The terminology of presentations

Breakout session Splitting the entire group into smallergroups to hear special interest publicspeaking topics

A microphone which works by transmittingradio signals to a receiver which isconnected to the public address (PA)system. Cordless microphone Wireless Microphone

Dais, Podium, Riser, Stage orPlatform. A raised platform in the front of theroom where the speaker stands. AlsoPodium, Riser, Stage or Platform.

The main speech at a meeting delivered toall attendees in a general session. Originallythe main point of a speech. Keynote

Localization and personalization The process of changing details of astory or joke to suit the intendedaudience

Moderator Person who presides over a meeting,panel, or debate.

Device used to project images fromtransparent film onto a screen or thewall. Overhead projector

Oxymoron Two concepts {usually two words}that do not go together, but are usedtogether like old news, extensivebriefing, direct circumvention andrandom order.

Panel A group of presenters, normallyseated, that hold a discussion on aparticular subject. Audience membersare invited to pose questions toindividual presenters or to the groupas a whole.

Prompter A device used to electronicallydisplay a magnified version of thescript the speaker can see, but theaudience can't. (Commonly called aTelePrompter, which is actually aregistered trade name.)

Public domain Material that anyone can use withoutthe need to give credit.

Punch line The climactic word or phrase of ahumorous statement that provokeslaughter.

Rehearse To practice for a presentation until allthe rough spots are smoothed.

The location of the meeting. Venue Site

A person who speaks for or representsa company, organization or otherperson. Spokesperson

hour to many days. Usually includes handsonpractice in the particular skills beingtaught. Workshop

Get people's attention If I could have everybody's attention. If we can start. Perhaps we should begin? Let's get started.

Introduce yourself My name's Jane Shaw. I'mresponsible for travel arrangements. For those of you who don't know me,my name's Tom Stotter. As you know, I'm in charge of publicrelations.

State how you want to deal withquestions. If you have any questions, I'll behappy to answer them as we goalong. Feel free to ask any questions. Perhaps we can leave any questionsyou have until the end? There will be plenty of time forquestions at the end.

you want to make your nextpoint Moving on to the next point. I’d like to move on to the next point ifthere are no further questions

you want to change to acompletely different topic I’d like to turn to somethingcompletely different. Let’s turn now to our plans for nextyear.

you want to give more detailsabout a topic you I’d like to expand more on thisproblem we have had in Chicago. Would you like me to expand a littlemore on that or have you understoodenough? I don’t want to elaborate any more onthat as I’m short of time.

you want to talk aboutsomething which is off the topicof your presentation I’d like to digress here for a momentand just say a word of thanks to Bobfor organizing this meeting. Digressing for a moment, I’d like tosay a few words about our problemsin Chicago.

you want to refer back to anearlier point, Going back to something I saidearlier, the situation in Chicago isserious. I’d like to go back to something Jennysaid in her presentation

to give a wider view Those are the basics, now I willexpand on …

to do a deeper analysis Is that sufficient or should I elaborateon …

to depart from your plan If I could I just digress for a second,…

to come back to the theme Let me come back to the main topic

To just give the outline of apoint If I could just summarize a few pointsfrom John’s report. I don’t have a lot of time left so I’mgoing to summarize the next fewpoints.

To repeat the main points ofwhat you have said I’d like to quickly recap the mainpoints of my presentation. Recapping quickly on what was saidbefore lunch,……

For your final remarks, I’d like to conclude by leaving youwith this thought …… If I may conclude by quoting KarlMarx …….

Survival Language

If you get your facts wrong. I am terribly sorry. What I meant tosay was this. Sorry. What I meant is this.

If you have been going too fast andyour audience is having troublekeeping up with you. Let me just recap on that. I want to recap briefly on what I havebeen saying.

If you have forgotten to make apoint. Sorry, I should just mention one otherthing. If I can just go back to the previouspoint, there is something else that Iforgot to mention.

If you have been toocomplicated and want tosimplify what you said. So, basically, what I am saying isthis. So, basically, the point I am trying toget across is this.

If you realize that what you aresaying makes no sense. Sorry, perhaps I did not make thatquite clear. Let me rephrase that to make it quiteclear.

