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English for Presentations at International Conferences
of: Adrian Wallwork
Springer-Verlag, 2010
ISBN: 9781441965912 , 175 Pages
Format: PDF, Read online
Copy protection: DRM
Preface
5
Who Is This Book for?
5
What Will I Learn from This Book?
5
How Should I Read This Book?
6
Other Books in This Series
6
Why Do a Presentation at a Conference?
6
Isnt Just Attending a Conference Enough, Why Is It a Good Thing to Give a Presentation?
7
What Kind of Presentations Do Audiences Like to See?
7
What Constitutes a Professional Presentation?
7
What Kind of Presentations Do Audiences NOT Like to See?
8
What About Posters?
8
Contents
9
Part I Preparation and Practice
16
1 Ten Stages in Preparing Your Slides
17
1.1 Find out about the potential audience
18
1.2 Identify your key points/messages
19
1.3 Prepare a two-minute talk
20
1.4 Record and transcribe your two minutes
20
1.5 Expand into a longer presentation
20
1.6 Practice with colleagues
21
1.7 Give your presentation a structure
21
1.8 Create the slides
22
1.9 Modify your script
22
1.10 Cut redundant slides, simplify complicated slides
23
2 Writing Out Your Speech in English
24
2.1 Why should I write a speech? Im giving an oral presentation, not a written one
25
2.2 Use your script to write notes to accompany your slides
26
2.3 Use your speech for future presentations
26
2.4 Only have one idea per sentence and repeat key words
27
2.5 Simplify sentences that are difficult to say
27
2.6 Do not use synonyms for technical/key words
28
2.7 Avoid details/exceptions
28
2.8 Avoid quasi-technical terms
29
2.9 Explain or paraphrase words that may be unfamiliar to the audience
29
2.10 Only use synonyms for nontechnical words
30
2.11 Be conciseonly say things that add value
30
2.12 Use verbs rather than nouns
31
2.13 Avoid abstract nouns
31
2.14 Avoid generic quantities and unspecific adjectives
31
2.15 Occasionally use emotive adjectives
32
2.16 Choose the right level of formality
32
2.17 Summary: An example of how to make a text easier to say
34
2.18 Tense tips
35
2.18.1 Outline
35
2.18.2 Referring to future points in the presentation
36
2.18.3 Explaining the background and motivations
36
2.18.4 Indicating what you did in (a) your research (b) while preparing your slides
37
2.18.5 Talking about the progress of your presentation
37
2.18.6 Explaining and interpreting results
37
2.18.7 Giving conclusions
37
2.18.8 Outlining future research
38
3 Pronunciation and Intonation
39
3.1 Understand the critical importance of correct pronunciation
40
3.2 Find out the correct pronunciation
40
3.3 Learn any irregular pronunciations
42
3.4 Be very careful of English technical words that also exist in your language
42
3.5 Practice the pronunciation of key words that have no synonyms
43
3.6 Be careful of -ed endings
43
3.7 Enunciate numbers very clearly
44
3.8 Avoid er, erm, ah
44
3.9 Use your normal speaking voice
44
3.10 Help the audience to tune in to your accent
44
3.11 Dont speak too fast or too much
45
3.12 Mark up your script and then practice reading it aloud
45
3.13 Use synonyms for words on your slides that you cannot pronounce
46
3.14 Use stress to highlight the key words
47
3.15 Vary your voice and speed
47
3.16 Sound interested
48
4 Practice and Learn from Other Peoples Presentations
49
4.1 Use your notes
50
4.2 Vary the parts you practice
50
4.3 Practice your position relative to the screen
50
4.4 Dont sit. Stand and move around
51
4.5 Use your hands
51
4.6 Have an expressive face and smile
52
4.7 Learn how to be self-critical: practice with colleagues
52
4.8 Analyze other peoples slides
54
4.9 Watch presentations on the Internet
54
4.10 Test yourself on what you remember of the presentations youve watched
56
4.11 Improve your slides after the presentation
56
5 Handling Your Nerves
58
5.1 Identify your fears
59
5.2 Dont focus on your English
59
5.3 Write in simple sentences and practice your pronunciation
59
5.4 Identify points where poor English might be more problematic
60
5.5 Have a positive attitude
60
5.6 Prepare good slides and practice
