Opening and closing
1
ANSWER KEY
VIEW
A
DISCUSS
1 Graph c. Attention is typically high at the
beginning of a presentation (most audiences
start off hopeful!), then falls to a low in the
middle as the audience gets tired, rising
again at the close as people can see the end
is near.
2 Graph a represents an otherwise interesting
presentation with a poor opening and
close. Graph b represents a disappointing
presentation with audience expectations
high at the beginning but falling steadily
throughout the talk to end on a low. Graph
d represents the practical ideal. Since it’s
impossible to keep audience attention high
throughout your presentation, the solution
is to break your talk into sections, each
with its own opening and close. This way
attention peaks regularly. Of course, you still
want to close on a high note.
RECALL
1 Primacy is an audience’s tendency to
remember what is said first and recency
what is said last.
2 They support your talk.
3 The first version of the opening just states
the theme of the talk. This is clear and tothe-point, but it’s rather boring. After all,
the audience probably knows this already.
Better to give the audience some dramatic
examples of what you’re going to talk about
and let them draw them all together before
you move on to your theme.
1 The first presenter tells a true story
and asks the audience a question. The
second presenter refers to a book and TV
programme, quotes some statistics and also
asks the audience a question.
C
DISCUSS
The end is more important in the sense that it
is what the audience will have at the front of
their minds as they leave your presentation.
On the other hand, if you lost them right at the
beginning, studies show it can take at least 10
to 15 minutes to win them back.
RECALL
He says a presentation should end with your
‘biggest brightest fireworks’ – not necessarily a
bang, but something with real impact.
D
DISCUSS
A summary (as long as it’s short and snappy)
is a good idea if you’ve made quite a lot of
complex points in your presentation. A touch of
humour may help if your talk has been long or
if you’ve had some bad news to give. A call to
action is essential if your talk has been designed
to motivate, inspire or promote change. A
wise saying might be of use if you think your
audience is not fully persuaded.
VIEW
Presenter 1 gives a summary and makes a call
for action. Presenter 2 uses humour and a wise
saying.
B
DISCUSS
RECALL
2 Things you could add: the use of
photographs and cartoons, news headlines,
a video or clip from a movie; involving the
audience by setting them a problem or
challenge, asking them to raise their hand or
confer with a neighbour.
If you begin with the end in mind, you know
where you’re headed in your talk and it helps
you to prepare.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 1 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Smooth structure
2
ANSWER KEY
A
C
DISCUSS
PRESENT
1 Suggested answers:
turning the key in the ignition = opening
your presentation by sparking the audience’s
interest;
describing your route on the map = giving
the audience an overview of what you’ll be
talking about;
making a turn = changing topic in your talk;
moving into the fast lane = speeding up as
you can see you’re running out of time;
stopping to take a closer look at something
= expanding on a point or going into more
detail;
doing a U-turn = going back to an earlier
point (perhaps to clarify);
pointing out some of the sights = referring
to figures or visuals;
taking a short detour = digressing for a
moment;
arriving at your destination = concluding
your presentation
See video script for model answers.
2 When drivers fail to signal, they confuse and
annoy other drivers and may even cause an
accident. Presenters who fail to signal can
be equally frustrating for an audience!
RECALL
1 When your audience consists of non-native
speakers of English, clear signalling is even
more essential.
REFLECT
2 Ideally, your presentation should flow
smoothly and logically, but if you have
problems, signals can help you out of them!
If you can see your audience looking
confused, it might be time to signal that
you’re going to give them a short summary
or an example of what you mean, that
you’re going to recap on your main points,
or that you are going to expand on them
a little. If you’re going too fast, you can
signal that you’re slowing down to give your
audience a bit more detail. If you’re going
too slowly, you can speed up by signalling
that you’ll just give them a brief outline of
your next few points or you can simply skip
less important points and signal that you’re
moving straight on to your main point. If you
forget an important point, you can signal
that you’re going back to it now. If you can
see your audience wants to hear about a
particular point, you can signal that you’ll be
coming on to it later.
