User:XEESHAN SARKAR/sandbox

PRESENTATION SKILLS 4.1	WHAT IS A PRESENTATION? Presentation is a speech which enables a speaker to present a topic or idea to an audience. In this modern era it is considered a skill learning of which has become equally important for students, teachers, and business persons. An English dictionary defines it “A talk giving information about something (or someone)” Presenter shall know the level of audience. He/she shall also know the purpose of presentation and also keep in mind what the audience requires. Instead of focusing on the things he/ she knows focus shall be given to the things audience wants to know. Good presentation involves audience and speaker understanding and if speaker is happy audience is happy too. Message or idea which a presenter delivers shall be clear and simple and clear and simple words shall be used to present it. Presenter shall stay consistent and shall move step by step towards end. Presenter shall also deliver in soft and gentle voice. Volume shall be good. Eye contacts shall be given. Facial gestures and tone of voice shall keep on changing according to the need of topic. 4.2	WHAT IS MEANT BY PRESENTATION SKILLS? A presenter is always in need to use certain techniques which may help him/her in engaging the audience and delivering the effective powerful presentation. These techniques are known as presentation skills. Design of slides which a presenter uses, structure of the presentation, body language of the presenter and the tone of voice all come under the umbrella of presentation skills. Developing communication skills has become very important for everyone because these skills are quite helpful in job placement, organizational success and performance career advancements. Even job advertisements in this modern era clearly declare the requirement of people having excellent communication skills. It must be clear that presentation is not communication. COMMUNICATION PROCESS Communication is the exchange of information, knowledge or ideas between people. It involves given steps •	Presenter (sender) has an idea •	Presenter encodes the idea (message ) •	Message travels ( Sound waves move in the air ) •	Decoding (receiver receives) •	Sends feedback (Receiver comments on the received message)

4.3	PREPARING THE PRESENTATION (a)	Knowing the purpose of presentation Presenter is always in need to know the purpose of presentation. Every presentation intends to achieve some targets. Presenters start presenting with the intentions to create awareness among audience about something (launching any product), to sell something, so it should be clear that what listeners are supposed to do? What the presenter wants from audience (How to make up their minds)? What they are supposed to believe remember or do after listening the presentation? So a presenter shall know the purpose of the presentation (b)	Understanding the characteristics of audience Presenter is always in need to do a good research on the interest of audience before presenting in front of them so that it is easier for him/her to explain how his/her company can serve usefully to their precise situation. A communication expert named as Mike Aguilera has given presentations on effective communication more than 1000 times. He says that if he never had time to research before presentation, he will talk to the audience and ask them about their interest during his speech. So understanding the audience is the very important element of making effective presentation. Assuming the target audience and anticipating the responses helps in organizing material in a better way. A presenter can involve audience if he/she understands the metal level, age group and needs of his/her target audience. Audience behaves differently in different environments so it is presenter who is always in the need to have grip over what he presents so that he can satisfy the audience. Presenter can face negative feedback also so showing patience and continuing in certain circumstances is the best strategy because: “Winners continue losers stop” Presenter shall dress formally and shall look presentable because appearance maters a lot. It is rightly said: “Presenter itself is the presentation” As we know “Audience is the group of people together to listen or to watch. So a presenter shall make the mind to accept different views because all the people cannot give same feedback. Mainly audience comprised of four types of people: •	Friendly (show generous attitude and like presenter and topic) •	Neutral ( They are objective although their minds are made up) •	Uninterested ( Having Short attention spans, May be listening  presentation against their will) •	Hostile (Authoritative group, wants to take charge from presenter, try to create hurdles) So a presenter shall know how to control all these types and which delivery style shall be adopted. (c)	Content organization After knowing the subject and target audience it becomes easy for the presenter to organize material by keeping in view the purpose and target population. Repeatedly focus on something can make it easily understandable for the audience. That is why many presenters usually •	Tell the audience what they will talk about (present) •	They talk (present ) •	Then discuss what they have discussed (presented) This conscious repetition gives focus to the main point or purpose. Introduction shall be interesting and opening shall get the attention of the audience. A very common technique to get the attention is to start presentation with a question or a presenter can also tell a relevant joke or quotations. It is said that if a presenter is unable to grab audience in the start he/she will not be able to grab them till end. So an authentic and interesting opening is the requirement. Organization of content brings focus to the fact that introduction shall be carefully synthesized. Dressing of the presenter, proper eye contacts, showing some visuals, audio aids, a promise and movements are commonly used techniques which presenter can use to get the attention of the audience. (a)	Organizing the body A good presentation focuses on one or two main points. Focus throughout shall be on the purpose which is not known by audience all the time actually presenter knows what he/she wants from the audience. Organize material logically step by step Tell the brief background of the topic (a)	Ending (Summary) Listener remembers conclusion as compared to other parts of the presentation. So instead of leaving the stage abruptly presenter shall recall the main points which shall be summarized and repeated. Presenter shall ask them what he/she expects them to do and leave the stage by including a final statement. No new idea shall be introduced at the end because it will confuse the audience. 4.3	 STRUCTURE OF YOUR PRESENTATION

