UNIT III

COMMUNICATION for WORK PURPOSES

Contents of the Unit

Lesson 1: Oral Presentation in the Workplace

Lesson 2: Minutes of the Meeting

Lesson 3: Workplace Communication

Lesson 4: Memorandum

Lesson 5: Business Letters

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Communication is the basis of all relationships. Whether personal or

professional, you just can’t do without effective communication. In order
to build a good relationship with your clients, employees or peers, you must
use effective communication.

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 LESSON 1: Oral Presentation in the Workplace

What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

-Napoleon Hill

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Professionals often find it necessary to make oral presentations. The purpose of

most oral presentations will be either:

• to inform the audience of certain facts;

• to persuade or motivate the audience to accept a point of view or take a
certain action.

Regardless of the purpose of a presentation, your career and your organization will
benefit when you prepare and deliver it effectively.

Keys for Successfully Preparing an Effective Oral Presentation

The foundation for a successful oral presentation is preparation. Speakers who do

not prepare are telling the audience members they are unworthy of the speaker’s best
effort. Thorough preparation builds a speaker’s confidence and assures the audience
of an interesting and informative presentation.

How much time does it take to prepare for a presentation? Although some speakers
say they spend an hour preparing for each minute of oral presentation, no one formula
works in every situation. The audience and the speaker’s familiarity with the topic
influences preparation time.

Steps in Planning an Oral Presentation

1. Determine your purpose.

The first step in preparing for an oral presentation is to determine the purpose of the
message. Stating the purpose in terms of the expected result will help to narrow your
focus. When the primary purpose of an oral presentation is to inform, you want the
audience to learn, to understand, or to know more about the topic. That is the
expected result. When the primary purpose is to persuade or motivate, you want the
audience either to adopt your viewpoint or to take specific action. That is the expected
result. Here are some sample purpose statements:
 • to inform those attending an annual employee recognition dinner about the
awardee’s contribution;
• to inform the audience about the soon-to-be-released version of XYZ
computer software;
• to persuade employees to contribute to a cause-oriented organization
through payroll deduction;
• to persuade management to increase the employee discount from10 to 15
percent;
• to motivate employees to be flexible with the changes that will be
implemented due to a reorganization of departments.

2. Analyze your audience.

The second step in preparing an oral presentation is to decide exactly who will be in
the audience and why. A captive audience is generally less receptive than one who
attends voluntarily. Consider the time of presentation will affect the audience. People
often get lethargic after a meal, can be tardy or slow to tune in for an early morning
session, and become preoccupied near the end of the day.
Analyze each member’s knowledge, interests, attitudes, and potential emotional
reaction regarding your topic. For large audiences, you may need to examine these
factors in categories such as listeners’ age, gender, and profession. When speaking
to an established small group within your organization, consider not only
demographics but also politics. Learn the history of the group. Does the group interact
formally or informally? Are members generally conservative, or are they open to
change? Who are the key decision makers? Who are the informal leaders? What
concerns or objections might participants have? Build the oral presentation on your
analysis of the audience.

3. Gather supporting information.

When you have started your purpose and analyzed the audience, you should
determine the points you want to make. A good presentation typically has three to
five main points no matter what the time made available for the presentation. These
points represent the essential information you want to get across to the audience.
You are now ready to gather ideas and materials to support the development of your
oral presentation. Conduct your research for an oral presentation in the same manner
that you would if preparing for a written report. When preparing your speech, use
primary sources, print and electronic secondary sources, and/or personal experience
for examples, illustrations, explanations, quotations, statistics, testimonials,
comparisons, and analogies related to your topic. Use only credible sources and
realistic examples. Be sure to record citation information for material drawn from
copyrighted sources.

4. Organize your presentation.

As you gather information, you may find that you have far more material than can be
conveyed in the time you have available. Resist the temptation to include all the
material; an audience can absorb only so much information in one sitting. If an idea
can be left out and the purpose of the presentation is still accomplished, that point
probably is not necessary. Sort the material you have collected into three sets:

• materials you must include (those closely related to your main idea);
• materials you should include (those that support your main idea); and
• materials you could include (related background materials).
The must items will definitely be in your presentation, as well as some from the
should set. The information that supports your main idea should emphasize or clarify
the main idea. Information you do not use in your oral presentation will be helpful
when responding to questions or during informal discussions that may occur as a
result of the presentation. Once the material is organized, you can determine which,
if any, presentation aids to be used.

5. Select appropriate presentation aids.

Unlike a written report, which draws only the receiver’s sense of sight, an oral
presentation can draw on sound, sight, touch, taste, and smell. Most speakers will
find sound (audio) and sight (visual) most useful. Whether used separately or in
combination (multimedia), presentation aids can be an asset in conveying a
message. Visuals can spark interest, add variety, increase comprehension and
retention of material, and help to hold an audience’s attention. They should, however,
always be simple, clear, and pertinent. The content and the placement of visual aids
within the presentation must be planned carefully. After determining the content to be
included in the visual aids, you must determine what type of visual aid will best
emphasize, enhance, and clarify the message.

6. Prepare your presentation.

You must know your purpose. You have analyzed your audience. You have gathered
supporting data and prepared your presentation aids. You are now ready to pull all
this information together in a coherent oral presentation.

Some speakers write a full-text manuscript and then discard it after making notes
from it. Other speakers work exclusively from an outline recorded on note cards or
sheets of paper. In, however, way you arrive at your fully developed presentation,
remember that it will have three parts:

1. Opening. The opening is crucial because the audience evaluates your

credibility and capability as a speaker in the first few minutes and, regardless
of what you do later, it is impossible to change that evaluation. Use your
opening to get audience attention and interest. Effective ways to open a
presentation include a surprising statement, a quotation, an anecdote, a
story, a question, a problem statement, a historical reference, an
impressive statistic, a visual aid, a reference to the situation, or an
illustration. A personal story may help you bond with an audience. Avoid
 leading with a prepared joke. When a joke fails, you risk losing your audience
and undermining your self-confidence. Never use off-color humor or tell a
story that embarrasses an audience member. Regardless of the method you
choose, be sure the opening relates to your topic and is brief.
2. Body. The body contains the actual information, details, and evidence you
present to the audience. Because the purpose of the body of a presentation
is to get your key points across, it is important that you identify clearly each
main point in the body as you come to it. Supplement your knowledge and
experience with research and examples. Gather two or three times as much
material as you think you will need and use the best in your presentation.
3. Closing. The closing should summarize the main points of your presentation,
specify what the audience should do, and leave the audience with a positive
feeling about you and your topic or ideas. The techniques suggested for
opening a presentation also work well for closing it, but choose a different
technique than that used in the opening. The closing is an important point of
emphasis for your presentation.

7. Rehearse your presentation.

Using the notes and presentation aids you have developed, rehearse your oral
presentation. Plan your hand gestures and walking patterns. Practice how, when,
and where you will move. Anticipate questions that might be asked. Identify three to
five questions you hope will be asked and three to five that you hope won’t be
asked. Prepare your answer to both sets. To get feedback on your presentation,
rehearse in front of a mirror or before friends, relatives, or colleagues.

Source: Cuerda, F. & Pilapil, E. Purposive Communication in the New General

Education Curriculum, c2017.