Developing Oral and Online

Presentations
 Importance of Oral Presentations
• “an opportunity to put all your communication skills on
display – not only in research, planning, writing and
visual design but in interpersonal and non-verbal
communication too – Fitch Eric Ashworth

• A chance to demonstrate your abilities to think on your

feet, grasp complex issues, and handle challenging
situations

• Let your personality shine

 To get rid of nervousness
• All professionals & Entertainers get nervousness
• “Don’t let the fear of what could happen make nothing happened”
• A good thing – your care on topic, audience &
career
• Don’t be a victim of your emotions – planning
and development skills help
 Planning your presentation
• Analyze the situation
• Gather information
• Select right medium
• Organize information
• Practice & Perform
 Analyze the situation
• Define the Purpose –
– to inform/persuade/lead brain-storming sessions
– Crystal clear
• Develop an audience profile
 Analyze the situation
• Develop an audience profile
– Supportive
• Be clear, concise
• Relaxed and confident manner
• Reward their good will

– Interested but neutral

• build your credibility in giving main and supportive points
• Address possible objections
• Consider all sides of an issue
• Remain open for challenges and questions
 Analyze the Situation
• Uninterested

– Think creatively to find ways to connect with them

• Apprehensive
– Treat their emotions with respect
– Don’t try humour
– Direct approach – share the good
Things immediately
Indirect approach – negative message
 Analyze the Situation
• Hostile
– Treat their emotions with care
– Don’t involve humor
– Prepare thoroughly
– Be complete in information
– Calm and rational in delivery
– Use indirect approach
 Analyze the Situation
• Determine audience is comfortable in the
language you use
• Work on the circumstance –
– lighting, sound, temperature,
– Audience strength
 Analyze the Situation
• Circumstance
Café seating
Classroom or theater seating

Conference table seating

Horse shoe – U – shaped seating

 Selecting the Right Medium
• Oral medium/ in-person presentations
• Online video presentations
• Webcasts
– international audience
• On –site audience – question and answer
session
• Audience members in other time zones -
Video
 Organizing your presentation
• Define the main idea
• Limit your scope
• Select appropriate approach
• Outline your content
• Understand the restrains of oral media
– (Reading a report & Listening to a Presentation)
 Organizing your presentation
• Define the main Idea
– “engaging audience without frustration”
• Finalize the most important message for the audience
• Compose one sentence summary
– “convince the management that recognizing the technical
support department will improve customer service and
reduce employee turnover”
• Have a clear understanding of audience needs
Plant Safety Procedures

How it saves lives and prevent injuries How it will save the company money and
conform govt. regulations
 Organizing your Presentations
• Limiting your scope
• Work within strict time limit
– DEMO/Techcrunch (8 mins)
• Introduction of the company
• Convincing the audience
• Providing essential points
• Breaks
• Demonstration
• Question and answer session

– Problems of timings
• rushing through your points
• Skipping points
• Stealing the time of others
• Completing the presentation before the time
 Organizing your Presentations
Limiting your Scope
• Covering your presentation in the audience
attention levels (20 mins)
– Practice - rate of speech (reading)
– Presenting entire material
– Estimate the time for each slide
– 5-7 slides for 20 mins presentation
– Slides with more points - avoid
 Choosing Your Approach
• Direct Method /Indirect Method/ Three act story
telling structure
• Routine information & good news
• Long presentations (importance, sequence, chronology)
• Receptive audience
• Indirect Method
• Negative news/persuasion message/Logical
argument/resistance
• Three act story telling structure
• Beginning, middle, close
– Advantage:
• adjusting the outline depends on audience
• Be simple in language
 Writing Your Presentation
Adapting to your audience
– Use a casual style with known small group
audience
– Use simple visuals and invite them to interject
comments

– Large audience (business miles stones, financial

results, introduction of new products, etc.,)
– Check the circumstance before presenting the
larger audience
 Composing your Presentation
• Introduction
– Arousing audience interest
– Building your credibility
– Previewing your message - Plan for the
introduction – to fore-say
 Composing your Presentation
• Introduction - Arousing audience interest
• Subjects stimulate audience interest commonly

– Unite the audience around a common goal (Problem)

– Tell a story
– Pass around an example (appealing senses – Psychologists)
– Ask a question (Reveal audience interests)
– Share a startling statistic (Unexpected data grab audience)
– Use humor (relevant, appropriate not offensive)
 Composing your Presentation
• Introduction – Building your Credibility
– to confirm you are the right person to do the presentation on the topic

– If you are well-known expert you are ahead of the game

– Audience decides your presentation is worth listening or not

– Introduction by self
• Don’t exaggerate
• Don’t hide the valid credential related to the topic or self
• Be simple
• Be brief
• (Company, specialization, education, relationship with audience’s boss)
 Composing your Presentation
• Introduction – Previewing your message

• Summarize the major points

– Major supporting points
– The order of your presentation
 Composing your Presentation
• Body
– Connecting your ideas
– Holding your audience’s attention
– Journalistic approach
• Who, what, when, where, why, how
 Composing your Presentation
• Body - Connecting your ideas
– Written – headings/indentations
– Oral – transitional words (therefore, because, etc.)