Signals not only help you navigate through
your talk. They also act as a kind of remote
control device that allows you to quickly
‘switch channels’ if you need to.
2 Pausing before and after a signal gives the
audience time to register a change of focus
or direction in your presentation.
B
DISCUSS
The answers in order are:
k, a, j, c, e, f,
h, g, d, l, i, b
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 2 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Voice power
3
ANSWER KEY
A
C
DISCUSS
REFLECT
1 Vocal Intelligence refers to your ability to
use the different qualities of your voice
(volume, pace, tone, etc.) to successfully
communicate with and influence others.
1 Shorter utterances are easier to follow. So
pausing frequently can make you sound
quite passionate about your subject. But
if you overdo it, you may begin to sound
melodramatic and false. Longer utterances
sound more fluent and conversational, but,
after a while, they become monotonous
and it may be difficult to keep track of
what you’re saying. So the ideal is to
combine longer with shorter utterances to
create a contrasting effect and make you
less predictable. When you become too
predictable, audiences switch off!
VIEW
The five areas Mark focuses on are: killing filler,
slowing down, pausing, using emphasis and
varying volume.
B
DISCUSS
Hamlet doesn’t use filler because it destroys
both clarity and impact. It isn’t always a bad
thing, however. A small amount of filler may
make you sound natural and conversational. So
you don’t need to be paranoid about it – just
be careful not to overdo it!
VIEW
The presenter ums and ers at least ten times,
and also says ah and oh at least 12 times. A rate
of 20 ums and ers a minute is very noticeable
and distracting.
RECALL
The presenter also repeated himself, stretched
words out, broke off mid-sentence (stopped
without completing the sentence) and
hesitated several times (stopped in the middle
of the sentence before going on).
REFLECT
1 It makes him seem nervous and unprepared.
2 He could have slowed down and paused
more.
3 When you pause, you deliberately
stop speaking and it’s a very powerful
presentation technique. But it’s important
to make sure you pause in the right places. If
you pause in the middle of a phrase, you will
be difficult to follow. When you hesitate, you
stop speaking because you can’t remember
what to say next. This undermines your
credibility as a speaker.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 3 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Visual aids
4
ANSWER KEY
DISCUSS 2
A
DISCUSS
1 Time’s always limited in a talk. If you can
sum up an idea visually, it can save a lot of
words. So the one thing you don’t want to
do is put a load of words on your visual!
2 A visual aid is not an aid when it’s not visual!
RECALL
The effect of saying the same thing as you show
on your slides is that people will read ahead
of you and not listen. Estimates of average
speaking speed vary and, of course, it depends
on the language you’re speaking. But in English
it’s about 120–150 words per minute. Reading
speeds vary even more, but are around 250–
400 words per minute.
B
DISCUSS 1
1 There’s a lot of textual detail, so people
are likely to forget most of it – including
the key point about the potential market
for 3D eyewear being worth 200 million
dollars, which is buried in less important
information.
2 The presenter probably thought having
all this detail would make sure they didn’t
forget what to say. In this sense, it might
work. But unfortunately, they will no longer
need to say it!
3 At best, they will find themselves competing
for the attention of their audience with their
visual. At worst, they’ll look like they’re
reading it aloud.
VIEW 1
2 In fact, the presenter didn’t need to read her
bullet points aloud. But it was easy to read
what she was going to say long before she
said it. So there was no need to listen.
1 The picture and isolated figure of 200
million immediately grab the attention – not
only because they are striking, but also we
want to know exactly what they refer to.
2 Putting very little information on a slide
gives the presenter the opportunity to
provide that orally. The only danger in not
having the information on the slide is that
you might forget it. But that’s not a danger
if you know your subject and are wellprepared.
