Interview Skills

123
Informative

As you move from Persuasive

lett to
persuasive. On the lett right, the
side of the presentation becomes more and
about the importance ot vertical line, the more
side of the vertical opening up a recycling speaker intends to talk
audience to start the speaker goes aheadplant,
line, the whereas, at the right
and tries to
action needed tor recycling plant and also lays down convince the
setting-up the plant. the entire plan of
b. Analysing your audience
Audience analysis is the
audience based on certain process ofmaking generalisations about the
your audience well in characteirstics. It is very
advance of your
important to know
in
prepar1ng the content as per the presentation. This helps not only
audience but also n needs, interests and concerns of the
It is because of the eliminating nervousness that a
speaker may experience.
fact that the audience no
speaker after audience analysis, and longer remains strangers to the
you know them little bit, reduces
a
speaking to
people you know, even it
There are anxiety.
several characteristics which
need to be explored for
audience analysis. Theyfollows:
are as proper
G) Demographic characteristics:
Age: 1s your audience younger or older than you are? Or what is
the age-range of your audience? The
answer to these
will help you to develop your questions
presentation. Age of a person is
important because it intluences the interests, needs, concerns,
knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, etc., of that person.
According to Aristotle, "Younger listeners tend to be more
optimistic and trusting, as well as easier to persuade, than the
older generation." This however, is a broad generalisation. Still
it is advisable to pay more attention to every claim and
every
evidence if the presentation is intended tor an older audience.
Gender/Sex: There are certain topics which are more relevant to
females than to males and vice-versa. However, as a speaker one
must not make sexist or discriminatiory remarks based on the
assumptions of gender.
Size: Size of the audience helps you to plan your delivering style.
If there is a large number of people in the audience, then it may
become slightly challenging to have one to one interaction.
 on group interacs
Hence more focus should
be given
size of the aath
ion rather
While, it the
than individual
interaction.

of o n e to one
interaction is possible, audience s
small more

(iü)
Socio-economic
cultural factors:
SoCial factors
nclude attiliation
include
A presentero
or soCial groups. nter
to various political, religious shoul
be careful enough to
not oftend the
sentiments of is/her aaudie
his/her
in relation to these tactors. Economic factors primarily incli
education, occupation and income of the audience. If the audience

comprises group ot people

a belong
who profes
to the same
ion
or scCientists, their experiences, skill.
say a group of lawyers and
will also be the same.
perpectives
constitute tactors which affect nead
(il) Psychological factors: These eeds,
interests, values, constraints, knowledge, learning styles of the
the
audience.
Needs: It is important to find out in advance what the audience
needs. If they have come to listen to the strategies and action
plans, you must not lay more emphasis on the need of the subject.
Values: A presenter should understand the value system thatis
followed by a group or an organisation. Giving presentation
outside your organisation may be totally different from
presenting within your organisation.
Constraints: There are several factors which might not letyour
audience to pay attention to
you. There may be ego clashes
internal conflicts or rival
groups that may not accept you
Views. More often than not, it is seen that whenever there 1S d
demand for money in terms of
budget
increase or expenditu
there is bound to be resistance.
Hence this factor shoula ai be
considered in the
planning phase of presentation. Some
knowledge of the presenter becomes the n the
Success of his/her impediment
presentation. Forexample, if a presen
uses

jargons, abbreviation,
may not be able to
acronyms, buzzwords, ete., the au e
to define and comprehend the message. Hence t i
e s s e n t a l

clarify specialised
Learning styles: There are four terminology.
convergers, divergers, categories of learnet They Each

category calls for its assimilators and accommoda

the method and stvle of
message. For learning anu
combination of instance, convergers rely nea
ers rely heavily on

depend upon the thinking and doing. Divergers, on tne her ha

1 a n d .

combination of feeling and

W h i k

watc hung
 InterviewSkills125
assimilators are the one who
bank upon
Accommodators, however, rely thinking and watching
ettective retention doing and feeling. The most
on
occurs when your
entire cycle of learning. In other
presentation rounds the
address more than words, your presenation should
for
leraning style, i.e., offer someth1ng each
one

convergers, divergers, assimilators and

iv) Environmental characteristics: accommodators.
Factors such as the time,
Setting, etc., are studied under physical
environmental characteristics. If
you are giving a
presentation during forenoon, audience may
be more active and fresh to
respond to you than if you deliver a
presentation in the afternoon. Similarly, the physical setting may
distract audience trom
paying attention to you. Open-auditoriums
with distractions reduce the attention span of the audience while
class-room settings help the presenter to control and captivate the
attention of the audience in a better way.

Organising

with organising the body ot the presentation

As a rule, one must always begin
rather than worrying about the introduction. Organisation ot presentation
consists of the steps that help in developing a structure of the presentation.

In the absence of the structure, a presentation becomes highly disorganised

and fails to gain attention. There are two types ot structures: