English for Presentations at International Conferences
von: Adrian Wallwork
Springer-Verlag, 2016
ISBN: 9783319263304
Sprache: Englisch
293 Seiten, Download: 3030 KB
Format: PDF, auch als Online-Lesen
Preface | 6 | ||
Who is this book for? | 6 | ||
What does this book cover? | 6 | ||
How is the book organized? | 7 | ||
How are the chapters organized? | 7 | ||
How should I read this book? | 8 | ||
Differences from the first edition | 8 | ||
I am a trainer in EAP and EFL. Should I read this book? | 8 | ||
Are the examples in this book taken from real presentations? | 9 | ||
The author | 9 | ||
Other books in this series | 9 | ||
Chapter 1: The Importance of Presentations | 20 | ||
1.1 What's the buzz? | 21 | ||
1.2 Giving presentations gives you visibility and advances your career | 22 | ||
1.3 Simply attending, without presenting, is not enough | 23 | ||
1.4 Good presentations: typical features | 23 | ||
1.5 Bad presentations: typical features | 24 | ||
1.6 The key to a professional presentation | 24 | ||
Chapter 2: TED and Learning from Others | 25 | ||
2.1 What's the buzz? | 26 | ||
2.2 Choosing a TED presentation and learning the benefits | 27 | ||
2.3 TED example with use of slides: Let’s bridge the digital divide! | 27 | ||
2.4 TED example with minimal slides, delivered from a lectern: The forgotten history of autism | 29 | ||
2.5 What might Steve have done differently if he had been giving a more formal version of his talk at an international conference made up of a multilingual audience? | 30 | ||
2.6 TED example delivered from a lectern: This is what it's like to teach in North Korea | 31 | ||
2.7 What can you learn from these three TED presentations? | 32 | ||
2.8 Should you opt for TED-style presentations? | 33 | ||
2.9 TED viewers rarely comment on non-native speakers' use of English | 34 | ||
2.10 Note down what you remember about the presentations you watch | 35 | ||
2.11 Assess other people's presentations | 35 | ||
2.12 Using TED talks | 35 | ||
Chapter 3: Why You Should Write Out Your Speech | 37 | ||
3.1 What's the buzz? | 38 | ||
3.2 Write down your speech | 40 | ||
3.3 Don't lift text directly from your paper | 41 | ||
3.4 Only have one idea per sentence | 42 | ||
3.5 Be concise—only say things that add value | 43 | ||
3.6 Simplify sentences that are difficult to say | 44 | ||
3.7 Do not use synonyms for technical/key words | 45 | ||
3.8 Only use synonyms for nontechnical words | 45 | ||
3.9 Use verbs rather than nouns | 46 | ||
3.10 Avoid abstract nouns | 46 | ||
3.11 Avoid generic quantities and unspecific adjectives | 46 | ||
3.12 Advantages of having a written script | 47 | ||
3.13 Mark up your script and then practice reading it aloud | 48 | ||
3.14 Use your script to write notes to accompany your slides | 49 | ||
3.15 Use your speech to decide if and when to have slides and in what order | 49 | ||
3.16 Tense usage | 51 | ||
Chapter 4: Writing the text of your slides | 55 | ||
4.1 What’s the buzz? | 56 | ||
4.2 PART 1: TITLES - WHOLE PRESENTATION AND INDIVIDUAL SLIDES | 57 | ||
4.2.1 Make sure your title is not too technical for your audience | 57 | ||
4.2.2 Remove all redundancy from your title, but don't be too concise | 59 | ||
4.2.3 Check that your title is grammatical and is spelt correctly | 60 | ||
4.2.4 Deciding what else to include in the title slide | 61 | ||
4.2.5 Think of alternative titles for your slides | 62 | ||
4.3 PART 2: KEEPING TEXT ON SLIDES TO THE MINIMUM | 63 | ||
4.3.1 Keep it simple: one idea per slide | 63 | ||
4.3.2 Where possible, avoid complete sentences | 63 | ||
4.3.3 Only use complete sentences for a specific purpose | 64 | ||
4.3.4 Avoid repetition within the same slide | 65 | ||
4.3.5 Use only well-known acronyms, abbreviations, contractions, and symbols | 66 | ||
4.3.6 Choose the shortest forms possible | 66 | ||
4.3.7 Cut brackets containing text | 67 | ||
4.3.8 Keep quotations short | 67 | ||
