2020-06-10 |
英語のプレゼンテーションで原稿を見るべきか？ |
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グローバル化の波が多方面から押し寄せる中、英語でのプレゼンの機会も増えてきているのではないでしょうか。今は必要ないという方も、突然、想定外のところから依頼されることもある時代です。そこで、今回は英語のプレゼンについて、「発表原稿はどうすべきか？」の視点からエアー先生に解説してもらいます。
エアー先生が指導する講座では、日本人プレゼンターには4つの傾向があるようです。手元に用意した原稿を読み上げる、パワーポイントのスライドに書かれた文章を読む、一部を記憶し発表する、数枚のスライドを使いアドリブで発表する、これらの4つの傾向があると述べられています。そのため、プレゼンの準備をしっかりしたが原稿の使い方に迷いインパクトのある発表ができない人、せっかくの高い英語力を生かし切れていない人を見かけることが多いようです。今回の記事で、エアー先生はミュージシャンのライブと音楽CDを比較しながら、一つの解決策を導きました。多忙な毎日をお過ごしの皆様が、プレゼンの準備を少しでも効率よくするためのヒントでもあります。是非ご参考にしてみてください。
Presentations: Notes or No Notes?
When preparing for presentations, many Japanese presenters worry that they might forget how to explain their slides in English. They generally use four techniques to help them remember: most read from notes in their hands or from sentences on their slides, a few memorize their whole presentations, and one or two use their slides as hints, looking at their slides and then improvising their English as they speak.
While these techniques allow them to “survive” their presentations, the end results are less than satisfactory: there is almost no eye contact with listeners, the energy level is low due to reading or reciting, and the pace is slow, or in the case of slides as hints, stop-start-stop-start.
These techniques produce a very low impact: listeners stop paying attention because they expect a “live” experience, not a “recording” of a document. If listeners only wanted information from slides, they could simply read it. They want the presenter to explain the information and comment on it in order to help them understand the key points more quickly and deeply than if they just read the slides.
Let’s take a close look at the presentation situation. To get listeners’ attention a presentation needs to be “live”, the pace smooth and active, and the presenter needs to make a connection with the listeners using eye contact and facial expressions. On the other hand the presenter needs to be in control of all the skills needed to make an attention-getting presentation: movement, eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures, slide changes, laser pointer use, a smooth pace and English. These are the characteristics that lead to a high impact.
So, how do presenters make their presentations “live”, and at the same time, keep it “in control”?
Well, I ask my students, how do musicians perform live shows? Don’t they have the same problem of “live” and “in control”? I ask them which musicians they like and then ask them to compare the impact of listening to a musician’s CD and seeing them “live”: every student says the “live” shows have a higher impact. So how do J-pop stars do it?
The answer lies in the balance between sheet music and rehearsals. They rehearse enough times for it to be in control but not so many times as to make it seem less “live”, and they have “notes” on stage to look at if they need to.
So the solution for Japanese presenters lies in the balance they have between notes and rehearsals. Presenters who read are usually all notes, no rehearsals. Memorizers are no notes but many, many rehearsals. Slides as hints presenters are no notes and perhaps a couple of rehearsals.
The balance I teach in my seminars is “Half and Half”: notes on the table and several rehearsals. You go in an empty meeting room, role-play your presentation at least five times standing up, using hand gestures, making eye contact, changing slides, using the laser pointer and speaking in a loud voice. Five times gets everything working smoothly. It helps relax your body and reduces any stress you may feel about presenting and that in turn increases your confidence.
In contrast to slides as hints presenters, when you do forget how to say something however, you have notes on the table in front of you: there are no long silences trying to remember how to explain something. Key words are highlighted so you can locate them quickly. All sentences start on the margin so you don’t have to search for the beginning of a sentence. The font is large (eg. Arial 14) so your hands are free for gestures and the laser pointer.
Finally, you have much more confidence knowing that you have rehearsed enough and that you have notes as support on the table.
“Half and Half” makes it possible for you to make a great presentation.
