Difference between revisions of "Oral Presentations"

...by students

I think oral presentation is an art and a science. You can follow specific steps and get good at it, but you also need to practice. Like an art, such as painting, the more you practice, the better you become. - Ali

Oral presentations are similar to the writing process regarding the use of the ABC format. When presenting, remember to:

• A - state what you will be presenting (purpose)
• B - say what you said you were going to present (body)
• C - state what you just said again (conclusion)

These simple yet crucial steps provide a strong foundation to a fabulous oral presentation.

Oral Presentation

An oral presentation.

The purpose of an oral presentation is almost the same as any piece of writing. An oral presentation often includes at least one of the following purposes:

• Communicating data analysis
• Discussing result of a research
• Persuading or informing audience about a particular subject matter
• Providing instructions on how to do a specific task

Similar to writing, the key features of a successful oral presentation are:

• Simplicity
• Clarity
• Logical organization

Following these principles will greatly increase the chance of a great presentation.

However, there are also significant differences between an oral presentation and writing. These include:

• Time restrictions
• Short attention span/concentration of the audience
• Audience don't have the chance to revise the content of your presentation

Remember: the audience only gets one chance to hear your presentation.

Guidelines for preparation and delivery

1.Think about your audience

It is crucial to answer these questions when preparing your presentation.

• What do they know about the subject? What terminology would they know?

TIP: Make sure you address the lowest common denominator in your audience and adjust the presentation’s technical level appropriately.

• What do they need to know? What is their motivation for listening to you?
• What aspects of your subject would they be interested in?
• How much information can they absorb?

TIP: If they are new to the topic, their level of absorption may be lower than an expert audience.

Leave your audience with a clear picture of the gist of your contribution, and provide them with the source if they want 

to read further after the presentation.

2.Preparing the presentation

It’s important to give your presentation a structure like your writing.

As stated above, oral presentation has lots of common features and principles as writing. One of these features is the way you organize your speech using the ABC approach like you would for a piece of writing. This is to grasp your audience's attention and help them follow closely.

Here is an indication of how to organize your speech using the ABC format:

Abstract

Goal:  Tell them what you are going to tell them
                    

Main points to include are:

• Get listener’s attention by telling own experience, statistics, humour or other effective technique applicable to your audience

• Clearly state the purpose

• List the main points of what you would cover - to sustain their attention

Body

Goal:  Tell them what you said you would tell them
                     

The most important part of the presentation where you expound, discuss and support the points stated in the introduction in the same order.

Conclusion

Goal:  Tell them what you just told them

The presentation should conclude with a well-planned ending. The following are the key points to include in your presentation.

Summary: - A clear summary of your purpose and main points will ensure that the audience gets the big picture.It should answer the question, "So what?” telling the audience what was important about the information you conveyed. Use the same key words used in the body and make a fresh, brief, and concise re-statement of your case. This helps drive your main points home and ensures that your listeners have a clear understanding of your intentions. ^[1]

Emotional Response: If your speech is designed to arouse an emotional reaction, plan to make a strong appeal in the conclusion. ^[1]

Recommendations: If your presentation includes a recommendation, particularly one requiring action on the part of the audience, state it clearly as part of your ending. Plan the precise words you will use in your recommendation. Let your audience know exactly what you want them to do.^[1]

Exit line: Do not flounder at the end. Make a crisp statement and end your presentation on a positive note. Plan and memorize the ending statement, then use it. ^[1]

3. Stick to a few main points

Do not try to include too much content in the time allowed. Audience’s short term memory has limited capacity so organise the presentation around few major points.

In fact, did you know that listeners tend to remember groups of three items more than they do other size groupings?

4.Put your outline on cards or paper

It is important to remember that the best presentations are extemporaneous, where the presenter conveys his/her depth of the material by relying less on written materials during the presentation except for occasional reference. This also allows last-minute changes in phrasing and adding emphasis that improve delivering.

However, the appropriate use of notes for reference makes a presenter look more natural.Depending on personal preferences, there are different materials for writing speech notes.

Refer to table 1 below to see the pros and cons of using each of these materials.

Table 1 - Advantages and Disadvantages of different materials used for writing speech notes

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Cards	• Easy to carry • Useful for organising thoughts in the order of the cards • Facilitates walking around during the presentation	• Unable to see the full content of your speech • Flipping through cards distracts audience from listening • Confusion occurs during the presentation if the cards are out of order
Sheets of paper	• Helps view the entire content of the speech • Leaves hands free for gestures • Less obvious if placed on a lectern	• Limits moving around during the presentation – tied to the lectern • Causes slip up if you lose his/her place on page
Computer generated slides	• Gives visual enforcement • Gives the option of turning on and off • Involves the audience unlike the former two	• Makes you lose eye contact with the audience as you continue to look at the screen • Becomes tempting to read from screen • Appearance of the slides becomes additional issue to consider - as it is one key parts of the presentation • Technology might let you down – back up plan should be thought in advance

5. Practice makes perfect

Practice is the most important factor in making a good presentation. The effects of practice will be apparent on your attitude towards the material and the audience.^[2]

Some effective techniques of practising for speech are:

1. Practise before mirror

Benefit:

• Allows hearing and seeing yourself in action
• Helps improve your confidence and familiarity with the material

Limitation:

• Difficult to efficiently evaluate your performance while speaking

2. Audiotape your voice

Benefits:

• You can identify the variation in speed or tone in your voice
• Recognize use of distracting fillers like 'um's, 'er's, 'like's and 'you know's

Limitations:

• Not useful for evaluating your physical performance like the use of gestures, eye contacts etc.

3. Practice before live audience

Benefits:

• Gives you a chance of getting feedback from others rather than evaluating yourself.
• Makes the practice seem very realistic

Limitation:

• May not get honest feedback from the audience you have chosen
• Content of presentation may not be suitable for chosen audience. Hence, impractical to expect fulfilling evaluation.

4. Videotape presentation

Benefits:

• Allows you see yourself as others do and enables you carefully assess every aspect of the presentation; use of gestures, mannerism such as adjusting cloth, fiddling with tools
• You can give the tape to other people and get as many feedbacks as you would like
• Effective at minimizing nervousness – don’t have to worry about how you look or sound during the real presentation because you already know!

6. Speak vigorously and deliberately

Vigorously means enthusiasm
Deliberately means care, attention and appropriate emphasis on key words and phrases

You have a limited amount of time and audience’s short attention span to work with - so it’s crucial to convey your interest in the topic and demonstrate your knowledge and enthusiasm.

Remember: Engaging audience’s attention and maintaining their interest is just as necessary as informing them about the subject matter.
 
Use the videotaping technique discussed above for evaluating your performance.

7. Avoid filler words

Filler words like ‘um’s, ‘uh’s, ya know, ‘like etc tend to be common in people speeches. In fact, in most cases you would be surprise to find out how much you use them and not even realize it.

However, filler words are distracting and irritating to the audience.

To avoid using filler words in your presentation:

• Practise your speech as many times as you can because excessive use filler words tend to be indicative of lack of familiarity with the topic of discussion.
• Replace filler words with strategic pauses. These short pauses allow readers to expect a change in the subject of discussion.

Best way to evaluate yourself is to use the videotaping technique once again.

8. Use rhetorical questions

Rhetorical questions are those that you ask to get listeners’ thinking. You don’t expect them to answer it but rather make them think about it and prepare them for the important information you are about to discuss.

When is it most effective to use rhetorical questions in your presentation?

1. As a grabber at the beginning of your speech

2. As a transition between major points

3. As an attention-getter right before your conclusion

9. Maintain eye contact

Frequent eye contact is one of the key strategies for maintaining audiences' interest. It allows you communicate personally with the audience and this makes the audience feel obliged to listen.

Remember: to visit every section of the audience as much as you can.

10. Use appropriate gestures and posture

Incorporate appropriate gestures in your presentation. This reinforces your speech and helps in maintaining the audience’s attention.

What is expected from a good speaker?

• Use hands and fingers appropriately to emphasize major points
• Stand straight - no leaning
• Avoid standing behind the lectern throughout the presentation - this creates distance with the audience
• Avoid turning your back on the audience to point on screens or other visual aids

Strategies for avoiding nervousness during presentation

• Know your speech - Be so sure of the material you are covering and look like you are the expert in order to distract the audience from noticing your nervousness.

• Prepare yourself physically - avoid caffeine or alcohol at least several hours before presentation, eat well, do relaxing exercise

• Picture yourself giving a great presentation - imagine success, confidence and how much people would enjoy your presentation - this helps control negative feelings which amount to nervousness

• Have a glass of water nearby - it is very likely to have a dry throat from nervousness but don't let it get in the way of your wonderful presentation

• Meet some of your audience in advance - ice-breaking technique to start good relationship with the audience

• Remember you are the expert - the audience are eager to hear what you are about to tell them

• Do Not admit nervousness to audience - to your surprise nervousness is not as apparent to the audience as you might think so avoid being nervous about looking nervous

References

Pfeiffer, William Sandford & Jan Boogerd. (2006).Technical Writing: A Practical Approach, fourth Canadian Edition. Toronto. Pearson Education, Inc.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} http://www.etsu.edu/scitech/langskil/oral.htm
2. ↑ http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/oralpres.html

Jeff Radel. Oral Presentation. University of Kansas Medical Center. retrieved April 7, 2008 from http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/oralpres.html

Bill Hempphill, Language Skills Handbook, Online Edition, retrieved Apr 9, 2008 from http://www.etsu.edu/scitech/langskil/oral.htm

Further Readings

http://people.engr.ncsu.edu/txie/publications/oral_presentation_skills.pdf

http://www.scivee.tv/node/2903