2. Making Oral Presentations
Chapter 19
Making Oral Presentations
Planning a Strategy
Choosing Information
Organizing Information
Planning Visuals
Delivering a Presentation
Handling Questions
Giving Team Presentations
Chapter 19. Making Oral Presentations

3. Chapter 19 Learning Objectives
LO 19-1 Identify purposes of presentations
LO 19-2 Plan strategy for presentations
LO 19-3 Organize effective presentations
LO 19-4 Plan visuals for presentations
LO 19-5 Deliver effective presentations
LO 19-6 Handle questions during presentations

4. Purposes in Oral Presentation
Guide choice of strategy and content
Informative—inform or teach audience
Persuasive—motivate audience to act or to believe
Goodwill—entertain and validate audience
Make purpose as specific as possible
Not introduction
Oral presentations have the same three basic purposes that written documents have: to inform, to persuade, and to build goodwill. Like written messages, most oral presentations have more than one purpose. When creating a presentation, make sure your purposes are as specific as possible, and remember that a purpose is not the same thing as an introduction.

5. Planning Presentation Strategy
Strategy—plan for reaching specific goals and audience
Simplify details, visuals, words, and sentences
Make simpler than written message to same audience
When planning a presentation, develop a strategy for reaching your goals with a specific audience. Identify the one idea you want the audience to take home. Simplify your supporting details, visuals, words, and sentences so that they are easy to understand. An oral presentation needs to be simpler than a written message to the same audience. You should also analyze your audience just as you do for a written message and think about the physical conditions in which you’ll be speaking.

6. Choosing the Kind of Presentation
Monologue—presenter speaks without interruption; answers questions at end
Guided discussion—
Speaker presents issues audience agreed to earlier
Presenter serves as facilitator, tapping audience knowledge
Interactive—a conversation, like sales presentations
Choose one of these three basic kinds of presentations. In a monologue presentation, the speaker speaks without interruption; questions are held until the end of the presentation, where the speaker functions as an expert. The speaker plans the presentation in advance and delivers it without deviation. In a guided discussion, the speaker presents the questions or issues that both speaker and audience have agreed on in advance. Rather than functioning as an expert with all the answers, the speaker serves as a facilitator to help the audience tap its own knowledge. An interactive presentation is a conversation, even if the speaker stands up in front of a group and uses charts and overheads.

7. Adapting to Your Audience
Don’t seek major opinion change in one presentation
Make ideas relevant to audience by linking what you say to their interests
Show audience that topic affects them directly
Measure the message you’d like to send against where your audience is now. If your audience is indifferent, skeptical, or hostile, focus on the part of your message the audience will find most interesting and easiest to accept. Don’t seek a major opinion change in a single presentation. Make your ideas relevant to your audience by linking what you have to say to their experiences and interests. Showing your audience that the topic affects them directly is the most effective strategy.

8. Choosing Information
Select information that is interesting and persuasive to audience
Plan to answer audience’s questions and objections
Limit to three main points
Show relationship between main points
Link points to audience’s knowledge
You cannot give a lot of information in an oral presentation. Therefore, choose the information that is most interesting to your audience and that answers the questions your audience will have. Limit your talk to three main points. Your content will be easier to understand if you clearly show the relationship between each of the main points. As part of choosing what to say, you should determine what data to present, including what to show in visuals.

9. Organizing Information
Plan a strong opening
Structure the body
Plan a strong conclusion
Unlike written documents where your audience can reread as many times as needed to understand your message, a presentation needs to be clear to the listener on the first (and only!) attempt. One way to achieve clarity with your message is to plan the organization of your information. To develop an effective organization strategy for your presentation, plan a strong opening, structure the body, and play a strong conclusion.

10. Planning Strong Opening
Use as position of emphasis
Interest audience and emphasize key point
Memorize opener and closer
The opening is the most important part of your presentation. Audience members are not going to decide halfway through that they’re going to start listening; you need to grab their attention from the start and keep it. The more you can do to personalize the opening for your audience, the better.

11. Invoking Four Strong Openers
Startling statement
Narration or anecdote
Question
Quotation
Consider using one of the four common modes for strong openers to begin your presentation. The more you can do to personalize your opener for your audience, the better.

12. Structuring the Body Chronological—past, present, and future
Problem-causes-solution—symptoms, causes, suggestions
Pro-con—give all reasons in favor; then, those against it
1-2-3—discuss three aspects of topic
Excluding alternatives—explain symptoms, explain obvious solutions, show why they won’t work, discuss workable solution
Most presentations use a direct pattern of organization, even when the goal is to persuade a reluctant audience. One of these five patterns will work to structure the body of your presentation. In a chronological pattern, start with the past, move to the present, and end by looking ahead. In problem–causes–solution pattern, explain the symptoms of the problem, identify its causes, and suggest a solution. In a pro–con pattern, give all the reasons in favor of something, then those against it. In a 1–2–3 pattern, discuss three aspects of a topic. In an excluding alternatives pattern, explain the symptoms of the problem and the obvious solutions first and show why they won’t solve the problem. End by discussing a solution that will work.