RECALL
A single memorable figure helps you get
straight to the point. You can almost use it as
a headline, lead with the figure and then go on
to give the context and any supporting data.
More importantly, it means that visual is only
telling half the story – leaving you to tell the
rest, which is the reason you’re there in the first
place!
DISCUSS 3
The first visual is attractive, but is unlikely to
be effective because it tells the whole story.
Whatever you show, you cannot then tell. And
this point is surely worth telling.
C
REFLECT
1 If your graphs and charts are clear and
not overloaded, you should never need to
describe them! That’s why you’ve got them –
to save you describing the situation in words.
2 Although what they describe should be
clear, you may want to comment on the
data, give it some background, put it
into perspective or speculate about its
implications.
3 She could have used the animation function
on her slideware to reveal the bullet points
one by one as she mentioned them. This
would have prevented her audience reading
ahead, but would still have been rather
distracting – is her audience supposed to be
listening or reading?
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 4 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Facts and figures
5
ANSWER KEY
A
B
DISCUSS
VIEW
1 The visuals get progressively more
information-loaded. Visual a is OK, but if
you display all the bullet points at once,
you’ll still have to give your audience a few
seconds to read them before you speak –
and by then they’ll already know what you’re
going to say.
The four ways of avoiding data-dumping Mark
talks about are: keep most of your data in
reserve (and/or put them in an accompanying
report), have more slides (with less on each),
use the reveal and/or zoom functions on your
slideware (to direct your audience’s attention
to what you’re talking about), and put complex
data into a memorable context.
Visual b actually contains more information,
but because it’s more visual and less textual,
it may be easier to get a quick impression.
Visual c is starting to look confusing. Even
an audience familiar with the process the
flowchart describes will have to spend some
time working it out, while you stand around
doing nothing. If you step in to explain it,
they won’t know whether to look or listen.
Visual d is totally ineffective – there are too
many segments in the chart, the 3D effect
makes it even harder to understand and
there’s a paragraph of explanatory text to
read!
RECALL
1 Giving your audience more information than
they can easily absorb.
2 If it takes your audience more than five
seconds to work out what your graph is
about, you’ve definitely got too much
information.
3 Technical audiences tend to be data-hungry
– they want to see all the figures. Resist the
temptation to show them all in one visual.
REFLECT
2 Technical audiences who are familiar with
the topic of your presentation may be able
to provide their own context, so be careful
not to patronise them with silly analogies.
On the other hand, a really good context is
always memorable.
C
REFLECT
1 People understand new information better
when they can relate it to old information
or put it into a framework they know.
Extremely large and small figures in
particular are outside many people’s frame
of reference.
2 If the visual you use dramatically illustrates
the context you’re going to put your
data into, it will make the reference even
stronger.
4 A cross between a slide and document – too
detailed to be a good slide, but not detailed
enough to be a good document.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 5 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Body language
6
ANSWER KEY
RECALL
A
RECALL
1 If you obsess about your body language,
you’ll become self-conscious and false.
2 You can appear calm and confident by
slowing down your movement and using
subtler gestures. You can create a more
energetic and enthusiastic impression by
moving more frequently and using bigger
gestures.
B
1 Gestures are more distracting the more
often you use them. What might be OK
once or twice redirects your audience’s
attention if you do it all the time!
2 By filming yourself presenting you can spot
some of your own unhelpful habits. (It may
be easier to notice them if you play the
DVD on fast forward.)
3 Ideally, your body language should support
and reinforce what you are saying. To do
that, it needs to precede what you say by a
fraction of a second. Make sure your voice
and body are fully synchronised.
DISCUSS
Gestures are very personal and, to some
extent, cultural. Be careful not to use a
gesture that might be misinterpreted by your
audience, but don’t worry too much about
this. If you do, you’ll lose your naturalness.
A good solid upright posture with head and
eyes up is important if you want to look
confident and engaged with your audience.
