**NOTE: There has been a little confusion over which group was assigned Ch. 17 so we both ended up writing summaries for the same chapter.
Effective oral communication is a critical component in any job or profession. The book states “the ability to communicate ideas and plans effectively in front of an audience” is the most important career skill according to more than 700 managers.
TYPES OF PRESENTATIONS
Informal Presentations: This type of presentation usually takes place in some type of weekly business meeting. It consists of professional peers and is considered informal because the audience is probably already familiar with you and your work. Another example of an informal presentation occurs with special interest groups or community members. In this case, individuals want to learn new information that you present and is usually followed up with a discussion.
*NOTE: Informal presentations require adequate preparation and organization. The “informal” aspect solely means you are already familiar with your audience or the information you are providing will act as a catalyst for discussion.
Formal Presentations: These types of presentations generally take more time and effort because you are presenting to an audience that is not familiar with you or your work. For your audience, including sufficient background information in your presentation is essential.
Class Presentations: This type offers important feedback that is honest and helpful from the audience. The audience can give you constructive criticism as well as point out particular positive aspects of your presentation.
PREPARING A PROFRESSIONAL PRESENTATION
Being able to identify who your audience is will help you to specifically tailor your presentation so it best fits them. Possible audiences may include:
Professional peers: They are knowledgeable and understand your field of work. Your presentations towards them should be carefully organized and include supporting evidence.
Non-expert Professionals: They have an understanding of your field of work, but are less familiar with specific technical jargon and may not be up to date on current theories or practices.
International Audiences: Requires you to become aware of particular cultural customs and/or expectations for both courtesy and effectiveness.
General Audiences: This type includes a wide variety of individuals with varying needs and interests.
PURPOSE OF PRESENTATIONS
Clearly defining the purpose of your presentation will help you identify the primary and secondary goals for your own presentation.
Informative presentations: Gives audience verifiable information usually for decision making or background purposes.
Persuasive presentations: Tries to persuade your audience for or against a particular product, proposal, or position.
Demonstration: Informs your audience about how something is done by demonstrating and explaining the process.
Training sessions: Utilizes hands-on experience by teaching your audience how to do something.
ORGANIZING A PROFRESSIONAL PRESENTATION
1) Create an audience-centered atmosphere
Research who your audience is and appropriately relate comments and content that are relevant and interesting to them.
2) Encourage active involvement
Try and get your audience involved as much as possible by including them in demonstrations.
3) Make what you say easy to listen to (and remember)
Make your stories brief and to the point. Also, make connections between the new information you are presenting to previous information your audience may already know.
4) Vary the pacing and structure of your presentation
Avoid overwhelming your audience by cramming too much information in your presentation. Alternate between difficult material and easier material.
**Make your presentations easy to follow with good organization, structure, and transitions. Also, utilize note cards or outlines to help guide you through your presentation without getting lost or off track.
PREPARING MATERIALS FOR A PROFRESSIOAL PRESENTATION
**Visuals are very valuable and aid in the understanding of your presentation. Visuals help clarify complex concepts and help reinforce the content of your message. Visuals are separated into categories: charts, diagrams, schematics, graphs, tables, maps, drawings, and photographs. They help in organizing and supporting your information as well as encourage attention and engagement from your audience.
**Visuals may be presented in several ways including white boards, flip charts, slides, posters, etc. It is important to keep in mind the size and color of your visuals in relation to your audience and physical environment.
**The use of PowerPoint for oral presentations can be useful for several reasons. However, try to avoid cramming too much information in a slide. Try to ensure usability by including appropriate key concepts in a slide and making it easy to read and follow. Also, do not use PowerPoint to simply read word for word your presentation. Use the slides as an outline to help you with key points.
**Handouts can be useful by giving your audience something tangible to follow as well as take notes or refer back to later.
-->Handouts should be stapled together or somehow attached.
-->Usually distribute handouts either at the beginning or end of your presentation.
-->Include enough detail in your handouts to highlight key points and reinforce main topics from your presentation.
-->Explain to your audience when to refer to a particular page in your handout.
-->Only include handouts if it will enhance your presentation.
**Make posters aesthetically appealing and easily readable to ensure proper accessibility, comprehensibility, and usability.
**Create and maintain a professional appearance by avoiding behavior or appearance that may distract from the presentation.
