The introduction to a presentation follows definite stages (steps) which each have a purpose in preparing the audience to listen to your presentation.
Whether you use formal language or less formal language will depend on a number of factors such as: the characteristics of the audience, size of the audience, your overall purpose, the situation.
These need to be considered together when deciding which language style you will use.
|
Stage of the introduction |
Purpose |
Formal presentation |
More relaxed presentation |
Greeting & salutation |
Good manners |
Good morning, Ladies and Gentleman |
Hello, everyone |
Introduce yourself |
Good manners |
My name's Judy Byrne. |
I'm John Eastwood. I'll be giving a series of talks on how to prepare for a presentation |
Introduce the topic |
Tell the audience what you will talk about |
My presentation today is on the importance of body language and how the speaker's body language affects the audience. |
Today, I want to talk about the structure of your presentation. |
Purpose of your talk |
Why the audience should listen |
You all know that people are judged by their appearance. So, how a speaker looks affects how much the attention the audience gives to the speaker, and to the message of their talk. |
About 60% of your effectiveness as a presenter depends on the content of your talk. I want to tell you how to give that content maximum impact. |
Structure of your talk |
Limit your presentation |
I've divided the presentation into 3 parts |
I want to talk about 3 main areas - The introduction, the actual content of the talk, and last, the conclusion. |
When to ask questions |
Tell the audience what they can do |
Please feel free to ask questions at any time. |
I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions, so there will be plenty of time after the talk to ask them. |
Signal transition to first part of the content |
Tell the audience what you are doing |
Let's start, by talking about how you stand.... |
Now, I'd like to begin with - the introduction ... |