8.1
Introduction
Public speaking is a common source
of stress for everyone. Many of us would like to avoid this problem entirely,
but this is hard to do. Whether we work alone or with large numbers of people,
eventually we will need to
speak in public to get certain
tasks accomplished. And if we want to be leaders or achieve anything meaningful
in our lives, we will often need to speak to groups, large and small, to be
successful.
Many of us have observed public speakers and thought to
ourselves "Wow, I could never be that smart, calm, witty, entertaining,
polished . . . or whatever." Well, you do not have to be brilliant, witty,
or perfect to succeed. That is not what public speaking is all about. I know it
may look that way, but it is not. You can be average. You can be below average.
You can make mistakes, get tongue-tied, or forget whole segments of your talk.
You can even tell no jokes at all and still be successful.
It is human nature to assume that when we communicate we are
doing so effectively, and that if anything goes wrong consequently the
responsibility for that must rest with the recipient. Here, we draw attention
to six steps that constitute a typical two-way communication, and when the
opportunities for mis-communication are considered you may view it as
surprising how often communication works without a problem.
When, a speaker speaks to a recipient, we have the following
possible processes:
•
What the speaker thinks to say
•
What he actually says
•
What the recipient hears
None of these are necessarily the same and three chances
already exist for a breakdown in communication. As a result of what a recipient
hears, he may make a reply, giving:
•
What he thinks to say
•
What he actually says
•
What the speaker thinks to hear.
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Now, multiply that by the number of recipients that may be
listening to the speaker and you begin to understand the opportunities for
misinterpretations that may arise.
As you can see, communication is a complex two-way process
this is why it so often breaks down and is ineffective. With the complexity
apparent even in a simple communication, like the one illustrated, it should be
apparent that there is a need for clarity and simplicity – as this will
minimize the chance of misunderstandings.
Communication is a skill and like any skill, it requires
practice. The skill enhancement is a gradual process through practice that
differentiates a skill from one form to other forms of knowledge. Understanding
the theory of communication and effective public speaking will not in itself
make you a brilliant communicator or speaker but should make you aware of how
to maximize the impact of your presentations.
The most important thing to remember is that the message
that you intend to communicate is likely to be misunderstood. Therefore, in
addition to carefully preparing and presenting your message, stay alert for any
signs that your audience are mis-interpreting it. It is up to you, the speaker
or presenter, to continually check that your message has been received, understood,
correctly interpreted and filed in the receivers mind.
We will now examine each of the six steps of the
communication model in slightly more detail - with a view to introducing some
guidelines that should help to promote more effective two-way communication.
Step1 -
Ensure that your audience are tuned in and paying full attention to what you
are about to say. Once you have the attention of the audience the communication
of the message can begin.
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Step3 - Each
recipient will have some feeling about the message and will interpret its
meaning. This is often done in the light of individual attitudes and prejudices
or alternatively with reference to previous experience or associations. Your
problem is that the audience may not feel and interpret in the way that you
intended. The result may range from a simple failure for the message to hit
home, through to a serious misunderstanding.
Step4 - Each
recipient may respond to the original message.
Step5 - You
have now become the receiver, and should listen carefully to the message.
Step6 - You
will feel and interpret something about this message. This may range from
satisfaction that the communication is proceeding as you intended, to bewilderment
at how your original message was mis-interpreted.
8.2
Encoding and Translating
The majority of people
communicate in a way that is fundamentally flawed - in that they adopt the
egocentric communication model. This involves the presenter deciding what they
want to say and how they want to say it, with little or no regard for the
characteristics or needs of their audience. This model is termed egocentric
because of the significance that the presenter attaches to his or her own role
in the communication process. The presenter is essentially adopting the
following attitude: “I have decided what to say and the way I’m going to say
it. I will then say it and assume that the audience agrees, more or less, with
my interpretation”. This process, of
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packaging a
message, is called encoding and it determines which human senses (hearing,
vision, touch etc.) will be used to transmit the message.
The next step in a
communication is to send the encoded message to the receiver. The receiver then
has the difficult job of decoding the message in terms that they can relate to.
It is at this point that they may misinterpret, change, filter or edit the
message to fit into their own preconceived framework. In this way, egocentric
communication often fails to convey the intended message.
To minimize the chance of your
message being misinterpreted another step should be added to the communication
model. This new step is called translating and involves you encoding the message
as before, but then translating the message, to take into account a variety of
issues from the audience’s point of view. By translating the encoded message
for its intended audience, the chance of misinterpretation is greatly reduced.