But, again, don’t try to be something you’re
not. Just make sure you take command of the
space you occupy or you’ll look nervous.
The two most important areas for creating an
impact are probably eye contact and mobility.
It’s obviously good to retain eye contact, but
make sure you don’t fix on one person for too
long! On the other hand, don’t address the
whole room for too long either. Keep focusing
briefly on different members of your audience
individually.
How much you move around depends a lot on
what makes you comfortable. Just be aware
that the eye picks up moving objects much
better than still ones, but that flying around
the room can be disorienting for people who
cannot move much in their chairs to keep
you in view. Keep in mind also that older,
more conservative audiences may appreciate
a presenter who moves less, whilst younger,
more energetic audiences might prefer a more
dynamic approach.
C
Watch the video for examples of effective
body language. There are, of course,
alternatives.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 6 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Rapport-building
7
ANSWER KEY
PRESENT
A
DISCUSS
1 Unlike conversations, presentations are very
one-sided. It’s hard to keep focused on the
speaker, however interesting they are.
VIEW
The five areas Mark focuses on are: asking
questions, using question tags, negative
question forms, first person plural pronouns
and involvement expressions.
REFLECT
Open gestures and a relaxed tone of voice will
also help create rapport. A few smiles never
harm!
B
VIEW
The presenter uses at least twelve involvement
expressions. Here are the main ones, but you
may find a few more:
OK, I think we all know why we’re here / Now,
we’ve been here before, haven’t we? / And
you don’t need me to tell you … / Here at CMI
we’ve always taken a tough line / And that
makes sense, doesn’t it? / None of us can deny
… / As we can see … / But what if I was [to] say
to you … / If, like me, you thought … you’d be
very, very wrong / Isn’t it time we faced the
fact…? / Here we can clearly see …
C
DISCUSS 1
Funny quotes (anonymous):
If you think it’s tough at the top, try the
bottom.
Mediocrity saves time and most people will
never notice the difference.
If at first you don’t succeed, try management.
They say money can’t buy happiness, but it
would be nice to find out for ourselves.
Some people exist just to annoy us – those are
our customers.
If you’re no good at something, just learn to
enjoy being bad at it.
If you give everything to your company, they’ve
nothing to lose by firing you.
The funny thing about entrepreneurs is: few of
them would have ever got hired.
If you arrive late at the office, don’t try to make
up for it by leaving early.
Always borrow money from a pessimist – they
won’t expect it back.
If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be
called research.
Never underestimate your abilities. That’s your
boss’s job.
If we don’t look busy, it’s because we did it
right the first time.
They say business is a rat race. But even if you
win, you’re still a rat.
You can have it right or you can have it now,
but you can’t have it right now.
They say the end of the world will be caused
by computer error. That’s where we come in –
we’re the IT department.
It’s lonely at the top, but the view’s just great.
Applaud and laugh.
DISCUSS 2
People expect a joke to lead to a laugh. If you
don’t get one, you look stupid. If you really
want to tell jokes make sure they’re short,
relevant, inoffensive and easy to understand.
Never wait for the laugh. Keep going and let
the laughter, if it comes, interrupt you.
DISCUSS 3
Funny quotes and funny stories.
RECALL
People don’t expect a story to necessarily end
in a laugh. If it’s funny, it’s bonus!
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 7 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Impact techniques
8
ANSWER KEY
A
DISCUSS
Andrea Jung: group of three
Carlos Ghosn: repetition (including first-last word repetition, three repetitions in all)
Jack Ma: repetition, inversion
Carly Fiorina: rhetorical question, repetition
Indra Nooyi: group of three, repetition, metaphor (‘engine for growth’)
Larry Ellison: intensifier, repetition, group of three
Guy Kawasaki: repetition, sound repetition (/m/[IPA]), contrast
VIEW
All the techniques Mark mentions are used in the extracts.
