How to Give a Powerful Business Presentation
Economy & Business
Exercise 1
Vocabulary
Repeat each word, definition, and example sentence after your tutor.
statistic
Noun
stəˈtɪstɪk
a fact or piece of information taken from a study
Statistics show that women live longer than men.
impression
Noun
ɪmˈprɛʃən
a feeling, idea, or opinion of someone or something, especially one that is formed without thinking or with little evidence
I don't think I made a very good first impression at the interview.
audience
Noun
ˈɔːdiːəns
the people who watch or listen to something
There was a huge audience at the outdoor concert.
enthusiasm
Noun
ɪnˈθuːziæzəm
great enjoyment, interest, etc. in something
He's been teaching for over 30 years, but has never lost his enthusiasm for it.
connection
Noun
kəˈnɛkʃən
a relationship that links or joins a person or thing to someone or something else
My siblings and I have always had a very strong connection.
memorize
Verb
ˈmɛməˌraɪz
to learn something so that one can remember it easily
I'm finding it hard to memorize all these dates for my history exam.
Exercise 2
Article
How to Give a Powerful Business Presentation
Humans love stories. From a young age, we hear them, tell them, write them and watch them. As we get older, they're still a big part of our lives.
We tell stories every day, whether it's at work or when we tell a friend about the things we're doing in our lives.
And stories might just be one of the secrets to giving a good business presentation. "Stories connect with people much more than statistics," says Mahnoor Sheikh from Visme, a presentation company.
And with any business presentation, you want to leave an impression on the people you're presenting to.
To do this, according to the team from jobs website Indeed, you first have to understand your audience. Who are they? What do they need to know to get excited about what you have to say?
During your presentation, you want to share your own enthusiasm with the audience and involve them with eye contact, says TED curator Chris Anderson.
To begin, the Indeed team says, you need to prepare a strong start to your presentation, which will let you form a connection with your audience.
Next, you have to keep that connection — and you have to be careful.
If you're using presentation software, keep your slides simple. They're just there to help you communicate, says Sheikh. If they're full of text, people may begin reading the slides and stop listening to you.
And don't read from a teleprompter, says Anderson. If you do, you'll lose your connection with the audience. Either memorize your presentation, or use brief points on cards or slides to guide you.
Finally, Indeed says, give the audience something to think about when they leave the room. You had a strong start — now finish telling your story in the same way!
It's also important to have done your research — because you may have to answer questions from your audience at the end!
Exercise 3
Discussion
Have a discussion based on the following questions.
1.
Which of the tips from the article did you find interesting?
2.
Do you agree that stories make presentations better?
3.
Do you ever have to give presentations at work? Do you enjoy it?
4.
Have you attended any interesting talks or presentations recently?
5.
Have you ever had to sit through a boring presentation?
