Thank you. Good (morning|afternoon). My name is [your full name]. Today, I would like to share my ideas with you on how to give a good presentation. It’s important for all of us here. We all need to give a presentation to graduate from this university. This presentation will be divided into two parts: language skills and presentation skills.

How to give a good presentation

Thank you. (Good morning|afternoon). My name is _____. Today, I’d like to share my ideas with you on how to give a good presentation. It’s important for all of us here, as we all need to give a presentation to graduate from this university. This presentation will be divided into two parts: language skills and presentation skills.

I’d like to begin with language skills. Language skills are acquired over years and there is no quick fix. Language skills can be divided into three sections, namely fluency, accuracy and pronunciation. Let me move straight onto fluency. Fluency essentially means being able to talk without stopping, that is avoiding dead air. Dead air gives that impression that you don’t know what to say and therefore seems unprofessional. Next comes accuracy. Accuracy essentially means making no grammatical mistakes. The most important aspect is not actually grammar, but meaning. However, some grammatical mistakes affect the meaning and can confuse your audience. In addition, making language mistakes may create a negative impression. Finally, I’d like to move onto pronunciation. This is vital. Poor pronunciation greatly affects the audience’s impression of you and your message. Words that are pronounced wrongly may not be understood. Worse still, when you use the incorrect intonation you may sound rude. Take care to avoid speaking in a staccato manner and stress the important words. That’s all for language skills.

I’d now like to move onto presentation skills. Presentation skills can also be divided into three sections. They are paralinguistics, organization and interest. Okay, paralinguistics. Paralinguistics is all about body language: gestures, facial expressions, posture, movement and eye contact. All of these are vital and can radically alter your intended message. Next, we have organization. Organization comprises ordering information in an appropriate way and showing your audience how you have organized it. Commonly, we’ll use introductions, linking words and conclusions to achieve this aim. Okay. Let me move onto interest. Sometimes the topic of a presentation is intrinsically interesting, but at other times the topic may be more mundane; however, you can inject your enthusiasm into the presentation to retain the audience’s interest, and if appropriate harness humour. That’s all for presentation skills.

To sum up, I’ve introduced you to two key areas related to presentations: language skills and presentation skills. Language skills consist of fluency, accuracy and pronunciation, while presentation skills include paralinguistics, organization and interest. I hope that helps you and don’t forget practice makes perfect. Thank you. Are there any questions?