61
5.7 Opt to do presentations in low-risk situations
61
5.8 Use shorter and shorter phrases
61
5.9 Learn relaxation techniques
61
5.10 Get to know your potential audience at the bar and social dinners
62
5.11 Check out the room where your presentation will be
62
5.12 Prepare for forgetting what you want to say
63
5.13 Prepare for the software or the equipment breaking down
63
5.14 Organize your time
63
Part II What to Write on the Slides
65
6 Titles
66
6.1 Decide what to include in the title slide
67
6.2 Remove all redundancy
68
6.3 Make sure your title is not too technical for your audience
68
6.4 Use a two-part title to attract both a general and a technical audience
69
6.5 Dont be too concise in titlesuse verbs and prepositions not just nouns and adjectives
70
6.6 Check your grammar
71
6.7 Check your spelling
71
6.8 Use slide titles to help explain a process
71
6.9 Think of alternative titles for your slides
72
7 Writing and Editing the Text of the Slides
73
7.1 Be aware of the dangers of PowerPoint
74
7.2 Print as handout then edit
74
7.3 Only use a slide if it is essential, never read your slides
74
7.4 Only write what you are 100 sure is correct
75
7.5 One idea per slide
75
7.6 Generally speaking, avoid complete sentences
75
7.7 Only use complete sentences for a specific purpose
76
7.8 Dont put text in your slides to say what you will do or have done during your presentation
77
7.9 Avoid repeating the title of the slide within the main part of the slide
78
7.10 Use only well-known acronyms, abbreviations, contractions, and symbols
78
7.11 Choose the shortest forms possible
79
7.12 Cut brackets containing text
79
7.13 Make good use of the phrase that introduces the bullets
79
7.14 Avoid references
80
7.15 Keep quotations short
80
7.16 Deciding what not to cut
81
7.17 When youve finished creating your slides, always check your spelling
81
8 Using Bullets
82
8.1 Avoid having bullets on every slide
83
8.2 Choose the most appropriate type of bullet
83
8.3 Limit yourself to six bullets per slide
83
8.4 Keep to a maximum of two levels of bullets
83
8.5 Do not use a bullet for every line in your text
84
8.6 Choose the best order for the bullets
84
8.7 Introduce items in a list one at a time only if absolutely necessary
84
8.8 Use verbs not nouns
85
8.9 Be grammatical
85
8.10 Minimize punctuation in bullets
86
9 Visual Elements and Fonts
87
9.1 Only include visuals that you intend to talk about
88
9.2 Avoid visuals that force you to look at the screen
88
9.3 Use visuals to help your audience understand
88
9.4 Simplify everything
89
9.5 Use a photo to replace unnecessary or tedious text
89
9.6 Avoid animations
90
9.7 Make sure your slide can be read by the audience in the back row
90
9.8 Use maps to interest the audience and boost your confidence
91
9.9 Choose fonts, characters, and sizes with care
92
9.10 Use color to facilitate audience understanding
92
9.11 Choose the most appropriate figure to illustrate your point
93
9.12 Explain graphs in a meaningful way
96
9.13 Remember the difference in usage between commas and points in numbers
98
9.14 Design pie charts so that the audience can immediately understand them
98
10 Getting and Keeping the Audiences Attention
101
10.1 Gain and keep your audiences attention
102
10.2 Exploit moments of high audience attention
102
10.3 Dont spend too long on one slide
103
10.4 Maintain eye contact with the audience
103
10.5 Be aware of the implications of the time when your presentation is scheduled
103
10.6 Quickly establish your credibility
104
10.7 Learn ways to regain audience attention after you have lost it
104
10.8 Present statistics in a way that the audience can relate to them
105
10.9 Be aware of cultural differences
105
10.10 Be serious and have fun
106
Part III What to Say and Do at Each Stage of the Presentation
108
11 Ten Ways to Begin a Presentation
109
11.1 Say what you plan to do in your presentation and why
110
11.2 Tell the audience some facts about where you come from
112
11.3 Give an interesting statistic that relates to your country
112
