Business Communications Chapter 11 Delivering the Presentation Types

Business Communications Chapter 11 Delivering the Presentation Types of Delivery • There are three patterns of presentation style: – Monologues are one-way speeches, delivered without interruption. • These are most appropriate in large settings and on formal occasions. – Guided discussions are more interactive • A speaker presents information and has a preset idea of what material to cover, but listeners are encouraged to speak up with questions and comments. – Interactive presentation involve the audience even more • Speaker still controls the program, an interactive presentation feels more like a conversation than a speech.

• Speakers have four options when delivering presentations: • Manuscript Presentations • Speakers read their remarks word for word from a prepared statement. • Memorized Presentations • Trying to memorize a script is bad • One recited word for word from memory is that sounds memorized • People who spend time simply learning words of a talk are asking for trouble. • They must focus on remembering what comes next instead of getting involved in the meaning of their remarks.

Extemporaneous Presentations • Is planned and rehearsed but not memorized word for work. • You learn your key points and become familiar with the support you’ll use to back them up. • You practice the big picture but let the specific words come naturally during your delivery. • A good extemporaneous presentation should be carefully rehearsed, but it will never be exactly the same twice because you will be speaking with the audience, not at them.

• Use notes for reminders of the order and content ideas • Some speakers prefer abbreviated outlines while others find that index cards with keyword or phrases work best. – If you use note cards, it is a good idea to have them hole-punched and clipped on a ring so they can’t scatter if dropped.

• Your notes should have the following characteristics: – Notes should be brief • Overly detailed notes tempt a speaker to read them – Notes should be legible • Your words should not turn into meaningless scribbles when you need them • The writing should be neat and large enough to be read at a glance • Print them out in an easy to read typeface and size; font should be large enough to read at a glance. – Notes should be unobtrusive • Flapping paper or shuffling cards is distracting. • Provide your reader with a printed handout which you use as your own notes.

• Impromptu Presentations – An unexpected off the cuff talk – You will be asked to speak about a topic you know – Follow these guidelines: • Anticipate when you may be asked to speak – Be prepared • Focus on your audience and the situation – Think about your audience and the situation – Ground your words in the context of the situation • Accept the invitation with assurance – Try to look confident

– Organize your thoughts • To avoid rambling, use a few moments before you speak to sketch an outline. • It can follow the introduction-body-conclusion – Present reasons, logic, or facts to support your viewpoint • Supported with examples, statistics, comparisons, etc. – Don’t apologize • It is a mistake to highlight your lack of knowledge or preparation. – Don’t Ramble • Make your points then stop talking.

Guidelines for Delivery Visual Elements • Dress Effectively – Appearance is important in any setting – If the occasion call for casual attire, an overly formal appearance can be just as harmful as being under dressed. • Step up to Speak with Confidence and Authority – Speakers who fidget with their hands or their clothing while waiting to speak approach the podium as if they were about to face the firing squad and them fumble with their notes. – Your presentation begins the moment you come into your listener’s view

• Get Set before Speaking – If you need an easel or projection screen, move it into position before you start speaking. – Get into your speaking position • Begin without looking at your notes – Make contact with the audience as you being to speak – The important thing is to make your point while speaking directly to your listeners.

• Establish and Maintain Eye Contac – A speaker who talks directly to an audience will be seen as more involved and sincere. – Use the moment before you speak to establish a relationship with your audience. – Look around the room. – Be sure your glances covers virtually everyone in the room. • Stand Move Effectively – The best stance for delivering a presentation is relaxed but firm. – The speaker’s feet are planted firmly on the ground and spaced shoulder width – Your actions should always be purposeful – See Table 11 -1 page 322 – Common Interpretations of Speakers body language – When sitting, you sit straight and lean forward

• Don’t pack up early – Grabbing your notes or starting for your seat before concluding is a nonverbal statement you’re anxious to get your presentation finished. • Pause and Move out Confidently – Be certain to drop your pitch to end our remarks so you clearly indicate when you are finished.

Verbal Elements • Use an Oral-speaking style – When addressing your audience, your speech will sound normal and pleasing if your follows these simple guidelines: – Keep most sentences short. – Your ideas will be easiest to understand if they are phrases in brief statements. – Use personal pronouns freely • Speech that contains first-person and second person pronouns sounds more personal and immediate.

– Use active voice • Active voice sounds more personal and less stuffy then passive use of verbs. – Use contractions • Contractions sound much more natural – Address your listeners by name • Don’t emphasize mistakes – Experts simply go on when they make a mistake, adjusting their remarks to make the error less noticeable. • Use proper vocabulary, enunciation and pronunciation – Each situations will call for varying amounts of formality in terms of address, jargon, slang, etc.

