Presentation Skill 4

Presentation Skill 4

Dealing With Problems

Imagine you’re making your presentation in English. What could go wrong? What problems could you have?

There are many common problems:

• You might forget where you were, or forget an important word.

• You might realise that you said something wrong, or you didn’t explain something clearly.

• You might forget to mention something important.

• Or, someone might ask you an awkward question, which you have no idea how to answer.

Of course, there are other possibilities!

Let’s think about these problems. What can you do, and more importantly, what can you say in these situations?

Some tips

• First of all, it’s a good idea to make a cue card with key points, as well as any important vocabulary you need. If you lose your place, or you forget a word, it could help.

• However, you can’t prepare for everything. So, it’s useful to learn some phrases to deal with problems smoothly.

Of course, forgetting something isn’t ideal. But, if you do, it’s better to keep talking, rather than just standing there in silence. If you lose your place, and can’t remember what to say next, you can use a filler phrase like:

• Where was I?

• So, what was I saying?

• What’s the word in English again?

• If you still can’t remember, look at your cue card with your main points.

What if you make a mistake, or you realise that you didn’t explain something well?

You could say: (In this way, you can correct yourself without admitting that you made a mistake!

• Let me rephrase that.

• Actually, what I meant to say is…

• To clarify, I wanted to say that ....

What if you realise that you forgot to mention something important? Again, this allows you to correct your mistake in a confident way, so you look like you’re in control.

Use a phrase like this:

• Let me just add one more thing:…

• I’d like to add something to a point we discussed earlier.

• Let me return to an earlier point briefly.

Finally, what do you do if someone asks you a difficult question, which you can’t answer?

You have a few options. First, you can delay giving an answer. For example:

• I’ve allocated time for questions at the end of this session, so we’ll address your idea later.

• I’m not in a position to answer that right now, but I’ll get back to you later this week.

• This gives you time to think of an answer and do some research if you have to!