4.3.9 Avoid references | 68 | ||
4.3.10 Don’t put text in your slides to say what you will do or have done during your presentation | 68 | ||
4.4 PART 3: BULLETS | 70 | ||
4.4.1 Limit yourself to six (standard) bullets per slide, with a a maximum of two levels of bullets | 70 | ||
4.4.2 Choose the best order for the bullets | 71 | ||
4.4.3 Do not use a bullet for every line in your text | 71 | ||
4.4.4 Be grammatical in bullets and where possible use verbs not nouns | 72 | ||
4.5 PART 4: CHECKING YOUR SLIDES | 74 | ||
4.5.1 Print your slides as a handout then edit /cut them | 74 | ||
4.5.2 Check for typos | 74 | ||
Chapter 5: Visual Elements and Fonts | 75 | ||
5.1 What’s the buzz? | 76 | ||
5.2 Use visuals to help your audience understand, but keep the visuals simple | 77 | ||
5.3 Choose the most appropriate figure to illustrate your point | 78 | ||
5.4 Design pie charts so that the audience can immediately understand them | 83 | ||
5.5 Only include visuals that you intend to talk about | 85 | ||
5.6 Use an image to replace unnecessary or tedious text | 85 | ||
5.7 Only show a slide for as long as you are talking about it | 86 | ||
5.8 Avoid visuals that force you (the presenter) to look at the screen | 86 | ||
5.9 Make sure your slide can be read by the audience in the back row | 87 | ||
5.10 Use background color to facilitate audience understanding | 87 | ||
5.11 Choose your font(s) wisely, and limit different types of formatting | 88 | ||
5.12 Remember the difference in usage between commas and points in numbers | 88 | ||
5.13 Locate formulas, code, procedures etc between 'easy-on-the-eye' slides | 88 | ||
5.14 Be aware of the dangers of presentation software | 89 | ||
5.15 Only use animations if they serve a good purpose | 90 | ||
5.16 Introduce items in a list one at a time only if absolutely necessary | 90 | ||
5.17 A few tricks provided by presentation software | 91 | ||
5.18 Final checks | 92 | ||
Chapter 6: Ten Ways to Begin a Presentation | 93 | ||
6.1 What's the buzz? | 94 | ||
6.2 Basic do's and don'ts at the beginning of your presentation | 95 | ||
6.3 Decide how you are going to begin | 95 | ||
6.4 Say what you plan to do in your presentation and why | 96 | ||
6.5 Tell the audience some facts about where you come from | 98 | ||
6.6 Show a map | 99 | ||
6.7 Give an interesting statistic that relates to your country | 100 | ||
6.8 Give an interesting statistic that relates directly to the audience | 100 | ||
6.9 Get the audience to imagine a situation | 102 | ||
6.10 Ask the audience a question | 102 | ||
6.11 Say something personal about yourself | 104 | ||
6.12 Mention something topical | 105 | ||
6.13 Say something counterintuitive | 106 | ||
6.14 Moral of the story | 106 | ||
Chapter 7: Agenda and Transitions | 107 | ||
7.1 What's the buzz? | 108 | ||
7.2 Consider not having an “agenda” slide | 109 | ||
7.3 Use an “Agenda” slide for longer presentations and for arts, humanities, and social sciences | 110 | ||
7.4 Use an agenda to introduce key terminology | 112 | ||
7.5 Only move to the next slide when you’ve finished talking about the current slide | 112 | ||
7.6 Use transitions to guide your audience | 113 | ||
7.7 Learn how to signal a move from one section to the next | 114 | ||
7.8 Exploit your transitions for other purposes than simply moving to the next topic | 114 | ||
7.9 Only use an introductory phrase to a slide when strictly necessary | 114 | ||
7.10 Be concise | 115 | ||
7.11 Add variety to your transitions | 115 | ||
Chapter 8: Methodology | 116 | ||
8.1 What's the buzz? | 117 | ||
8.2 First, regain the audience’s attention | 118 | ||
8.3 Give simple explanations and be careful when giving numbers | 118 | ||
8.4 Give examples first, technical explanations second | 119 | ||
8.5 Be brief and only talk about what is strictly necessary | 119 | ||
8.6 Show only the key steps in a process or procedure | 120 | ||
8.7 Use slide titles to help explain a process | 121 | ||
