Chapter 7: Presentation skills

Presentation skills
• Presentation skills can be defined as a set of abilities that enable an individual
to interact with the audience; transmit the messages with clarity; engage
the audience in the presentation; and interpret and understand the
mindsets of the listeners. These skills will refine how we put forward our
messages and enhance our persuasive powers.

• The present era places great emphasis on good presentation skills. This is
because they play an important role in convincing the clients and
customers. Management with good presentation skills can better
communicate the organization's mission and vision to the employees.
Importance of Presentation skills
• Interaction with others is a routine job of businesses in today’s world. The
importance of good presentation skills is established based on the following points
• They help an individual in enhancing his growth opportunities. In addition, it
also grooms the personality of the presenter and elevates his levels of confidence.
• In the case of striking deals and gaining clients, it is essential for business
professionals to understand the audience. Good presentation skills enable an
individual to deliver his/her message according to the traits of the audience.
This increases the probability of successful transmission of messages.
• Business professionals have to arrange seminars and give presentations almost every
day. Having good presentation skills not only increases an individual’s chances
of success but also enables him to add greatly to the organization.
• How to improve presentation skills
• Unless we are an experienced presenter we may worry that we are not very good at public
speaking or that our presentations are not interesting, both of which can make us feel
anxious about our performance. Here are some points on how to improve our presentation
skills
1. Set our goals
We have to ask ourselves what we want to achieve with our presentation and how it is going
to benefit our audience. Do we want to use it to share information with others? Is it
meant to update our audience or inform them about some important news or decision?
We have to try to make sure our presentation achieves them.
2. Be passionate
Our audience is more likely to be engaged with what we are saying. If we can speak about it
with passion and conviction. If we truly care about our presentation’s subject matter, our
enthusiasm will shine through. Not only that but speaking with passion can help to
overcome nervousness because we will be so absorbed in what we are saying,
we won’t have time to worry about how we are being received.
3. Use stories
Good public speakers know how important storytelling is for a successful
presentation. But talking about ourselves, such as including personal anecdotes
to illustrate the points we are trying to make, and be even more powerful. And as
most people feel comfortable talking about themselves, it could help us relax more
too.
4. Add some humor
Humor can lead us to an audience because it shows we don’t take ourselves
too seriously. If we can make our audience laugh a few times they also be more
receptive to what we are saying, which can help put us at ease.
5. Be prepared
Even the most confident and seasoned presenter can be thrown by unforeseen
problems, especially when technology is involved. If we are using audio-visual
aids, we try to have a plan B in case our laptop crashes or our Wi-Fi connection
vanishes. If we are well prepared. Tech problems will be one less thing to worry
about.
6. Ask questions
We have to try not to make our presentation one-sided. We have to involve our
audience by asking them questions and encouraging them to participate.
7. Include take-home points
We have to aim to make sure our audience doesn’t leave our presentation
wondering what it was all about. We take-home points are the ideas and
messages we want our audience to go away with, the things we hope will make a
lasting impression on them. We have to summarize our take-home points at the
end of our presentation when we are wrapping things up.
8. Practice - then practice again
If we have time, we have to practice our presentation as often as possible. We have
to rehearse to the point that we are so familiar with our subject matter, that we
could deliver our presentation with ease – like having a conversation with a friend.
Also, we have to try to do at least one practice run in front of a friend or family
member.
9. Visualize our success
As well as practicing it is a good idea to visualize giving a great presentation as it
can help boost our confidence. We should try to do this as many times as we can,
and especially immediately before we give our presentation. If we are still feeling
nervous, we try doing some deep breathing to bring down our heart rate.
10. Do not talk on an empty stomach
Always
Ramesh Hamal try to eat something before speaking in public.
• Preparation of self-introduction
• Introducing ourselves, whether in a professional capacity or a casual one, is vital to
how people will perceive us in the following interactions that take place.
• . The right introduction is not too long or too short. It does not have to be a
crammed speech. Our introduction does not have to be completely technical or
professional.
• Self-introduction
• A self-introduction is any form of interaction that tells who we are, what we do, and
what others need to know about us, since others vary in every single case, the
last part is interchangeable, but the first two parts mostly remain the same. A good
self-introduction covers all three parts within a limited set of words so people can
understand who they are interacting with.
• A few situations where we are required to introduce ourselves:
• Giving an interview or interviewing somebody
• Meeting somebody new in a professional or casual gathering
• Meeting people at a meeting
• Hiring somebody
• Building new connections

• Traditionally and quite successfully, the professional self-introduction requires

our name (who we are), our occupation (what we do), or what we intend to be if
we are not working right now. And lastly, some facts that will create a nice
impression on the person we are interacting with (what others need to know about
us).
• Lecture:
• A lecture is an organized verbal presentation of subject matter often augmented by
visual aids. According to Bligh (1972), a lecture is a period of more or less
uninterrupted talk from a teacher. A more detailed definition is found in Percival
and Ellington (1988) who state that a lecture is ‘a didactic instructional method,
involving one-way communication from the active presenter to the more or less
passive audience.’

• History and Background

• Historically the lecture can be traced back to the 5th century BC when it was popular
with the Greeks. Universities in medieval times when books were scarce, and even
today, it is the most common teaching method in higher education. The term
lecture comes from the Latin word Lectare, to read aloud, which identifies it as an
expository or ‘telling’ method.
• While the lecture largely consists of one-way communication is limited to the
teacher asking questions to establish that the subject matter has been
assimilated but many skilled lecturers can make their lectures more thought-
provoking and lecturers and their focusing on learning in lectures.

