One of the most common complaints many people have when giving presentations is that they feel they do not sound natural. This lesson looks at techniques you can use to make you sound more natural and to make your presentations more effective.
People often feel that pausing shows a lack of confidence or only a basic command of the language. Therefore, they tend to speak very quickly feeling that speed equals fluency. Unfortunately, speaking too quickly is one of the quickest ways to lose your audience.
Pausing is a part of natural speech. As long as you are pausing in the right places you will sound perfectly natural. Slowing down your delivery and knowing when to pause will help you to present more confidently and ensure you communicate your message to your audience more effectively. Pace yourself - don’t rush it!
One way you can help to pace your presentation is to be more concise. Keep your sentences short and simple; long complicated sentences are harder for your audience to follow – and harder for you to deliver! Keep it relevant.

Rewrite each example by using shorter sentences instead of the one long sentence.

1.00

Long, complicated, rambling speeches where the presenter manages to obscure the meaning of what they are trying to communicate are still very common in today’s professional world despite the fact that great efforts have been made by company’s to train their staff to be able to present more effectively using more concise language and not to use long, complicated, rambling sentences.

Many companies have invested in training to develop presentation skills amongst their staff. However, presenters often continue to deliver over-long presentations and do not communicate their message clearly.

1.01

The most difficult part of the job as far as I am concerned, and this is only my personal opinion since others may have had different experiences, is that it requires long hours, often keeping me away from my family and requiring work at the weekends.

 

1.02

As a consequence of the necessary upgrading of our computer network many staff will not be familiar with the new operating system which has been put in place and will therefore require training in order to be able to operate effectively with the new system.

 

1.03

One possible solution to the problem of overcrowding in our most overcrowded cities which has been proposed by many people who believe it would be effective is to focus on job creation in the rural areas to encourage people not to migrate to the big cities causing the population in those cities to grow.

 

1.04

Although it was originally well received, his report on dealing with conflict in the workplace, when it was analysed more thoroughly, was found to contain many inaccuracies and was not thought to be particularly appropriate and was therefore eventually rejected.

 
Now that you have reduced the word count of your presentation you need to prepare your message in shorter, simpler chunks. To do this well you need to consider where to place stress in words and in sentences, where to pause naturally in your speech and where to pause for effect.

Let’s look at the introduction to this activity more closely and analyse it as a possible model extract from a presentation.
2.00
e.g.
 Now that you have reduced the word count of your presentation // you need to prepare your message in shorter, // simpler // chunks. To do this well // you need to consider where to place stress in words and in sentences, // where to pause naturally in your speech // and where // to pause for effect.
// = pause        bold text = stressed word
Try reading the text aloud (preferably recording yourself as you do). Do not exaggerate the stressed words and try not to make the pauses too long.

Mark the text below to show which words are stressed and where the natural pauses occur.
2.01
 The single most important element in any presentation is the audience. They should determine everything you do; guide every decision you make.

Too many presenters are concerned with how to sort out their material and do not spend enough time considering their audience. The audience should be the central focus of the presentation. As a presenter you need to get your message across to them effectively. You must, therefore, present your material within a structure that they will understand, using clear concise language that they will understand.
Getting word stress right helps you to sound more natural and in turn helps to improve the pace of your delivery.

Look at the examples of stress patterns below which show the number of syllables in the word and which syllable should be stressed.
Study tip: when you record new vocabulary, it is a good idea to include stress markers to help you remember the pronunciation. It is particularly important if your language contains similar words but with a different stress pattern.
Mark the stress patterns for each of the following words:

 3.01

 
presentations

3.05

delivery

3.09

promotion

 3.02

 
gestures

3.06

effective

3.10

profit

3.03

 
international

3.07

management

3.11

audience

3.04

 
proposal

3.08

clarify

3.12

appropriate
‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.’
Look at this extract from the introduction text again:

4.00

…. To do this well you need to consider where to place stress in words and in sentences, where to pause naturally in your speech and where to pause for effect.
The technique of tripling has been used here. Listing or chunking points in sets of three is a commonly used and often very effective presentation technique. In the example above, the repetition of where allows the presenter to chunk each separate point and give each one equal emphasis. It also sends a signal to the audience that these are important points to be noted.

Tripling can be used in many ways look at these examples below. Choose from the selection of possible triples to complete each statement.

4.01

This will not be easy. It will require __________,  __________ and  __________ to make it a success.

4.02

I’d like any feedback you have to give: __________,  __________  or __________.

4.03

You’re not convinced? Ok. __________, __________ and __________.

4.04

Give them a taster first. If __________  and  __________,  __________.

4.05

We can do it __________, __________ and __________

           watch / listen / learn            by working harder / by working better / by working together      
good / bad / indifferent         they try it / like it / they’ll buy it                   blood / sweat / tears 

e.g.

Our new processor is fast, powerful and reliable.

A good presentation should be well-planned, well-prepared and well-delivered.

5.01

All the candidates are __________, __________ and __________.

5.02

Our new office is __________, __________ and __________.

5.03

Unfortunately, this new system is __________, __________ and __________.

5.04

To move forward we need to be __________, __________ and __________.

5.05

The advertising campaign didn’t work because it was __________, __________ and __________.

/qualified, experienced and ambitious/                 /focused, flexible and fearless/
/modern, light and spacious/                                 /unfocused, unimaginative and uninteresting/
/poorly planned, poorly designed and poorly implemented/
Think about a company you are familiar with. Use the tripling technique to describe either the company itself or its products.

5.01

 

 

 

In this lesson on delivery techniques for more effective presentations you have:

looked at how a more concise writing style can help you to prepare a more effective presentation
explored the idea of chunking as a way of helping your presentation delivery
worked on word stress to improve the rhythm of your presentation
explored the concept of tripling as an effective presentation delivery technique

The next e-m@il lesson in this series introduces more techniques which will help you to become a more confident and effective presenter.