4 Ways To Make Your Presentation More Interesting

Summary

In this 'English for Professionals' lesson, Derek shares four techniques to make presentations more engaging from the outset. He advises starting with a 'why' narrative using personal anecdotes to explain the relevance of the topic. Derek also suggests posing rhetorical questions to provoke thought, presenting surprising facts or statistics for impact, and using 'imagine' statements to stimulate the audience's emotions. He emphasizes connecting these elements to the presentation's objective and encourages viewers to apply these methods and share their experiences.

Takeaways

• 🎯 Start presentations with a focus on 'why' rather than 'what' to engage your audience.
• 📚 Use personal anecdotes to connect with your audience and explain the relevance of your topic.
• 🤔 Incorporate rhetorical questions to provoke thought and align with your presentation's objective.
• 📈 Share surprising facts or statistics that are relevant and unknown to your audience to capture their interest.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Make your audience imagine scenarios to create an emotional connection and maintain their attention.
• ⏸ After asking rhetorical questions or presenting facts, pause briefly to enhance the impact.
• 🔗 Always relate back to your initial anecdote, fact, or question throughout the presentation for continuity.
• 🗣️ Keep your anecdotes short, interesting, and directly connected to your presentation's goal.
• 📝 Choose rhetorical questions that are directly linked to your presentation's aim to effectively engage your audience.
• 📉 Use shocking or surprising facts to highlight issues or changes that are central to your presentation's message.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the lesson presented by Derek?

The main focus of the lesson is to show four different ways to make presentations more interesting right from the start.

What is the first technique Derek suggests to engage the audience?

The first technique Derek suggests is to focus more on the 'why' than the 'what', by telling a personal anecdote related to the presentation's objective.

What should a personal anecdote in a presentation be like?

A personal anecdote should be short, interesting, and connected to the reason for the presentation. It should lead to the main point and be used to persuade, convince, inform, encourage, help, show, or illustrate a point to the audience.

How can rhetorical questions be used effectively in a presentation?

Rhetorical questions can capture the audience's interest by making them think about the topic. They should be relevant to the presentation's objective and followed by a pause to create impact.

What is the purpose of using rhetorical questions in a presentation?

The purpose of using rhetorical questions is to make a point and engage the audience's thought process, ensuring the questions are connected to the presentation's aim.

What is an example of a rhetorical question Derek provides in the script?

Examples of rhetorical questions Derek provides include: 'What's the biggest problem that family-run businesses face today?' and 'Why do we have to improve the quality of our products?'

How can sharing surprising facts or statistics make a presentation more interesting?

Sharing surprising facts or statistics can make a presentation more interesting by capturing the audience's attention with new and unexpected information that is relevant to the presentation's objective.

What is the advice Derek gives for choosing a fact or statistic to share in a presentation?

Derek advises that the fact or statistic should be something the audience doesn't already know, should be connected to the presentation's aim, and should be amazing, surprising, or shocking enough to capture their interest.

What is the final technique Derek suggests to engage the audience in a presentation?

The final technique Derek suggests is to tell the audience to imagine something, using the word 'imagine' to help the audience visualize the scene and experience certain feelings and emotions.

Why is it important to refer back to the initial technique used in the presentation?

Referring back to the initial technique, such as an anecdote, surprising fact, rhetorical question, or imagined situation, helps maintain audience interest and provides a common thread throughout the presentation.

What does Derek encourage viewers to do after trying the presentation techniques?

Derek encourages viewers to return and share their experiences in the comments, and also to suggest other areas of business English he can help with.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Engaging Presentations with Personal Anecdotes and Rhetorical Questions

In this segment, Derek introduces four techniques to make presentations more captivating from the outset. The first method is to emphasize the 'why' behind the presentation topic rather than the 'what.' This involves sharing a personal anecdote that is brief, engaging, and relevant to the presentation's goal. Anecdotes should be connected to the presentation's objective and can include experiences from work, personal life, or even a book read during a holiday. The second technique is the use of rhetorical questions, which are posed to provoke thought or highlight a point without expecting an answer. These questions should be linked to the presentation's aim and can pique the audience's interest. Derek suggests pausing after asking a rhetorical question to enhance its impact.