Vocal Elements • Speak with enthusiasm and sincerity • Speak loudly enough to be heard • Avoid disfluencies – Disfluencies are those stammers and stutters (eh, um, etc) that creep into everyone’s language at one time or another. – Other filler words are “ya know” “like”, “so”, “OK”, “right” – A few disfluencies are ok – An excess of jumbles, stumbles, and fillers, however, make a speaker sound disorganized, nervous, and uncertain. • Vary your speech – The rate, pitch, and volume of your speech in a presentation vary • Use pauses effectively – Don’t be afraid to be silent, it can be used for emphasis, to give our audience time to consider what you’ve presented, to formulate an answer to q questions you posed.

• The chance to answer questions on the spot is one of the biggest advantages of oral presentations. • When to Answer Questions – The first issue to consider is whether you should entertain questions at all. • During the Presentation – Speakers often encourage their listeners to ask questions during a talk. – This approach lets you respond immediately to your listener’s concerns. – Some questions can be premature, raising points you plan to discuss later in the talk. – Others are irrelevant and waste both your time and the other listeners” – If you decided to handle questions during a talk, follow the guidelines below.

– Allow for extra time • Answering questions sometimes occupies as much time as your planned talk. • A 15 -minute report can run 30 minutes or longer with questions. • If your time is limited, keep your remarks brief enough to leave time for audience to respond. – Promise to answer premature questions later • Don’t feel obligated to give detailed responses to every question • Tell them you will get to their question later in the presentation.

How to manage Questions • Start the Ball Rolling – You can get a question-and-answer session rolling with your own remarks. One question you might have is…. . or…. . • Anticipate likely questions – Put yourself in your listeners’ position. – What questions are they likely to ask? • Clarify complicated or confusing questions – Make sure you understand the questions by rephrasing it in your own words. – Clarification gives you a few moments to frame your answer. – It helps other audience members to understand the question.

Treat Questions with Respect – Taking every question seriously or even compliment the person who ask it. – Even when you are certain you are right, you can’t win by arguing with audience members. – A “yes-but” reply is likely to make you sound argumentative or defensive and antagonize the questioner. – Instead, you can use a “yes and”

• Keep answers focused on your goal – Don’t’ let questions draw you off track. – Try to frame answers in way that promote your goal. – You can avoid offending questioners by promising to discuss the matter with them in detail after the presentation.

• Buy time when necessary – Sometimes you need a few moments to plan an answer to a surprise question. – You can buy time in several ways: • First, wait for the questioner to finish speaking. • Second, reflect the question back to the person who asked it. • Turn the question to another audience member. • Answer your answer to the entire audience – Look at the person asking the question while he or she is asking it, but address your answer to everybody. • It keeps all the audience members involved instead of making it feel like bystanders. • It can save you from getting trapped into a debate with hostile questioners.

If your get butterflies in your stomach at the thought of giving a speech, your hands sweat, and your mouth goes dry, if your feel faint or nauseated or have trouble thinking clearly, you might be comforted to know that most people, including famous performers, politicians and business executives frequently feel the same way.

• Accept a moderate amount of nervousness – Edward R. Murrow – “the sweat of perfection” – spurring you to do your best. – The adrenaline rush that comes when you stand up can make you appear energetic, enthusiastic, and forceful than if you were more relaxed and casual.

• Rehearse Your presentation – As you add more and more technological aids to your presentation the need for complete and careful rehearsal increases dramatically. – Computer-assisted presentations can create the ultimate presentational nightmare. – As your practice your talk, follow the guidelines below. • Pay special attention to your introduction and conclusion – Audiences remember the opening and closing of a talk most clearly • Rehearse in a real setting – If possible rehearse in the room where you will actually speak

• Think Rationally about your presentation – Some speakers feel more apprehensive because of the way the think about the speech than because of the act of speaking. – Myth: A presentation must be perfect • Your presentation must be clearly organized, well documented, and effectively delivered • Practice only makes perfect. However perfection does not exist.

Myth: it is possible to persuade the entire audience • Even the best don’t sell everyone • It is unrealistic to expect one presentation will achieve everything you are seeking. Myth: the worst will happen • Thinking that the worst is going to happen may be a self -fulfilling prophecy: The fearful thoughts themselves can cause the speaker to bungle a presentation • Replace this type of self-defeating thinking with more rational beliefs can result in dramatically increased confidence when you face an audience.