When done properly the result
of this translation step is to frame the message in terms that are better
suited to the audience - in other words a far more relevant and focused message
for the audience to decode. This process will produce a message that has more
impact.
Think about how many times you
and your colleagues have attended the same meeting or presentation and yet have
come away with different interpretations about what was meant. When preparing
your messages, try to think of the different ways that it could be interpreted
by your audience and try to translate it in a way that will minimize inaccurate
interpretations.
8.3
Understanding Your Audience
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You should be clear on the aim
of your presentation, identify the personality types in your audience and
adjust your presentation accordingly. You must be clear on the aim of your
presentation at the outset in order that you can stay focused when preparing
it. Think of your aim as the final destination, and your presentation as the
journey.
Your objective is to ensure that the presentation delivers
you, and your audience, to the correct and clearly defined destination. It is
only if you are clear about your aim that you will carry conviction in your
forthcoming presentation. The purpose of nearly all business presentations is
either to inform or to persuade. You should decide which applies and then
prefix your presentation with an aim statement that is worded accordingly.
Once you have decided on your aim and written this down you
can begin to consider the content of your presentation. However before you can
plan the content in detail you will need to know how to analyze the audience
that you will be presenting to - in order to help you to translate the message
in an appropriate way.
Audience Classification: There are three questions that you
need to ask concerning the characteristics and composition of the audience;
Firstly, what personality types are likely to be in your audience? Secondly,
how can we recognize them in advance? Finally, what happens if you are
presenting to a mixed audience? Analysis of audience characteristics can be
undertaken based on a simple but effective model that classifies people as
being one of four types. Each candidate should be classified as one of the four
personality types shown:
1.
Emotive people are people-oriented
and they tend to be; sociable, animated, spontaneous, unstructured and welcome
change. They prefer the broad picture but cant be bothered with the details.
Emotive people often have a short attention span, so keep the presentation
short and
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2. Directive
people are high in dominance but low in sociability. They tend to be;
aggressive, intense, pushy, determined and opinionated. Their goal driven
nature can be misinterpreted as unfriendly, especially if they encounter
resistance to their aims at work. When presenting to these people stick to the
facts, cover each point clinically and proceed to the next.
3. Reflective
people are low in both dominance and sociability. They tend to be; precise,
questioning, aloof, serious, scientific and stuffy. They often occupy product
related jobs - such as scientists and engineers, and they pay attention to
detail. When presenting to these people supply lots of detail and have plenty
of support information at hand in order to address the detailed questions that
are likely to be raised.
4. Supportive
people are high in sociability and low in dominance. Their traits make them
easy to recognize, being; loyal, steady, solid and reliable good workers. The
majority of people are from this group, but you should bear in mind that they
tend to fear change and will worry if given cause. You should therefore avoid
risking being seen as uncaring or aggressive and should take time to pre-empt
any contentious issues.
8.4
Targeting Your Audience
It is important to target your
message to the correct audience, if you prepare for reflective candidates and
your audience is predominantly directive then
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they are likely to become bored
- and being directives, they will probably make their feelings known.
Of course, this profiling depends, to some extent, on a familiarity
with the audience. This will be easier with work colleagues than, for example,
when creating a sales presentation for an external audience.
You will often have to piece together the audience profile
from a variety of snippets of information - such as their job titles and ages.
Other information that may prove useful includes any previous correspondence or
conversations and anecdotal stories passed on by colleagues.
Audience profiling is an important precursor to preparing
the content of your presentation and you may need to use all of your
investigative instincts to get the most advantage from this process.
Targeting a Mixed Audience: Unfortunately
presentations are normally targeted at an audience that is a
mixture of personality types. So the question is who should you aim your
presentation at? The answer will depend on the size and composition of the
audience. Whilst there are an infinite number, of audience scenarios we will
consider one example – to illustrate the kind of issues you should consider
when deciding where to pitch your presentation.
In this scenario, you are presenting to a small mixed
audience, but there isn’t an identifiable key decision maker. Presenting to
this kind of group will be your biggest challenge, and if you are unable to
gain any further information about the group then your best strategy is likely
to be to prepare a DIRECTIVE presentation.
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This will keep any directives in the audience happy - and
they are often influential. The emotive will be satisfied because your delivery
will be fact based and punchy. To keep the reflective happy prepare a handout
that will supply further details. The supportive will be influenced by the
others during the presentation but may also warrant a pep-talk before or
afterwards to address the specific concerns they may have.
