Questions and Answers

  The introduction should catch the attention. Perhaps a provocative statement or a humorous anecdote will do the job.

 

The introduction phase sets the tone and expectations of a presentation. Although very often the presenter will typically introduce themselves to the audience, on other occasions a colleague or a chairperson may introduce the speaker.
  A complete introduction for a presentation includes the following parts:

ü greeting;

ü your name and position;

ü title and subject of your talk;

ü presentation objective;

ü main parts of your talk;

ü mention of the visual aids that you will use;

ü time you will take;

ü when you would like to answer questions;

ü and a link to the first section of your presentation

  After you give your opening statement, give a brief overview of your presentation. Say what your presentation is about, how long you will take and how you are going to handle questions.

For example, a presentation could start like this:

"Welcome / "Good morning everyone."

"As you all know, professional engineering education is losing its popularity with the young people. But we are being asked to perfect the youths knowledge about engineering specialties. How can we possibly do it"

"Today I am going to talk to you about how we can do this. My presentation will be in three parts. Firstly I am going to look at the background of the problem. Then I am going to talk to you about our new approaches to decision of the problem. Finally, I'm going to examine some strategies that will help us increase popularity of engineering profession. The presentation will probably take around 20 minutes. There will be time for questions at the end of my talk."

2. Memorize useful language for overviews:

a) Presenting the theme of the report:

I’d like to talk to you today about..

I am going to present the recent…                                                

                              brief you on…

                      inform you about…

                                     describe…

The subject of my talk is…

                presentation is …

                          speech is … 

b) Presenting the purpose:

The purpose of this talk is to update you on…

                          give you the background to …

This talk is designed to act as a springboards for

discussion.

… start the ball rolling.

… give you some facts and figures…

…. fill you in on the history of…

… concentrate on…

… limit myself to the question of…

c) Presenting the length of the report:

I plan to be brief.

I shall only take … minutes of your time.

This should only last ….. minutes.

d) Presenting the structure of the report:

I have divided my presentation into … parts.

Firstly, I shall speak about …

Secondly, I’ll present the results of …

Finally, I’ll try to draw some conclusion …

The subject can be looked at under the following

headings:

My presentation is in three parts.

My presentation is divided into three main sections.

e) Time for questions:

  I’d be glad to answer any questions at the end of my talk.

  If you have any questions, please feel free to interrupt.

  There will be time for questions at the end of the

  presentation.

  I'd be grateful if you could ask your questions after the

  presentation."

 

Check your knowledge

Exercise 1.Match these less formal phrases with the more formal phrases in the table:

What I want to do today is…

It’s good to see you all here.

OK, shall we get started?

In my talk I’ll tell you about...

Today I’m going to talk about…

As you know, I’m…

Hi, everyone.

 

More formal	Less formal
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
It’s a pleasure to welcome you today.
I suggest that we begin now.
Let me just start by introducing myself. My name is…
Today I would like to…
In my presentation I’d like to report on…
The topic of today’s presentation is…

Exercise 2. Replace the words in bold with the words from the box:

after that   begin   I’m   realize     responsible for    sections  turn

 

1. I’ll start off by showing you…

2. I’ve divided my presentation into three parts.

3. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is 

    Gordon Smith.   

4. Then I’ll move on to the problems…

5. Professor Brown is in charge of our new Plasma

    Laboratory.
6. I’m aware that you’re all busy preparing for the

   seminar…

Exercise 3. Match the parts of the sentence:

1. Please, help yourselves

2. If we're all here,

3. I'd like to start by

4. I'd like to welcome Professor Smith.

5. After that I'd like to

6. Today, I'd like to talk about

7. If you have any questions,

 

a. describe the new project.

b. Thank you. It's good to be here.

c. to the handouts.

d. let's make a start.

e. please feel free to ask me.

f. outlining the plan for the day.

g. the success we've had with our research.

 

Exercise 4. Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with a preposition:

on from by as at on by

 

Model: Thank you for coming.

There are copies...........the table.

I'd like to start...........outlining the process.

It's good to have Professor Jackson here...........Stanford University.
We can discuss any questions...........the end of the seminar.
I want to focus...........the latest aircraft design.

...........the end of this session, you'll be able to teach your staff how to use this program.

I'm talking to you today...........the designer of this new robotic system.

 

Exercise 5. Complete the sentences with the correct word:

Model: It's good to meet you.      

Have / take / meet

a) Did everyone _____a handout?               give / get / go

b) Don't ____ about taking notes. worry / remember / think

c) Please ____ yourselves.                       meet/ have/ help

d) Please feel _____ to stop me.     expensive / free / open

e) I'd like to ____ the previous survey. let / happen / describe

f) I want to ____ on the results first.   look / worry / focus

 

Exercise 6. Discuss these points in mini-groups and present your ideas to the class:

1. The first few minutes of a presentation are the most

important.
2. Words like we, us and our make the audience more

interested in the subject of your presentation.

3. Formal and informal ways of greeting the audience. Why

is it important to find the proper words?

4. What makes a successful speaker?

5. How to get the audience’s attention? Is it a good idea to

make jokes or ask the audience rhetorical questions during

your talk?

6. Do ‘presentation tricks’ help reveal the subject of your

talk?
7. Is there a special dress code for a presenter?

8. How to deal with nervousness?

 

Exercise 7. Read the introductions and say what is wrong with them:

1. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

2. Hello, guys. Let me introduce myself. I am here in my function as the Head of the R&D (Research and Development Department). My name is Professor Brown. I should say it is a great honour to speak in front of such a distinguished audience.

3. Good morning, colleagues. I’m Doctor Smith from the University of Chicago. What I’d like to present to you today is the topic which engages me greatly. I don’t think many of you know much about it.

4. Come on, guys! Shall we get started? As you probably know I’m the new manager. You know I’m
very busy. So let’s get started right now in order not to waste my time.

5. Wow! How many of you have come! It’s so unexpected. I’m afraid I didn’t realize that you would be interested in such a dull (let me be sincere with you) topic.

 

Exercise 8.Complete the paragraph with the following words:

 

in addition second also however whereas  first

 

The purpose of this research was to find out what students aged 14-18 use their mobile phones. It ______ aimed to find out what kind of phones they use. _____ it asked how many hours they spend on the phone, and _____ if there is any difference between boys and girls in how they use their phones.

We found that girls prefer to use their phones to chat with friends, _____ boys prefer to send messages. _____ more girls than boys keep in touch with their parents by texting.