Introduction

Speech is one of the fundamental communication mode. The ability to communicate through
effective speaking is as important to language skill development as is the ability to write
effectively. Competent, effective speaking is perhaps one of the best money-making skills a
person can acquire. Such skills are Important whether we are involved in casual
conversations, explaining how to operate a machine to a fellow student, presenting a paper to
a group of colleagues in a technical meeting, or attempting to convince your employer that
you grossly underpaid. Preparing an effective speech involves focus on the main message, if
you have been asked to give a speech. The importance of being to perform a good oral
presentation is undeniably necessary for academician nowadays including students of higher
education
 PREPARING FOR AN ORAL PRESENTATION

The projective of an oral presentation is to portray large amounts of often complex

information in a clear, bite sized fashion. Although some of the success lie in the content, the
rest lies in the speaker’s skills in transmitting the information to the audience
PREPARATION
It is important to be as well prepared as possible. Look at the venue in person, and find, out
the time allowed for your presentation and for questions. And the size of the audience and
their backgrounds, which will allow the presentation to be pitched at the appropriate level.
See what the ambience and temperature are like and check that the format of your
presentation is compatible with available computer. This is particularly important when
embedding videos. Before you begin, look at the video on stand-by and make sure the lights
are dimmed and the speakers are functioning. For visual aids, Microsoft PowerPoint or Mac
keynote programmes are usual, although Prezi is increasing in popularity. Save the
presentation on USB stick, with email or cloud storage backup to avoid last minute disasters.
When preparing the presentation, start with an open slide containing the title of study, your
name, and the date. Begin by addressing and thanking the audience and the organization that
has invited you to speak. Typically, the format includes background, study aims,
methodology, results, strength and weaknesses of the study, and conclusions.
If the study takes a lecturing format, consider including “any questions?” on a slide before
you conclude, which will allow the audience to remember take home messages. Ideally, the
audience should remember three of the main points from the presentation. Have a maximum
of four short points per slide. If you can display something as a diagram, video, or a graph,
use this instead of text and talk around it. Animation is available in both Microsoft
PowerPoint and the Apple Mac keynotes programme, and its use in presentation has been
demonstrated to assist in the retention and recall of facts. Do not overuse it, though, as it
could be make you appear unprofessional. If you show a video or diagram don’t just sit back-
use a laser pointer to explain what is happening. Rehearse you presentation in front of at least
one person. Request feedback and amend accordingly. If possible, practice in the venue itself
so things will not be unfamiliar on the day. If you appear comfortable, the audience will feel
comfortable. Ask colleagues and seniors what questions they would ask and prepare
responses to these questions.
Good speakers usually aim to look like they are speaking effortlessly, tossing off words as
they come to mind. What you don’t see is the preparation that paved the way for polished
performance. It’s all an act! You can do it too, if you planned ahead. Once you know what
your goal is, and you know what your audience wants, you can start strategizing. There is no
single strategy that will guarantee success. How you plan depends on many variables. How
many minutes long is your speed speech? About how many words do you speak per minute?
Will your audience be lost if you are jargon? Will they feel talked down to if you spend time
defining terms they already know? Do you expect that your audience will disagree with you?
(if so, you might need to give more examples and more evidence and spend more time
addressing reasonable objects in order to sound convincing which may mean talking a little
faster.) Do you expect your audience already agrees with the position you will take? (If so,
they may check out if your speech simply rehashes arguments they already accept without
question. what can you say to an audience that already agrees with you? Why would you
listen to a speaker who is resisting things you already accept at the truth?)
