Today, I’ve got a very simple question and follow up sentence you can use during a presentation to engage the audience. And this is great for anyone, whether you’re a non-native English speaker who has to give an English presentation, or even if you’re a native English speaker and you’re just looking for a little presentation hack. So, check out the video, then keep reading below…

Have you ever wondered why some people improve their presentation skills so quickly, but for other people, maybe even yourself, it’s a constant struggle? Well, in this video I’m going to reveal the secret that the greatest presenters in all history have known. And the secret is…

Actually, I have no idea what the secret is…Or do I??

Were you able to catch the question and follow up sentence?

If you caught it… You TOTALLY rock! And if you didn’t…well… You still rock!

So for those of you that didn’t catch it, here it is. After my opening sentence, I said:

Have you ever wondered why some people improve their presentation skills so quickly, but for other people, maybe even yourself, it’s a constant struggle?

Then I said…

Well, in this video I’m going to reveal the secret that the greatest presenters in all history have known. And the secret is…

Simple, but really great question

Now, of course I know that “Have you ever wondered…” is a fairly common question to use when speaking in English. But when you use it in a presentation, it’s actually pretty cool because it’s a very relaxed, conversational way to engage your audience.

It’s like you’re inviting them to discuss the topic with you, and it can make you seem more confident when you’re giving your presentation, even if you’re totally freaking out inside!

So when you use this question in a presentation, here are three things to remember:

After you say, “Have you ever wondered…” you need to use a “wh” question or “how” to describe whatever it is you want to talk about.

You need to follow what you said with “but,” and tell your presentation audience the opposite, or something negative. In my example, I said, “but for other people, maybe even yourself, it’s a constant struggle?” which is the opposite of the beginning, where I said some people improve their presentation skills quickly.

The third, and final thing is to tell your audience what they’re going to learn, what the answer is, or how they can overcome the negative thing you just described. And in my example, I said I would reveal the secret that the greatest presenters in history have all known.

So there you go!

A simple question and sentence you can use in a presentation to engage your audience. And the really cool thing is that you can use this at any time during your presentation.

You can use it to start your presentation, in the middle, or at the end as part of your presentation’s call-to-action.

Let me know if you have any questions and be sure to share your own examples of the question and sentence in the comments section below. Thanks and talk to you again soon.