The moment to show off your Spanish skills is here, and we’ll teach you how to wow your audience, coworkers, boss, or clients. The way you introduce and close your presentation can have a positive or negative effect on your audience. So, it’s normal that you get nervous about speaking in front of a crowd and communicating your ideas effectively.
Practicing oral presentations in Spanish helps you focus on pronunciation and clarity while broadening your academic, job, and business opportunities. However, what may be even more valuable is that it gives you the chance to take risks, gain confidence, and exercise persuasion in a foreign language.
If you have a presentation soon, and want to blow everyone’s mind, here is your guide to giving oral presentations in Spanish for beginners.
5 Engaging Presentation Openings
The first part of our Spanish oral presentation guide is to help you find the most engaging ways to open your speech.
1. Start with a Reflexive or Engaging Question
For example:
¿Sabían ustedes que la entonación de nuestra voz no es sonido sino emoción?
(Did you know that the intonation of our voice is not sound but emotion?)
Starting with a question allows you to keep your audience attentive throughout your message.
2. Tell an Anecdote
55% of our communication stems from non-verbal language; everything our audience reads through our expressions, mannerisms, tone, etc., while 38% of our communication is vocal and 7% is words.
Hence, the importance of telling a story at the beginning of your presentation, so your audience connects with what you are going to deliver. We are all natural communicators.
At first, you may feel shy about opening yourself to the world, but believe it or not: your story counts, your story inspires, and even more than you think.
3. Utilize Objects
Generate interest with an object that’s relevant to your message. For instance, you can follow a similar script to this one:
Esta cartera que hoy acompaña mi atuendo tiene un significado muy especial. Esta cartera ha sido elaborada, tejida y pensada por gente que cree en sus sueños. ¡Qué gusto estar el día de hoy aquí hablando con emprendedores que creen en construir!
(This purse that matches my outfit today has a very special meaning to me. This purse has been sewn, knitted, and created by people that believe in their dreams. What a pleasure to be here today talking with entrepreneurs that believe in building things!)
Utilizing resources as elements of your speech will help your public to relate and feel part of your speech. Everything has a meaning and a representation. Remember that your public will forget what you said but will always remember how you made them feel. So, make them feel welcome!
4. Statistics
Using statistical data will help give your statement a significant rational weight. Remember that statistics aren’t read, they’re interpreted. This forces you to describe exhaustive research about a topic.
This isn’t about boring your audience with numbers, it’s about using statistics as a tool to make people reflect on your message. An example of an introduction in Spanish with statistics is:
¿Sabían ustedes que el 80% de los consumidores que adquieren sus productos en línea confían más en las recomendaciones de sus amigos o familiares que de las propias empresas?
(Did you know that 80% of consumers that buy your products online trust more in the recommendations of their friends and family than on the ones of companies?)
5. Who are you?
Greet your audience. This is fundamental to bond with them. Say your name, who you are, what your topic is and why it is important to pay attention to you. Let’s put it into practice with this example:
Hoy me encuentro feliz de estar con ustedes compartiendo lo que sé. Mi nombre es Liam Jones, soy periodista y locutor de radio, y hoy quiero que aprendas a utilizar tu voz para hacerte escuchar.
(Today I am very happy to be with you sharing what I know. My name is Liam Jones. I am a journalist and radio host, and I want you to learn to use your voice to make yourself heard.)
Respect your essence, know yourself and regularly practice the above types of introduction.
Verbal and Non-Verbal Presentation Tips
The next part of our Spanish oral presentation guide is divided into verbal and non-verbal language.
Non-Verbal Language Tips
Gestures
Your gestures can emphasize, substitute or contradict what you express with words.
Use open gestures, like moving your hands, stretching your arms and legs, and opening your shoulders. Additionally, avoid having objects in your way between your body and the audience, such as folders, books, and tables. Your face should be visible all the time.
Choose gestures that ease people’s understanding of your speech. For example, pointing in a direction.
Avoid fidgeting out of nervousness. For instance, touching your hair or glasses.
Look
Distribute your gaze amongst your audience, so everybody feels included. You can divide your audience into different quadrants. Let’s say, four, and choose a person of each quadrant to “talk to”.
Volume and Intonation
Mentally “take measurements” of the room, so the volume you choose to use is enough for both people in the front row and in the back to hear you. Also, avoid monotonous intonation. Highlight with your voice the keywords of your speech.
Rhythm and Pronunciation
Slow down when you need to separate ideas, this reflects confidence and helps you recover people’s attention. Pronunciation should be clear, so be careful with mumbling sounds.
Attire
Nobody has the right to tell you how to dress, but it’s recommendable that your attire matches both your personality and the context of your presentation.
Verbal Language Tips
Order and Structure
A presentation that has order and structure is easy to follow, understand, and remember.
Organize your speech in parts. For example: importance, data, chronology, interesting bullet points, zoom in, and zoom out.
Use discourse markers; words that organize and connect ideas. Some examples are:
To Start Interventions
El objetivo de esta exposición es… / Hablaré en primer lugar de… / Para comenzar…
(The objective of this presentation is… / Firstly, I’ll speak about… / For starters…)
To Introduce Comments or Examples
Por ejemplo… / Como es el caso de… / Recordemos, en ese sentido, que…
(For example… / As is the case with… / Let’s remember, in this sense, that…)
To Structure the Discourse
En primer lugar… / En segundo lugar… / Por un lado,…por otro lado… / Finalmente…
(In first place… /In second place… /On the one hand…on the other hand… /Finally…)
To Resume the Subject
Volviendo a lo que hemos visto al principio… / Como decía… / Señalaba que…
(Going back to what we’ve seen at the beginning… /Like I was saying… / I was pointing out that…)
To Establish Logical Relationships
Consecuentemente… / Eso nos demuestra que… / Deducimos, entonces…
(Consequently… / That shows us that… / We deduce, then…)
To Conclude
Tratemos, finalmente, el último aspecto… / En resumen,… / Para terminar… / En conclusión…
(Let’s address, finally, the last aspect… / In summary… / Lastly… / In conclusion…)
Vocabulary
You should adapt it to your audience’s knowledge, formality level, and the purpose of your presentation.
Sintaxis
Sentences should be short and simple. Avoid the overuse of muletillas (catch phrases).
Oral Presentation Conclusions in Spanish
When you’re giving a presentation in Spanish, do not miss the chance to leave a good impression. The final part of a speech is what we remember the most. So, use it to deliver a message or briefly summarize what you want to convey. You can create a compelling conclusion with a phrase, rhetorical question, quote, or call-to-action.
For example:
En conclusión, cualquiera puede padecer de un problema de salud mental.
(In conclusion, anyone can have a mental health problem.)
Si las personas más brillantes pueden padecer problemas de salud mental, ¿por qué nosotros no?
(If the most brilliant people can have mental health issues, why can’t we?)
La mente es como un paracaídas, si no se abre, no sirve para nada. Muchas gracias, público oyente, por haber abierto su mente a escucharme en esta exposición.
(The mind is like a parachute, if it isn’t opened, it doesn’t work. Thank you very much, listening public, for having opened your minds to listen to me in this presentation.)
Ready to be confident in your next Spanish oral presentation?
The key to giving a memorable oral presentation in Spanish is to be original, creative, and do something that’s unusual but true to your essence. Thus, you’ll make the difference.
If after reading our Spanish oral presentation guide, you think you still need help to prepare yourself for your Spanish presentation, count on our top-notch team of Spanish fluency coaches. So, don’t let fear of success hold you back, and book with one of our coaches.
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