11.4 Give an interesting statistic that relates directly to the audience
113
11.5 Get the audience to imagine a situation
114
11.6 Ask the audience a question/Get the audience to raise their hands
114
11.7 Say something personal about yourself
116
11.8 Mention something topical
117
11.9 Say something counterintuitive
117
11.10 Get the audience to do something
118
12 Outline and Transitions
120
12.1 Consider not having an Outline slide
121
12.2 Use an Outline slide for longer presentations and for arts, humanities, and social sciences
122
12.3 Use transitions to guide your audience
123
12.4 Exploit your transitions
123
12.5 Signal a move from one section to the next
124
12.6 Only move to the next slide when youve finished talking about the current slide
124
12.7 Only use an introductory phrase to a slide when strictly necessary
124
12.8 Be concise
124
12.9 Add variety to your transitions
125
13 Methodology
126
13.1 Regain the audiences attention
127
13.2 Give simple explanations and be careful when giving numbers
127
13.3 Give examples first, technical explanations second
127
13.4 Reduce redundancy
128
13.5 Just show the key steps in a process or procedure
128
13.6 Explain why you are not describing the whole process
128
13.7 Use active and passive forms effectively
129
13.8 Indicate where you are in a process
130
13.9 Tell a story rather than sounding like a technical manual
130
13.10 Bring your figures, graphs, etc., alive
132
13.11 Minimize or cut the use of equations, formulas, and calculations
133
14 Results and Discussion
134
14.1 Tell the audience what they need to knownot everything that you know
135
14.2 Explain statistics, graphs, and charts in a meaningful way
135
14.3 Communicate the value of what you have doneput your results in the big picture
135
14.4 Avoid phrases that might make you sound overconfident or arrogant
136
14.5 Tell the audience about any problems in interpreting your results
137
14.6 Be positive about others in your field
137
14.7 Explain whether your results were expected or not
138
14.8 Be upfront about your poor/uninteresting/negative results
138
14.9 Encourage discussion and debate
139
15 Conclusions
140
15.1 Be brief and dont deviate from your planned speech
141
15.2 Make sure your final slides give useful information
141
15.3 Show your enthusiasm
142
15.4 Five ways to end a presentation
143
15.4.1 Use a picture
143
15.4.2 Directly relate your findings to the audience
144
15.4.3 Give a statistic
144
15.4.4 Ask for feedback
145
15.4.5 Talk about your future work
145
15.5 Write/Show something interesting on your final slide
145
15.6 Prepare a sequence of identical copies of your last slide
146
16 Questions and Answers
147
16.1 Dont underestimate the importance of the QA session
148
16.2 Prepare in advance for all possible questions
148
16.3 Learn what to say before you introduce the QA session
148
16.4 Give the audience time to respond to your call for questions
149
16.5 Get the questioner to stand up and reply to the whole audience
149
16.6 Repeat the questions
149
16.7 Remember that it is not just your fault if you cant understand the question
150
16.8 Dont interrupt the questioner unless
150
16.9 Be concise
150
16.10 Always be polite
151
17 Useful Phrases
152
17.1 Introductions and outline
153
17.2 Transitions
154
17.3 Emphasizing, qualifying, giving examples
155
17.4 Diagrams
157
17.5 Making reference to parts of the presentation
159
17.6 Discussing results, conclusions, future work
159
17.7 Ending
160
17.8 Questions and answers
161
17.9 Things that can go wrong
163
17.10 Posters
163
Links and References
165
Introduction
165
Part I: Preparation and Practice
165
Chapter 2
165
Chapter 3
166
Chapter 4
166
Chapter 5
166
Part II: What to Write on the Slides
166
Chapter 6
167
Chapter 7
167
Chapter 8
167
Chapter 9
167
Chapter 10
167
Part III: What to Say and Do at Each Stage of the Presentation
168
Chapter 11
168
Chapter 13
168
Chapter 14
168
Chapter 15
169
Other Sources
169
Acknowledgements
170
About the Author
171
Contact the Author
172
Index
173
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