...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 Presentation
The purpose of your oral presentation is almost the same as any piece of writing. Your oral presentation should include at least one of the following purposes:
- Communicating data analysis
- Discussing result of a research
- Persuading or informing audience about a particular subject matter
- Suggesting instructions on how to do a specific task
Similar to writing, the key principals of a successful oral presentation are:
- Simplicity
- Clarity
- Logical organization
Following these principals will greatly increase the chance of a great presentation.
However, there are also significant differences between an oral presentation and writing. These differences include:
- Time restrictions
- Short attention spans
- Concentration of the audience
- Lack of a 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 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 – to sustain their attention
- List the main points of what you would cover
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.
- Emotional Response: If your speech is designed to arouse an emotional reaction, plan to make a strong appeal in the conclusion.
- 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.
- 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.
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, paper or cards
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 material 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 preference, a presenter can use different materials for writing speech notes.
Refer to table 1 below to see the pros and cons of each of these materials
Table 1 -
| |
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
|
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.
Some effective techniques of practising for speech include:
- 1. Practise before mirror
- Good point:
- Allows hearing and seeing yourself in action
- Helps improve your confidence and familiarity with the material
- Limitation:
- Old- fashioned and difficult to efficiently evaluate your performance while speaking
- 2. Audiotape your voice
- Good point:
- You can identify the variation in speed or tone, or 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
- Good point:
- Gives you a chance of getting feedback from others rather than evaluating Yourself.
- Makes the process seem very realistic
- Limitation:
- May not get honest feedback from the audience you have chosen for practicing.
- Content of presentation may not be suitable for chosen audience. Hence, impractical to expect fulfilling evaluation.
- 4. Videotape presentation
- Good point:
- Allows you see yourself as others (your audience) do and enables you carefully assess every aspect of the presentation like use of gestures, mannerism such as adjusting cloth, fiddling with tools etc.
- You can give the tape to other people and get as many feedback 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 = enthusiasm
Deliberately = care, attention and 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 common in most people’s speech. 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. It is also suggested that you replace filler words with strategic pauses for an effective speech. These short pauses allow readers to expect a change in subject.
Best way to evaluate your self as to how much you use them would be 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 following the question.
When is it most effective to use rhetorical questions in your presentation?
- 1. As a grabber at the begging of your speech
- 2. As a transition between major points
- 3. As an attention-getter right before your conclusion
9. Maintain eye contact
Always maintain eye contact and never turn your back on audience.
Remember to visit every section of the audience as much as you can.
10. Use appropriate gestures
Incorporate appropriate gestures in your presentation. This reinforces your speech and helps in maintaining the audience’s attention.
Summary
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.
Tips from fellow students
Following are some useful tips:
- 1. Keep it simple - The simple the content of your message, the easier it is for the audience to grasp. Don't use complex words, graphs, etc if you don't have to. This applies to your presentation slides too! Your presentation slides should be simple enough for someone to understand them without having heard your presentation.
- 2. Smile - This is very helpful! I wonder why people don't use this often. Smiling at certain points of your presentation creates a connection. The audience will react better. (Smile if the occasion permits).
- 3. Use logical flow - Don't jump from one point to the other. Use transition statements such as " .. now that we have seen .... lets think ..."
- 4. Make use of repetition - Repeat important steps (for example, the main points). Of course, you don't want to repeat the whole presentation. For example, if your talk had an introduction, a body with 5 points, and a conclusion, repeat the 5 steps wherever you think is necessary. Repeat all the steps in your conclusion. This helps the audience remember the content of your presentation.
- 5. Don't chew gum / candies, etc - Big mistake! You might as well bring lunch -- makes sense, doesn't it? You are distracting the audience.
- 6. Survey the room - Before you start your presentation, look at everyone (in the eye if possible). Scan from left to right. Connection thing again.
- 7. Slow down - Don't rush through the talk. This is just like food. Give them time to digest. Someone might be looking at the graph and trying to connect what you said to what he sees. Also, slowing down creates a relaxing environment, both, for you and the audience.
- 8. Ask Questions - Ask a question on something you already described while presenting. Don't expect anyone to answer, and don't wait long for someone to answer. Use gesture and smile while asking. Your aim is to have the audience remember the answer. Asking question breaks the flow and lets them think (active listening).
- 9. Use Humor - This can be done at the beginning (with survey questions or putting up a cartoon on the slide). Make sure your jokes are neutral to the audience. Seeing your audience smile or laugh has a calming effect on you. Make sure you smile back.
- 10. Use Reminders - Refer to something you already described before. For example, you could say "... you can see this goes blank ... remember we discussed about 'something' in the introduction? ..."
- 11. Don't be monotonous in your speech - This can be annoying to the audience. Try to change the volume of your voice. Try to sound excited (unless you are doing a eulogy).
- 12. Provide references or links - The end of your presentation should not be the end of the content you presented. Guide your audience to more information.
- 13. Be Prepared - Anything can happen during the presentation. What would you do if the computer stopped working in the middle of your presentation? What if someone entered the room and started making noise? What will you do if you trip on the cable? There is no one way of handling this. The best way of getting out of embarrassment is to turn it into humor. The audience will love it!
Further Reading
http://people.engr.ncsu.edu/txie/publications/oral_presentation_skills.pdf
http://www.scivee.tv/node/2903 |
