菜鸟用英文做presentation

说起当着众人演讲,做报告,其实每个人都难免紧张. 中国人初次(菜鸟)用英文做presentation 尤其如此. 记得当年在美国做博士后期间,参加一个硕士生的课程作业报告, 当时是晚上, 很多学生老师在听, 一个中国学生准备讲. 其实他的ppt 做得很不错, 但能看出来他当时非常紧张.一开始他原本想说 “大家晚上好”, 可一张嘴就来了一句 “Good night, Ladies and Gentlemen”. “Good night?”是晚安吗?讲完这句就回家睡觉吗? 你的作业就这么一句吗?美国老板还是很幽默, 善意地跟他的学生开了一个玩笑,场面一下轻松起来. 中国学生反倒彻底放开了, 整个报告发挥得还不错.

记得我第一次用英文做presentation 也是紧张地要命. 当时是在香港,也是参加一个课程作业报告. 当时一个国内访问的师兄给我传授 “经验”,说,别着急,尽量把你要说的东西写到你的slides上,然后照着念就行了. 我就像抓着救命稻草一样,赶紧照办.事实证明,师兄宝贵经验确实起作用了-彻底把我给害了! 当时的任课老师把我当典型给很批了一通,说,做presentation 绝对不能在slides上放太多的文字,要以图表为主,配以简明扼要的介绍. 你对你讲的东西要非常清楚,每一张图,每一个表,每一个slide 要说什么,事前都要准备好,要写下来,然后背熟,这样你面对你的slides,面对你的听众才能轻松自如. 你看看你的presentation一直在念slides上的文字,连看听众们一眼的功夫都没有,看把你忙的!另外你们大陆学生ppt怎么做的都一个模式?是不是受过统一的训练?

说起大陆学生做ppt的模式,现在想起来,还真都一个模式. 开篇一般是这样:

Slide 1 – Title

Good morning everyone, I am Shanyong, I think everyone here knows me. My research title is “Numerical simulation of cavity expansion in soft soils” and my supervisor is Professor Lee.

关于第一个slide, 很多中国学生都习惯这么写.当时我也这么写, 其实我没觉得有什么不好,但总感觉不像那些鬼老的开场白说的激情飞扬.一些有经验的演讲者通常在开头会先扯点别的,讲几个小笑话,活跃一下气氛.记得我来澳洲做得第一个seminar 提到美国科研世界第一,为什么要来澳洲发展. 我说08年前后美国遇到了金融危机,没有fundings suport我了,我只能来澳洲寻找机会.来到澳洲后我就深深地爱上了这里, 我老婆也是, 爱得很深, because there is no financial crisis here. 我当时听下面一阵会意的笑声, 感觉还不错. 当然,对菜鸟来讲还是从最简单的开始,能把东西讲清楚是第一原则,否则会弄巧成拙.

Slide 2 - Outline

This is just a quick outline of what I am going to talk about this morning. I will give a quick introduction and background into my research, followed by a summary of some of the short comings of published literature. There will be a look at the methods of analysis used as well as some of the results so far, followed by a look at future plans and a timetable of completion.

第二张slide 关于outline是我后来做seminar 的习惯, 现在看起来觉得还不错. 作为菜鸟我以前是这样说的:

This slide is about the outline of my presentation. There are totally five parts. This first one is …, the second one is …, the third one is …, the fourth one is … and the last one is the conclusion.

我想看到这里很多中国学生都会笑, 可能大家也有我以前菜鸟的影子. 其实我想说这么写没什么不好, 至少简单明了.但总给人感觉不是那么professional. 后来听别人的报告听多了,发现其实可以改改说法,内容还是slide的内容, 效果就不同了. 不同的地方是用一些变化的句型, 比如说:I will give a quick introduction and background into my research, followed by a summary of some of the short comings of published literature. Followed 这个词很妙, 很轻松地承接了前后两部分. 这样就避开了很死板的那些句型(the first(second, third…is …) 让人听起来很流畅,有点professional的味道.

Slide 3 – Introduction

When considering the stability of tunnels, there are many different problems that can be looked at, different …, such as …as well as ….

This is just a quick mention of some of the shortcomings of the published literature in relation to tunnels. The vast majority of past research has only considered …; there is some research into …, but not much, and basically none looking at …

Almost all the literature concerns only single tunnels, or single tunnel headings. There has been very little effort to look at the effect of …, as well as associated interaction effects.

The plan of my research is to use 3 methods of analysis for a variety of the geometries and soil medium combinations. These 3 methods will be discussed a little more in a few minutes.

这一部分是一个澳洲学生做的部分intertroduciton. 我觉得说得非常流畅. 他很注意每句话之间的衔接.比如 “When considering…”, “This is just a quick mention of…”, “There has been very little effort to look at…”, “These 3 methods will be discussed a little more in a few minutes”. 这句话很自然地承接下一段.

Slide 4– Methodology

This section looks at the methodology of …

在这一部分,我觉得looks at 这个词用得很好. 这样我们就会避免这样的句型一直出现 “This section is …”.

Slide 5 - Results

This figure, and the one on the next slide, give a good insight into the effect of the friction angle. As the friction angle increases, the area of influence around the tunnels drops off dramatically.

看看这段话的描述是不是比 “This figure is about…” 看起来舒服很多?

Slide 6 – Future Work

If you recall, I explained earlier, that so far only … have been used to consider the problems presented today. It will be possible to apply … to these same problems, giving a better insight into their behaviour, as well as confirming the two analysis techniques.

还有对未来工作的展望这段话,也写得很不错.

Slide 7 – Timetable

Finally, here is my plan-timetable, thank for listening…

Does anyone have any Questions?

总之,无论是用英文还是用中文做报告(presentation) 都是一个熟能生巧的过程.在开会的时候认真学习别人是如何做的,然后模仿,直到变成自己的东西. 另外,准备工作是非常重要的, 只有准备充分了,心里才有底, 才不会太紧张. 说到紧张,其实,后来我发现就是那些native 的鬼老大教授做报告的时候也是有紧张的,但他们能很快调节自己,直到轻松自如, 无它,经验丰富尔. 当然上述只是做presentation的表面功夫,要想让你的presentation 一鸣惊人,内容还是最主要的.

(转自王善勇)

菜鸟用英文做presentation