Presentation Skills

Topic - 4

PRESENTATION SKILLS

INTRODUCTION

An oral presentation is a form of oral communication. It is a participative two-way communication process characterized by the formal and structured presentation of a message using visual aids. It is purposeful and goal-oriented, and communicates a message to an audience in a way that brings about the desired change in their understanding or opinion. It is flexible, changing, as well as complex and varied. Thus, an oral presentation is:

1. Purposeful – The presentation will be made with a definite purpose.

2. Interactive - It involves both the speaker as well as the listeners.

3. Formal – It is a formal situation.

4. Audience oriented - The topic will have to be dealt with from the listeners' perspective.

There are several forms of oral presentation, such as seminars, workshops, symposia, student presentations, industry conferences, product launches, press conferences, team presentations, annual general meetings, departmental presentations, and company profile presentations. Whatever may be the form of presentation, they all seek to achieve certain objectives. These objectives may range from exploring a new area of information to introducing a new product by a company.

Oral presentations differ from other forms of oral communication such as speeches and debates. Although speeches and presentations share several common features, there is a thin dividing line between the two. Speeches are intended to celebrate an occasion, to felicitate a person, to welcome or bid farewell to someone, or to inaugurate a function, while oral presentations raise a particular issue for discussion.

An oral presentation is the formal, structured, and systematic presentation of a message to an audience and it involves conveying a lot of information in a limited time. It should, therefore, be planned well in advance so that the material is delivered effectively. Planning the presentation is, thus, the most important element. It helps the presenter

1. know the audience

2. stimulate the interest of the audience

3. be sensitive to the needs and expectations of the audience;

4. strike up interaction with his / her immediate audience in as many ways as possible.

5. know his / her purpose;

6. analyse the occasion;

7. fit the material to the time at his/her disposal; and

8. select and narrow a topic for his/her presentation.

Strategies of an oral presentation, thus, involve purpose identification, audience analysis, analyzing the occasion, and the process of selecting and narrowing the topic of presentation.

Sample Presentation - 1 

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

The topic of my short presentation today is 'How to make Effective Presentations. I will be talking about the three important stages in any presentation—the introduction, the main body and the conclusion. This presentation will last for about five minutes. If you have any questions, could you reserve them till the end of the presentation? I'll try and answer them then.

Let me first talk about how to start your presentation. The introduction to any presentation is vital because most of the members of the audience make judgments about the presenter in the first few minutes. It is, therefore, important to capture the attention of the audience in the first few minutes. Some of the commonly used techniques for making powerful openings to presentations are by using questions / rhetorical questions, quotes, statistics, shocking statements, proverbs and anecdotes. Having said that, its for the presenter to decide, which of these suits the topic, purpose and the audience. Also remember to tell the audience what you are going to present. It is always useful to let the audience know the duration of your presentation and your policy on questions.

Let me now move on to the most important part of a presentation, the body of the presentation. Present your key ideas and explain and elaborate each of them. Remember to signal to the audience when you move from one idea to another. It is important to know how well your presentation is being received. Therefore, make eye contact with members of the audience and estimate the level of receptivity. Sometimes, it may be necessary to adapt your presentation in view of the response from the audience. Learn to think on your feet and take appropriate decisions. Ensure that your language is simple and appropriate for the audience. It is also important that you present the subject clearly.

Finally, let me talk about how to close a presentation. Present a summary of the main points that you discussed so that the audience has an opportunity to check their own notes. It is not advisable to talk about any new points while summing up. Before you close, remember to thank the audience and invite them to share their ideas, comment on your presentation and ask questions if any.

It is time for me to sum up. We discussed how to make effective presentations. First we discussed how to make powerful openings and how to introduce the topic of your presentation. In the second part, we analysed the second stage of a presentation, the body and discussed how to go about presenting the main points. The third part of the presentation focused on how to conclude presentations by summarizing and inviting the audience's response to the presentation.

Activities 

Inform the students to give 2 minutes presentation on the topics mentioned below: