PRS: Presentations and Public Speeches

PRESENTATIONS (SPEECHES) AND PUBLIC SPEAKING IN ENGLISH
Putting your speech together

Formal public speaking is very different from casual conversation. When giving presentations you should pay special attention to such things as grammar, pronunciation, body language, etc.
Every speech has three parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion.
The principal rules of presenting:
tell your audience what you are going to tell them (introduction)
give your speech
tell you audience what you have told them (conclusion)
All presentations should be brief, concise, direct and to the point.
The Structure should be sufficiently simple and clear so that the message is clearly remembered.

The following is the basic structure of any presentation:

START: Introduction

Welcome the audience
Grab audience’s attention (hooks) **
Introduce the subject
Explain presentation structure
Explain rules for questioning
MIDDLE: The message

END: Conclusion

Summarize the highlights
Thank the Audience
Invite Questions


***A hook is an opening statement that is related to your topic that grabs audience’s attention before you introduce your subject. Three major types of hooks are: questions, provocative facts or statistics, “think- back” requests. E.g., if your topic is plastic surgery, you may choose the following hooks: (questions) How many of you have ever considered going under the knife? Raise your hand! Don’t be shy!”; (provocative facts): It’s shocking to think that 80% of people surveyed said they would consider undergoing many or more plastic surgery procedures; (think back): Remember that time in high-school when you thought you must be the ugliest person alive? You felt your eyes were to small, your nose too big, your teeth too crooked. You would have done anything to have those corrected. Well, today, all of this is corrected by plastic surgery.” Other great hooks you can use: a summary of a newspaper article, related riddles, proverbs, myths and stories, personal experiences, etc.