RECALL
1 They can all be effectively repeated.
2 Rhetorical questions arouse curiosity about the answer.
3 Famous quotations often contain a contrast or inversion, e.g. ‘You can’t win them all, but you
sure can lose them all!’, ‘Never mind if there’s a gap in the market, is there a market in the
gap?’.
4 Metaphors and figurative language are often very visual (crashing, flooding, soaring) and we
know the visual is much more memorable than the merely factual.
5 The group of three. If you overuse it, you can start to sound a bit too like Barack Obama!
REFLECT
French group of three: Liberty, equality, fraternity; Chinese group of three with repetition: Teach
me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand (Confucius);
German contrast: Everything has been thought of before – the problem is to think of it again!
(Goethe); Japanese metaphor: a thunderclap from a clear sky (= a complete surprise).
B
VIEW
Extract 1
Extract 2
Extract 3
Extract 4
REPETITION
QUESTIONS
CONTRASTS
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
METAPHOR
THREES
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
RECALL
The most frequently used technique is repetition. It’s also one of the subtlest and quite easy to do.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 8 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Impact techniques
9
answer key
A
C
DISCUSS
DISCUSS
1 Both stories and presentations have a
beginning, a middle and an end. Timing
and pacing are extremely important. And,
although you should be fluent, you mustn’t
sound like you’ve learned the story by heart.
It can help if you memorise just the key
events, not the exact words – let the actual
words come spontaneously on the day if you
can.
If you are going to disclose something about
yourself in a story, good disclosures are: a
problem and how you dealt with it, something
you have learned (perhaps from someone else),
or a particular event that made you change
your mind about something. Learning from an
older, wiser person may be popular in countries
like Japan or China. Overcoming obstacles
could be better received in success-oriented
cultures such as the USA. In some cultures –
for example, British – admission of a personal
failing or mistake can often build rapport with
your audience, but be careful not undermine
your credibility as a professional, especially in
countries such as Germany. In many cultures,
stories of personal triumph usually go down
well. But, again, be careful not to seem
immodest – especially in Asia and Scandinavia.
2 A good story adds context and perhaps
a little drama or humour to what might
otherwise be over-factual. All strong
messages (movies, advertisements, songs,
historical events, religions) take the form of
stories of one kind or another.
RECALL
Rhetorical techniques push your ideas onto the
audience by giving what you say more impact.
Stories pull the audience towards you. Stories
are subtler, more personal and, ultimately,
more powerful than rhetoric.
VIEW
This story comes from the heart. There’s only a
little mild humour, but it’s quite inspiring in its
own modest way.
PRESENT
B
Model answers:
REFLECT
The story might have benefited from a slightly
faster pace. More use of gestures and mime
could have helped too – for example, when
talking about the two different hats.
VIEW 2
Mark’s key qualities of a good story are: make it
relevant, use the present tense for immediacy,
recreate conversations in direct speech and
use your voice and gestures to the full. In
fact, using slightly different accents can help
differentiate between speakers in a dialogue,
and a simple gesture can sometimes take the
place of many words.
RECALL
He said true stories hold the audience’s
attention better than fictional ones. In fact,
just about the only fictional stories that work
are either jokes or ‘words of wisdom’. But, in
general, the audience will prefer to hear about
something that really happened.
An expensive mistake
I guess you’ve all heard the famous story of
Thomas Watson and the ten million dollars. No?
Well, Tom Watson, of course, was the legendary
founder of IBM. And it seems that one day one
of his top managers comes up to him and says
‘Hey, I have this idea for a totally new division
of the company.’ Well, Watson’s impressed with
what he hears and immediately gives him the
go-ahead. But it turns out to be an absolute
disaster! In fact, the new division actually loses
ten million dollars! So the manager comes into
Watson’s office, apologises profusely and hands
in his resignation. Watson says ‘Why are you
resigning?’ ‘Well, obviously because my idea
was such a miserable failure,’ says the manager.