Further Audience Analysis: As
well as understanding the personality types that you will be
presenting to there are some other key questions that you should ask about your
audience.
•
How many people will attend
•
Why are they attending
•
What do they want from the presentation
•
How are they likely to react to the presentation
•
What level of knowledge do they have already
Each of these questions should provide you with information
that should help you to fine-tune the content of your presentation as well as
making you better prepared when you come to deliver it. For example, audience
members who have chosen to attend are likely to be more receptive than those
who are there by obligation. In addition, an understanding of their existing
knowledge will enable you to adjust the level at which you pitch your
presentation.
The most important thing to remember is more you know about
your audience the more you will be able to translate your presentation for them
and therefore the clearer your message will be to them.
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8.5
Designing a Presentation
Think of a presentation in
terms of a journey; designed to take an audience to a pre-planned destination.
Use this analogy to identify the key points of your message, prioritize them
and allocate each one an appropriate time slot. Nearly all presentations should
fit into a simple structure. This comprises three clearly identifiable parts -
an introduction, followed by a main body and finally a conclusion. This is
often expressed as:
•
Tell them what you're going to tell them,
•
Tell them,
•
Tell them what you have told them.
A good guide for the breakdown
of a presentation is the 10/80/10 rule - whereby the introduction and
conclusion are each allotted 10% of the presentation time, with the main body
comprising 80%. For example, a 30-minute presentation would have a 3-minute
introduction and conclusion and main body lasting 24 minutes. This formula can
be applied to any length of presentation - as it reflects a good breakdown from
the audience’s perspective.
In researching and collating
the material that you need and devising your key points you will have been
concentrating on the main content of your presentation. This is fine, as the
most effective and efficient way to prepare your presentation is to construct
it in the order of: Introduction, Main Body, and then the Conclusion.
It is usually best to plan your
presentation to have a question and answer session at the end. This will enable
you to deliver your message and then end strongly with a clear and concise
conclusion, before entering the relatively unpredictable area of tackling
questions from the floor.
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Identifying Key
Points: In structuring your presentation,
you may find it useful to divide your journey into a series of
stages. You are then faced with the challenge of deciding how many stages there
should be and what should constitute a stage.
It was also recommended that you should look at your aim
statement and try to develop between three and five key points that you would
like to drive home. This represents as much information as most people are able
to take away from a presentation.
These key point messages can be considered as the intended
destination for each stage of your journey. In other words key points are
synonymous with stages in the same way that the aim statement is synonymous
with the destination. If you are working in a familiar subject domain the key
points may well be apparent; but what if the subject isn’t familiar and the key
points are not self-evident?
When you are preparing a presentation in an unfamiliar
domain the most effective way to identify the key points is to ask other
people. The people you should ask should be from a similar group as your
intended audience. If they are predominantly directives, as is likely in the
scenario of a sales manager making a case for equipping her field sales force
with laptop computers then she should ask relatively senior people within the
organization.
If she asked a colleague in the training department their
comments would probably be heavily biased towards the training implications,
whereas technical staff would be preoccupied with the specification and interfacing
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of IT systems. Neither group is
likely to ask the sort of questions that are likely to be of most interest to
senior management.
By asking a representative group, you should ensure that the
key points are properly targeted and that the audience remains focused. You
should ask them a question framed around your aim statement. ‘What would you
need to know which would’ . . . followed by your aim statement. In the current
example what would you need to know which would . . . demonstrate the
competitive advantage of equipping the field sales force with laptop computers?
Ask as many people, from a representative group as you can, and record their
comments as potential key points.
The biggest advantage of this approach is its speed. It is
quite common for people to spend hours sifting through information, collating
it and then editing down into digestible chunks - whilst still struggling to
devise a suitable presentation structure for it. Asking other people is a fast
and effective way of devising potential key points and has the added advantage
that the key points will be non-egocentric that is they will reflect what your
audience wants to hear and not just what you want to tell them.
Key Points Example: This
screen illustrates the sort of responses that you might expect
when asking the question: ‘What would you need to know which would . . .
demonstrate the competitive advantage of equipping the field sales force with
laptop computers?’
Here are some examples of what colleagues might ask when
asked what the potential key point might be:
1.
How will giving them laptops improve their sales volumes?
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2.
