PRESENTING THE PRESENTATION

Transcription

1 46 PRESENTING THE PRESENTATION As a speaker you should aim to express the feelings you have about your topic. You must also: Act in earnest. Share the talk with the audience. Find out a little about the audience and then relate the audience to the subject of your presentation and to yourself. Talk in terms of what your listeners need to know.. Identify yourself with the audience. Make your audience a partner in your talk. Play yourself down. Tell your conclusions and how you arrived at it People want to know about others, especially struggle etc. Be enthusiastic. Be sincere Be honest. Be eager to share your talk with your listeners Research indicates that the average percentage contribution of various components of total communication process showed that we typically relied on verbal, vocal and visual parts of communication where a verbal took 7% of the effort to put the message across. Vocal was 38%v which included voice, confidence in the voice, pace, modulation and enthusiasm. Visual took away 55% of the communication which was facial expression, gestures, postures and contact. Analyze your Audience How much does a listener already know? It is important to always give out information that is relevant to the audience, information that they can relate with and make use of. If you have a mixed audience, information output should be well-balanced. A mixed audience is difficult to handle. Try to ensure that the audience is of a similar nature. Always feel the mood of the audience. The speaker s analysis of an audience must be made long before speaking. Your audience should be the basis for your decision of exactly what points you will present, which types of evidence statistics, stories and comparisons. Even style of delivery should be influenced by the audience.

2 The 10 questions you should answer are: 1. What does the audience already know about the subject of your talk? 2. What is your audience s attitude towards your subject? 3. What is your audience s attitude toward you as a speaker? 4. What are the occupations of your listeners? 5. What s the economic status of your audience? 6. What is the educational level of your listeners? 7. What is the cultural status of your audience? 8. What s the sex of your audience? 9. What is the age of your audience? 10. How many will be in your audience? Getting your audience s attention should be the first and total purpose of the opening statement. Get attention immediately. Types of attention getters: Asking a question. Stating a startling fact. Telling a joke. Presenting a quotation. Gives an example, illustration of story. Referring to the occasion. Points to a historic event. Using a gimmick. Emphasizing the importance of the subject preview. Should be one two sentences. You can say what you plan to say. Blunders to avoid Do not be long winded. Do not antagonize offered listeners. Do not use irrelevant material. Do not do a pointless time check. Do not show your ego. Audience involvement through flow The main body is what creates the matter to be delivered to the audience. The moment from one idea to another is what the course of your presentation should be. The transition from one topic to the other should be smooth. A few transition periods are stated below; Physical movement

3 A new idea can be introduced by changing your posture and position. Visual Aid The use of visual aids is a powerful transition technique. Use of linking words A simple method of connecting different ideas is the use of linking words such as thereof, however, accordingly in addition to, besides and lastly. Posing questions Posing a question to your audience besides involving them wakes them up to what is being said. This works as a fuel for a smooth transition to your next thought. Jokes, Stories, Anecdote or Quotation Any of these can be used to first focus the attention of the audience attention and thereafter connect with your point. It is an easy method but the choice of your narrative must be linked with the idea you intend presenting. Repetition This involves wrapping up what you have just said and then merging it with the next idea. Specifying the number of points If it is a short presentation, you may draft you talk around a few points. Start with one, move on to the other and the next till you have completed talking about all. Pause before and after important ideas A sudden silence has the effect of a sudden noise that breaks the monotony of a regime. It makes everyone alert, attentive, awake to what is coming next. A pause helps in gathering attention for what is about to be said. The pause should not be too long or too often. Voice The voice and language make an impact. There are three main factors that contribute to the vocal factor of presenting yourself. Volume

4 A good speaker should know the right volume in which he should speak not too loudly and not too softly. So it would be apt to ask the audience at the back if they can hear you well. Pace The pace in a conversation usually has the pace of words fluctuating, increasing when excited, slowing down when interested and smiling when we are happy about something. This is what holds the interest of the opposite person in a conversation. This is natural way of talking. Maintaining the same principles when talking to a group or audience will get the same reaction and involvement by them. Stress on important words and subordinate the unimportant It is important that words that are important to your topic and carry weight should be stressed upon by pronouncing them slowly and clearly. Tone/Modulation The pitch of our voices in a conversation flows up and down from a high to a low and this keeps a conversation going. We were not taught to converse. We do this naturally. If you find yourself talking in a monotonous pitch which usually is high, just pause for a second, take a deep breath, remind yourself that you need to be natural and then proceed. Straining the voice box If muscles have become taut and stiff while speaking and you are under undue and unnecessary stress, try to loosen up. Relaxing will help you think better and your voice will be more pleasant Control your audience and not your computer Face your audience Observe them Make an eye contact- do not wander around the room or look down Use a remote to work on your computer and come in the front of your audience to talk to them and not hide behind the computer Throwing your voice The voice should come out from the stomach and not just the throat. Throwing or Projecting your voice is necessary to be heard.. Talk to your audience as if you expect to hear them respond to what you have said. Use terms like you want to know how this works? Let me explain This will not only give a high and low tone to your voice but

5 will give the pause intended. It will omit the formality between you and the audience and make it more personal and friendly. Nasal speech Shift your focus from you nose to the mouth this will reduce nasal speech. Dry and Hoarse throat The strain on the voice box makes the throat dry and strained. The best remedy is to keep water available so that you can keep sipping on it when necessary. Audience Reaction The reaction of the audience will help you know whether you are going the right way.. A few ways to interpret body movements and postures are: Looking away from the speaker Crossing arms or legs Shaking of the head Leaning forward Checking the watch frequently Shows distraction and disinterest A defensive posture disagreeing with the speaker Depending on how this occurs, this could mean agreement or disagreement Signals interest and eagerness or could also mean that the person is unable to hear you Indicates boredom. This could also indicate that the person is late for another meeting or appointment No nos 1. Don t change the style of your speaking. Be natural. Talk like yourself. 2. Don t tell your listeners that you ve forgotten some point. 3. Don t merely stop at the end of your material. 4. Don t apologize. 5. Don t stretch it out End your presentation. Make the material appealing You must plan out the usage of your visuals to compliment what you have to say. Rely on Index Cards It is important that you take the assistance of index cards to help you keep a track of what follows next.

6 Think and Talk positively Start yourself on a positive note by feeling good about yourself Separate you behavior and actions from yourself If on a certain occasion you do bungle with your content, data or any other aspect of your presentation how does it really change you? Being able to distinguish between yourself as a person and your behavior, will prove very helpful Learn to accept compliments as well as criticism When you were praised for a job well done, thank the giver of the compliment without hesitation. You must also learn to remain calm in the face of critical remarks. However, never let criticism overshadow you. Assert yourself while sharing ideas or information Speak up and be assertive, straight forward and well-mannered Take the initiative Step forward when you are asked to give a talk or make a presentation. Being proactive will add a feather to your cap. Praise yourself Pat yourself on the back even if everyone else chooses to do so. Making a presentation interesting - delivery Specifics in a presentation serve 4 purposes 1. Specifics prove a point. 2. Specifics clarify a point. 3. Specifics make a point memorable. 4. Specifics add interest to your presentation. Good presenters enrich their message with the help of: Analogies Anecdotes Examples relevant to the topic Humor Metaphors Rhetorical questions

7 The repetition of the main idea Statistics Two other ways of enhancing the quality of your presentation are: Using visual aids Using your voice and body to help get your message across forcefully Quotations: Quotations are used to present a statement made by somebody else. Quotations add authority. They tend to show you re not alone in thinking as you do. Definitions Main value of a definition is to make sure you and your listeners are considering the same point. Comparisons This can be very effective. Contrasts These present differences. Audio Visual Aids One picture is worth a thousand words. Aids must be appropriate. Do not have too many. Movement Do not move unless you have reason to. ===============================================================