13. Planning a Strong Conclusion
Restate your main point
Refer to your opener to create a frame
End with a vivid, positive picture
Tell the audience exactly what to do to solve the problem you’ve discussed
The end of your presentation should be as strong as the opening. For your close, consider using one of these approaches.

14. Planning Visuals Create professional image and strong impact
Help the audience remember your points
Can serve as an outline for your talk
Visuals can give your presentations a professional image and great impact; they’ll also help people remember your main points. Well-designed visuals can serve as an outline for your talk. Visuals should highlight main points, not every detail. Elaborate on your visuals as you talk. While there are many software programs for creating presentations, two of the most common are PowerPoint and Prezi.

15. Designing PowerPoint Slides
Use a consistent background
Use a big font
44 to 50 point for titles
32 point for subheads
28 point for examples
Use bullet-point phrases, not sentences
Use clear, concise language
As you design slides for PowerPoint, keep these guidelines in mind. Use a consistent background. Use a big font size. For instance, use 44 or 50 point for titles, 32 point for subheads, and 28 point for examples. Use bullet-point phrases rather than complete sentences. Use clear, concise language.

16. Designing PowerPoint Slides, continued…
Make only three to five points per slide
Customize your slides
Logo
Photo
Chart
Use animation to control flow, build interest
Too much distracts the audience
Make only three to five points on each slide. If you have more, consider using two slides. Customize your slides with your organization’s logo, and add images.

17. Designing Prezi
Consider many of the design tips on the last two slides
Display hierarchies and spatial relationships
Use zooming and panning with restraint
As you design slides with Prezi, keep in mind the tips covered on the last two slides. In addition, the advantage of the Prezi canvas is that you can display hierarchies and spatial relationships in a way that PowerPoint’s linear model cannot. But use restraint with the zooming and panning features, which can make some audience members sick.

18. Delivering an Effective Presentation
Dealing with fear
Using eye contact
Developing a good speaking voice
Standing and gesturing
Using notes and visuals
Involving your audience
Practicing
Audiences want the sense that you’re talking directly to them and that you care that they understand and are interested. To deliver an effective presentation, you’ll have to consider all of these issues.

19. Dealing with Fear Be prepared Use only normal amount of caffeine
Avoid alcoholic beverages
Re-label your nerves
Not fear – scared – nervous
Say adrenaline – energetic – excited
For some people, giving a talk is scary. These techniques help you deal with fear.

20. Fear, continued… Contract muscles; then relax them
Start with feet and calves
Move to shoulders, arms, and hands
Take few deep breaths from diaphragm
Pause, look at audience before speaking
Focus on communicating, not feelings
Use energy in gestures, mobility
These are additional tips for dealing with fear.

21. Using Eye Contact Make eye contact with individuals in audience
Even before you start speaking
Hold gaze about 5 seconds
Look directly at the people you’re talking to. Make eye contact with individuals in different locations throughout the audience because you want everyone to feel you are connecting with them. Do not stare at your computer screen or your notes.

22. Developing a Speaking Voice
Make voice easy to listen to
Find and use your optimum pitch
Talk loudly enough so entire audience can hear
Vary volume, pitch, and speed
Sound energetic and enthusiastic
Enunciate—Say all sounds in each word
People will enjoy your presentation more if your voice is easy to listen to and your delivery is appropriate.

23. Standing and Gesturing
Place feet apart for good balance; flex knees
Walk if you want to
Move purposefully; don’t pace
Stand still for formal talk or if on camera
Don’t block screen showing your visuals
Use natural gestures for emphasis
Big, confident ones work best
Use these tips for standing and gesturing during your presentation.

24. Effective Delivery: Notes
Put notes on cards or sturdy paper; number them
Use 4 x 6 or 5 x 7 cards, instead of 3 x 5
Use phrases not complete sentences
Jot down details, examples you’ll use
Indicate where you’ll refer to visual
Look at notes infrequently
Hold notes high so head doesn‘t bob
Consider these tips to effectively use notes during your presentation.

25. Handling Questions Anticipate questions; prepare to answer them
Tell audience early how you’ll handle questions
Don’t nod to show you understand question
Look directly at questioner
Look at entire audience as you answer
Use these guidelines for handling questions effectively during your presentation. Prepare for questions by listing every fact or opinion you can think of that challenges your position. Treat each objection seriously and try to think of a way to deal with it. If you’re talking about a controversial issue, you may want to save one point for the question period, rather than making it during the presentation. Speakers who have visuals to answer questions seem especially well prepared.

26. Handling Questions, continued…
Don’t say, That’s a good question!, unless you say it every time
Repeat question before you answer
Link answer to purpose and points made
Re-word hostile or biased questions
Here are more tips for handling questions.

27. Giving Team Presentations
Introduce each group member
Pay close attention to other members when they present
Plan transitions
Enforce time limits strictly
Coordinate visuals for coherence
Practice, practice, practice!
Plan group presentations carefully to involve as many members of the group as possible in speaking roles. The easiest way to make a group presentation is to outline the presentation and then divide the topics, giving one to each group member. Another member can be responsible for the opener and the close. During the question period, each member answers questions that relate to his or her topic. In this kind of divided presentation, be sure to plan transitions, enforce time limits strictly, coordinate your visuals so that the presentation seems like a coherent whole, and practice the presentation as a group multiple times.