How much will all this cost and how
long is the return on investment, in other words a detailed cost benefit
analysis?
3.
Would we be able to cut the sales
force because of their increased productivity?
4.
How long will it take to procure
this equipment and software, and then how long will it take to carry out the
training required?
5.
What are the main business benefits,
apart from cost-related issues - you know will the organization appear to be
more professional, that kind of thing?
Prioritizing Key Points: Starting
with the main body of your presentation, your first task is to
decide on what your key points will be and order them in a way that will
address the needs of your audience. Once again, you should be prioritizing what
it is that the audiences want from the presentation. The key points should be
presented in the order that reflects their importance to the audience - with
the most important first. If you do not do this you will find it difficult to
hold their attention.
It may prove useful to write each key point on a piece of
card and shuffle them in a variety of different presentation sequences and
consider the effect of each on your audience. Ask yourself, or others, which
will have the most impact?
Your next task is to divide the presentation up so that the
correct amount of time is allocated to each of your key points. This will
ensure that the overall time allotted to the main body of your presentation
does not overrun. For example if the main body is planned to last 10 minutes
and their are three
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key points, as in this
presentation, then you might divide it into two minute and one six minute
segments. Alternatively, you might create three equal segments. Once again let
the requirements of the audience determine this division.
Focus on the Message: The
overall message of the presentation should be embodied in the aim
statement. It is important to keep the focus of your presentation on the
message and not on the information and facts that underpin that message. This
can be very difficult; especially when the message is supported by a multitude of
facts that you think the audience should know.
If your presentation does consist of a series of facts and
supporting evidence, then the audiences are likely to assimilate these and draw
their own conclusions. If this happens you will lose the opportunity to
influence and shape the audiences interpretation. It is far more effective to
communicate your messages and then support them with an adequate level of facts
and information - so that the audience can line them up behind the message you
wish to convey.
As you develop the content of the presentation you should
devise a message, or messages, to communicate each key point. However, you
should only include sufficient facts to support and validate these messages.
Depending on the size and scope of each stage, it may be
necessary to devise one or more sub-messages to communicate the key point. Each
message and sub-message should be supported by its own support facts and
information.
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From your research, you should
have a surplus of facts and information available and the main challenge facing
you should be the selection of an appropriate sub-set to support each of your
messages. One of the best rules of thumb to adopt when screening your research
information is to:
Stop adding facts when your point is clear and present them
in order of importance. Remember, whilst quoting authoritative sources may be
useful when presenting support facts and information, your audience are
unlikely to want a detailed explanation of all the processes and investigations
that you have carried out.
Your Presentation Style: Before
creating a detailed presentation it is worth considering the pros
and cons of the three presentation styles normally available to you. Firstly,
you could memorize the presentation, secondly you could write a full script and
read from it and thirdly you could use free, conversational speech aided by
some form of notes or cue cards.
Committing a presentation to memory represents an enormous
overhead in terms of time and effort and is unnecessary except in some
situations where you may be need to present the same subject time and time
again. Another drawback with a memorized presentation is that you have to
concentrate so hard on remembering what to say that the style can become
stilted.
Reading from a fully scripted presentation invariably leads
to a dull and boring monologue. It is also likely to reduce eye contact and
general spontaneity, with a resultant loss of impact. These problems can
generally only be overcome by employing a professional speechwriter to write a
presentation that will be delivered by a professional actor.
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The use of natural
conversational language assisted by pre-prepared cues is usually the best style
for a business presentation. Adopting this approach will help you to sound
normal, natural and spontaneous and it will also create a less formal and more
relaxed relationship between you and your audience.
The use of this cue-assisted natural presentation style
underpins the remainder of this section. However in situations where you need
to adopt an alternative approach - be it a memorized or scripted presentation,
then the content planning can follow a similar approach - but with a greater level
of detail being added.
By placing each fact or piece of information on a separate
card, you will have the ability to move him or her around independently when
devising the optimum support information for each message and sub-message.
Placing all of the information relating to a given message on the same card
would impose an artificial restriction on your ability to do this.
Your Presentation Structure: Placing
the facts and information that you have collated into the correct
position within your presentation structure is a critical process. One of the
best ways to put the facts into their optimum sequence to support the messages
is to write each fact and piece of information on a separate planning card -
these are typically the size of a small postcard. Then by shuffling the order
around you will be able to experiment until you find a sequence that you feel
delivers the best effect.
