Understand the sequence of oral presentation assignment components Learn how to develop explanations for assigned material –Listen to lecture on Rowan –Start preparing your slides Practice oral skills –Peer introduction task Learning Goals

Process for Oral Presentation Assignments Submit slides for professor’s feedback Do Final Presentation Make slides on assigned material ( check course website for assignments ) Practice: Video record, evaluate yourself, chosen peer evaluates Read Rowan article ( handout )

Presenting to ‘inform’ or ‘excite’ not for understanding –Emphasis on hooking the audience Gain audience attention Establish audience’s need for information Not contingent on material; too focused on form –Not all material is best explained via examples, visual aids, frameworks, charts, The old way

Emphasis on explaining Presentation should answer the question: –How? OR –Why? OR –What does this mean? The NEW way

Inform –Create awareness of latest information on some topic (E.g., News reports) Explain Improve understanding of something audience is aware of but does not fully grasp Explaining helps deepen understanding or master a skill Explaining vs. Informing

Learning Check: What is the difference between… –Finding Similar to informing –Hypothesis What explaining is or is not

View oral presentation as a process of anticipating & overcoming potential misunderstandings –What is the confusion? –What is the strategy for explaining the confusion? The new way

Analyze audience’s source of ‘confusion’ –What can the audience be confused about? –Why the audience might not understand info? Identify good, empirically supported techniques (explanations) for overcoming audience confusion –Rowan article When presenting to explain

Concepts are difficult Audience Confusion Ideas are hard to believe Processes are difficult to visualize

1.Concept is difficult e.g., documenting vs. evaluating 2.Processes are difficult to visualize e.g., Extraversion & non verbal skills 3.Ideas are hard to believe e.g., pay can lead to decreased motivation 3 Sources of Audience Confusion

Define concept by listing its essential features –Distinguish between essential & associated features Define contrasting concept Give examples of concept Show how to differentiate examples from non examples by looking for essential features Give non-examples that are mistaken for examples When explaining a concept….

Documenting behavior vs. Evaluating performance –E.g. class participation is documented rather than evaluated –Doing the practice presentation (i.e., submitting video) is documented, not evaluated –Final presentation is evaluated Examples of concept & contrasting concept

Define non-verbal communication skills –Ability to perceive & interpret emotions accurately How are non verbal communication skills (NV) different from interpersonal skills? (IP) –IP =Establish relationship with other vs. NV = convey emotional information with other –IP=Control emotional expression vs. NV=express & interpret emotions –IP= Higher order vs. NV= lower order skills Interpersonal vs. non verbal communication skills C24 fall05 Student Paper

1.Define the concept 2.Identify the contrasting concept (via non examples) 3.Give examples that illustrate the concept 4.Give examples of the contrasting concept (non examples) that can be confused with examples of the concept To define a concept well, you need to…

1.Concept is difficult 2.Processes are difficult to visualize 3.Ideas are hard to believe 3 Sources of Audience Confusion

Help audience mentally model or ‘picture’ key dimensions of a complex phenomenon –Have clear main points and connections b/w them Processes difficult to visualize

Two main obstacles 1.Creating a good general impression 2.Conceptualize parts Processes difficult to visualize

Provide a good general impression of phenomenon via…. Graphics/Models Verbal strategies Structure suggesting titles –Five dimensions of personality Organizing analogies –An organization is like a jazz quartet Model suggesting topic sentences –Need fulfillment works like a pyramid Note: Models/analogies should be commonly shared 1 st step to explaining a process that is difficult to visualize

Help audience conceptualize parts, processes, inter-relations via Transitional phrases, previews, summaries & explicit statements of relationships that help in refining mental models Do not use short sentences and sacrifice words like “because” and “for example” Repeat/recreate initial comparisons 2nd step to explaining a process that is difficult to visualize

Decide on… 1.Why evaluate performance 2.How to evaluate performance A.Who evaluates performance? –Train rater B.Method of performance evaluation 1.Pick dimensions 2.Pick rating scale 3.Document performance 4.Evaluate performance Example Process Before giving feedback…(linear)

Before giving feedback…(model) Why evaluate performance Who evaluates performance Dimensions to evaluate Type of rating scale to use Train evaluator Document Performance Evaluate Performance

Differences in social experiences –Extraverts… Seek out interactions which help refine & develop NV skills Have more social experience which enables more practice Why are extraverts more skilled at non verbal communication? Linear explanation from C24 fall05 Student Paper

Extraversion NV Skills +

Extraversion Social experiences + NV Skills +

Social experiences Practice old skills NV Skills Develop new Skills

Extraversion Social experiences Practice old skills NV Skills Develop new Skills

Why GPA–performance correlation decreases after first year on the job? –Chalkboard drawing – Using a graph to illustrate range restriction

1.Concept is difficult 2.Processes are difficult to visualize 3.Ideas are hard to believe 3 Sources of Audience Confusion

1.State implausible idea –Participation does not lead to setting more difficult goals 2.Discuss audience’s implicit theory 3.Demonstrate limitations of audience’s theory 4.State the more empirically valid theory and illustrate its effectiveness Ideas are hard to believe

1.State implausible idea –E.g., Participation does not lead to setting more difficult goals 2.Discuss audience’s implicit theory –How does it explain the commonly believed idea? E.g., Participation results in more difficult goals being set because subordinates want their supervisors to believe that they are highly capable and so choose more difficult goals than those that may be assigned to them by the supervisor Ideas are hard to believe C24 fall05 Student Paper

3.Demonstrate limitations of implicit theory –Identify inadequacy with familiar examples or data Assumes that all subordinates want to demonstrate superior abilities to their supervisors Assumes that supervisors do not know the abilities of the subordinates and so assign easy goals 4.State the more empirically valid theory and illustrate its effectiveness When supervisors know the abilities of subordinates, participation does not result in more difficult goals Ideas are hard to believe C24 fall05 Student Paper

Pay does not lead to increased motivation Implicit theory: –Pay reinforces behavior Assumptions –Pay reinforces all behaviors New findings –Pay does not reinforce behaviors that are intrinsically motivated Another Hard to believe idea

Identify why subject is confusing to audience Introspect, ask peers Classify confusion Is it a concept? Is it a difficult to visualize process/structure Is it a ‘hard to believe’ idea? Then generate an explanation that best overcomes the confusion To formulate a good explanation

Read assigned material Is it a idea that is hard to believe? Is it a concept? Is it a process? Classify the aspect Focus on one aspect Examples, counter examples etc. Identify invalid assumptions of implicit theory etc. Model to explain processes or parts