Graphics, inspirational quotations, and anecdotes are well-respected methods of maintaining
audience interest. However, images of Dilbert and the far side, fancy computer transitions
between slides and vaudeville tricks get old pretty quickly
DELIVERY
It is important to dress appropriately, stand up straight, and project your voice towards the
back of the room. Practice using a microphone, or any presentation aids, in advance. If you
don’t have your own presenting style, think of the style of inspiration scientific speakers you
have seen and imitate it
Try to present slides at the rate of around one slide a minute. If you talk too much, you will
lose your audience’s attention. The slides or videos should be an adjunct to your presentation,
so do not hide behind them, and be proud of the work you are presenting. You should avoid
reading the wording on your slides, but instead talk around the content on them. Maintain eye
contact with the audience and remember to smile and pause after comment, giving your
nerves time to settle. Speak slowly and concisely highlighting key point. Do not assume that
the audience is completely familiar with the topic you are passionate about, but don’t
patronise them either. Use every presentation as a background. You can then ensure you do
not patronise world experts.to maintain the audience’s attention, vary the tone and inflection
of your voice. If appropriate. Check every now and again that the audience is following and
offer them the opportunity to ask questions. Make eye contact with your audience. Don’t just
look at your tutor or stare off into space. A good technique is to divide the room into three
sections (left, middle and right) and sweep your eyes across the audience. If you don’t want
to look anyone in the eye, look at a point in the middle of their foreheads. Keep your body
turned towards the audience and your body language open and friendly. In addition to
planning the content of your presentation, you need to give advanced thought to how you
want to deliver it. Do you want to commit your presentation to memory, use cards to guide
you, or read from a script? Or, you might want to use a combination of methods. You can
involve the audience by asking occasional questions. Try to ask genuine questions to which
you do not already know the answer and show interests in any replies. Leave time for the
audience to think and try to avoid answering your questions yourself or telling members of
the audience that their answers are wrong. Questions to the audience work well when you
manage to make those who answer them feel that they have contributed to your presentation.
You can also pause occasionally to ask if anyone has any question for you. If a question
disrupts the flow of your talk too much you can say that you will answer it later (but don’t
forget to do it!). Before you ask for questions make sure you are ready to pick up your
presentation again when the Q & A session has finished.
You may not be able to improve your general pronunciation much before an important
presentation. However, you can make sure you know how to pronounce names and difficult
words. Do not use exaggerated intonation or pronunciation of individual words. Your natural
speaking style will be good enough as long as you speak clearly. Spoken vision must be
shorter than the written one, the best thing to do is to select about four major points to
present. Most listening audience seem to be able to recall the speakers points, provided there
are only three or four of them. Six or seven are too many for most people to remember.
Arrange these few major points like an outline, with sub-heads indicating the details to be
included under each.
FINISHING
Finishing up is the most important part, as this is when you send your take home message
with your audience. Slow down, even though time is important at this stage, leave the slide
up for a further second. Do not ramble on, give the audience a chance to digest the
presentation. Conclude by acknowledging those who assisted you in the study, and thank the
audience and organization. It’s only natural that you will feel tired when you get to the end of
your talk. The adrenaline that was racing through your body at the beginning has now worn
off. It’s crucial that the audience feels that you are enthusiastic and open for questions. If you
are not enthusiastic about your presentation, why should the audience be? When the Q&A
session is over, stand up, get their attention and close the presentation. In your closing give
your main argument again, call to action and deal with any doubts or criticism that out in the
Q&A.
A closing is more or less a condensed version of your conclusion and an improvised
summary of the Q&A. It’s important that the audience goes home remembering the key
points of the speech, not with memory of Q&A that may or may not have gone well or may
have been dominated by someone other than you. If possible, try and take questions
throughout your presentation so they remain pertinent to the content to. Getting rid of the
questions is important at the finishing point, let’s talk about what you shouldn’t do. You
shouldn’t end a presentation with a slide that asks “Questions?” Everyone does and there is
nothing memorable about this approach. Ideally, you should take questions throughout the
presentations so that the question asked the answer given is relevant to the content presented.
If you choose to take questions at the end of your presentation, end instead with a strong
presentations content if you are afraid of not getting rid of the questions, then you can arrange
for a friend in the audience to help with answering the questions, the simplest way to end a
speech, after you have finished delivering the contest, is to say, “thank you.” That has the
benefit of being understood by everyone .it’s the great way for anyone to signal to the
audience that’s it’s time to applaud and then head home, it’s not enough to assume your
message will inspire people to take action. You need to actually tell them to take action. Your
call to action should be clear and specific. Your audience should be left no doubt about what
it is you are taking
Use the few minutes left of the presentation to reinforce the calls to action you seek. A
relatively easy way to end your speech is by using a quote. For this to be effective, however,
the quote needs to be one that has not been heard so often that it has become cliché. To access
fresh quotes, consider searching current personalities rather than historical figures. You need
to figure out what resonates with your audience, and choose a quote that fits the presentation
theme. If you are up to it, you can round off the quote with your own thoughts as well.