Richard Eyre – May 2020
今回、プレゼンで発表原稿を扱い方について紹介しました。記事の中、ミュージシャンのライブと音楽CDは分かりやすい例えでした。英語のプレゼンの準備をすることは大変な作業です。しかも限られた時間で成果を求められる作業です。エアー先生が紹介したこの解決策「Half and Half」を一つの基準にして、是非日頃のプレゼンにお役立ていただけましたら幸いです。
この内容を学習する短期集中講座（2日間、集合研修）もご用意しています。ご興味のある方は、東京外国語センター・関西事業部の平岡まで（hiraoka@tclc-web.co.jp）
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詳しいお問合せはこちらまで |
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2020-04-27 |
英文メールの印象をよくする「丁寧さ」の基準とは |
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英文メールを書くときに、どのくらい丁寧に書けばよいのか迷うことがあると思います。前任者のメールをそのまま引用したり、日本語の習慣にひっぱられたりして、思いがけず相手に不快な思いをさせてしまうことがあります。メールを受け取った人が不快に感じたとしても、「その言い方は、少し…」と教えてくれることはないといっていいでしょう。そのため、改善すべきことに気付かず、同じ表現を繰り返してしまいます。今回は、関西在住のエアー先生に、英語と日本語のメールとの違いを丁寧さの視点から解説してもらいます。日本語と異なる丁寧さの基準のコツをつかめば、英文メールを書く際の迷いや、不安をかかえながら書くことが少なくなります。それでは、エアー先生から英文メールの印象をよくするポイントを3つ紹介します。1つ目は、丁寧さのレベル、2つ目は、丁寧な表現をいつまで続けるべきか、3つ目は、丁寧さと依頼内容の関係についてです。是非ご参考にしてみてください。
Writing English Emails – A System for Choosing Polite Phrases
Showing enough politeness in Japanese business emails is really important. So when writing emails in English, Japanese really worry about how polite their English is. They don’t have a clear idea about which words and phrases are “formal” or “casual”. At work however, the clock is ticking and they are under pressure to write something.
In this situation they will probably do the same thing as before: they will collect the same old email phrases they always use, make an email, hit the send button - and then worry once again whether it was polite enough.
In my seminars, I use the clothing styles of Suit, Tie, and Chinos to show three levels of formality.
●Suit is very polite: it shows “deep bow” respect like尊敬語 and 謙譲語.
●Tie is “we work together” polite for everyday business: Tie is used the most often in email and it is basically “safe” to use in every situation.
●Chinos shows a “we are friends” level of respect: it is warm and yet professional
Questions to Ask Before You Write:
Ask yourself: Is this your first contact with the reader? If yes, you should use Suit phrases to be safe.
Unlike Japanese emails, which often stay at Suit level no matter how many times contacted, international emails will probably drop to Tie or Chinos from the second, third, fourth or fifth email, depending of course on the purpose of the communication. When your first contact readers reply to you, check to see if they have “dropped down” from Suit to Tie level. This is a signal of friendliness: you are being invited to respond in Tie.
How did they sign their name? If they have signed with their personal name (not family name), they are sending a friendly Chinos invitation. You should return the friendly gesture by replying with your personal name or a nickname. Have you met your reader before in a face-to-face meeting, a teleconference or a TV conference? If yes, you should use Tie or possibly Chinos phrases to signal friendliness.
Making Requests: How inconvenient is your request? Difficult requests are more successful if they show “high Tie” or Suit level phrases; Tie and Chinos are fine for regular or weekly requests. Finally, Due to different cultural ideas of hierarchy at work, it is very important for you to avoid “top – down” sounding phrases such as, “Please confirm this asap.” “Please verb something.” is an order. You are ordering your reader to do something that in “everyone-is-equal” countries may offend them. They will probably delay their reply or make no reply at all. Write the original phrase, “Please could you confirm this asap?” or “Could you confirm this asap please?”
Richard Eyre - April 2020
今回、英文メールの印象をよくするためのポイントを紹介しました。1つ目は、丁寧さがSuit、Tie、Chinosのレベルに分かれること。2つ目は、メールのやり取りを始めて、いつまで丁寧な表現を続ければよいのか。3つ目は、どのような時に、どのような丁寧さで書くとよいのかでした。日本語の感覚と比べると、すいぶん「丁寧さ」の基準に違いがあることが見えてきたと思います。
今回は以上です。今後、皆様が英文メールで「丁寧さ」に迷った時に、思い出していただけましたら幸いです。
この記事に関するお問い合わせは、東京外国語センター・関西事業部の平岡まで（hiraoka@tclc-web.co.jp）
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