1. Stewart L. Tubbs McGraw-Hill© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 C H A P T E R Small Group Presentations to an Audience

2. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 2 Small Group Presentations to an Audience Preparing an Oral Presentation Review of the Systems Approach

3. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 3 Small Group Presentations to an Audience Panel Discussions –A panel discussion is basically a conversation in front of an audience. When you participate in a panel discussion, you should prepare for the presentation much as you would for any public communication event. Each panel member should plan to participate as evenly as possible.

4. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 4 Small Group Presentations to an Audience Symposium Presentations –A symposium is much more structured than a panel discussion. Each speaker gives an uninterrupted speech on one portion of the topic. –Each speaker should coordinate his or her presentation with the others in order to ensure that all the important aspects of the topic are covered.

5. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 5 Small Group Presentations to an Audience—Practical Tips Leonard and Swaps (1999) offer the following insights with regard to group problem solving: –The early stage of problem solving requires divergent thinking. –Once the ideas are identified, the second phase of problem solving requires convergent thinking. –It is important to balance the needs for divergent and convergent thinking. –Too little divergent thinking results in shallow analysis of the problem and too few alternatives for consideration.

6. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 6 Small Group Presentations to an Audience—Practical Tips Leonard and Swaps (1999) –Too little convergent thinking results in lack of focus and follow through. –Too much divergent thinking has the same result as too little convergent thinking. –Too much convergent thinking results in what is commonly referred to as groupthink.

7. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 7 Small Group Presentations to an Audience Forum Discussions –Forum discussion is a format in which audience members have an opportunity to ask questions and or to comment on the speaker or speakers’ presentations. One of the important aspects of a forum is to allow all points of view to be heard.

8. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 8 Small Group Presentations to an Audience Technology and Presentations –Technology is utilized in almost all presentations given within organizations today. –In videoconferencing, a television is utilized to project images for the presentation –Many organizations conduct webinars and utilizing PowerPoint. –Many media technologies are also used in the original face-to-face meeting.

9. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 9 Preparing an Oral Presentation There are seven steps that you need to follow in preparing an oral presentation: 1.Determine your purpose. 2.Determine your topic. 3.Analyze your audience. 4.Gather supporting materials. Examples Statistics Quotation Analogies

10. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 10 Preparing an Oral Presentation There are seven steps that you need to follow in preparing an oral presentation: 5.Organize your materials. 6.Prepare your visual aids. 7.Practice, practice, practice your delivery.

11. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 11 Review of the Systems Approach There are a number of factors that help us determine the best communication strategies and skills to employ in any situation. You may decided to use a panel discussion or a symposium based on specific demands of the situation. In a forum discussion, you may adapt the structure to more effectively use members’ time.