Presentation Tips
Publicado por jlastras
This post includes some tips and ideas to do presentations in english. These tips are classified by groups based on the parts and structure of a presentation.
Probably presentations in english are much less formal nowadays than years ago. Most of people use and prefer an relatively informal approach in the presentations.
You will find below certain structure and sentences that you should use in order to do presentations properly.
Introducing yourself
My name is Javier Lastras. I am responsible for IT in my organization.
As you know I am in charge of IT.
I am the new Financial Director.
Introducing a Topic / Stating the purpose os your presentation
This morning I am going to talk about …
Today I would like to describe …
This afternoon I would like to introduce …
What I want to do is to state …
What I want to do this morning is to get across …
The aim of my presentation is …
The goal of my presentation is …
The target of my presentation is …
The purpose of my presentation is …
I have divided my presentation in five main parts.
First I would like to give and overview of …
Second I will move focus on …
Third I will deal with …
Then I will move on to …
and finally I will consider …
Referring to questions
If you don’t mind we will leave questions till the end.
There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.
If you don’t mind we will leave questions till the coffee break.
Do not hesitate to ask me questions.
Feel free to interrupt me if there is anything you do not understand.
Introducing a section
So let start with …
Now let’s move on to …
Let’s turn our attention to …
this leads me to my third point.
Referring backwards and forwards
As I mentioned earlier …
I will say more about this later.
I would like to go back to something …
We will come back to the …
Going back to something I said earlier …
Checking understanding
Are there any questions?
Do you need any further information?
Usual introduction to slides, graphs, etc.
This slide shows …
If you look this slide you may see …
This graph shows …
What is interesting in this slide is …
If you look at this graph you take a look …
This photo shows …
I would like to draw your attention to …
Dealing with questions
That is a good point.
I am glad to ask me this question.
Can I get back to you later?
To be honest I am not really the person to answer this question.
Concluding
That concludes my talk.
If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them.
That brings me to the end of my presentation.
If there are no more questions we should stop here.
If you have any questions I will be pleased to answer them.
Do and Make
Publicado por jlastras
DO
Do for general activity
When we talk about a general activity but do not say what it is, we can use do:
- I want to do something
- What are you doing this evening?
- What can we do?
- Do it now!
Do for work
We usually use do to talk about work:
- What do you do? (What is your job?)
- Who does your shopping?
- I don’t want to do any work today
- I hate doing the washing up
- Have you done your homework?
Note that we sometimes do is used to replace another more exact verb (but the only way to have the meaning is from the situation). This use is very informal.
- Do the lawn (cut/mow? sow? the lawn)
- Do my room (tidy? paint? my room)
- Do the car (wash? paint? repair? the car)
MAKE
Make for construction
Make often expresses the idea of construction or creation:
- I’ll make a cake for Anthony’s birthday
- This car was made in France
- Did you make this table yourself?
Remember that we usually use make for products or goods that are manufactured, like labels “Made in Spain” or “Made in the USA” on products.
Now compare:
- Do the shopping. (We don’t create anything. We just go for an activity.)
- Make a cake. (We create something.)
See some sentences using both and sometimes with specific meanings:
- You must do your best and make the best of a bad job
- Trams have been done away in England (have been removed)
- Do me a favour, will you, and make an effort to get here on time
- We haven´t a proper spare bed; can you make do with a camp bed?
Passive voice in English
Publicado por jlastras
The passive voice in English is typically used when we are interested in the object or when we do not know who caused the action. We can only form a passive sentence from an active sentence when there is an object in the active sentence.
Passive Form: To be + Past Participle or Aux + Past Participle
Example: The butter is kept here.
There are other uses of passive …
- When it is not necessary to mention the doer of the action as it is obvious who he is / was /will be
- When we do not know, or do not know excatly, or have forgotten who did the action
- When the subject of the active verb would be “people” (typically verbs like think, belive, say, understand, suspect, suppose, etc.)
- When the subject of the active sentence would be the indefinite pronoun ONE
- When we are more interested in the action that the person who does it
Here you have some examples of each use …
- The rubbish has not been collected - The streets are swept every day
- The minister was murdered - My car has been moved - You will be met at the station - I have been told that …
- He is suspected of receiving stolen goods (people suspect of …) - They are supposed to be living in New York (people suppose that they are living …)
- This sort of advertisment is seen everywhere (One sees this sort of advertisment everywhere)
- The house next door has been bought (by Mr Jones) - A new public library is been built
Passive Form: To get + Past Participle
There are uses of passive with to get instead of to be …
- When the action is unexpected
- When achive something which has been built up before
- When achive something facing dificulty
Here you have some examples of each use …
- When he picked up the phone we got cut off
- She got elected
- She worked 20 hour per day and finally she got admitted
Causative Passive Form: To get/To have + Something + Past Participle (by someone)
There are uses of causative passive with to get or to have …
- When the subject in someway is responsible for what happened but did no do it
- For misfortunes or unfortunate experiences
- When we arrange someone to do something for us
Here you have some examples …
- He got his leg broken - I got my car washed and the oil changed
- My car got broken
- She goes to the Hospital and has her blood presure taken - I went to the bank to have my cheque cashed
If clauses, conditional sentences
Publicado por jlastras
There are three types of conditional sentences in the english grammar.
