Effective Oral Presentations

• Determine the purpose: Inform /Persuade /Entertain

• Analyze the Audience & the Occasion• Select the main ideas for the Message• Research the Topic• Organize the data and write the Draft: Intro,

Body, Conclusion • Rehearse the Presentation (Thrice)

Delivery Options

• Extemporaneous (may use notes)

• Reading

• Memorization

• Impromptu

• Reduce Stage Fright

Voice

• Varying Pitch: Highness or Lowness of your voice. (Mary, don’t do that).

• Rate: 80-160wpm. Pauses.

• Volume: Loudness or Softness of voice

• Controlled breathing

• Voice quality

• Pronunciation: Don’t add or omit sounds

Speaking: Informative and Persuasive

• Informative: making an idea clear. Make it specific.

• Persuasive: Gaining willing acceptance of your thesis.

• Search for unity in Title: General Purpose and Specific Purpose

• Process as Purpose: Topical or Chronological Organization

• Policy as Purpose

Kinds

• Informative: Reports; Goodwill; Briefings (background information, options, pros and cons for informed decision); Instructions.

• Persuasive: Policy, Procedure, Value, Facts

Audience and Occasion

• Audience Analysis: So that chances of content or attitudinal errors are minimised.

• When speaking before hostile groups, begin with areas of agreement.

• Compare agreements and disagreements.

• Occasion

• Location

Organization

• Intro/Body/Conclusion.• Intro: Porch/Aim/Layout (PAL)• Body: Topical, chronological, cause-to-effect.• Problem solution format: 1) Establish the

existence of the Problem, 2)Supply the remedy, 3) Benefits of Solution if adopted, 4)Negative consequences if not adopted.

• Conclusion: Inferences from date different from summary (reiterating what was covered).

Bases of good Oral Communication

• Ethos: your credibility as speaker

• Pathos: using emotion

• Logos: Using evidence and Reasoning.

• Six forms of Support: Examples; Illustrations (elongated examples); Statistics (numbers); Quotations/Testimony; Comparison/Analogues; Definitions.

Listening Problems

• Prejudice against the Speaker. Be cautious in drawing conclusions about others.

• External Distractions

• Thinking Speed

• Premature Evaluation

• Semantic Stereotypes

• Delivery Issues

Dictating

• Collect Info/ Plan for your specific purpose/ organize ideas clearly/ speak in a firm, clear voice more slowly than the usual.

• More Instructions to the Steno: • Precise name & address to whom the message is to be

sent• Speak clearly. Be careful with plurals• Spell unusual words/names• Suggest punctuation• Avoid side comments• Conclude by telling when you would need the recorded

info and how you can be reached.

Meetings: Planning

• Kinds of Leadership: Authoritarian; Leaderless; Democratic or Participative.

• Review the problem and Determine the precise purpose of the meeting.

• Decide who should participate.• Arrange for meeting Date, Time, & Place.• Create an Agenda (Facts/Values/Policy)• Distribute the Announcement for the meeting.• Check on Physical Arrangements

Procedures during the meeting

• Begin with an Opening statement.

• Stimulate Discussion.

• Understand the Roles of the Participants.

• Interpret data for Solution Evaluation.

• State the Major Conclusions and Plan of Action.

• Follow-up: Secretaries take minutes; chairpersons check for accuracy.

Participant Roles

• Organizer• Clarifier• Questioner• Factual Contributor• Energizer• Idea Creator• Critical Tester• Conciliator• Helper of Others

Dealing with

• The reticent, non-participating member

• The Know-it-All

• The Long-winded speaker

• The Erroneous Member

• One who shows personal animosity