Giving a Presentation? Improve Your Grammar

Giving a presentation at work can be stressful and painful at the same time, and it can be even worse if you are giving the presentation with poor grammar. You never know who in your audience will be a stickler for grammar, and messing up your grammar during your presentation can make your audience lose interest in what you’re saying.

The only way to eliminate this issue is to improve your grammar in speech, and there are a few ways to do this.

 

Record yourself giving a presentation.

Use your phone, computer or other device to record yourself giving a presentation. Then, listen to the recording and make note of any areas that need improvement. Pay attention to times that you stutter or use fillers (uh, um, etc.) Take note of those times where you use the wrong tense or any other grammatical error. Then you can make notes in your presentation notes to be cautious of these areas.

Take a speech class.

Your local community college has plenty of speech classes that you can take. Not only will this help you improve your grammar, but it will also help you learn how to give better presentations. You can then use the skills that you learn in this class to help you.

Take some grammar lessons.

You will also need to take the time to improve your grammar. There are plenty of websites that will help you learn some basic lessons, take quizzes and even play interactive games that can improve your grammar. Sites like Grammar Girl and Grammar Books are good places to start. These sites will help you learn tips and tricks to improve every aspect of your grammar.

Watch professional speeches.

Pay attention to the way that professionals give speeches. Watch presidential debates or turn on the news. You will be surprised at how much you can learn about improving your grammar by simply watching a professional give a speech. You can take note of how they hold themselves, what word choices they make and even how they structure their sentences.

Practice.

Even after all of these tips, your best chance of improving the grammar you use in a speech is to practice it all the time. Take mental notes of what you’re saying at all time and try to improve your grammar in your everyday usage, not just in your speech. When you make good grammar a natural habit, you will not need to worry about using it incorrectly in speeches.

Days before your speech or presentation is about to occur, you should also practice your speech or presentation out loud in front of an audience. This audience could be your family or friends, as long as they are willing to let you know about areas that need improvement. The more comfortable you are with giving your speech or presentation, the more natural it will flow. And if you’ve been using good grammar in your everyday speech, you’ll have nothing to worry about.

Jacob Smith is a college English and speech teacher.  He frequently gives presentations and uses the tools available at Grammarly to proofread his work.

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Category: Career