1: Hi, I'm Gina.

3: Welcome to Oxford Online English!

6: In this lesson, you can learn how to make a presentation in English.

10: Do you have to make presentations in English in your job?

14: Imagine you have to give an important presentation in English tomorrow.

18: How would you feel about it?

21: This lesson will help you learn useful phrases and techniques to introduce yourself and your

25: topic, keep your ideas organised, deal with problems, and respond to questions from audience

31: members.

32: Imagine you're standing in front of your colleagues.

36: You need to introduce yourself and what your presentation is about.

42: What are some words and phrases you could use? Introduce yourself

48: If some people in the audience don't know who you are, you should introduce yourself

52: and your position.

54: In a more formal setting, you could say something like this:

59: Good morning everyone.

60: For those who don't know me, my name's Simon, and I work in the marketing department.

65: Or: Hello everybody.

67: Before we begin, let me introduce myself briefly: I'm Reese and I'm the head of HR.

73: If you work in a more informal company, you could say:

78: Hi guys; if you don't know me, I'm Sylvia and I work in digital marketing.

84: Or: Hello!

85: I see some new faces, so I'll introduce myself first: I'm Julia and I'm one of

91: our customer service team.

94: Next, you need to introduce your topic.

98: If your presentation topic is simpler, you could just say one sentence, like this:

102: Today, I'm going to be talking about our new HR policies and how they affect you.

108: Or: I'd like to talk to you today about quality control and why we're all responsible

114: for quality control, whichever department you work in.

118: If your topic is more complex, you might add more detail to break your idea into stages.

126: For example: I'll begin by outlining the policies, and

131: then I'll go on to highlight what they mean for you and your working habits.

136: Finally, I'll briefly discuss why we feel these new policies are necessary and beneficial

143: for us all.

145: Here's another example: First of all, I'll explain why ‘quality

149: control' has a broader meaning than you might expect.

152: I'll continue by giving examples of real quality control, and why this matters for

157: all of us.

159: To finish, I'll be asking you to think of ways you can incorporate quality control into

163: your working habits.

164: Here, you saw two examples.

168: You can use these as templates to begin your presentation:

172: I'll begin by… and then I'll…

179: Finally, I'll…

182: Or: First of all, I'll…

186: I'll continue by…

190: To finish, I'll…

193: Okay, now you can practice!

195: We'd like you to do two things.

199: First, practice introducing yourself informally, and explaining your topic in a simple way,

206: with one sentence.

210: Then, practice introducing yourself formally, and explaining your topic in a more detailed

217: way.

219: Pause the video and practice speaking.

223: All the language you need is in this section.

227: Ready?

229: Let's move on! Get peoples attention

234: I'm sure that in your life, you've heard good speakers and bad speakers.

239: Good speakers grab your attention and don't let go.

242: You want to hear what they have to say.

245: You feel interested and energised by listening to them.

249: Bad speakers are the opposite.

251: Even if you try to make yourself listen, you find that your attention drifts away.

256: Your eyelids feel heavy, and you have to struggle to stay awake.

260: So, here's a question: what's the difference between good speakers and bad speakers?

267: And, how can you make sure you speak effectively when you make your presentation in English?

273: Here's one way to think about it: bad speakers don't think they have to earn your attention.

281: Good speakers understand that no one has to listen to them, so they work hard to make

288: you want to pay attention.

291: What does this mean for you, and your presentation?

297: Getting people's attention starts from the beginning.

301: You need to make it clear what people should expect from your presentation, and why they

307: should care about what you have to say.

311: Sounds like a nice idea, but how do you do this?

316: Here are three techniques you can use.

318: One: establish a problem which many people in your audience have.

323: Then, establish that you have a solution to their problem.

328: For example:

330: Have you ever felt unfairly treated at work, or felt that the work you do isn't appreciated?

336: We've been working to design new HR policies that will make sure all staff get fair recognition

341: for their contribution to the company.

345: In this way, you take a boring-sounding topic like HR policies, and you make it more relevant

351: to your audience.

353: How?

354: By connecting it with their experiences and feelings.

358: The second technique?

360: Mention an interesting fact, or a surprising statistic to get people's attention.

367: For example:

368: Did you know that the average office worker spends eight hours a day at work, but only

374: does four hours of productive, useful work?

378: I'm here to tell you about ‘quality control', and how you can use this idea to make better

385: use of your time.

387: Finally, you can engage people by telling a short story and connecting it to your topic.

393: Stories are powerful, and they can add an emotional dimension to your topic if you do

397: it well.

399: For example:

401: I once met a young salesman—I won't mention his name.

405: He spent several weeks building a relationship with a potential client.

408: He worked overtime, and he was working so hard that he was under severe stress, which

413: started to affect his personal life.

416: In the end, he didn't close the deal—the clients signed with another firm.

421: Today, I'm going to talk about confidence as a sales tool, and how you can avoid the

426: traps that this young man fell into.

431: Use one of these three techniques in your introduction to connect with your audience

436: and show them why they should be interested in what you have to say.

440: Here's a question for you: which technique would you prefer to use, and why?

446: Okay, now you've introduced your topic and you have everyone's attention.

451: What next? signposting language

455: There's a famous quote about making presentations:

459: “Tell the audience what you're going to say; say it, and then tell them what you've

465: said.”

466: Have you heard this before?

468: Do you know who said it?

471: This comes from Dale Carnegie, a very successful American salesman and writer.

478: He lived a long time ago, but his advice is still relevant today.