05:00

🔍 Captivating Audiences with Surprising Facts and Imaginative Scenarios

The third technique Derek discusses is sharing surprising or shocking facts or statistics that are new to the audience and relevant to the presentation's purpose. These facts should be astonishing enough to hold the audience's attention and should be followed by a pause to maximize their impact. The final technique involves asking the audience to imagine a scenario, which helps them visualize and feel certain emotions, thereby maintaining their interest. Derek provides examples of imagining a negative customer service experience or a positive work environment to illustrate this point. He concludes with a tip to refer back to the anecdote, fact, question, or imagined scenario at key points in the presentation to sustain audience engagement and provide a cohesive thread throughout.

Keywords

💡Presentation

A presentation is a formal discourse or show, often delivered to an audience, that presents information in a structured manner. In the context of the video, a presentation is a key tool for professionals to convey their ideas, data, or objectives effectively. The script emphasizes the importance of making presentations interesting from the outset to engage the audience, suggesting techniques such as personal anecdotes and rhetorical questions.

💡Anecdote

An anecdote is a short, light, and amusing story about an interesting or amusing incident. In the video, the presenter suggests using personal anecdotes to connect with the audience and to explain the relevance of the presentation's topic. For example, the script mentions starting with a personal story about a meeting with a boss or a discovery made during a holiday to pique the audience's interest.

💡Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer. The video script uses rhetorical questions as a technique to engage the audience by prompting them to think about the topic at hand. Examples from the script include questions like 'What's the biggest problem that family-run businesses face today?' which are designed to provoke thought and connect with the presentation's objective.

💡Statistic

A statistic refers to a piece of data collected through research or calculations, often used to illustrate a point or support an argument. In the video, the presenter advises using surprising or shocking statistics to capture the audience's attention. For instance, the script provides an example of sharing a statistic about employee turnover to highlight a significant issue within a company.

💡Imagination

Imagination is the faculty or action of forming new ideas, images, or concepts of external objects not present to the senses. The video script encourages the use of the word 'imagine' to engage the audience's imagination, helping them visualize scenarios and feel emotions related to the presentation. Examples include asking the audience to imagine scenarios in a shop or at work to make the presentation more relatable and impactful.

💡Interest

Interest, in this context, refers to the feeling of wanting to know or learn about something or someone. The video's main theme revolves around capturing and maintaining the audience's interest from the start of the presentation. Techniques such as anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and surprising facts are all aimed at stimulating interest and ensuring the audience remains engaged throughout the presentation.

💡Objective

An objective is a goal or a specific purpose that one is striving to achieve. In the video, the presenter emphasizes the importance of aligning the presentation's content with its objective, whether it's to persuade, inform, or encourage the audience. The script provides examples of how to connect personal stories or rhetorical questions back to the presentation's objective to maintain focus and relevance.

💡Engagement

Engagement refers to the act of involving or the state of being involved with something. The video script discusses various techniques to increase audience engagement, such as using rhetorical questions and surprising facts. These methods are designed to actively involve the audience in the presentation, making them feel more connected to the content and more likely to retain the information.

💡Relevance

Relevance is the state of being closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand. In the video, the presenter suggests focusing on the 'why' to explain the relevance of the presentation's topic to the audience. By sharing personal anecdotes that connect to the presentation's goal, the speaker demonstrates the importance of the topic and why it matters to the audience.

💡Subscribe

To subscribe, in the context of the video, means to sign up to receive updates or notifications, such as new video uploads. The presenter encourages viewers to subscribe to the channel and click on the bell icon to be notified of new lessons. This term is related to the video's theme as it is a call to action for viewers to stay connected with the channel and receive updates on future content.

💡Imagined Situation

An imagined situation is a scenario created in one's mind, often used to evoke emotions or illustrate a point. In the video, the presenter suggests using the technique of asking the audience to imagine a specific situation to capture their interest and make the presentation more impactful. This technique helps the audience to visualize and emotionally connect with the content of the presentation.

Highlights

Four different ways to make presentations more interesting from the start

Subscribe to the channel and click the bell for new lesson notifications

Focus on the 'why' rather than the 'what' to engage your audience

Use personal anecdotes to explain the relevance and importance of the topic

Keep anecdotes short, interesting, and connected to the presentation goal

Use phrases like 'persuade', 'convince', 'inform', 'encourage', 'help', 'show' after anecdotes

Examples of personal anecdotes to start a presentation

Capture interest with rhetorical questions

Rhetorical questions should be connected to the presentation objective

Pause after rhetorical questions to increase impact

Share amazing, surprising, or shocking facts or statistics

Facts and statistics must be new, relevant, and impactful

Pause after sharing facts or statistics for emphasis

Use the word 'imagine' to engage the audience's imagination

Imagination techniques help the audience experience feelings and emotions

Examples of using 'imagine' to create vivid scenarios

Refer back to anecdotes, facts, or imagined situations throughout the presentation