‘I wanted to resign before you fire me.’ ‘And
why would I do that?’ says Watson. ‘I’ve just
spent ten million dollars on your education!’
Theme: Today I want to talk to you a little bit
about investing in people.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 9 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Zero tolerance
Some of you may perhaps have heard of
Andrew Carnegie, the famous industrialist. Well,
apparently, Carnegie was visiting a steel factory
one day and he stopped to speak to one of
machine operators. ‘Ah, yes, sir,’ said the plant
supervisor. ‘This is Wilson. He’s the firm’s oldest
employee. Been with us for, oh, must be nearly
forty years now.’ ‘Is that so?’ says Carnegie.
‘Well, congratulations, Wilson!’ ‘Thank you very
much, sir,’ says Wilson. ‘And can I just say, sir,
that in all my years here I have only ever made
one tiny, tiny mistake.’ ‘Good job, Wilson!’ says
Carnegie, shaking his hand. ‘But in future please
try to be more careful.’
Theme: I’d like to say a few words about
quality control and eliminating error from the
manufacturing process.
An offer you can’t refuse
Back in the early 1980s the president of Pepsi
was a guy called John Sculley. Now, Sculley
was a brilliant marketer – famous especially for
the ‘Pepsi Challenge’ commercials – some of
you may remember those – where Coca-Cola
drinkers are invited to blind-taste Pepsi and
Coke and say which one they prefer. Truly great
comparative advertising! In fact, Sculley’s so
good at what he does that Apple co-founder
Steve Jobs wants him to come and work at
Apple. But Sculley isn’t keen. He says: ‘I’m doing
fine at Pepsi, thanks. Why would I want to
move?’ To which Jobs memorably replies: ‘Do
you want to sell sugar-water for the rest of your
life or come with me and change the world?’
Theme: The subject of my presentation
is businesses that make a difference and
businesses that don’t.
REFLECT
It’s always easier to tell your own story than
someone else’s. The genuineness shows. Just
as spontaneous humour (even if only mild)
will often get a bigger laugh than the funniest
rehearsed joke, so a personal anecdote (even
if only moderately interesting) will usually gain
more attention than someone else’s clever
story.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 9 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Q&A sessions
10
ANSWER KEY
A
VIEW
Mark says that a Q&A session gives you a chance to have a conversation with your audience, to
address their specific needs and concerns in a more personal way.
B
VIEW 2
QUESTION TYPE
DEFINITION
Good
Worth asking and one you can
answer!
1 Make the most of it
2 answer it fully
1 Can’t answer
1
2
3
4
2 Would prefer not to answer
1 explain why you can’t answer
2 Move on
1 Vague and unclear
Clarify before responding
2 Already answered or
unconnected with your talk
Deal with these swiftly and politely
3 Several questions at once
1 Deal with these separately
2 Identify the most important question
Bad
Ugly
BEST RESPONSE
admit you don’t know
offer to find out
Ask the audience
Ask the questioner
REFLECT
In some cultures admitting you don’t know the answer to a question (even if there’s really no
reason why you should) can affect your audience’s impression of you. Be careful to protect your
credibility and reputation.
C
VIEW
GOOD
BAD
(can’t answer)
BAD
(won’t answer)
UGLY
(unclear)
Question 1:
Question 2:
UGLY
(multiple)
✓
✓
Question 3:
✓
Question 4:
✓
Question 5:
✓
Question 6:
✓
Question 7:
✓
Question 8:
✓
Question 9:
UGLY
(already answered)
✓
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 10 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE
D
RECALL
Only let hostile questioners ask one follow-up question. Don’t get into a debate with them!
VIEW 3
Don’t finish with the Q&A session, because then you’re handing over responsibility for the allimportant close to your audience. So unless you can make your last answer an effective close,
always have a separate close that you deliver after the Q&A session.
Dynamic Presentations DVD Worksheet 10 by Mark Powell © Cambridge University Press 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE