Chapter 23 Presentations

1. Chapter 23Presentations

2. Presentations • Are an essential part of the workplace • Help solve problems by communicating with your audience face-to-face, in-person • Use many of the same techniques of effective written communication • Often involve interaction between the speaker and audience

3. Informal Presentations • Make up the majority of workplace presentations • Occur in any situation when people discuss or explain their ideas and thoughts • Can be spontaneous or improvised • Can be supported by short documents or rudimentary visual aids

4. Formal Presentations • Could be the principal factor in determining whether your ideas, products, or services are used and accepted • Are generally longer and more complex than informal presentations • Are usually supported with various tools, ancillaries, and equipment, especially computer-supported slideshows • Are usually delivered in a set-aside place

5. Complexities in Presentations • Varied Presentations • Workplace writers often use combinations of informal and formal presentations to solve a single problem. • Varied Audiences • Clients or customers • Colleagues • Supervisors and employees • The Public

6. Preparing for Presentations • Good presentations require: • careful planning • diligent preparation • meticulous assessment of the situation

7. Focusing on Audience • Understand exactly what your audience wants or needs to know • Provide solutions for audience's problems • Know the number and sorts of people attending • Account for varying levels of expertise and interest in your audience

8. Assessing the Physical Location • Visit the location ahead of time • Consider rehearsing under simulated conditions • Know where you'll be, relative to your audience • Familiarize yourself with the equipment

9. Determining the Time Available • Budget one to two minutes for each slide • Use leftover time to expand on main points • Limit your presentation to the time allotted • Save time for setup, interruptions, and questions

10. Gathering and Evaluatingthe Information • Determine what information is available and what you'll have to gather • Understand the materials at your disposal • Find or create appropriate visual aids • If working collaboratively, establish what members are best suited for certain tasks

11. Choosing and CreatingVisual Aids • Account for audience, location, and time • Incorporate sophisticated visuals for more complex or formal presentations • Use visuals to reinforce information without overwhelming it • Plan a specific purpose for each visual • to explain information, to emphasize, to generate interest, and/or to guide audience attention

12. Types of Visuals • Handouts • Can duplicate or summarize slides or written material • Can be easy and inexpensive to prepare • Provide audiences with something to take away • Posters and Flipcharts • Are effective in small groups • Can visualize a procedure • Can be written on by the speaker, which keeps audience members interested and involved

13. Types of Visuals • Boards • Display and create information • Range from whiteboards to wireless, digital smartboards • Allow presenters to create graphics on the fly • Slides and Overheads • Are readily available, easy to use, and inexpensive • Can project texts or images onto a wall or screen • Are seen as outdated and plain when compared to computer projections

14. Types of Visuals • Computer Projections • Are the primary visual aid used in presentations today • Can import content from other programs • Can be exported in a variety of formats • Internet Presentations • Allow presenters to reach remote audiences • Can incorporate slides, video, and animations

15. Creating Effective Visuals • Signal the material with clear headings • Segment each visual so that it is “bite-sized” • Narrate the visual as you present it • Combine text and images for dynamic effect • Streamline visuals for conciseness and simplicity

16. Visuals and TransnationalAudiences • Be aware how audiences can differently interpret colors, images, and gestures • Know that not all audiences read left-to-right • Use multiple examples to reach multiple audiences

17. Additional Suggestionsfor Creating Slides • Use text and visuals that can be read and seen at the back of the room • Use bulleted or numbered lists that contain phrases and keywords • Be consistent with design elements • Don’t read text word for word from a slide • Avoid the excessive use of “enhancements”

18. Planning Your Speech • Write a formal speech for highly stressful presentations • But, reading word-for-word decreases spontaneity and interaction • Create an outline that is highly organized or loosely structured • Consider converting it to a slide show • Use note cards to guide you through the presentation • Insert page numbers & avoid reading word-for-word

19. Organizing Your Content • Include an introduction, body, and conclusion • Realize that listeners have less attention for detail than readers • Repeat information for better retention • Incorporate explicit signal language, like transitions and summaries

20. Delivering thePresentation • Vocalization • Use adequate volume • Vary pitch • Pace yourself • Articulate words carefully • Avoid filler phrases (“um,” “uh,” “like)

21. Delivering thePresentation • Body Language • Face the audience • Make eye contact • Use movement and gestures • Fielding Questions • Address format ahead of time • Answer questions by referring back to the presentation • Be prepared to deal with unclear or biased questions