Encouragement to try out the techniques and share feedback

Invitation to subscribe, like, and share the lesson for more business English help

Mention of the free vocabulary email list for additional learning resources

Transcripts

hi everybody in this lesson i'm going to

show you

four different ways to make your

presentations

more interesting right from the start

welcome back to english for

professionals i'm derek and i'm here

with another short lesson for you

busy people before we get started just a

quick reminder to subscribe to my

channel

hit the red button and don't forget to

click on the little bell

that way you'll be notified every time i

upload a new lesson

and now let's start the lesson four

different ways

to make your presentations more

interesting right from the start

the first technique you might want to

try is to focus more on the why

than the what most of the time your

audience will already know what the

topic of your presentation is

so don't start with the usual today i'm

going

to talk about instead focus more on the

why

tell your audience why this topic is

relevant

and important by telling them a personal

anecdote

a personal anecdote is a short story

about something interesting

you experience it could be about a

conversation you had in work

something that happened when you were on

holiday a problem you discovered

or an idea you came up with remember to

keep it short

interesting and make sure it's connected

to the reason you're talking to your

audience

the goal of your presentation and when

you've come to the main point of your

anecdote you can say something like this

so why am i telling you this story well

the goal or objective of my presentation

is to and then you can use words like

this

persuade you to convince you to

inform you about encourage you to

help you show you and so on

a personal anecdote could start like

this

three months ago i had a meeting with my

boss and

about a year ago i discovered a major

problem in our marketing strategy

and last summer i was on my way to work

one day when

on my last holiday i was lying on the

beach reading a book by

and then include the author's name when

i started to think about

i remember when i started my first job i

was very nervous

and didn't know anybody

another technique which can capture the

interest of your audience

right from the start is to use

rhetorical questions

so what is a rhetorical question it's a

question we ask without expecting an

answer sometimes the answer is totally

obvious

and other times we just want to get the

audience thinking about the question

the whole idea of using this technique

is to make a point

and as with the personal anecdote it

must be connected to the objective of

your presentation

if you choose the right question or

questions it can really capture the

interest of your audience

and that's what you want isn't it here

are some examples

of rhetorical questions what's the

biggest problem that family-run

businesses face today

how often has your business tried to

find a more efficient way of doing

things

why do we have to improve the quality of

our products

why is this important why did we have

such a dramatic increase in sales in the

last quarter

a quick tip here when you've asked a

rhetorical question

pause for a couple of seconds before

continuing

that way your question has a greater

impact

the next technique i want to talk about

is to give an amazing

surprising or shocking fact or statistic

if you want to try this technique think

carefully about the fact or statistic

you want to share

it can't be something your audience

already know

it must be connected to the aim of your

presentation

and it should be amazing surprising or

shocking enough

to capture their interest here are some

examples

in the last 12 months employee turnover

has increased by 22

we've found that more than 30 percent of

our customers

are not satisfied with our product range

there are 14 million jobs directly

related to the mobile phone industry

as with rhetorical questions pause for a

second or two

after giving your factor statistic to

create a bigger

impact the final technique i want to

share is to tell your audience to

imagine something by using the word

imagine

you help the audience to use their

imagination

and start visualizing the scene

this technique can help your audience to

experience

certain feelings and emotions and should

capture their interest

here are two examples imagine you're in

a shop

and you ask a shop assistant for some

advice

the shop assistant looks bored and

miserable

and doesn't even make eye contact

imagine you arrive at work one day and

there's a buzz

in the air the offices seem brighter

everyone is in a positive mood and the

boss gives you a friendly smile when she

sees you

a final tip for you whichever of these

techniques you try

always refer back to the anecdote

surprising fact rhetorical question or

the

imagined situation always refer back to

it

at important points during your

presentation

that should keep your audience

interested and you'll have a common

thread

running through the whole presentation

that brings us to the end of this lesson

i hope you found it useful and i hope

you get the chance to try out some of

those techniques

in your next presentations in fact if

you do

come back and let me know in the

comments how it went

and also let me know in the comments if

there are any other areas of business

english

i can help you with if you like the

lesson

hit the like button and share with your

friends and colleagues don't forget to

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done that already

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thanks a lot for watching and see you

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