Structuring a Presentation

Overview: Academic Presentations in English

Structuring your very first presentation
The Core Structure

- Introduction Which stage…

- Message 1 Tell what you are going to inform audience
- Message 2
- Message 3 Tell the audience what you have told them
- Message …
Tell the audience your key points
- Conclusion
Characteristics of each stage
 Structuring your very first presentation
The Core Structure
Audience

- Introduction The start าย บอก ทาง

- Message 1 Signposts
(discourse markers
- Message 2 The structure & the The start to show directions
- Message 3 delivery of presentation.
Control cohesion
- Message … and coherence of
- Conclusion the overall
The finish
ป้
First stop: Who, why, what, how … in the audience’s mind

● What’s his reason to give a

presentation today?
● What’s he going to talk about?
● Should I take notes?
● What’s his experience in the field?
● What direction is he taking with the
presentation?
● I am hungry. When’s the break?
● How long do I need to sit here?
Exercise: Get started with your audience
- Exercise: Read through the phrases and identify “who”, “why”, “what”
or “how” next to each phrase. Check any vocab you do not know.

(5 minutes). Download the handout from Google Classroom.

Introduction: The start
- Make a list of keypoints you want to convey
- Consider other features in your introduction, e.g.
- Outline/overview of presentation
- Presenter’s self introduction
- ABCD Model***
- Openers***
- Audience welcoming note
- Topic introducing
- Division of labor in a group
Introducing your presentation
ABCD Model
ABCD Model
A = Attention

- Set the scene and stand firm (look)

- Meet the eyes and look friendly & welcoming (non-verbal)
- Greet early arrivers
- Offer good hook or opener (e.g. visuals, questions, anecdotes) or if you can’t
think of one, give self-intro
Useful phrases to I

get attention
ABCD Model
B= Benefits

- Convince the audience why your message is useful FOR them

- Thrill and excite the audience with some presentation aids that help relate
your message (e.g. visuals or videos)
ABCD Model
C = Credibility

- Tell the audience about your background, experience, and/or qualifications

why they should listen to you
- Refer to the past
- Refer to the present
- Be indirect
- Show drive
ABCD Model
D = Direction

- Tell the audience what to expect from your presentation and how long it is to
take
- Meet the criteria of “what and how” in terms of the audience
- Signposts
Monroe’s Model
Alan H. Monroe invented it in the mid 1930s at Purdue University.

● Attention
● Need
● Satisfaction
● Visualization
● Information
● Action
Agree, Promise, Preview Model
Effective method for an introduction to a persuasive/informative
presentation that may call for action.

● Agree: agree with your audience on something.

● Promise: after agreeing, you need to promise them a
solution.
● Preview: give them an overview content of your
presentation.
Sample presentation
● Believe me: I understand just how frustrating and difficult your first
presentation could be. Every time your teacher asks you to give an
oral presentation in front of the class, the nerves kick in, and you
could feel yourself sweating all the time even before actually doing it.
I am constantly nervous at times too when giving presentation. I
know it is extremely frustrating and takes a lot of energy and
confidence. And I am with you that there should be ways to help us
become more relaxed when giving a presentation. (AGREE)
Sample presentation
● And I have good news for you today. I guarantee to you that
some of the ways that I am telling you now will help you
overcome nerves when presenting and get rid of sweating
palms and make you feel more confident. (PROMISE)
● And here we are. Today we are going to go over about how
we can amp up our presentation, how to appear more
confident, and how to improve your body gestures for a
more effective presentation. (PREVIEW)
Other useful phrases for introduction
Types of possible openers
● Photograph
● Tell a joke
● Cartoon
● Tell a popular myth
● Expert
● Raise their hand
● Famous people
● Tell an anecdote
● Video
● Others
● Surprising fact
● Statistic
● News headline
● Ask questions
Exercise: Listen to the openings
Extract 1: What 2 pieces of info does the speaker open with? What’s his
presentation will be about?

Extract 2: What two examples does the presenter give to support her
case?

Extract 3: What does the speaker ask her audience to do? What’s the
similarity between hard discs and going to dentists?

Extract 4: A quote, a joke and a task; which one works best for you?

Extract 5: How does the speaker introduce his company?

 Activity: Brainstorm for ideas
If you are going to give a presentation on either benefits
or drawbacks of using a dating app like Tinder. What
could possibly be your effective opener? Think about your
audience.

Write up a short opener, using some of the technique you

see fit (preferably in English).

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mner แห
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The delivery or the Body

“A presentation is just like a journey. We need to explain: “Where are

we going?” And then along that journey as we move through it, we
need to explain how we are moving on. Are we making progress? And,
finally, when we get to the end, we have got to close our presentation
in a way that’s more engaging than ‘Any questions?’ ….

Rob Geraghty, The Wow Factor

The delivery or the Body

“In making a speech, one must study the proper arrangement of the
various parts.”

