Effective Public Speaking

When you are giving a presentation, your job is to not only present the facts but also to give the reasons (why), the purpose (objectives) and the results.

In a presentation, the language used is often very simple, much simpler than if we were writing.

For example:

Reason:

• We sold the land because we needed to release the cash.
• We closed the offices in London because they were too expensive to run.

Purpose:

• We set up the team to look at possible ways to improve efficiency.
• We sold the land to get necessary capital for investment.

Result:

• We sold the land and had enough cash to invest in new equipment.
• We expanded the sales network and sales increased.

When we really want to focus the attention of our audience on an important point, we can use this “What ……. is ….”

Look at these examples:

• We must cut costs.
• What we must do is cut costs.

• We need more reliable suppliers.
• What we need is more reliable suppliers.

Presentations are more interesting if you use a conversational style. They are more lively and you establish a rapport between you and your audience. You can do this by using a question and answer technique – you ask a question and then answer it. Your questions create anticipation and guide your audience to your point of view.

For example:
Late delivery is a big problem. What is the best solution? There are two possible solutions. First …

Here are some exercises to help you practice this technique: 

ere are some ways of dealing with questions when you are the SPEAKER:

When you don’t want to answer:

• To be honest, I’m not really the person to ask about that.

When someone interrupts you:

• Sorry, could I just finish?

When you finally understand what they want to know:

• Oh I see. So what you are asking is …

When you realise they don’t understand what you said:

• Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. What I was trying to say was …

If you don’t want to tell everyone:

• Perhaps we can talk about it when I have finished.

To close off the presentation:

• If there are no more questions, we should stop there.

Here are some ways of getting an answer when you are the QUESTIONER:

When the answer doesn’t give you the information you want:

• Yes, that may be so, but what I want to know is …

When the answer is evasive:

• Yes, but you still haven’t answered my question.

If you are sceptical and want more detail:

• Well, I’m not so sure. Can you give us an example to illustrate that?

If you don’t agree: 

• That may be so, but I still think …

Here are some useful expressions for when you are making a presentation or talk, perhaps in a meeting or in a congress or perhaps more informally in a discussion around the coffee machine. Or, if you work at Google, over the table football or going down the slide 

Are there any questions?

That is all I have to say. Are there any questions? 

That’s a good question.  This is a good way of giving yourself time to think.

That’s a good question. Let me think about it for a moment.

As I said earlier, ..….

As I said earlier, we are looking at several different solutions.

I’m afraid I can’t answer that.

I’m afraid I can’t answer that. That information is still confidential.

I’m afraid I don’t know.

That’s a good question. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer. We are still investigating.

I’m not in a position to answer that.  This is a great way of ‘blocking’ questions.

I’m not in a position to answer that.  You will have to ask Peter about that.

Sometimes you can only ask questions at the end of a presentation. In that case, you need to refer back to the point in the talk you need clarification on. Here are some useful expressions to help you do that:

First focus on the point you want to discuss

You talked about

You talked about the problems with the Glasgow office.

You told us about

You told us about the success of the new Singapore plant.

You dealt with

You dealt with the difficulties with the new system quite quickly.

You described

You described the reaction of the workers to the changes as ‘broadly positive’.

You commented on

You commented on the problems with the euro.

You referred to

You referred to the poor economic outlook.

You mentioned

You mentioned the drop in sales in Europe.

Then ask for clarification

Could you tell us

Could you tell us why you did that?

Could you tell us if you think that was the right thing to do?

Could you explain

Could you explain why you said that?

Could you explain the thinking behind that?

These set phrases can be very useful

Could you be a bit more specific?

Could you give us more details?

Could you elaborate on that?

Sometimes you can only ask questions at the end of a presentation. In that case, you need to refer back to the point in the talk you need clarification on. Here are some useful expressions to help you do that:

First focus on the point you want to discuss

You talked about

You talked about the problems with the Glasgow office.

You told us about

You told us about the success of the new Singapore plant.

You dealt with

You dealt with the difficulties with the new system quite quickly.

You described

You described the reaction of the workers to the changes as ‘broadly positive’.

You commented on

You commented on the problems with the euro.

You referred to

You referred to the poor economic outlook.

You mentioned

You mentioned the drop in sales in Europe.

Then ask for clarification

Could you tell us

Could you tell us why you did that?

Could you tell us if you think that was the right thing to do?

Could you explain

Could you explain why you said that?

Could you explain the thinking behind that?

These set phrases can be very useful

Could you be a bit more specific?

Could you give us more details?

Could you elaborate on that?

When we are talking to somebody, we don’t always understand everything they say.

There are two useful techniques for dealing with this.

Firstly, we can simply ask them to repeat what they said.

• Could you say that again please?
• I didn’t follow that. Could you repeat it?

Secondly, we can ask them to say again a specific piece of information.

• What time did you say?
• Where exactly are we to meet?

Sometimes you want to soften the impact of what you are saying and give it less importance. Here are some ways to do that:

Little

The quality could have been a little better.
The speaker should have spoken a little louder.

Slight

There is a slight problem we need to deal with.
I have a slight doubt about John’s suitability for the job.

Minor

I have a minor reservation about this plan.
There are a few minor problems still to be dealt with.

Fairly

There are some fairly important changes still to be made.
I think that I have a fairly good understanding of your problems.

Quite

I quite like it but no more than that.
This is quite a good way to do this.

Not quite

He isn’t quite as good as he thinks he is.
I’m not quite sure that we are on the right lines.

Partially

He has been partially successful with his demands but he didn’t get everything he wanted.
It is partially finished but there is still a lot to do.

Occasional

There are occasional errors in his work.
Everybody makes occasional mistakes.

Rather

He is rather aggressive.
This is rather too complicated. It is difficult to understand.

More or less

The report is more or less finished. I just need to read through it again.
He is more or less useless. Cannot get anything right.

Emphasizing 2

Here is some more language to help you make your presentation more persuasive and make your points stronger :

openly admit

I openly admit that I have made mistakes.
If they openly admit that they were at fault, they may get the public back on their side.

totally agree

I totally agree with what Susan said.
I totally agree with the previous speaker.

strongly recommend

I strongly recommend that we invest in the Beijing project.
The consultants strongly recommend  that we pull out of the US completely.

firmly believe

We firmly believe that this company has an excellent future ahead of it.
I firmly believe that I am the best candidate for the job.

positively encourage

I would like to positively encourage you to apply for the post.
I want to positively encourage you to continue with what you are doing.

fully appreciate

I fully appreciate that investing in the current economic climate is a risk.
We fully appreciate the efforts you have made on our behalf.

categorically deny

I categorically deny that I did anything wrong.
My client categorically denies all the charges.  

absolutely refuse

I absolutely refuse to continue with this.
I absolutely refuse to consider the possibility of failure. 

Make your presentation more persuasive by making your points stronger. Here is some language to help you: 

 a total disaster

The whole project was a total disaster from beginning to end.

extremely good

We have an extremely good chance of getting the contract.

a terrible mistake

It wasn’t a minor error. It was a terrible mistake and cost us millions to put right.

much cheaper

Even if we had taken five per cent off our prices, we wouldn’t have got the contract. They were much cheaper than us.

one hundred per cent certain

There is not the slightest doubt. I am one hundred per cent certain that that is what happened.

highly competitive

This is a highly competitive market. I am not sure we should enter it.

far too expensive

The Chinese and Koreans can offer much lower prices. We are far too expensive.

even better

Their previous smart phone was good but this is even better.

fully aware

I am fully aware of all the risks but I still think we should do it.

absolutely no chance

There is absolutely no chance that we will lose the contract. They love our work.

When we are giving lots of information, we often use visuals to give an overview. However, we often need to highlight only one or two key points or figures and then comment on them. Here’s some language to help you. 

When we talk about changes, we often need to point out how big or rapid these changes have been. To do this, we need to use adjectives. 

When we are giving a presentation, we often talk about changes. Usually we illustrate these changes with visual aids to show these changes. We need, however, to explain these changes. To do this, we need special verbs

It is important to state your purpose clearly at the beginning of your talk. Here are some ways to do this:

talk about = to speak about a subject

• Today I’d like to talk about our plans for the new site.
• I’m going to be talking to you about the results of our survey.

report on = to tell you about what has been done.