8.8 Explain why you are not describing the whole process | 121 | ||
8.9 Indicate where you are in a process | 122 | ||
8.10 Tell a story rather than sounding like a technical manual | 123 | ||
8.11 Bring your figures, graphs, etc., alive | 125 | ||
8.12 Minimize or cut the use of equations, formulas, and calculations | 126 | ||
8.13 Use active and passive forms effectively | 127 | ||
Chapter 9: Results and Discussion | 128 | ||
9.1 What's the buzz? | 129 | ||
9.2 Focus only on the key results, and keep the explanation short | 130 | ||
9.3 Communicate the value of what you have done—put your results in the big picture | 131 | ||
9.4 Explain graphs in a meaningful way | 131 | ||
9.5 Avoid phrases that might make you sound overconfident, arrogant or critical of others | 133 | ||
9.6 Tell the audience about any problems in interpreting your results | 135 | ||
9.7 Explain whether your results were expected or not | 136 | ||
9.8 Be upfront about your poor/uninteresting/negative results | 137 | ||
9.9 Turn your'negative' results into an opportunity for collaboration | 138 | ||
9.10 Encourage discussion and debate | 138 | ||
Chapter 10: Conclusions | 139 | ||
10.1 What’s the buzz? | 140 | ||
10.2 Be brief and don’t deviate from your planned speech | 141 | ||
10.3 Show your enthusiasm and remind audience of key findings | 142 | ||
10.4 Make sure your final slides give useful information | 143 | ||
10.5 Five ways to end a presentation | 144 | ||
10.6 Write/Show something interesting on your final slide | 147 | ||
10.7 Prepare a sequence of identical copies of your last slide | 148 | ||
10.8 Learn what to say before you introduce the Q&A session | 148 | ||
Chapter 11: Questions and Answers | 149 | ||
11.1 What's the buzz? | 150 | ||
11.2 Learn to deal with your anxiety about the Q&A session | 151 | ||
11.3 Prepare in advance for all possible questions | 152 | ||
11.4 Give the audience time to respond to your call for questions | 152 | ||
11.5 Get the questioner to stand up. Reply to the whole audience | 153 | ||
11.6 Repeat the questions | 153 | ||
11.7 Remember that it is not just your fault if you can’t understand the question | 154 | ||
11.8 Don’t interrupt the questioner unless … | 154 | ||
11.9 Be concise in giving your answers | 155 | ||
11.10 Always be polite | 155 | ||
11.11 If you are attending an important professor's presentation, think about the value of asking her / him a question? | 156 | ||
11.12 Think about how you might answer (or ask) generic questions | 156 | ||
Chapter 12: Attracting Audiences and Keeping Their Attention | 159 | ||
12.1 What's the buzz? | 160 | ||
12.2 Ensure you have an attractive title | 161 | ||
12.3 Be aware of the implications of the time when your presentation is scheduled | 162 | ||
12.4 Immediately make eye contact with the audience and maintain it throughout | 162 | ||
12.5 Adopt an appropriate level of formality | 163 | ||
12.6 Exploit moments of high audience attention | 165 | ||
12.7 Don’t spend too long on one slide and consider blanking the screen | 165 | ||
12.8 Learn ways to regain audience attention after you have lost it | 166 | ||
12.9 Present statistics in a way that the audience can relate to them | 167 | ||
12.10 Avoid quasi-technical terms | 168 | ||
12.11 Explain or paraphrase words that may be unfamiliar to the audience | 168 | ||
12.12 Occasionally use'strong' adjectives | 169 | ||
12.13 Be aware of cultural differences | 169 | ||
12.14 Be serious and have fun | 170 | ||
12.15 Gaining and keeping your audience’s attention: a summary | 171 | ||
Chapter 13: Handling Your Nerves | 172 | ||
13.1 What's the buzz? | 173 | ||
13.2 Standing up in public | 174 | ||
13.3 Dealing with your English accent and grammar | 175 | ||
13.4 Presenting negative or'uninteresting' results | 176 | ||
13.5 Handling nerves during the Q&A session | 176 | ||
13.6 Prepare for forgetting what you want to say | 178 | ||
