Professions Learning Centre Transition Workshop

1. Professions Learning CentreTransition Workshop Oral Presentation Skills Isabella Slevin (isabella.slevin@adelaide.edu.au)

2. Aspects to be Covered • The Kinesthetic Speaker • Proximity • Voice • Gestures • Type of Presentation • Informative • Persuasive • Structure and look of and Oral Presentation • Introduction • Body • Conclusion • Slides • Being a Confident Speaker • Overcoming nerves

3. Overall • Purpose – clear and relevant • Audience – engaged & included • Content – addresses task fully with appropriate support • Structure – logical & easy to follow • Delivery – clear, confident & engaging, using both effective voice and body language Know what you presenting so you can focus on how to present it

4. Nixon vs Kennedy

5. The Kinesthetic Connection • Link the physical with the intellectual • A great presentation should bring information to life • Be aware of and use physical presence (space, gestures, posture, movement) to enhance the delivery and communicate the content • Use physical distance to create rapport, reinforce points and maintain audience interest • Use hand gestures, head movement, eyes and your smile!

6. Public, Social or personal Distance? • Students stand up…walk and talk…point to slides “as you can see”; make a point “but this is the most important aspect”; ask a question “is this the outcome we want?”; bring in the audience “what would you do in this situation?” • Where would you stand? • Asking for a show of hands • Describing the problem/information • Stating your point of view • Giving an overview of the presentation • Persuading with evidence • Making a personal observation/sharing an anecdote • Making the closing statement

7. Vocal Delivery • A monotonous presentation is a boring presentation…you lose your audience and do not achieve your purpose! • Keep your audience attentive & engaged through: • Emphasis • Pausing • Phrasing & pacing • Vocal quality: • Volume • Pitch • Intonation

8. emphasis • Emphasise important words & group words into meaningful phrases. For important points… • Speak the word(s) more slowly • Speak the word(s) more loudly • Pause briefly before and after important words The need for more effective management skills has never been greater and, paradoxically, never more basic and important

9. Emphasis, Pausing & Phrasing The need for more effective management skills/ has never been greater/and/ paradoxically,/ more basic and important Anyone can become a successful manager; but, of course, the unprepared, the untrained and those given too much responsibility too soon will fail. That’s what this morning’s presentation is about

10. Emphasis, Pausing and Phrasing Anyone can become a successful manager; but, of course, the unprepared/, the untrained/ and those given too much responsibility too soon/ will fail. That’s/ what this morning’s presentation is all about

11. pacing • Do not let nervousness make you speak too quickly – maintain phrasing and use of pauses • Pay attention to signals from the audience and respond appropriately • Vary your speed of speaking with changes in ideas and level of importance: • The fact is bad management costs jobs • The fact is…bad management…costs jobs • The fact is…bad …management…costs…jobs “It has become evident there has been too much importance given to image rather than substance. This is the root cause of our company’s recent failures. If we are to survive and grow, this problem must be addressed immediately.”

12. Vocal Quality • Volume – project your voice to ‘bring your audience in’. Good posture; proper breathing; ‘break through’ with your voice • Pitch and Intonation – use high and low pitch and rising and falling intonation to add expression and maintain attention • A dramatic rise creates anticipation • Keeping your voice up signals you are still making your point • Dropping intonation shows completion of the sentence, idea, evidence, etc • Help the audience…give them verbal clues!

13. Type of Oral Presentations • Presentations tend to fall into 2 categories: • Informative • Persuasive (argument for informative also needing to be persuasive) • Informative • Giving information • Describing, analysing, comparing, justifying • Use of valid and reliable facts presented in a logical framework • The C.U.R.E. Method for Persuading Audiences • Credibility…establish at the beginning that you have something of value to say • Using Evidence…you cannot simply rely on your own opinion or experience; authoritative evidence is needed • Reasoning…using a logical framework that flows naturally • Emotion…necessary to persuade an audience to ‘come with you’

14. Structure (Framework) of Oral Presentations • Determine the Purpose of your presentation; who your Audience is; what Message you want to convey…tailor your presentation accordingly • Introduction • Tell them what you are going to tell them – this is not a mystery novel..prepare your audience for what is to come • Body • The main section…tell them what you told them you would tell them • Conclusion • Tell them what you told them

15. introductions • Give a clear introduction that lets your audience know the aspects you will cover and the order in which you will do this ‘ Management skills have become increasingly important in today’s global business environment. We can see this with the advent of business courses that now heavily weight their curriculum towards leadership and communication skills. In my presentation today I will cover 3 aspects of management skills, namely: what skills are most highly valued and why; the consequences of poor management skills both on the business and on staff and, finally, the role of Universities in teaching their students these so called ‘soft’ skills’

16. Body • The main part of your presentation – it needs to follow what you said you would cover in your Introduction • Use linking words and phrases to enhance the logic and flow of your presentation: • ‘My first point is…’ • ‘As you saw in the previous slide…’ • ‘This leads me to my next point…’ • ‘This evidence demonstrates…’ • ‘Moving on to my final point…’

17. conclusion • Less is more (NOT a repetition of the Introduction) • Focus on the key points and present them as a summary, not simply a ‘laundry list’ of conclusions (Not – In summary, my 3 points were…) • This is the last impression your audience will have of you and your presentation…do not ‘die out’ at the end…be confident and decisive (NOT – So…that’s it. Thanks)

18. Slides • Ensure your slides are easy to read: • font size…colour…contrast • Not too much information per slide • Add verbal explanations • Used as a support – NOT a substitute • Face the audience – not your slides • Quality control • Spelling…grammar…accuracy…references

19. Donotusemorecoloursthanisneededtobeeffective. • Do not put too much information on one slide…this means you may have to use a small font which is difficult to see, especially for the students who are sitting at the back. Use phrases, bullet points, etc rather than whole sentences or paragraphs. One main point or theme per slide • Rmember to prof red your work. Grammar ardspillengmestakes are virydistrecting for yeuraudience • Relevance of illustrations?

20. Dealing with Nervous Energy • Confidence comes from preparation: • Practise…out loud…in front of a mirror • Present to someone ‘comfortable’ • Tap into the feeling of this • Breath slowly and rhythmically • Use positive self talk

21. In Summary • The points you will take away with you? • Remember!...Oral Presentations are an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of a topic and your ability to communicate this to others • Think of oral Presentations as a Dialogue – you are connecting with your audience • Prepare well…then relax and enjoy!

22. references • Morgan, N 2001,The kinesthetic speaker: putting action into words, Harvard Business review, Vol. 79, Issue 4, pp. 112-120 • Powell, M 2011, Presenting in English,HeinleCengage learning, Andover, England • Public Speaking International 2013, Public speaking tips, viewed 12 march 2013, http://www.publicspeakinginternational.com/public-speaking-tips