During this process, you may decide to alter your original
structure, changing the sequence and relationships between certain messages.
Remember, that it is the impact and clarity of the messages that is important,
and not sticking rigidly to a structure that can be improved. You
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may also find that certain
facts and pieces of information are more effective in supporting an alternative
message to the one that you had originally envisaged - if that is the case,
move the facts.
Remember that the best rule of thumb to adopt when screening
your research information is to: stop adding facts when your point is clear and
present them in order of importance.
When you are happy that you have taken this level of
planning as far as you can you should apply a simple but unambiguous numbering
convention to all of your planning cards.
It is also useful to annotate each card with the approximate
time that you think each fact or piece of information will take to present
effectively. As each stage of the presentation has a pre-defined time, you will
then become aware as you approach its time limit. This is one of the most
effective ways of avoiding the common problem - of preparing a presentation
that is too long. This may only become apparent when you rehearse the
presentation - and then realize, at the eleventh hour, that a serious redesign
is required.
Designing Cue Cards: At
this time, you should have a clear picture of your presentation;
you will know the overall message - that is encapsulated in the aim statement.
You will have devised a series of key points and the messages and sub-messages
that you need to present in a way that is clear and convincing. Furthermore,
you will have organized, in order of importance, the facts and information that
you are going to use - and these will be clearly numbered.
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The amount
of detail you require will depend upon the nature and complexity of the
material you are presenting, your level of familiarity with it, and your
experience and confidence as a presenter.
The planning cards that you
have may represent a sufficient level of detail from which to deliver a
spontaneous presentation. However, it is more likely that you will want to
convert your planning cards to cue cards. These are a common presentation aid
and their role is precisely as their name suggests - cuing the presenter.
Cue cards should hold the level
of information necessary to enable you to present in a natural and seemingly
spontaneous way. They are so widely used that it is usually acceptable for the
presenter to hold them in one hand and refer to them openly, as required. The
cards recommended for the planning phase are also ideally suited for use as cue
cards.
The first principle is to
ensure that a clear and unambiguous numbering convention is applied to all of
the cards - so that if you drop during your presentation you can quickly
re-arrange them into the correct sequence.
Only write on one side of each
cue card - this avoids the distracting behavior of flipping and manipulating
cards and confusion as to whether or not you have addressed both sides of each
spent card. Only communicate one theme or idea on each card - this way when you
have covered the point you will be confident that you can move onto the next
card. Once again this avoids distracting behavior - of re-scanning cards that
you have already dealt with.
8.6
Preparing the Venue and Seating Arrangement
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It is important to arrive early in order to familiarize
yourself with the venue and any audio-visual equipment that you will be using.
If you are presenting in a familiar setting, for example within your own
organization the room and its layout will be familiar. However, you may be
presenting at a location that you have never seen before - the boardroom of a
host organization, a hotel suite or an exhibition. Where this is the case it is
important to plan your arrival at the venue well ahead of time.
There are logistics involved when traveling to a remote
location; organizing any travel tickets and accommodation, any specialist
equipment and props, and packing the clothing and other belongings that you
require, will need careful thought and planning. The best advice is to build in
a significant safety factor - to allow for any unforeseen travel or
accommodation problems.
When you are presenting at an external location you should
try to pre-arrange access to the room that you will be presenting in. Even if
it is being used immediately before your slot you could try and gain access to
this event - as it is important to familiarize yourself with the surroundings.
If you are unable to get there sufficiently early, then you should contact the
venue in advance and request a copy of the floor plan and any seating
arrangement options they offer.
The venue will set the mood for your presentation; an informal
gathering in a small cheerful office will create a very different mood to a
large conference room in a hotel. Where possible try to assess as many aspects
of the room as you can - it’s size, coloring, layout, lighting, position of
power points, doorways, work surfaces and any refreshment facilities. Pay
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particular attention to the
position that you, the presenter, will occupy and the location of any support
equipment.
Stand in the position that you will occupy when presenting and
check the line of sight to your audience. Are there any barriers to them seeing
you clearly, such as columns or projection equipment? If so, can you alter the
position of these obstacles or the seating arrangement? Practice speaking from
the podium or stage to familiarize yourself with the surroundings and see how
your voice carries. If you can, ask someone to stand at the back and confirm
how you sound from there; but remember that your voice will carry less well
when the room is full.
If you are able to adjust the temperature set it to just
below what is comfortable as when the room fills up the temperature will rise.