13.7 Get to know your potential audience at the bar and social dinners | 178 | ||
13.8 Check out the room where your presentation will be | 179 | ||
13.9 Do some physical exercises immediately before your presentation | 179 | ||
Chapter 14: Pronunciation and Intonation | 180 | ||
14.1 What's the buzz? | 181 | ||
14.2 English has an irregular system of pronunciation | 182 | ||
14.3 Dealing with your accent and pronunciation | 182 | ||
14.4 Use online resources to check your pronunciation | 183 | ||
14.5 Practise your pronunciation by following transcripts and imitating the speaker | 184 | ||
14.6 Don’t speak too fast or too much, and vary your tone of voice | 185 | ||
14.7 Use stress to highlight the key words | 186 | ||
14.8 Be very careful of English technical words that also exist in your language | 187 | ||
14.9 Practise -ed endings | 187 | ||
14.10 Enunciate numbers very clearly | 188 | ||
14.11 Avoid er, erm, ah | 188 | ||
14.12 Practise with a native speaker | 188 | ||
Chapter 15: Rehearsing and Self-Assessment | 189 | ||
15.1 What’s the buzz? | 190 | ||
15.2 Use your notes (upload them onto your phone) | 191 | ||
15.3 Vary the parts you practice | 192 | ||
15.4 Practice your position relative to the screen | 193 | ||
15.5 Don’t sit. Stand and move around | 194 | ||
15.6 Use your hands | 194 | ||
15.7 Have an expressive face and smile | 195 | ||
15.8 Organize your time | 195 | ||
15.9 Cut redundant slides (but not interesting ones), simplify complicated slides | 196 | ||
15.10 Prepare for the software or the equipment breaking down | 197 | ||
15.11 Make a video recording of yourself | 198 | ||
15.12 Learn how to be self-critical: practice with colleagues | 198 | ||
15.13 Get colleagues to assess the value of your slides | 200 | ||
15.14 Email your presentation to your professor and colleagues | 200 | ||
15.15 Do a final spell check on your slides | 201 | ||
15.16 Improve your slides and your speech after the presentation | 201 | ||
Chapter 16: Networking: Preparation for Social Events | 202 | ||
16.1 What's the buzz? | 203 | ||
16.2 Exploit conferences for publishing your research and for networking | 203 | ||
16.3 Anticipate answers to questions that people might ask you after your presentation | 204 | ||
16.4 Learn how to introduce yourself for both formal and informal occasions | 205 | ||
16.5 Use people’s titles where appropriate | 206 | ||
16.6 Prepare strategies for introducing yourself to a presenter after his / her presentation | 207 | ||
16.7 Learn how to introduce yourself to a group of people | 207 | ||
16.8 Identify typical conversation topics and prepare related vocabulary lists | 209 | ||
16.9 Learn what topics of conversation are not acceptable for particular nationalities | 210 | ||
16.10 Think of other safe topics that involve cultural similarities rather than just differences | 211 | ||
16.11 If you live near the conference location, be prepared to answer questions on your town | 212 | ||
16.12 Prepare anecdotes that you can recount over dinner | 212 | ||
16.13 Practice being at the center of attention in low-risk situations | 214 | ||
Chapter 17: Networking: Successful Informal Meetings | 216 | ||
17.1 What's the buzz? | 217 | ||
17.2 Decide in advance which key people you want to meet | 218 | ||
17.3 Email your key person in advance of the conference | 219 | ||
17.4 Consider telephoning your key person in advance of the conference, rather than emailing | 220 | ||
17.5 Think of how the meeting could be beneficial not only to you but also to your key person | 221 | ||
17.6 Find out as much as you can about your key person, but be discreet | 221 | ||
17.7 Encourage your key person to come to your presentation or poster session | 222 | ||
17.8 Exploit opportunities for introductions at the coffee machine | 222 | ||
17.9 Be prepared for what to say if your proposal for a meeting is not accepted | 224 | ||
17.10 Prepare well for any informal one-to-one meetings | 224 | ||
