Giving a presentation

It’s visiting day at Maria’s riding school. Maria is meant to hold a presentation, but she’s nervous. It’s a bit scary to talk in front of so many people. A presentation to a group is also called a talk, a speech, or a demonstration, depending on the situation. If you’re nervous, you have to prepare well.

That makes it less scary. Maria is thinking through what type of presentation she’s going to give. She’s going to talk about riding sports. That’s her subject. The speech will give the listeners information.

It’s an informative speech. Maria also has to consider who is going to listen. There will be younger children and their parents. If the audience were going to be friends from the stable, the presentation would have needed to be different. This is called adjusting the speech to those who are listening.

Fitting it to your audience. It’s often easier to talk about something that you’re interested in. Riding? But if it were a subject that Maria didn’t already know about, say for a presentation in school, she’d have to learn more: find the facts. In this case it’s good to find out everything you can about the subject - become an expert - to make it easier to talk about it.

Look in different sources: on the internet, in factual books, or maybe… short animated information movies? What does Maria want to say about the subject? What does she already know about it? What does she need to look up? Maria makes a sketch where she writes down everything she knows about riding - a mind map.

It’s a good way to see what you know about the subject. Get an overview. When she has decided what to cover in her speech, she notes the order in which she’ll talk about those things. She makes an outline. Then it’s time to write down what she will say - write a script.

Scripts can vary in how detailed they are. Some write down every word they will say, while others however, make a list with a few points, key words. Maria starts by writing down exactly what she wants to say. Then she picks out the key words from the script, to use during the presentation. So what does a script look like?

First you want to get the listeners to understand what you are going to talk about, and become interested. Gain their attention. This part of the speech is called the introduction. You can tell a short story, or a memory that has to do with the subject. It should be short, a couple of sentences is enough.

After the introduction it’s time to present all the facts, in the order you’ve decided in your outline. You go deeper into your subject. This is the biggest part of the speech, the body. You can sometimes show pictures, maps, or diagrams here. When you’ve presented all the content, try to come back to the introduction: tie together and make a summary of what you’ve said.

This is the conclusion. A summary should also be short. Two or three sentences is enough. The listeners should understand that the speech is over. The script is ready.

It’s time to practice. Maria is reading the text to herself, recording it with her phone, and listening back. Maria can hear that she is talking a bit too fast. That’s very common when you’re nervous. She decides to speak more slowly during the presentation.

Maria is also looking down at her paper too much. That makes it difficult to hear her. If instead she looks up at the listeners, they will hear her better. And they will feel that she is speaking to them. So.

The presentation is ready. Maria is feeling happy. She knows her subject and her text. She is well prepared. And there’s still time to practise some more.

But first… to the stable!