HOW TO GIVE AN ORAL

PRESENTATION IN ENGLISH

Giving an oral presentation on any topic is a standard requirement in many courses.  When your presentation must be in English,  you may get scared if you do not feel confident enough in that language. However,  you can make an effective and engaging job by following a few key steps:

   1 . PLANNING AND STRUCTURING: 

•   If the topic is free choice,  choose a subject you feel confident about.
•  Brainstorm the chosen topic for your presentation.
•   Select the main ideas that will be focus of your presentation,  i.e.,  the relevant points that are most likely to interest the audience.  
•    Organise an initial draft with the main ideas already selected,  bearing in mind that in order to form a coherent structure, there should be an Introduction (your name. a question  or fact related to the presentation), a Development (main points of your topic) and a final Conclusion (a brief summary of the ideas previously presented).
•   Plan how many slides are needed for your presentation. Organise the content to be included and select visual aids (photos, drawings, charts, graphs...)

2. ELABORATION:  

•  Research your topic: gather the necessary information to support your points.

•    Write in simple and clear sentences the contents of the presentation, taking into account the time you will be given to present.

•   Design compelling slides to illustrate the content of the presentation.  You  can  use applications such as Powerpoint, Prezi, Genially or similar. Choose  a clear format and font size that can be easily read by the audience, use headlines that state the main point of the slide, keep the slides simple using bullet points and short sentences, and add audiovisual content -not excessive- that will make the presentation more appealing.  

•    Write some supporting notes with basic ideas and/or an outline to remember during the oral presentation. 
•  Dispose all the technological devices (pen-drive, computer, etc.) you will need, and,  before presenting,  check that they  work properly. If technology fails at the last minute, use your supporting notes.
•   Memorise  and  rehearse your presentation as  many  times  as necessary to fit the given time limit and to build confidence.  

•  Anticipate possible questions you may be asked at the end of the presentation and prepare the answers.  

   3. PRESENTING: 

•   It is a good idea to start your presentation with a question or something that will catch the attention or curiosity of your audience. 

•   Never  read  instead of speaking from memory (use your supporting notes if necessary).

• Speak slowly, vocalise, vary tone and pitch and pace to emphasize important points so that your audience stays enganged.

• These expressions can be useful for your presentation: 

• To introduce the topic of the presentation: 

• I'm going to talk about...

• The aim of my presentation is to…

• I've divided my presentation into... (three parts)

• First, I'd like to...

• Second, I'll talk about...

• Then, I'll deal with...

• After that, I´ll focus on...

• Finally… 

• To introduce each section of the presentation: 

• So, let's start with...

• Now let's move on to...

• To refer to previous or subsequent content:

• I mentioned earlier ...

• I'll say more about this later… 

• To check understanding: 

• Is that clear?

• Are there any questions? 

• To refer to visual material:

• This picture/slide/graph shows...

• If you look at the picture, you can see...

• What is interesting in this slide is... 

• To conclude:

• In conclusion,…

• In summary,…

• To summarize,…

• To conclude,…

• Thank you for your attention.

• Do you have any questions or comments?

• If you have any questions I'd be pleased to answer them/I'll do my best to answer them... 

• Engage with your audience: make eye contact, ask questions and encourage interaction. At the same time, use your body language appropriately by showing  natural movements. 

•      Remember that following the above steps is the key to a successful oral presentation.