You don’t want to be hot and flustered and neither do you want your audience
dozing in excessive heat. If there is any chance of getting fresh air into the
room this can help to keep your audience alert.
Make sure that any equipment you requested is present and
working properly. It is very disconcerting to have to learn how to use
unfamiliar equipment halfway through a presentation. Remember, even equipment
that looks familiar may actually be a model you haven’t used before. A single
unfamiliar function or strangely placed button has the potential to stop you
when you are in full flow.
Where your presentation will be dependent on a consumable
item - such as an overhead projector bulb, check that you know how to replace
it and ensure that a spare is handy. When you are presenting at an external
location, make a note of the technical support extension number so that any
equipment failure can be remedied as soon as possible.
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Make sure that your audio-visual aids are installed in the
correct position and sequence. If these include a slide show, it is worth
checking through them - to confirm they are all present, sequenced and the
right way up. This will also enable you to check that your images are in focus,
and familiarize yourself with adjusting this setting.
If you will be using a PA system then perform a sound check.
Pay particular attention to avoiding acoustic feedback, which is affected by
both the volume and the position of the microphone in relation to the speakers.
Also, check that your microphone will not be rubbing against your clothing as
you gesture and move around.
Place any pointers, pens, remote control units and other
hand held devices where they are easily accessible. Having water or another
drink handy is important, if you do dry-up, it is much easier to take a quick
sip than to hack your way through the remainder of your presentation.
Seating Arrangement: In
small and medium size venues you will probably have considerable
discretion over the seating layout. It is important to get the right balance
when seating your audience; comfort is an issue but try not to make them so comfortable
that they fall asleep.
Spacing chairs out so that everybody has sufficient room to
store their bags and briefcases will also create a less claustrophobic feeling.
If your audience are likely to make notes during your presentation you might
want to provide chairs with armrests or supply complimentary clipboards - which
may carry your organizations logo.
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Whilst the seating layout is
often fixed in large venues, you can experiment with the seating plan at
smaller venues. A series of straight and narrow rows stretching back from you
may permit easy eye contact but may restrict the ability of people at the back
to see and hear clearly.
If this plan is switched to wide rows in front of you, then
the majority of the audience will be able to see and hear clearly but it will
be difficult for you to make eye contact with those people sitting at the
periphery.
A semi-circular, or n arrangement provides an effective
format as both the acoustics and visibility work well for the audience. You
will also find it easy to engage all members of the audience with eye contact.
This arrangement takes up slightly more space than the other options but is
well worth the effort where there is sufficient room.
If your presentation involves a lot of note taking, or
includes workgroup-based interaction, you might want to include tables in the
seating plan. The plan shown is the classic schoolroom type layout and this can
be significantly improved simply by turning the end of the tables towards the presenter.
By doing this the members of the audience will have a better
view of your visual aids and each table will be able to accommodate twice the
number of people - which is ideal for any group based working. If you want to
use group interaction during your presentation then arrange the audience so
that they are sitting in groups of between five and eight.
Research shows that people are most likely to contribute to
group sessions when there are enough people to create some energy within the
group but
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not
so many that they feel excluded. Groups of between five and eight people have
been shown to optimize this.
8.7
Final Point and Getting Start
A final point regarding floor
plans where your audience is an unknown quantity is that you may find it
helpful to remove the back row of seats. This avoids the common problem where
the audience filters in and head for the seats furthest from the presenter. By
placing potentially surplus seats at the sides of the room, latecomers can help
themselves to a seat and join at the back.
When planning any
pre-presentation food and drink think carefully; you don’t want to spend a lot
of money on lavish food and drinks just to put your audience to sleep. As with
your own personal preparation, light snacks and sandwiches are best and it is
advisable to avoid alcohol where possible. If possible, hold over part of the
catering - such as desserts and any alcoholic drinks until a post presentation
gathering.
Depending on the size and level
of formality of your presentation, it may be a good idea to welcome members of
your audience as they arrive. If you are present but wait impassively, or are
preoccupied, as the audience filters in this can create a cold and unwelcoming
atmosphere that can be difficult to overcome - regardless of how good your
presentation is.
Getting Started: There
are two key points about any presentation. Firstly, it is
important to start well and inform your audience of the presentations overall
structure and the style of interaction you would prefer. Secondly, you should
then Focus on delivering your message and avoiding self-analysis during your
presentation.