• In comparing the lecture with other methods we find that:

• The lecture is the most common method used in universities
• It is as effective as other methods for communicating knowledge up to
comprehension level but less effective for higher cognitive levels
• Discussions are more effective than lecturers for changing attitudes.
• Despite this limitation, a consensus of authorities reports the lecture has a place in
higher education but should not be the only method used.
• Studies on view on the lecture reveal that both students and lecturers place high
value on clarity of presentation, suitability of structure, and generation of student
interest.
• In addition, the lecture is popular with lecturers, students, and administration.
Skills in lecturing
• We have some reservations about using the word lecture for it can
conjure up droning lecturer and sleepy passive students. We tend
to agree with George Brown, a well-known authority in Britain
on teaching, who prefers to use the word, ‘explaining’ for
lecturing.
• He describes explaining as ‘giving understanding to others’ for
it consists of a series of short statements containing principles,
illustrations, definitions, and qualifications, all of which are
well organized and spoken clearly. It follows that the explanation
must be appropriate for the particular learners and suitable for the
time available.
• The process of explaining has several important characteristics
such as clarity, organization, emphasis, orientation, examples,
and feedback. Let us discuss these points in detail
• Clarity: it is promoted by using explicit smoothly flowing language and avoiding
vagueness. It means defining new terms, clarifying key points, paraphrasing, and
giving directions on learning tasks as well as speaking, audibly, and not too fast.
• Organization: this calls for a second structure and logical approach in which
essential points are concisely covered, key links and relationships are indicated and
good use is made of time.
• Emphasis: this is concerned with the highlighting of important elements and
details.
• Orientations: this means helping to promote learning in several ways, for example.
In outlining a lecture or introducing a new theme, giving directions and advice
on what to expect, or using the key structuring moves that signal what is happening
during the lecture.
• Examples: these are essential in explanation but they need to be apt and interesting
within the students’ repertoire of knowledge, and with sufficient frequency and
variety. A typical example, comparisons, and problem examples should be given to
enhance comprehension.
• Feedback: continuous monitoring is an important feature of explanations for without
it there can be no certainty that ‘understanding’ has resulted. Feedback is initiated
but the lecturer asks questions, inviting queries, seeking interpretations and
Impromptu
• An impromptu speech is when we are asked to speak in public without
prior notice. It can be one of the most terrifying speeches we will ever do,
standing up in front of a crowd and having to speak for a few minutes without
preparation is daunting even for the most seasoned speakers. It is not likely
to happen often, however, when it does, we don’t want to be caught
completely off-guard.
• For example, in a class a teacher may ask a student to give a short
impromptu
speech about a topic that was in the assigned readings.
• Business meetings may also start with everyone talking briefly about what
they have done recently on the project.
• In small informal meetings, the audience will interrupt an impromptu speech
and ask questions, which helps guide the speech and the information that is
presented.
• Here are a few points to bear in mind if we are asked to speak at short notice
• If we are about to make an impromptu speech and have a few minutes to prepare,
1. Make some quick notes
The first thing we should do when asked to speak is to grab a pen and a piece of
paper. We have to jot down a few initial ideas, or even just a few words that we
can expand upon during our speech.
2. Decide on the tone
Next, we have to think about what tone to speak in. This will depend on the type of
event we are at. For example, at a wedding, we would speak informally and we can
have fun with the speech, whereas at a business conference, we would speak more
formally and stick to a professional tone.
• Impromptu speech frameworks
• The framework helps to structure our impromptu speech and we will instantly feel
more prepared. They are easy to remember so we won’t have to write them down,
and instead can just write down keywords for each point.
1. The 5Ws
Useful when we are speaking about a person or specific event
Following the 5Ws provides instant structure to our speech and we will be able to
organize our thoughts in an easy-to-follow way. We do not even need to change the
order- starting with ‘who’ gives context to the speech and ending with ‘why’ leaves the
audience with the most important, relatable point.
Who: who is involved in the event or who is attending
What: what event are we at and what are the common goals
Where: where is the event
When: is the timing of the event important? What does the future hold
Why: why is everyone there? Why are we there?
• If we are talking about a fundraising event we could say who started the charity,
what the goals are, where it is heading, when the event is happening, and why it is
important.
2. Diplomatic framework
Use for formal occasions such as a business conference
• For the impromptu speech, we start by talking about the advantages and
disadvantages of the subject topic then we have to end it with a conclusion.
• This will make our speech informative and enable us to talk for a longer period than the
5Ws. It is important to not be afraid of silence when using this framework.
• Given that there is less room for creativity, we may find the need to pause to think
about what we are going to say next. While we think, we could walk up and down
the stage slightly as if we are letting our last point settle. In the meantime, we can
ask to audience if they have any questions, or we can also ask for a glass of water.
• These techniques will buy us more time if our mind goes blank and save us from
feeling awkward about a prolonged silence.
3. Storytelling
Useful for informal events such as weeding and book launches
Storytelling is a powerful method of speaking and is an easy way of connecting with the
audience. When having to speak when we are not prepared, we have to start small, then
medium, and end large. We have to talk about the event from an individual
perspective, then a group or national perspective, and end with the bigger picture.
For example, if we are asked to give a speech at a wedding, we could talk about when we
met the couple and our experiences with them (small), what their relationship and
marriage mean to the rest of the wedding guests (medium), and end with the future of
their relationship and their family legacy.