3: Hi, my name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson I'm going to show you how to give a presentation

9: in English more effectively. Okay? Now, of course giving a presentation is never easy,

17: especially when it is in another language which is not your native language -- you're

21: going to face some special challenges. And as a corporate trainer who has worked with

26: people from all over the world, I can tell you that giving a presentation is difficult,

32: but it is also one of the most effective ways to improve your English and also to increase

40: your level of confidence as a professional speaking in English. Okay? So let's look at

46: some of the strategies that you can follow in order to give a presentation that is more

51: successful. All right, so I've divided the board into

56: two sections; the first part is things that you should do, and in the second part we'll

62: talk about things you should not do. So the first thing that you must remember when you're

69: speaking in English and giving a presentation is to use simple language. Many people feel

77: that their English is not good enough and so they try to use very complicated words.

83: However, if you're not comfortable with those words or you're not sure of the meaning of

87: those words, it's not going to go over very well. Simple, clear communication is powerful,

94: so try to remember that point. Okay? Next: speak slowly. Because you have an accent

103: -- and everyone has an accent --, but perhaps if you have an accent and English is not your

110: native language, it's going to be a little bit harder for people to understand you so

114: you need to speak much more slowly than you think. So however slowly you think you're

121: speaking, speak a little more slowly. It will only make it easier for other people to understand

129: exactly what you're saying. Okay? All right. The next point is to make sure to have your

136: visuals professionally edited. Make sure that a native English speaker or an editor has

145: checked all your visuals. There is nothing that compromises the professionalism of a

152: presentation more than seeing grammatical errors or spelling errors in the visuals.

159: So make sure to have your visuals professionally edited.

164: The next thing you want to do is to make sure to use more verbs rather than nouns. When

173: you use a lot of nouns it makes... It makes anything that you hear much heavier and difficult

180: to understand. Let me give you a little example of that. Okay? One second. Okay, so for example,

188: if I say: "The delivery of the package took place on Sunday afternoon." That's okay. It's

197: not impossible to understand, but let's compare it to this: "The post office delivered the

203: package on Sunday afternoon." It's much easier in the second example because I used verbs

211: rather than nouns. Okay? Next point: use active verbs rather than passive

219: verbs. Let me give you another example. "5000 apartments were rented by ABC Housing last

229: month." That's an example of using passive verbs. "5000 apartments were rented", right?

238: Let's contrast that with the active verb. "ABC Housing rented 5000 apartments last month."

247: Okay? So you can see it's much easier when you use the active verbs.

253: The next point is if possible at all, try to work with a trainer. Try to work with a

262: professional English trainer or a presentations coach who can help you to improve your presentation

270: skills, who can give you feedback on how to improve; what mistakes you're making, what

276: are your strengths and weaknesses. It will be very, very helpful to you so try to do

282: that if you have the opportunity. Okay? The next point is to use a lot of transition

289: words in your presentation. This helps your listener to know where you're going. So you

296: can say, for example: "furthermore", "nevertheless", "on the contrary". These words explain to

306: your listener what you're trying to say with even more clarity than if you did not use

313: the words. So try to get accustomed to using transition words.

319: Another important point, especially in different parts of the world is to make sure to write

325: down any important numbers. You need to write them down so that people can see them clearly

333: and also because in some parts of the world, numbers are described or said in different

341: ways. So for example: this number is what? "One hundred thousand", but in India for example they call this "one lakh". So

358: one lakh is different from saying one hundred thousand. And if your audience is not familiar

364: with the term "one lakh" or with the term "one hundred thousand" then you want to make

370: sure you have written the number down so it is 100% clear. All right?

375: So these are examples of things you should do; now let's look at some things you should

381: not do. All right? Don't use abbreviations, or acronyms, or short forms of names of organizations

393: or anything else from your country which other people are not familiar with. Right? Say the

400: entire name and then afterwards you can use the abbreviation once you have explained it.

408: You also want to avoid jargon. Now, what is jargon? Jargon is the special kind of language

415: that people who are in a special, in a particular field use when they speak to each other. So

422: for example: if you listen to computer guys speaking to each other, you will feel like

427: you landed on another planet because they speak language that only they can understand.

433: So when you're speaking to a general audience, you want to avoid using jargon. Just use regular

440: plain English to explain what you mean, that way you will reach more members of your audience.

446: Okay? Also, make sure you avoid slang. Even though

452: you might hear native English speakers using slang in their presentations, it's best that

459: you don't use it, especially if you're not familiar with how to use it. The worst thing

464: is when we hear non-native English speakers using slang in an incorrect way because that

470: doesn't sound professional at all. All right? And another point is to avoid crutch words.

479: Now, what's a crutch word? For that you have to know: what's a crutch? Well, crutches are

485: what people use... you know, for example: if someone has broken their leg, they might

489: use something like this to walk along and they, these crutches, these sticks support

495: them while they're walking let's say with a broken leg. Right? Similarly, when people

501: are nervous, they sometimes use sounds instead of words while they're thinking of the right

508: thought or word. So they might say: "Mm, ah, for example, uh, like, uh, yeah", and things

518: like that. These are crutch words and they're often used by people who are not sure what

524: word to say next. So avoid crutch words or sounds. Silence is okay if you're thinking.

533: So while you're thinking, try to keep your mouth closed and avoid these crutch sounds.

538: So these are some basic DOs and DON'Ts -- right? -- for giving a presentation in English. There

546: are many other aspects of giving a presentation in English and I'm going to write some of

550: those for you on the board.

555: Okay, so here are some other skills that you

558: need to master in order to give a successful presentation in English. You'll find lots

564: of information on this and other strategies on our website: www.presentationprep.com . There

571: you can learn how to, for example, overcome fear. It's very natural for you to feel a

577: lot of fear when you are presenting in a language which is not your native language. Everybody,

583: or many people, feel afraid in giving a presentation in general, but when you do it in English

589: it's a little bit more challenging. So you'll learn some mental strategies, psychological

595: strategies, and physical strategies to really help you with this aspect of the fear.

600: You'll also learn how to use body language more effectively. In different cultures, body

605: language means different things, so it's really important to learn how to use body language

610: effectively in an international context. You'll also learn how to structure your presentation

617: for greater clarity. Okay? Also important to be able to handle the question and answer

625: session effectively. That's an important ending of your presentation. So especially if your

632: presentation has gone well, you want to be completely in command during your question

636: and answer session. So you'll learn some effective strategies for doing that. And last but not

644: least, you'll also learn how to... you'll also be able to print out presentation templates

650: which you can actually use when you're doing your next presentation. So for that, go to

656: our website www.presentationprep.com . It's a free website. www.presentationprep.com . All

668: the best with your presentations!