Aristotle, Greek philosopher

PEEP Model Spoken VS written language
Jargons ศัพท์เทคนิค

Point Explanations Examples Points (restate)

Inductive ให้ตัวอย่างข้อมูลไปจบด้วย main idea

Deductive พูด main idea ตามด้วยตัวอย่าง
Messages: The delivery
- Be careful about “terminology”
- Be sure about the structure, cohesion and coherence
- Be sure about the order of presenters
- Consider appropriate “signposts” throughout the outline of the messages
- (What are signposts anyway?)
What are “signposts”?
Signs giving information such as the direction and distance to a
nearby town, typically found at a crossroads.

Speech acts: stating, asking, requesting, advising, warning, or

persuading, considered in terms of the content of the message,
the intention of the speaker
Signposts
- Introducing the topic
- Introducing yourself
- Providing overview
- Finishing up
- Moving from section to
section
- Starting a new section Signposts are words or phrases that
- Giving examples people use to tell the audience what has
- Summarizing just happened, what will happen next and
- Paraphrasing what the audience can expect during a
- Q and A given presentation or speech.
Signposts
Exercise: Watch Zhan’s and Svitlana’s presentations and check their
signposts used. (5 mins)
Below are some samples of signposts. Read them and check any vocabulary you
do not know. Now, watch the videos of Zhan and Svitlana and tick the signposts
they use.

Zhan and Svitlana

1. Moving on now to _____________

2. I would like to begin by ____________
3. Let’s now turn to ___________
4. Let’s start with my presentation ___________
5. So, first of all ______________
6. Now, turning to ____________
7. Now, what about ___? _____________
7. Let me move on to _____________
8. So, that’s the general picture for ______________
9. I’d like to conclude this point by saying ____________
10. This leads me to a point _____________
11. So, we’ve looked at ____________
12. That completes my overview of _____________
13. Let’s just recap ________________
14. So, that’s pretty much ______________
15. And this is _______________
16. Next we come to ________________
17. So, that was _______________
18. My next point is _________________
19. That’s all I want to say about ________________
20. So, that covers this point ______________
21. And finally ____________
Signposts
Exercise
Certain expressions are commonly used to talk about different parts of a
presentation. Look at the sets of expressions and label the part they refer to by
using the terms provided.

benefits comparison data features

implications issues options Popular myth

Potential projections Pros and cons truth

objections
Set 1: ___________
It’s commonly believed that…

It’s taken for granted (these days) that…

People tend to assume that…

It’s popular misconception that...

Set 2: ___________
In reality, …

The fact is…

In actual fact…

The truth is that…

The reality is that...

Set 3: ___________
The figures clearly show that…

According to our/the latest research,...

In one study,...

Statistically (speaking),...

Recent studies show that….

Our research indicates that...

Set 4: ___________
In terms of …., it compares favourably with …

It has superior ….

How does it measure up to the competition?

It’s in a class of its own.

As far as … is concerned, there’s no comparison.

It outclasses/outperforms...
Set 5: ___________
It features/ incorporates/ includes…

We have upgraded...and made improvements to...

Set 6: ___________
This saves you…

Another plus is…

You are also able to…

This allows you to…

So now you can…

What this means is...

Set 7: ___________
Now, I know that you are thinking.

I guess you are wondering…

If you have any doubts about…

Let me reassure you that...

Set 8: ___________
It is bound to ….

It is going to require….

This could have several knock-on effects.

It might involve….
Set 9: ___________
Another alternative might be to…

One possibility would be to…

We can’t rule out the need to…

...is not an option for us right now.

Set 10: ___________
It is not only a question of … it is also a question of …

We need to consider …

The basic issue is…

We must also take account of …

And we can’t ignore the fact that...

Set 11: ___________
On the one hand, …

On the other hand,...

So, on balance…

One possible drawback is....

On the plus side...

Set 12: ___________
...months/years from now…

In long (er) term…

Over the coming months/ years…

Looking further ahead, …

We envisage/ foresee...
Conclusion: The finish
- Signal
- Summary
- Conclusion
- Closing remarks

Exercise: Read a short passage “Make Your Final Message Clear” and
try to answer the questions by putting keywords to each statement. (5
mins)
Closing remarks
● Summary: conclude what has been said
● Action: call for action
● Wisdom: raise awareness or ignite some thought
● Emotion: arouse feelings
Exercise: What types of “closing remarks” are these?
1. Let’s take a look back at what we have spoken about this morning.
2. I am reminded of the words of …
3. Now let’s get out there and …!
4. If you take just one thing from this talk, take this…
5. In the end, this is what matters
6. Here, at a glance, are the main points I have made…
7. So, how to sum up?
8. I am counting on you to…
9. We have a saying where I come from...
Exercise: What types of “closing remarks” are these?
10. So what does all this really mean for you - personally?

11. In a nutshell, then…

12. In the famous words of…

13. So, next time you...., remember to...

Exercise: listen to 4 closing moments
Which one uses:

A dramatic summary

Famous wise words

Call for action

Heart-felt message