Chapter 13 Developing Effective Oral Presentations

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 2 Developing Effective Oral Presentations Planning a Presentation Organizing the Content Delivering the Presentation Designing a Multimedia Presentation Dealing with Nervousness Ethics and Speaking Speaking to Diverse Audiences

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 3 Planning a Presentation Define your purpose Why am I giving this presentation? What is it I want my audience to do? Consider your audience To whom am I speaking? What do they already know? What will they want to know? What do they need to know?

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 4 Organizing the Content Gaining audience’s attention in introduction Introduce yourself Handle administrative details Identify your role Plan for questions Explain if there are handouts Give an overview

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 5 Organizing the Content (continued) Organize main points Keep the presentation to 20 minutes Organize each point in a logical order Use clear examples to illustrate each point Make it clear you are moving to new point

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 6 Organizing the Content (continued) Keep your audience interested Brief survey or checklist for related topics Ask listeners to discuss with person next to them Brief games that relate to the topic Alternate moving/standing still, speaking/listening, doing/thinking Add stories, anecdotes, testimonials, analogies, demonstrations Use humor appropriately and in good taste Read your audience—movement, talking

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 7 Organizing the Content (continued) Summarizing and concluding Give simple review of main points/purpose Demonstrate how main points fit together Close with a question

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 8 Organizing the Content (continued) Handling questions/comments Guide audience through main points Listen carefully to what was asked Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know Be sure to repeat questions over microphone Done rush an answer Have one or two questions in case no questions are asked

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 9 Organizing the Content (continued) Managing hecklers Prepare yourself for worst questions Never show anger Say “Thank you for your opinion” and move on Don’t get into an argument

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 10 Delivering the Presentation Structure your presentation General to specific Questioning Specific to general Beginning-middle-end

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 11 Delivering the Presentation (continued) Making your presentation Eyes The most important part that will influence the audience Voice Speak loud enough so everyone can hear you Vary the volume and pitch of your voice Keep your words simple Check the pronunciation of difficult, unusual or foreign words

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 12 Delivering the Presentation (continued) Be careful of verbal ties such as “um” “you know” “like” Drink water before you speak to lubricate vocal cords

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 13 Delivering the Presentation (continued) Body language/appearance Do: Stand securely with legs slightly apart, back straight, and body relaxed facing the audience Keep your arm and hand gestures under control Make planned position changes Use body language to convey your message Dress appropriately for your audience Don’t: Pace or rock back/forth, or stand stiffly in one place Play with pointer, fumble with notes/change Read presentation from your notes, screen, or tablet Block visual aids from your audience Practice! Practice! Practice!

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 14 Delivering the Presentation (continued) Evaluating your presentation Was the purpose achieved? Was the information relevant? Did anything unexpected happen? Did I begin and end on time? Did all visuals support the presentation effectively?

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 15 Delivering the Presentation (continued) Did I allow time for questions? What did I learn from this presentation? What could I do differently next time?

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 16 Designing a Multimedia Presentation Selecting the design Make your font size BIG! Keep each slide simple Uncluttered and simple Attractive and visually appealing Bold and large-size fonts No more than seven lines per slide Limit number of text slides in a row Keep your format consistent

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 17 Designing a Multimedia Presentation (continued) Using PowerPoint 2007 Click Start Button on taskbar Click Office button Select a template Edit and replace text in each slide Proofread and spell-check View in Slide Show Exit PowerPoint

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 18 Designing a Multimedia Presentation (continued) Producing speaker’s notes and handouts Let audience know when notes are to be distributed At end is best when purpose is to give general information At beginning so audience can make notes while listening Should reinforce main points Should be simple, related directly to purpose, and have high visual impact

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 19 Designing a Multimedia Presentation (continued) Adding multimedia features Use animation and sound effects sparingly Use simple transitions Don’t try to impress audience Keep slides simple so they are not distracting

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 20 Designing a Multimedia Presentation (continued) Traveling and presenting What if PowerPoint is older version? What if there is no flash drive plug-in? What if computer is old and slow? Others?

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 21 Dealing With Nervousness Techniques to use Use a relaxation technique Expect success Prepare thoroughly Practice for distractions Never memorize a speech Think of communication, not performance Know that nervousness is not seen

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 22 Dealing With Diverse Audiences Consider the pace of presenting information Be careful when using humor Be careful when selecting color in your visuals Know what to expect when it comes to questions Choose words carefully

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 23 Ethics and Speaking Support statements, figures, conclusions with facts Never say anything you cannot prove Always give credit where credit is due

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 24 Speaking to Diverse Audiences Consider the pace of presenting information Be careful when using humor Be careful when selecting color in visuals Know what to expect concerning questions

Office Procedures for the 21 st Century, 8e Burton and Shelton © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 25 Speaking to Diverse Audiences (continued) Choose words carefully Speak slower than normal Know what to expect from your audience