Anguilera says “The classic format is to tell the audience what you're going to say, Present, and then tell them what you told them”. So a presentation is based on proper:

•	BEGINNING The beginning of the presentation should be in a manner that it makes an instant emotional connection with the audience. It can be anything, a story or a question or wicked static. It is not recommended to begin with your introduction or five minutes long thank you. David Parnel who recently wrote a book on the psychology of effective communication give a suggestion that the stories which you tell should be clicked with the audience and characters should also be similar to your audience. •	FRAME There are three main and most important points and you should stick to them. Firstly the main goal is to engage the audience in your presentation than to tell them everything. Secondly you don’t have to write your presentation word to word or in the worst scenario, memorize it. You just have to keep returning back to the main points and explaining them. Thirdly the presentation should not be delivered partially but the issue must be presented with both angles. Your position will be more credible if you accept your rivalries or any kind of opposing arguments. This way you can spell out how and why your company is better. •	ENDING The end of the presentation is the last chance to offer your audience something which will remain with them in their minds. In the closing you can go all the way back to the beginning or end cleverly on a slogan. It was suggested by Parnell that the business proposal should always end on positive forecast. He says 'Your forecaste will provide fodder that can serve to validate any subconsciously generated optimism'. 4.4	PRACTICING AND NOT MEMORIZING

Everybody has a different take on it. Speech is not something to just practice for once, if you do it you are definitely going to stink. Braithwaite recommends that a presentation should be rehearsed for about a month in advance. While practicing you can talk in front of a mirror to improve your body language, talk to a wall or make your family member your audience for practice. You can do whatever works best for you but make sure that you talk loud to sense your time. Braithwaite says 'Really the only people who are good at memorizing things are actors’. Rehearsing is not memorizing, memorizing the speech can sound over rehearsed or mechanical. After all you are going to address humans and if you are too polished, they will not be able to connect with you. Videotaping You have to become your own critic and the only way is to video tape yourself in this way you can bring improvement. Stay calm Aguilera advises to change the ‘presentation’ word into ‘conversation’ when you think and get nervous about your big day. The more you stay calm you will be able to deliver even better. Stop practicing You can't be in your hyper rewriting, restructuring mode right up to your presentation. You need to relax and stop practicing for a while before your speech calm your nerves.