**Remember vocal characteristics such as: loudness, clarity, tone, and rate.
**Adequately prepare yourself for questions from the audience
EVALUATING PRESENTATIONS
The process of successfully and fairly evaluating a presentation involves actively listening to the presentation. Being able to assess oral presentations will not only help others increase their effectiveness, but assist you as well.
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11 comments:
This chapter really helped me out. I am not a very good presenter. I usually get really worked up over small presentations that are a piece of cake. After reading this chapter I have picked up many pointers to use in my next presentation. Being relaxed is probably the most important topic of this whole chapter for me. If you are unable to relax, you tend to do weird things that you don’t even realize. I believe that without good communication skills, you are unable to be as successful as one that has great communication skills. You all know that the people that bring in the most money are ones that can communicate well and lead a company to success. I am aiming for becoming a construction manager which entails giving oral presentations to the workers on the jobsite almost everyday. I hope to increase my communication skills so that I can pursue this career in the near future.
Getting nervious is very easy to do when presentations grow near. I seem to read fast, keep no eye contact and ,studded. I say uuuummm all the time while switching topics. I normally have no problem speaking in front of groups but, during school I find myself presenting all sorts of topics so if I don't really know about a topic it can be hard to present or if you just don,t care about the topic. I feel that in my career I will be presenting about things I actually know about and can offer an audiance some quality info.
I never look forward to doing presentations. Usually I'll get nervous and will start doing some wierd things. I'll end up reading the material word for word, which is not recommended. I get that stage fright feeling. When I first started singing on stage I would hold back or my singing would sound awful at times because I would be so nervous. Eventually with more experience it got better. I guess you just need to have the attitude that with practice and experience you'll get better. How else are you going to work on your weaknesses.
I know that when you are presenting, making sure that you know about your audience is very important. For example when you are giving a presentation to an audience of another culture or country, you need to be prepared for that. They may have different beliefs and views then you and that is very important to consider. It is also very common that there customs are different and certain ways you may present may not make sense to them or be offensive. You never want to offend your audience.
Having an understanding of your audience is almost as important as the information you are presenting. You need to make sure you dont say anything that may be offensive to your audience even if it may not seem offensive to you. Making sure you stay calm is a big factor in how you look to your audience. Being calm and relaxed is a great way to show professionalism and that you really know what you are talking about. It will give your presentation a big boost of credibility.
I think that this chapter is another very important chapter. Each chapter that we have been reading has made me like the book more and more. Having worked in two professional jobs myself, I cannot stress the importance of presentations in a job environment. And this book has given all of us all these great chapters that can be fully utilized in career. In my first internship that lasted for three months, I either sat in a presentation or gave a presentation at least twice a week. Along with meetings, giving presentation to clients, onsite as well as over the video, was the most important aspect of our job. This past summer, me along with a few of my work mates went to Minneapolis to give professional presentations about our jobs to few of the most important people in the company. We had been preparing for three months. A month after that presentation all of us were offered a job. Hence, I strongly believe that an impressive presentation can go a long way.
To be able to give a presentation is a very important part about being a professional. Since our society is so judgmental, being able to impress his/her own boss is key in doing well. A lot of people will size you up based on your performance as a public speaker to the employer. Therefore, to be able to speak and perform well, will allow one to truly excel in his job. This is a chapter I thought all majors should know and be able to apply. Truly was a good chapter.
I really like that you stressed not to put too much info on a powerpoint slide... Nothing irks me more than powerpoints having tons of text on them. It really takes away from the presentation because you're busy reading the screen!
I think oral presentation is a key thing you need to become comfortable with in college. I think a good way is to hear yourself talk after words and work on the negatives.
This chapter I think is a complete overview of an introduction to any Speech class. I felt like I had heard all of these things 50 times. So I wanted to reflect on the ethics sidebar, in order to give a good speech one must believe what one is presenting. If a person was preaching about Catholic religion but was actually a practicing Jew, one would be able to tell the difference, or if the presenter had been Athiest. I think that has been my biggest problem with speaking, one I am not confident some times which may be viewed as me not being passionate about the topic or I actually have no interest in giving a speech and the audience can pick up on that feel.
Presentations become more and more important the higher up you are in a company. Most types of management positions require at least some types of informal presentations either monthly, weekly, or even daily. I visited the new Ethanol plant going up by Janesville a few weeks ago and met with the project manager. He said that he meets with the Enigineer and other team leaders every single morning before they start to make sure that everyone is on the same page and working together.
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