If you cannot remember the termin English. Sorry, what is the word I am lookingfor? Sorry, my mind has gone blank. Howdo you say 'escargot' in English?

If you are short of time. So just to give you the main points. As we are short of time, this is just aquick summary of the main points.

Stating your purpose

talk about report on take a look at tell you about discuss Show Outline fill you in on give an overviewof highlight

talk about = to speak about a subject report on = to tell you about whathas been done. take a look at = to examine tell you about = to speak tosomeone to give them information orinstructions show = to explain something bydoing it or by giving instructions.

outline = to give the main facts orinformation about something. fill you in on = to give some extra ormissing information give an overview of = to give a shortdescription with general information butno details. highlight = draw attention to oremphasize the important fact or facts. discuss = to talk about ideas or opinions

talk about = to speak about asubject Today I'd like to talk about our plansfor the new site. I'm going to be talking to you aboutthe results of our survey.

eport on = to tell you about whathas been done. I'm going to be reporting on ourresults last quarter. Today I will be reporting on theprogress we have made since ourlast meeting.

take a look at = to examine First, let's take a look at what wehave achieved so far. Before we go on to the figures, I'd liketo take a look at the changes wehave made.

tell you about = to speak tosomeone to give them informationor instructions First, I will tell you about the presentsituation, then go onto what we aregoing to do. When I have finished, Jack will thentell you about what is happening inEurope.

show = to explain something bydoing it or by giving instructions. The object of this morning's talk is toshow you how to put the theory intopractice. Today I'm going to show you how toget the most out of the new software.

outline = to give the main facts orinformation about something. I'd like to outline the new policy andgive you some practical examples. I will only give you a brief outline andexplain how it affects you.

fill you in on = to give some extraor missing information I'd like to quickly fill you in on whathas happened. When I have finished outlining thepolicy, Jerry will fill you in on what wewant you to do.

give an overview of = to give a shortdescription with general information butno details. Firstly, I would like to give you a briefoverview of the situation. I'll give you an overview of ourobjectives and then hand over toPeter for more details.

highlight = draw attention to oremphasize the important fact orfacts. The results highlight our strengthsand our weaknesses. I'd now like to go on to highlight someof the advantages that these changeswill bring.

discuss = to talk about ideas oropinions on a subject in moredetail. I'm now going to go on to discussour options in more detail. After a brief overview of the results,I'd like to discuss the implications inmore detail.

More FriendlyOK, lets get started.Morning, everyone.Thanks for coming.I’m...As you know,...I’m in charge of...What I want to do thismorning is.......talk to you about...tell you about…and show you...Fairly FormalPerhaps we should begin.Good morning, ladies andgentlemen.On behalf of.....may I welcome youto...My name’s.......For those of you who don’t knowme....I’m responsible for........This morning Id like to.............discuss....................report on................and present...............

Techniques

EmphasisYou can change the significance ofwhat you say by stressing wordswhich would normally beunstressed or contracted

It’s our best chance of success. It is our best chance of success. We can’t go ahead with this. We cannot go ahead with this. Do we or don’t we believe this? Do we or do we not believe this?

Some emphatic expressionsvery common in presentations.strongly recommend totally rejectdeeply regretfreely admitsincerely hopeenthusiasticallyendorseutterly refuse readily accept categorically denyfully appreciatepositivelyencouragehonestly believe

Focusing I’m going to talk about … What I’m going to talk about is …

I’d like to ask you about … What I’d like to ask you about is …

QuestionsFunctionBeing positiveClarifyingAvoiding ananswerCheckingEncourageLanguageThat’s a very interesting/complex/pertinentquestion.Did I understand you correctly? Youwanted to know if …I’m not certain, but I’ll find out and letyou know.Did that answer your question?Are you sure there are no morequestions?

Using visual aidsIntroductionIntroducingCheckingExplanationAttentionMoving onGoing backReferring to figuresLanguageNow I’d like to show you …Can everybody see OK?As you can see, this chart shows that …The most important figure here is …Now, let’s take a look at the next diagram.Let’s take another look at the previous figure.If you look at the first column, you can see that…