Nothing is more uncomfortable than the silence of an audience working out if you have
finished or not your closing words should make it very clear that it’s the end of the
presentation. The audience should be able to read this immediately, and respond. As we
mentioned previously saying “thank you” is a good way to finish. If the applause isn’t
forthcoming, stand confidently and wait. Don’t fidget and certainly don’t eke out a half-
hearted, ‘And that just about covers it. Thank you.
Q1B the use of visual aids, coupled with good public speaking skills, work hand-in-hand to
create effective presentation. Your speaking style and stage presence are personal talents that
you can refine with much practice and experience. Each aspect of effective presentations,
however, could not detailed in the discussion. Instead, much emphasis is given to visual aids
which are essential to all successful presentation.
DESIGNING THE PRESENTATION
There is no secret to developing an effective presentation. Establishing your objectives,
planning and organizing your material, using appropriate visual aides are the essential
ingredients. The recipe foe effective presentations calls for all three ingredients, and you must
use them in order in which they are presented here. By establishing your objects first, you can
prepare material that supports each objective. The use of visual aids will move you further
along towards your objects by illustrating and emphasizing your ideas more effectively than
words alone. Let’s begin, then, then at the beginning: as you start to accomplish your
presentation, you must ask yourself,” What do I want to do accomplish by making this
presentation?”
Establishing the Objects
For any successful presentation, you must know your objectives. It is these objectives that
drive your presentation and move the audience to your end goals. Your end goals may be that
the attendees take a particular action, adopt a new perspective, or respond to facts and
information. Establishing these goals requires careful planning. The key to designing your
presentation is determining these objectives. After all, they become the foundation upon
which you content, organization, and visual aids are built. Establishing the objectives for your
presentation requires an analysis of your own goals, as well as your audiences’ needs and
expectations. By considering the nature of your audience, you can more easily determine
what will present and how you will present it. An audience analysis will enable you to:
 Select appropriate points of emphasis in your presentation
 Develop a useful level detail
 Choose and prepare appropriate visual aids
 Create a tone that is sensitive to your audience’s circumstance
Your presentation will ideally form a bridge between something you have and your audience
wants. Let the audience analysis influence the form of information presented so you can
create this bridge
Using Visual Aids
Visual aids are items of visual manner, such as graphs, photographs, video clips etc. Used in
addition to spoken information. Visual aids are chosen depending on their purpose. Visual
aids helps your presentation make things happen. Visual aids help you reach your objectives
by providing emphasis to whatever is being said, clear pictures multiply the audience’s level
of understanding of the material presented, and they should be used to reinforce your
message, clarify points, and create excitement.
Visual aids involve your audience and require a change from one activity to another: from
hearing to seeing. When you use visual aids, their use tends to encourage gestures and
movement on your part. This extra movement reinforces the control that you, the speaker,
need over the presentation. The use of visual aids, then, are mutually beneficial to the
audience and you. Visual aids add impact and interest to a presentation. They enable you to
appeal to more than one sense at the same time, thereby increasing the audiences
understanding and retention level. With pictures, the concepts or ideas you present are no
longer simply words –but words plus images
Key points for using visual aids
Try to find out what the presentation room is like beforehand, such as layout of the room, the
equipment etc, so that you can see if your visual aids are appropriate and whether they will
work there but always have contingency plan regardless. Also remember that the audience
should be able to understand an image almost immediately. Before presentation, ensure that
you practice with visual aids so you know how to operate the equipment. If something goes
wrong you will have a better chance of solving the problem. Research suggestion that using
colour increases people motivation to read and their enthusiasm for presentation. Software
like PowerPoint is great for producing colour visual. White or black can be very useful to
help the sequence of ideas or routines, handouts are incredibly useful. Use your hand put if
your information is too detailed to fit on a slide or if you want your audience to have a full
record of your finding. A flip chart is a large pad on stand. It is a very useful and flexible way
of recording information during presentation you can use your pre-prepared sheets for key
point, record information as you go along keeping one main idea to each sheet. Video gives
you a chance to show stimulating visual Information. Use video to bring movement, pictures
and sound into your presentation always make sure that your clip is directly relevant to your
content.
CONCLUSION
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