4.5	PREPARED AND UNPREPARED TALKS: (a)	PREPARED SPEECH Prepared talk (speech) is that kind of talk in which topics are given in advance. Speaker gets the time to research on the assigned topics and organize contents in a coherent way. Speakers of prepared speech do not memorize every word rather they carefully planes about how they will go through all the phases from collecting material to delivery of the speech. Different helping aids are used by these speakers in which “extemporaneous” (using cards to remember main points), memorizing ( Some important point) and manuscript (written notes) are commonly used. When a speaker is given a presentation or (business) meeting he uses prepared talks. As it is known that in prepared talk time is given for preparation so it is expected generally from prepared speakers that their ideas which they are going to present shall be well connected and delivery shall be convincing and engaging and conclusions shall be powerful. Prepared Speaker gets much time to think about the purpose and audience, collect relevant material, construct meaningful sentences, outline, add supportive details, prepares A.V aids, devises opening, write complete speech, and makes checklist and also edit if necessary because enough time is given for preparation So a prepared speech requires the prior knowledge of: •	Who the speaker is writing speech for? (Audience) •	What the speech is going to be about? (Topic/ purpose) •	How long speech need to be (Time duration ) So a speaker first of all shall know about the purpose of the speech, about the people he/she is going to face and the duration of time given to him/her for delivery of ideas. Prepared speaker shall focus on the following areas: •	purpose •	Target population (audience) •	Clarity shall be there •	How audience shall be involved •	Goal setting which is to achieve •	How to do broader research on given topic •	How to avoid plagiarism •	How to Organize contents in one place •	Choose A.V aids which appeal the audience •	Rehearse the speech •	Get ready for negative feedback (b) UNPREPARED OR IMPROMPTU OR SPEECH WITHOUT PRIOR PREPARATION ”Impromptu speaking is like jumping into public speaking head first. It forced quick confidence and helped me grow as a speaker by giving me the skill to prioritize my decision making to prepare an organized and meaningful speech” (Alex Baranosky, Association Alum Alex A) A very common type is unprepared speech. In this type topic s are not given in advance and no time for preparation is given. Speakers are provided with their topics which can be a word, phrase, object or any quotation. Speaker instead of having research on the topic has to speak immediately on it. This style seems most difficult because speaking without proper preparation is not easy. But this is interesting to know that speech in daily life is unprepared (Impromptu Speech). People do not prepare speeches before talking to one another. However, speaking to an audience before preparing speech is really challenging. Language in certain speeches is less formal. Impromptu Speech is very tough but very often speaker do not have enough time for preparation so speaking without preparing is a great skill because speaker gets few minutes (or seconds) for preparation. In routine life people have certain occasion where they have to speak something unexpectedly. Speaker can enjoy this opportunity by uttering meaningful words or can become fool by making crackling sounds like ummm, huh.. umum and so on. These speeches are shorter. If a speaker speaks well in certain situations he/he can gain popularity by becoming a goods speaker. Impromptu speech occurs when Scheduled speaker is not available or speaker is answering the questions of a panel in an interview. Impromptu speaking is considered a public speaking and speaker has limited time (5-7 minutes) for selecting a topic, brainstorming ideas, outlining the speech and the delivery of speech. This kind of speaking can be serious or light hearted which actually tests the speakers (students) ability to analyze the topic, processing of thought, organization of the relevant points and then deliver speech in clear and coherent (logical) manner. So an impromptu speaker will be called a confident and quick thinker if he/she could engage audience, and utter logical ideas Impromptu speaker shall recur to the past and connect the situation because past experiences and the lessons learnt earlier is the best guide in certain unprepared moments. Not all the past experiences can be discussed rather talk about the one where the subject of speech implies. On the go (unprepared) speeches offer an opportunity to display speaker’s ability of speaking without preparation. 4.6   HOW TO DELIVER A GOOD IMPROMPTU SPEECH? Focus on the areas mentioned below: •	FACE AUDIENCE Make eye contacts with the audience. This will give confidence and audience will not fall asleep. If a speaker finds difficulty in making eye contact he/she hall look at the foreheads because audience observes how confident a speaker is. •	AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT A speaker shall try to get the audience involved in what so ever he/she speaks. Audience is involved in interesting speeches does not matter whether speech is prepared or unprepared •	JOT DOWN THOUGHTS Speaker shall organize thoughts quickly which seems relevant to the topic. DISADVANTAGES •	Speaker can use personal experiences, examples to cover the topic •	Speech lack detailed description •	Supporting information is missing •	Despite having knowledge about topic delivery is not accurate GUIDELINES •	Focus on the purpose •	Collect ideas •	Write main points on cards •	Make outline and consider three parts (introduction, body, conclusion) •	Do remember the order of point •	If you have forgotten to what to say next just rephrase what has previously been said •	Do not show you are unfamiliar with the topic CLICHÉS Some expressions have become boring due to overuse. These expressions shall be avoided because they lack freshness and have become boring. e.g. •	Last but not least •	First and foremost PRECISE VERBS Effective speaking involves listener. Use precise and authentic verbs because verbs not only show the action rather the force of the action is also delivered by the verbs. So avoid using buried verbs. Bee clear precise and to the point and use vivid adjectives in your sentences