• Eg. (Now we have reviewed the problem, lets take a look at some
solution)

– Summarize what’s told and what’s to be discussed

 Composing your Presentation
• Body – Handling your audience’s Attention
– Audience can think and read faster than you speak
– Keep the audience’s attention throughout
– Follow the techniques to get the distracted audience’s
attention
• Relate your subject to your audience’s needs (Affect personally)
• Anticipate your audience’s questions (additional questions)
• Ask for opinions or pause occasionally for questions or
comments (invite participation)
• Explain the relationship between your subject and familiar
ideas
• Illustrate your ideas with visuals (enliven your message)
• Use clear and vivid language (short sentence/abstract ideas)
 Composing your Presentation
• Close
– Restating your main Points
– Describing your next steps
– Ending on strong note - closing statement
 Composing your Presentation
• Close
– Restating your main Points
– Repeat the main ideas
– Emphasize the points you want your audience to think and remember

– Eg.
– We can all be proud of the way our company has grown. However, if we
want to continue that growth, we need to adjust our executive
compensation program to reflect competitive practices. If we don’t, our best
people will look for opportunities elsewhere. In summary, our survey has
shown that we need to do four things to improve executive compensation.

– Increase the overall level of compensation

– Install a cash bonus program
– Offer a variety of stock based incentives
– Improve our health insurance and pension benefits
 Composing your Presentation
• Close – Describing Next Steps
– Public commitment to action helps ensure that things will get
done
– If the audience agreed on the issue covered in the presentation
review the consensus in a statement
• If they don’t agree
• Accept the disagreement
• Suggest an alternate method to solve the problem
 Composing your Presentation
• Close – Ending with a strong note

– Memorable impression
– Persuasive presentation – positive note
– Present the warning message with the warning tone
– Don’t try with false optimism
 Completing your Presentation
• Master the Art of Delivery
• Preparing to Speak
• Overcoming Anxiety
• Handling Questions Responsively
 Completing your Presentation
• Master the Art of Delivery:
– Memorizing:
– Not suggested for a lengthy presentation
» Quote/opening paragraph/strong finishing remarks
– Reading
» Technical complex/Policies
» Not best option
» Lose naturality/Monotomous
– Speaking from notes
» Effective delivery mode
» Flow of /spontaneous speech

– Impromptu Speaking
» Unrehearsed speech
» 5-10 second on one idea
» If you could get points proceed
» Or else ask for another opportunity
“Steve Job spends hours of practice before he addresses”
 Completing your Presentation
• Preparing to speak:
– Check the location of your presentation
– Audience availability
– Operation of all equipments (LCD, Mike, speakers)
– Other necessities (Markers pens, etc)
– Email/internet
– Different native language – Interpreter
• Speak slow
• Send the notes in advance
– Hearing impairments – use sign language interpreter
– Think of mannerism/cultures/customs of audience
 Completing your Presentation
• Overcoming Anxiety
– Take anxiety positively
– Prepare more material than necessary
– Practice3
– Think positively
– Visualize your success
– Take a few deep breaths
– Be ready
– Be comfortable
– Don’t’ panic
– Concentrate on your message not on you
– Maintain eye contact with friendly audience
– Keep going
– Conscious on your body language and voice
 Handling Questions

“Questions give you a chance to obtain important

information, to emphasize your main idea and supporting
main points”

• Focusing on the Questioner

• Respond Appropriately
• Maintain Control
• Surviving the Hot Seat
• Encouraging Questions
 Handling Questions
Focusing on the Questioner
– body language/eye contact/facial expression to
determine their mind’s thinking
– Listen properly
– Nod you head and acknowledge
– Repeat the question and confirm your
understanding
– Vague questions ask for clarifications
– Give direct answer in a simple way
– Confirm your answer
 Handling Questions
Respond Appropriately
• Be sure that you answered the question asked
• If you don’t know don’t pretend
– Accept that “you don’t know the exact answer”
• If you predict that it would take time, Say
– “I’m sorry, we don’t have time to get into that issue
right now, but if you see me after the presentation,
I will be happy to discuss it with you”.
 Handling Questions
Maintaining Control
• Announce time limit or question limit person

• “several other people have questions, I will get

back to you if time permits”

• Handle the person who argues with you more

 Handling Questions
Surviving the Hot Seat
• Projects/Quarterly financial results didn’t meet
investors expectations
• Look at the person and answer
• Be in control
• Avoid in getting into heated argument
• Answer with facts and logically
• Confirm that you understood the question correctly
• Answer logically and go the next question
• Maintain professionalism and pleasant expression
 Handling Questions
Encouraging Questions
• If the audience are too timid to ask questions
– Ask the cooperative members to ask questions
which some time lead to Q& A session
– you can ask “would you like to know more about ..?
– If no questions
• “ I know from my experience that most of the questions
are asked after the Q&A session. So I will be around
afterward to talk”.
 Conclude the presentation
• Summarize the main ideas
• Thank the people for their patience listening
• Conclude the way opened
• Provide your eye contact to all
• Gather your notes and leave the stage
maintaining the same confident you had in the
beginning
 Preparing your Outline
Speaking notes
• State your purpose and main idea
• Organize your major points and sub-points
• Identify your introduction, body and conclusions
• Show your connections
• Show your sources
• Choose a title
• Follow the planning outline
• Condense points and transitions to key words
• Add delivery cues
• Arrange note (note cards)