Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Quiz

Week 3: Presentation Skills (Continued)

• Overview

  • Planning: Nature, structure, and persuasion
  • Presenting: Guiding, skills, medium, and engaging
  • Reflecting: Improving

• Planning

  • Purpose of oral presentations: Persuasion, Information, Inspiration, and Entertainment.
  • Genres of Communication: Reports, journal articles, books, thesis, posters, and thesis defenses.
  • Preparation time: 10 minutes
  • Talk time: 5 minutes
  • Purpose of reports: Present and discuss research/experiment findings, including rationale, method, findings, discussion, and conclusion.
  • Purpose of literature review: Gaining more knowledge about an existing or new field of research, requiring synthesis of many sources.
  • Purpose of journal articles: Communicate and provide valuable information about research results to the academic community, needing reliability.
  • Purpose of a thesis: Demonstrate research objectives via various methods and results, needing advanced information. Discussion and results should be key parts.
  • Purpose of a poster: Summarizing research into introduction, methodology, and results; using text, visuals, infographics; and tables/graphs. Should be creative and logical.
  • Purpose of a thesis defense: Sharing and discussing the results of a study or research.

• Nature of Public Speaking

  • Purpose: Persuasion is primary; communication of information is secondary.
  • Necessary information: Persuading the audience with presented information.
  • Memory retention: Considerations for presentation planning include how long the delivered message can be stored in audience memory (forgetting curve).
  • Planning: Presentations should be planned with memory retention in mind.

• Effective Presentations

  • Analysis: Understanding the nature of presentations.
  • Planning: Effective Planning involves a narrative structure, persuasive tools, and clear objectives communicated to the audience..
  • Presenting: Effectiveness requires effective physical presence and vocal skills (e.g., physicality, voice, convincing body language).
  • Purpose: Presentations should have a clear purpose.

• Presentations - Good vs Effective

  • Critical evaluation: Good presentations are not necessarily effective. Effective presentations must engage and convince the audience based on presentation's nature.

• Effective Presentations (Model)

  • Key message outlined for audience.
  • Context explained.
  • Reinforced (repetition)
  • Conclusion linked back to context.
  • Built into a take-home message.

• Planning Presentations

  • Structure: Analyze purpose and audience.
  • Narrative: Create a narrative and map out a story by breaking into sections and connecting them; linking to a main topic.

• Audience Analysis

  • Understanding purpose, audience: Determine the purpose of the presentation and understand your audience (knowledge base, background, level, specific needs) and their motivations. Knowing why your audience is there – whether by choice or obligation – is important for tailoring your presentation to the people.
  • Why they are there: Determine if you are invited or required.
  • Enthusiasm, care: Why should they care? Establish a hook.
  • Questions: Answer possible audience questions proactively.

• Standard Presentation Structure

  • Structure: Introduction (aim, objectives, rationale/hypothesis), Body (methods, methodology, results), Conclusion (discussion, conclusions, outcomes, consequences).

• Hint: "Start from the end"

  • Backward planning: Begin with the conclusion and work backwards.
  • Take-home message: Identify the key message and use that as a foundation for the overall presentation.
  • Outcomes, plan, clarify: Plan and clarify the first, before elaborating on the story.
  • Forecasting: Foreshadow the conclusion to build anticipation.

• Introduction

  • Content:
    • Background: Include relevant background but not just history.
    • Hook: Background information may create a hook.
    • Purpose: Clearly state the presentation’s purpose in the literature.
    • Avoid: Avoid stating the problem directly. Instead, provide context, understanding, and a narrative.
    • Aims: Define the goals of the presentation and what the audience will gain.
    • Objectives: Detail how the aims will be met.
    • Rationale/Justification: Explain the "why" – justify everything with strong academic arguments.

• Body Content

  • Focus on purpose.
  • Avoid esoteric technical detail.
  • Simplify information.
  • Focus on persuasion with examples.

• Conclusion

  • Purpose: Link back to aims and purpose.
  • Structure: The presentation should come full circle; the introduction and conclusion should be connected.
  • Planned remarks: Have a planned (memorized) and impactful final remark.
  • Avoid: Avoid weak closing remarks (e.g., "That's it" or "Thank you").
  • Key takeaways: Design the ending to include strong take-away messages to be remembered.

• Incorporating Persuasion

  • Rhetoric: Use rhetoric as an art of persuasion, using various rhetorical tools and persuasive devices in your argument.
  • Narrative: Stories help build effective arguments.
  • Intentional approach: Thoughts about persuasion must be deliberate.
  • Presentation style: Presentation method adds importance in persuasion.

• Rhetoric

  • Tools for persuading: Use logos (logic), pathos (emotions), and ethos (credibility) as key rhetorical tools to strengthen your arguments..

• Hooks

  • Purpose: To grab the audience's attention and create interest in the discussion.
  • Types: Hooks can be arguments, ideas, evidence, facts, or objects. Hooks should be effective, but not complex.

• Effective slides

  • Slides as tools: Slides complement your presentation; they are not meant to replace speaking.
  • Summarize: Use slides for summarizing key points.
  • Visuals: Words and visuals help the audience comprehend more quickly.
  • Design considerations: Slides should be simple, containing no more than three bullet points, with a discernible aspect ratio.
  • Tags: Use effective tags to communicate the message of slides.
  • Timing: Aim for one slide per minute

• Presenting Skills

  • Physical skills:
    • Presence: Be present.
    • Hand Movements: Appropriate hand movements.
    • Posture: Maintain good posture.
    • Eye Contact: Make eye contact with the audience.
  • Vocal skills:
    • Voice Projection: Project your voice clearly.
    • Enunciation: Emphasize and speak clearly.
    • Articulation: Speak clearly.
    • Pacing: Appropriate pacing.
    • Modulation: Vary tone and strength of your voice.

• Giving better presentations

  • Skill-building process: Presenting builds as you practice and refine your skills.

• Practice

  • Rehearsal: Rehearse your presentation out loud.
  • Real or imaginary: Practice with someone or imagine your audience.
  • Focus: Only memorize key points (first and last sentences).
  • Flexibility: Improvise other parts of your presentation.
  • Reflection: Enhance your practice through better reflection.

• Reflection

  • Active process: Active reflection will improve your oral presentation skill significantly.
  • Learning and improvement: Reflection helps you learn from mistakes made in presentation.
  • Maintenance: Reflection help you maintain skill through ongoing practice and analysis.

• Giving feedback

  • Purpose of feedback: Feedback aids speaker improvement.
  • Avoid judgmental feedback: Avoid being judgmental or generic feedback.
  • Specific feedback: Provide constructive and specific feedback.
  • Suggestions & praise: Frame feedback as suggestions and include praise for skills demonstrated.
  • Self-evaluation: Practicing giving self-feedback can improve presentation skills.

• Conclusion (summary)

  • Planning: Know your purpose, work backwards, use structure, write key takeaways, plan hook.
  • Presentation skills: Voice/physicality, actively guide the audience.
  • Reflection: Active choice to improve, treat it as practice, practice in a similar environment (standing, posture), and avoid internal practice, and public speaking is a rare skill – it’s worth investing the time.

Test your understanding of the key elements of oral presentations and public speaking. This quiz covers various aspects, such as the purpose of presentations, effective communication techniques, and the roles of visual aids. Gain insights into how to engage and inform your audience effectively.