time, try to speak slowly and calmly. You should perhaps learn your introduction by heart. After a few moments, you will relax and gain confidence.
Audience Rapport
You need to build a warm and friendly relationship with your audience. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are enthusiastic your audience will be enthusiastic too. And be careful to establish eye contact with each member of your audience. Each person should feel that you are speaking directly to him or her. This means that you must look at each person in turn - in as natural a way as possible. This will also give you the opportunity to detect signs of boredom, disinterest or even disaGREement, allowing you to modify your presentation as appropriate.
Your objective is to communicate!
Body Language
What you do not say is at least as important as what you do say. Your body is speaking to your audience even before you open your mouth. Your clothes, your walk, your glasses, your haircut, your expression - it is from these that your audience forms its first impression as you enter the room. Generally speaking, it is better to stand rather than sit when making a presentation. Be aware of and avoid any repetitive and irritating gestures. Be aware, too, that the movement of your body is one of your methods of control. When you move to or from the whiteboard, for example, you can move fast or slowly, raising or reducing the dynamism within the audience. You can stand very still while talking or you can stroll from side to side. What effect do you think these two different approaches would have on an audience?
Cultural Considerations
Because English is so widely used around the world, it is quite possible that many members of your audience will not be native English-speakers. In other words, they will not have an Anglo-Saxon culture. Even within the Anglo-Saxon world, there are many differences in culture. If we hypothetically imagine a German working for an Israeli company making a presentation in English to a Japanese audience in Korea, we can see that there are even more possibilities for cultural misunderstanding. You should try to learn about any particular cultural matters that may affect your audience. This is one reason why preparation for your presentation is so important. Cultural differences can also be seen in body language, which we have just discussed. To a Latin from Southern France or Italy, a presenter who uses his hands and arms when speaking may seem dynamic and friendly. To an Englishman, the same presenter may seem unsure of his words and lacking in self-confidence.
Voice quality
It is, of course, important that your audience be able to hear you clearly throughout your presentation. Remember that if you turn away from your audience, for example towards the whiteboard, you need to speak a little more loudly. In general, you should try to vary your voice. Your voice will then be more interesting for your audience. You can vary your voice in at least three ways:
speed: you can speak at normal speed, you can speak faster, you can speak more slowly - and you can stop completely! You can pause. This is a very good technique for gaining your audience's attention.
intonation: you can change the pitch of your voice. You can speak in a high tone. You can speak in a low tone.
volume: you can speak at normal volume, you can speak loudly and you can speak quietly. Lowering your voice and speaking quietly can again attract your audience's interest.
the important point is not to speak in the same, flat, monotonous voice throughout your presentation - this is the voice that hypnotists use to put their patients' into trance!
Visual aids
Of all the information that enters our brains, the vast majority of it enters through the eyes. 80% of what your audience learn during your presentation is learned visually (what they see) and only 20% is learned aurally (what they hear). The significance of this is obvious:
visual aids are an extremely effective means of communication
non-native English speakers need not worry so much about spoken English - they can rely more heavily on visual aids
It is well worth spending time in the creation of good visual aids. But it is equally important not to overload your audience's brains. Keep the information on each visual aid to a minimum - and give your audience time to look at and absorb this information. Remember, your audience have never seen these visual aids before. They need time to study and to understand them. Without understanding there is no communication.
Audience Reaction
Remain calm and polite if you receive difficult or even hostile questions during your presentation. If you receive particularly awkward questions, you might suggest that the questioners ask their questions after your presentation.
Language
Say what you are going to say,
Simplicity and Clarity
If you want your audience to understand your message, your language must be simple and clear.
Use short words and short sentences.
Do not use jargon, unless you are certain that your audience understands it.
In general, talk about concrete facts rather than abstract ideas.
Use active verbs instead of passive verbs. Active verbs are much easier to understand. they are much more powerful. Consider these two sentences, which say the same thing:
Toyota sold two million cars last year.
Two million cars were sold by Toyota last year.
Which is easier to understand? Which is more immediate? Which is more powerful? N°1 is active and N°2 is passive.
Signposting
When you drive on the roads, you know where you are on those roads. Each road has a name or number. Each town has a name. And each house has a number. If you are at house N° 100, you can go back to N° 50 or forward to N° 150. You can look at the signposts for directions. And you can look at your atlas for the structure of the roads in detail. In other words, it is easy to navigate the roads. You cannot get lost. But when you give a presentation, how can your audience know where they are? How can they know the structure of your presentation? How can they know what is coming next? They know because you tell them. Because you put up signposts for them, at the beginning and all along the route. This technique is called 'signposting' (or 'signalling').
During your introduction, you should tell your audience what the structure of your presentation will be. You might say something like this:
"I'll start by describing the current position in Europe. Then I'll move on to some of the achievements we've made in Asia. After that I'll consider the opportunities we see for further expansion in Africa. Lastly, I'll quickly recap before concluding with some recommendations."
A member of the audience can now visualize your presentation like this:
Introduction
Welcome
Explanation of structure (now)
Body
Europe
Asia
Africa
Conclusion
Summing up
Recommendations
He will keep this image in his head during the presentation. He may even write it down. And throughout your presentation, you will put up signposts telling him which point you have reached and where you are going now. When you finish Europe and want to start Asia, you might say:
"That's all I have to say about Europe. Let's turn now to Asia."
When you have finished Africa and want to sum up, you might say:
"Well, we've looked at the three continents Europe, Asia and Africa. I'd like to sum up now."
And when you finish summing up and want to give your recommendations, you might say:
"What does all this mean for us? Well, firstly I recommend..."
the table below lists useful expressions that you can use to signpost the various parts of your presentation.
Signposting
Function Language Introducing the subject
I'd like to start by...
Let's begin by...
First of all, I'll...
Starting with...
I'll begin by...
Finishing one subject...
Well, I've told you about...
That's all I have to say about...
We've looked at...
So much for...
...and starting another
Now we'll move on to...
Let me turn now to...
Next...
Turning to...
I'd like now to discuss...
Let's look now at...
Analysing a point and giving recommendations
Where does that lead us?
Let's consider this in more detail...
What does this mean for ABC?
Translated into real terms...
Giving an example
For example,...
A good example of this is...
As an illustration,...
To give you an example,...
To illustrate this point...
Dealing with questions
We'll be examining this point in more detail later on...
I'd like to deal with this question later, if I may...
I'll come back to this question later in my talk...
Perhaps you'd like to raise this point at the end...
I won't comment on this now...
Summarising and concluding
In conclusion,...
Right, let's sum up, shall we?
I'd like now to recap...
Let's summarise briefly what we've looked at...
Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues we've covered...
If I can just sum up the main points...
Ordering
Firstly...secondly...thirdly...lastly...
First of all...then...next...after that...finally...
To start with...later...to finish up...