The sentences have two parts, the If Clause and the Main Clause. Depending on the types the tenses used in the clauses are diferent, let see the types and some examples.
TYPE I Grammar Rules
| IF CLAUSE |
MAIN CLAUSE |
| Simple Present | will-future or shall-future or infinitive or Modal + infinitive or Simple Present (for general truth) |
TYPE I Examples
· If I study, I will pass the exams
· If you see John tonight, tell him to e-mail me
· If Ben gets up early he can catch the bus
· I will pass the exams if I study
· I have hung out the clothes. It is lovely and sunny, if it stays like this they shall be dry in two hours
· If you heat water up to 100 degrees it boils
TYPE II Grammar Rules
| IF CLAUSE |
MAIN CLAUSE |
| Simple Past | would + infinitive or should + infinitive or could + infinitive or might + infinitive |
TYPE II Examples
· If I studied, I would pass the exams
· If I studied, I could pass the exams
· If I studied, I might pass the exams
· I would pass the exams if I studied
· French is essential in this job. All the telephonists speak it. If they did not know french they would not understand half the callers.
TYPE III Grammar Rules
| IF CLAUSE |
MAIN CLAUSE |
| Past Perfect | would + have + past participle or should + have + past participle or could + have + past participle or might + have + past participle |
TYPE III Examples
· If I had studied, I would have passed the exams
· If I had studied, I could have passed the exams
· If I had studied, I might have passed the exams
· I would have passed the exams if I had studied
· He looked so small and weak that nobody asked him to do anything. If he had looked strong he would have been expected to dig all day like everyone else.
· We had a lot of trouble putting the tent up. If it had not been perhaps it would not have been quite so dificult.
English Quiz Solution - a/an, the or no article
Publicado por jlastras
As promised below you will find the sentences completed of the English Quiz a/an, the or - (no article).
- I met a man called James last week. He’s a dentist, and he lives in the street next to mine.
- Jane’s is very interested in education. She’d like to be an university teacher.
- We prefer classical music to pop music. We often listen to concerts on the radio.
- Jim’s mother doesn’t let him go to the school alone because she thinks the roads near his school are too dangerous.
- When I was at the university I used to play the guitar in a group.
- I think dogs make better pets than cats. When you come home from work they’re always pleased to see you.
- Carol’s got a maths exam on monday morning. She hates maths.
- Would you like to have dinner with us next week?
I will post the solution next week.
English Quiz - a/an, the or no article
Publicado por jlastras
Review and complete the sentences with a/an, the or - (no article).
- I met ___ a man called James ___ last week. He’s ___ dentist, and he lives in ___ street next to ___ mine.
- Jane’s is very interested in ___ education. She’d like to be ___ university teacher.
- We prefer ___ classical music to ___ pop music. We often listen to ___ concerts on ___ radio.
- ___ Jim’s mother doesn’t let him go to ___ school alone because she thinks ___ roads near his school are too dangerous.
- When I was at ___ university I used to play ___ guitar in ___ group.
- I think ___ dogs make better pets than ___ cats. When you come home from ___ work they’re always pleased to see you.
- Carol’s got ___ maths exam on ___ monday morning. She hates ___ maths.
- Would you like to have ___ dinner with us ___ next week?
I will post the solution next week.
English tenses names review
Publicado por jlastras
In order to remember English tenses below you will find some english tenses and its examples.
Past Continuous • What were you doing at 7 o’clock yestarday evening?
Present Simple Passive • Where are your classes taught?
Present Perfect • How many times have you been abroad?
Future Intent • What are you going to do after this course finishes?
Present Perfect Continuous • How long have you been learning English?
Past Simple Passive • When were you born?
Future Prediction • What will the weather be like tomorrow?
Present Simple • What type of books do you like reading?
Present Continuous• What are your parents doing?
Past Simple • When did you see last film?
VOCABULARY
Taught past & past participle of teach, enseñar, dar clases.
To be abroad viajar al extranjero, salir del país.
Adverbs with 2 forms
Publicado por jlastras
I arrived at the station late
Have you seen Rufus lately?
Oh dear! Did I did something wrong?
He was wrongly accused of treason. He was in fact a most loyal citizen.
Steer clear of that man. He’ll do you no good.
If you look at the situation clearly, you’ll see I’m right.
He beat me easy. He was much too good.
He yanked the cork out of the bottle easily.
A lot of teenagers spend their time triying to break free from their parents.
He freely admits that he’s never done a day’s work in his life.
I can throw a frisbee high into the sky.
I’ve heard a lot about you from Paul. He speaks very highly of you.
I’ve spent a lot of time abroad, mostly in the States.
Wich part of Morocco do you like most?
She left the door wide open.
My views on this subject are already widely know.
Don’t move. Stay right here.
He was given the boot for incompetence, and rightly so.