483: So, here's a question: what does the quote mean?

489: It means that your presentation shouldn't just give information.

493: You also need to show people how your information is organized.

498: To do this, you need signposting language.

502: Let me give you an example to explain.

505: Imagine you go to a website.

507: The website is full of really useful, interesting information.

511: But, the information is all on one page.

514: There's no organization, and you have to scroll up and down, up and down this huge

519: page, trying to find what you need.

523: Would you stay on that website?

526: Probably not.

527: You'll find a website which makes it easier for you to find the information you need.

531: What's the point here?

534: The point is that having interesting or relevant information is not enough.

540: How you structure and organize your information is equally important.

545: If you don't structure your presentation clearly, people won't pay attention, just

551: like you won't stay on a website if you can't find the information you want.

556: So, how can you do this?

560: You use signposting language.

563: This means using words and phrases to show the audience where your points begin and end,

571: to show what's coming next, and to remind them about things you talked about before.

577: For example:

578: Okay, that covers the new policies.

581: Next, I'd like to move on and discuss what these policies mean for you.

587: Or: Now that you've heard a bit about what not to do, let's focus on positive advice

592: to help you be more effective salespeople and close more of your leads.

598: When you say something like this, you aren't giving people information about the topic

602: of your presentation.

603: Instead, you're showing people where you are, and where you're going next.

608: It's a kind of signpost.

611: You don't need signposts to travel from one place to another, but they can make it

615: easier.

617: What else can you use signposting language for?

621: You can use signposting language to move from one point to the next.

627: For example:

628: Next, I'd like to talk about…

634: Let's move on and discuss…

639: Or: At this point, I'd like to turn to…

645: You can use signposting language to add detail to an idea:

650: Let me go into some more detail about…

653: Let's examine … in more depth.

656: Or: I'd like to elaborate on…

661: You can use signposting language to show that you've finished your main points, and you've

667: reached your conclusion:

669: To wrap up, let's remind ourselves of why this should matter to everyone here.

677: Let's review the key points from this session.

681: So, you've heard what I have to say.

685: What conclusions can you take away from this?

690: If you have an important presentation in English, practice using signposting language.

697: Use signposting language to move between points, to show when you're giving a summary or

703: going into more detail, and to signal that you've reached your conclusion.

709: Okay, but things don't always go so smoothly in real life.

716: We know that!

718: Let's look at some advice and language for dealing with problems during your presentation. problems

727: Imagine you're making your presentation in English.

730: What could go wrong?

731: What problems could you have?

735: There are many common problems:

738: You might forget where you were, or forget an important word.

741: You might realise that you said something wrong, or you didn't explain something clearly.

747: You might forget to mention something important.

749: Or, someone might ask you an awkward question, which you have no idea how to answer.

755: Of course, there are other possibilities!

758: Let's think about these problems.

760: What can you do, and more importantly, what can you say in these situations?

767: First of all, it's a good idea to make a cue card with key points, as well as any important

774: vocabulary you need.

776: If you lose your place, or you forget a word, it could help.

781: However, you can't prepare for everything.

785: So, it's useful to learn some phrases to deal with problems smoothly.

792: If you lose your place, and can't remember what to say next, you can use a filler phrase

798: like:

800: Where was I?

802: So, what was I saying?

804: What's the word in English again?

808: If you still can't remember, look at your cue card with your main points.

815: Of course, forgetting something isn't ideal.

819: But, if you do, it's better to keep talking, rather than just standing there in silence.

827: What if you make a mistake, or you realise that you didn't explain something well?

833: You could say:

835: Let me rephrase that.

837: Actually, what I meant to say is…

840: To clarify, I wanted to say that…

845: In this way, you can correct yourself without admitting that you made a mistake!

851: What if you realise that you forgot to mention something important?

855: Use a phrase like this:

857: Let me just add one more thing:…

860: I'd like to add something to a point we discussed earlier.

866: Let me return to an earlier point briefly.

869: Again, this allows you to correct your mistake in a confident way, so you look like you're

876: in control.

878: Finally, what do you do if someone asks you a difficult question, which you can't answer?

887: You have a few options.

888: First, you can delay giving an answer.

892: For example:

894: I've allocated time for questions at the end of this session, so we'll address your

898: idea later.

899: Or: I'm not in a position to answer that right now, but I'll get back to you later

904: this week.

906: This gives you time to think of an answer and do some research if you have to!

910: Next, you can deflect the question, by asking a question back, or maybe by asking other

918: audience members what they think.

921: For example:

922: That's an interesting question.

925: Before I answer, I'd like to know: what's your take on this?

930: Or: You've raised an important point there.

934: What does everyone else think about this?

937: Finally, if the question is irrelevant, you can dismiss the question and move on.

943: For example:

944: Thanks for your input, but I don't see how that's connected to what I'm saying.

949: I don't mean to be blunt, but I don't think that's relevant to today's discussion.

956: Notice how you can use phrases like thanks for your input, but… or I don't mean to

962: be blunt, but… to make your language more indirect and polite.

968: So, for dealing with difficult questions, just remember the three d's: delay, deflect,

975: dismiss!

976: Finally, we want to ask you something.

979: Do you have any advice for giving good presentations, in English or any language?

985: We'd love to hear your ideas!

988: Please leave a comment and tell us what you think.

993: Remember to visit our website for more free English lessons: Oxford Online English dot

998: com.

999: Thanks for watching!

1000: See you next time!