17.11 Be positive throughout informal one-to-one meetings | 224 | ||
17.12 A verbal exchange is like a game of ping pong: always give your interlocutor an opportunity to speak | 226 | ||
17.13 Ensure that you follow up on your meeting | 229 | ||
Chapter 18: Posters | 230 | ||
18.1 What's the buzz? | 231 | ||
18.2 PART 1: CREATING A POSTER AND KNOWING WHAT TO SAY | 232 | ||
18.2.1 Purpose | 232 | ||
18.2.2 Types of research that might be better presented in a poster rather than a formal presentation | 232 | ||
18.2.3 Deciding what to include | 233 | ||
18.2.4 Using bullets to describe your research objectives | 233 | ||
18.2.5 Other points in the poster where you can use bullets | 234 | ||
18.2.6 Checking your text | 235 | ||
18.2.7 Quality check | 235 | ||
18.2.8 What to say to your audience | 236 | ||
18.3 PART 2: WHAT SECTIONS TO INCLUDE AND WHAT TO PUT IN THEM | 237 | ||
18.3.1 Title | 237 | ||
18.3.2 Summary | 237 | ||
18.3.3 Introduction | 238 | ||
18.3.4 Materials and methods | 239 | ||
18.3.5 Results | 239 | ||
18.3.6 Conclusions | 240 | ||
18.3.7 Your contact details | 241 | ||
18.3.8 Other things to include (in a much smaller font) | 241 | ||
Chapter 19: Advice for Native English Speakers on How to Present at International Conferences and Run Workshops | 242 | ||
19.1 What's the buzz? | 243 | ||
19.2 Learn from seasoned speakers | 244 | ||
19.3 Understand what it feels like not to understand | 245 | ||
19.4 Watch TED to understand how it feels to be a non-native speaker | 246 | ||
19.5 Watch TED to understand how to talk to non-natives | 247 | ||
19.6 Learn another language! | 248 | ||
19.7 Have two versions of your presentation | 248 | ||
19.8 Ensure you adapt a presentation that you have given to native speakers and make it suitable for non-natives | 249 | ||
19.9 Focus on what non-natives actually like about native speakers | 249 | ||
19.10 Be careful of cultural differences | 250 | ||
19.11 Avoid humor, but have fun | 250 | ||
19.12 Explain key words | 252 | ||
19.13 Choose appropriate vocabulary | 252 | ||
19.14 Mind your language! | 254 | ||
19.15 Speak slowly and enunciate very clearly | 255 | ||
19.16 Workshops and seminars: try to reduce anxiety levels of the audience as soon as possible | 255 | ||
19.17 Never equate a person's level of English with their level of intelligence | 256 | ||
19.18 Take responsibility for any lack of understanding by your interlocutor | 256 | ||
19.19 Ask your participants questions during workshops | 257 | ||
19.20 Avoid saying ‘OK?’ to check understanding during workshops | 257 | ||
19.21 Remind the audience of the big picture | 258 | ||
19.22 Have recap slides in addition to or as an occasional alternative to questions slides | 259 | ||
19.23 Reduce your talking time during workshops, seminars and training sessions | 259 | ||
19.24 Timing and breaks: using exercises in workshops | 260 | ||
19.25 Handouts | 260 | ||
19.26 If you are a participant, never dominate the discussion | 260 | ||
Chapter 20: Useful Phrases | 261 | ||
20.1 PART 1 PRESENTATIONS AND POSTERS | 261 | ||
20.1.1 Introductions and outline | 261 | ||
20.1.2 Transitions | 263 | ||
20.1.3 Emphasizing, qualifying, giving examples | 264 | ||
20.1.4 Diagrams | 265 | ||
20.1.5 Making reference to parts of the presentation | 268 | ||
20.1.6 Discussing results, conclusions, future work | 269 | ||
20.1.7 Ending | 270 | ||
20.1.8 Questions and answers | 270 | ||
20.1.9 Things that can go wrong | 272 | ||
20.1.10 What to say during a poster session | 274 | ||
20.2 PART 2: NETWORKING | 275 | ||
20.2.1 Introductions | 275 | ||
20.2.2 Meeting people who you have met before | 276 | ||
20.2.3 Small talk | 277 | ||
20.2.4 Arranging meetings | 278 | ||
20.2.5 At an informal one-to-one meeting | 279 | ||
20.2.6 At the bar, restaurant and social dinners | 280 | ||
20.2.7 Saying goodbye | 284 | ||
Acknowledgements | 286 | ||
Sources | 287 | ||
Index | 292 |