• I’m going to be reporting on our results last quarter.
• Today I will be reporting on the progress we have made since our last meeting.

take a look at = to examine

• First, let’s take a look at what we have achieved so far.
• Before we go on to the figures, I’d like to take a look at the changes we have made.

tell you about = to speak to someone to give them information or instructions

• First, I will tell you about the present situation, then go onto what we are going to do.
• When I have finished, Jack will then tell you about what is happening in Europe.

show = to explain something by doing it or by giving instructions.

• The object of this morning’s talk is to show you how to put the theory into practice.
• Today I’m going to show you how to get the most out of the new software.

outline = to give the main facts or information about something.

• I’d like to outline the new policy and give you some practical examples.
• I will only give you a brief outline and explain how it affects you.

fill you in on = to give some extra or missing information

• I’d like to quickly fill you in on what has happened. 
• When I have finished outlining the policy, Jerry will fill you in on what we want you to do.

give an overview of = to give a short description with general information but no details.

• Firstly, I would like to give you a brief overview of the situation.
• I’ll give you an overview of our objectives and then hand over to Peter for more details.

highlight = draw attention to or emphasize the important fact or facts.

• The results highlight our strengths and our weaknesses.
• I’d now like to go on to highlight some of the advantages that these changes will bring.

discuss = to talk about ideas or opinions on a subject in more detail.

• I’m now going to go on to discuss our options in more detail.
• After a brief overview of the results, I’d like to discuss the implications in more detail.

When we really want to focus the attention of our audience on an important point, we can use this “What ……. is ….”

Look at these examples:

• We must cut costs.
• What we must do is cut costs.

• We need more reliable suppliers.
• What we need is more reliable suppliers.

If you get your facts wrong.

• I am terribly sorry. What I meant to say was this. 
• Sorry. What I meant is this. 

If you have been going too fast and your audience is having trouble keeping up with you. 

• Let me just recap on that. 
• I want to recap briefly on what I have been saying. 

If you have forgotten to make a point. 

• Sorry, I should just mention one other thing. 
• If I can just go back to the previous point, there is something else that I forgot to mention. 

If you have been too complicated and want to simplify what you said. 

• So, basically, what I am saying is this. 
• So, basically, the point I am trying to get across is this. 

If you realize that what you are saying makes no sense. 

• Sorry, perhaps I did not make that quite clear. 
• Let me rephrase that to make it quite clear. 

If you cannot remember the term in English. 

• Sorry, what is the word I am looking for? 
• Sorry, my mind has gone blank. How do 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 a quick summary of the main points.

In modern English, Presentations tend to be much less formal than they were even twenty years ago. Most audience these days prefer a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain structure to the opening of a Presentation that you should observe.

1. Get people’s attention
2. Welcome them
3. Introduce yourself
4. State the purpose of your presentation
5. State how you want to deal with questions

Get people’s attention

• If I could have everybody’s attention. 
• If we can start. 
• Perhaps we should begin? 
• Let’s get started.

Welcome them

• Welcome to Microsoft. 
• Thank you for coming today. 
• Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. 
• On behalf of Intel, I’d like to welcome you.

Introduce yourself

• My name’s Jane Shaw. I’m responsible 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 public relations. 
• I’m the new Marketing Manager.

State the purpose of your presentation

• This morning I’d like to present our new processor. 
• Today I’d like to discuss our failures in the Japanese market and suggest a new approach. 
• This afternoon, I’d like to report on my study into the German market. 
• What I want to do this morning is to talk to you about our new mobile telephone system. 
• What I want to do is to tell you about our successes and failures in introducing new working patterns. 
• What I want to do is to show you how we’ve made our first successful steps in the potentially huge Chinese market. 

State how you want to deal with questions.

• If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them as we go along. 
• Feel free to ask any questions. 
• Perhaps we can leave any questions you have until the end? 
• There will be plenty of time for questions at the end. 

Of course, these are only suggestions and other language is possible. Even within this limited group of phrases, just choose a few you feel comfortable with and learn and use those.