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When your presentation actually
begins, if you find that you are suffering from last minute nerves, you can
calm yourself by not speaking immediately. Consciously deepen your breathing as
you take in your audience, holding eye contact with two or three of them for
3-4 seconds. Then when you feel ready, start speaking as you maintain eye
contact with one individual before moving on to another.
This is the time to switch your
focus firmly onto the message. This does not mean that body language, eye
contact and interaction with your audience are not important - they are. These
vital presentation skills are dealt with in the next section.
Any presenter who asks he or
she ‘how am I doing?’ is liable to deal his or her own presentation a critical
blow. You cannot perform real-time self-assessments in mid-presentation. The
human mind can only cope with one major task at a time and delivering your
message should become that all encompassing task once your presentation has
started.
8.8
Summary
For a good presentation the
introduction will help to establish your credibility and will give the audience
a clear expectation of what you are about to tell them. If you are being
introduced, it may be worth clarifying your personal details, such as any
relevant qualifications or experience that you possess, with the person who will
introduce you.
Ideally, your introduction will
inform your audience how long you will be speaking for, so that they can adjust
their anticipated concentration span
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accordingly. It is also a good
time to outline the overall structure of your presentation, and to mention the
style of audience interaction you would prefer. For example you might welcome
any question from the floor, as and when they arise, or you might prefer to
proceed uninterrupted until a formal question and answer session at end of your
presentation.
Make sure that you start by speaking confidently and at a
natural pace. Try not to refer to your notes more than once or twice in your
opening segment. A confident opening style should establish you as a credible
and authoritative speaker who is open and friendly. One very useful tip for
generating a relaxed and friendly presentation style is to speak to your
audience, regardless of its size, as though you were chatting to a friend in a
far less formal environment.
Try to look at all of the members of your audience - so that
they feel included, and hold brief eye contact with a handful of them. It can
be worth seeking eye contact in a methodical way - by switching from the rear
right corner of your audience to the center to front left, then back to rear
left and so on. Adopting this approach should ensure you cover all areas of
your audience. One final point regarding your opening is that you should make
it crisp and telling - giving your audience something to think about right at
the start. This will have the effect of gaining their attention; it is then
your job to make sure that you keep it.
Presentation Styles: The
presentation style that you adopt should be influenced by the
size of your audience together with the level of formality that is appropriate.
The following classification divides presentations into one of four broad
categories:
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Examples of this type of
presentation would be: a committee meeting, a sales pitch or an
interdepartmental presentation. Here you should establish eye contact with each
member of the audience early on and remain facing them at all times, in order
to hold their attention.
Type 2
Examples of this type of
presentation would be: the introduction of new products to established
suppliers or the briefing of work colleagues. Here it is often best to interact
with the audience by soliciting questions and letting individuals make
meaningful, but brief, contributions.
Type 3
When presenting at large formal
events such as a conference or a corporate AGM, check early on that all
sections of the audience can hear you clearly. Punctuate your presentation with
links, clear summing-ups and by repeating your main points.
Type 4
An informal presentation to a
large audience is relatively rare, but might for example occur if you were
asked, at very short notice, to contribute from the floor when attending a
conference or similar event. In this case, make sure that you keep your message
simple and speak slowly with clear enunciation. Only expand on your general
point if requested to do so.
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♦
Communication Skill: It is a skill
like any other skills that requires practice. The skill enhancement is a
gradual process through practice that differentiates a skill from one form to
other forms of knowledge.
♦
Presentation Skill: You should be
clear on the aim of your presentation, identify the personality types in your
audience and adjust your presentation accordingly.
♦
Presentation Journey: Think of a
presentation in terms of a journey; designed to take an audience to a
pre-planned destination.
8.10
Self Assessment Questions
1. "The
speaking and public presentation skills are primary requirements for a
successful manager." Discuss the statement.
2. "Communication
is the sum of all things one person does when he wants to create understanding
in the mind of another through public presentation." Discuss and elaborate
the statement.
3. Write
a note on the need and importance of public speaking in business communication.
4. What
are the precautions a presenter should keep in mind while going for non-verbal
communication with three different groups of audiences?
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8.11
Suggested Readings
1. Pal,
Rajendra and Korlahalli, J. S., Essentials of Business Communication.
2.
Kaul, Asha, Effective Business Communication.
3.
Lesikar, R. V. and Pettite J. D., Business Communication.
4.
Sharma, R. C. , Business Communication and Report Writing.
5.
Shinha, P., Business Communication.
