ENGL1102AEF Presentation Skills PDF

ENGL1102AEF Presentation skills Building your presentation These slides are designed for the course and should only be used by the teachers and students involved. All rights reserved. Introduction 5 important steps for a successful presentation: Step 1: Identifying key audience: (a) Anticipating que...

ENGL1102AEF Presentation skills Building your presentation These slides are designed for the course and should only be used by the teachers and students involved. All rights reserved. Introduction 5 important steps for a successful presentation: Step 1: Identifying key audience: (a) Anticipating questions from the audience (b) Using questions (c) Preparing responses (d) Know what will irritate your audience Step 2: After evaluating the situation of presentation, and identifying the audience members, you need to have a clear idea of: (a) the purpose of the presentation (b) the sort of message you want to give (c) the impact you want to make. This involves a good deal of planning (i.e. planning your presentation). Step 3: Gather and select information that constitutes the content of your message. Step 4: Structure the information into a coherent message, with a clear beginning, middle and end. Step 5: Finally, choose a presentation style and appropriate language for conveying the message effectively and persuasively to the audience. Step 1: Identifying key audience Many presenters overlook the importance of identifying the key audience members (or the opinion leaders) in a group. N.B. Without identifying them, you may NOT be able to achieve your desired results, even though you may have thoroughly prepared your presentation. N.B. Persuading an opinion leader allows you to influence other people’s viewpoints. Preparing for the questions from the audience Questions are a form of audience reaction and you cannot always plan for what the audience will ask you. However, you can try to: anticipate likely questions from the audience, and plan some reasoned answers to these questions. Anticipating questions Imagine yourself in the place of the audience with their knowledge and viewpoint: What may they not understand? What may they not want to believe? What will look different from their viewpoint? What objections may they raise? These could give rise to questions that you may have to answer. The more you think them out in advance, the better prepared you will be to answer them. Using questions Questions can be a very useful way of (1) increasing the involvement of the audience, (2) illustrating the main points further, (3) overcoming objections or (4) removing blockages. Watch this Harvard lecture on Justice. How did the speaker use questions to inspire his audience? Discuss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBdfcR-8hEY Things that irritate an audience The best way to ensure that you meet the needs of your audience is to try to put yourself in their place. Think about things that might inspire them, engage them, and irritate them. Activity Case study Spot the things in the following presentation that may irritate the audience. The marketing manager of a soft drink company was invited to give a talk about a successful product campaign he had recently launched. He arrived late and began the presentation by apologizing for being late because of bad traffic. After the presentation started, he found that the sequence of his PowerPoint presentation was inappropriate to his topic, and he tried to disguise his poorly structured presentation by talking about his own personal achievements. He spoke in a monotone and had a soft voice. He talked over his time limit, and the subsequent presenter needed to edit his presentation shorter. Discussion Spot the mistakes in her presentation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATfY8dvbuFg Step 2: Setting your objectives For an effective presentation, setting clear aims and objectives is one of the most fundamental aspects. Aim: An aim is a general statement about what you are trying to achieve in the presentation. For example, you may want to sell, inform, educate or entertain through your presentation, and you should always keep your aim in mind once it is established. Objectives: Objectives are specific statements about what should happen as a result of the presentation in order to achieve the established aim. They should be audience-centred and action-oriented, describe what action the audience is expected to take as a result of the presentation; or what change you want to achieve as a result of your presentation, be specific, realistic and, if possible, measurable. Example A professor who is presenting information to students about the assessment requirements for her university course might set herself the following objectives for a ten-minute presentation: After the presentation, my students will be able to know: the due dates for all assignments the assessment criteria that I will use to mark the assignments the date of the exam, and the details of the format of the exam paper. Setting clear objectives is important because it will help you to decide and assess (1) what information needs to be presented, (2) how to meet the audience’s needs, and (3) what the presentation’s impact is. Brainstorming (1) Write the general topic at the top of a piece of paper. (2) Under this, quickly write down anything that comes to mind about that topic (even those things you find silly!). (3) Don’t think too long about it; Don’t try to order your ideas at this stage. (4) Keep writing until you cannot think of anything else. (5) Don’t worry about whether it is relevant or correct. (6) Only write in point form — no need for full sentences! (7) Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. Remember — your main goal is to get your ideas on paper. Then go through all your points and: - cross out any ideas that are not relevant. - add some details to the ideas that are most useful. Later, you can organize and structure these ideas. Mind-mapping A mind-map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas. mind-map 01 Write the general topic (or subject) in a circle in the centre of a large piece of paper. 02 For each of the main points, draw arms out from the circle. 03 Write the key words of the main point along each arm — or at the end. 04 Draw smaller arms out from the main arms and write the sub-points that relate to each main point. Mind-mapping 12:45 AM Step 3: gathering Information 1. Gather information 2. Select information 3. Arrange and prioritize information Primary sources of information Secondary sources of information Option A Option B Primary sources of information Information provided by the people directly involved in the topic, or by the ‘experts’ of this topic. For example: If you worked for a bank and were presenting a topic on home loans to potential buyers, it might be useful to research the real estate market by talking to property agents and developers. Collecting information from primary sources can be time consuming: We may need to limit the extent to which you use them, and rely on secondary sources. Secondary sources of information Information comes from other people’s research and analysis. Example: government documents, Internet websites, newspapers, periodicals, newsletters, handbooks, professional association publications, speeches, trade and professional journals, etc. Collecting secondary material, esp. on the Internet, need to be sure that the information is reliable and credible. Criteria to assess information whether the information is updated; whether the author is an expert of the topic and/or the publishing body is credible; whether the source and the data is relevant; whether the point of view is biased; whether the information is accurate and verifiable of details. Recording information Keeping records of information. Remember to write the source and some ideas of how you might use it on the top. Referencing: in-text citations and reference list (e.g. APA style) Selecting & arranging information After gathering useful information , you need to shortlist the most important ideas generate some key points. For a long presentation, subdivide the presentation into sections By limiting the number of key ideas that you present, you have a much better chance of conveying your message successfully. Selecting & arranging information Common problem for most presenters Including too many details (particularly in the 1 st few minutes) without a clear direction Don’t do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzdqyXtPbbE&list=PLLovhttIPcA07426QUrGsFq_YZ zU6Lq2C Sheryl Sandberg (former CEO of Facebook) did a good job: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paKJmy8jjxw Tips on selecting and arranging information Examine your collection to see what new insights can be made. Try to organize information into key categories: group similar items or topics. Relate the information you have collected to a core structure for your presentation. You may want to use an ‘information pyramid’. Prioritize related information and ideas according to their direct relevancy and importance. Using an information pyramid A good way of helping you prioritize information about the presentation. Based on the presentation time available, try to rank your information into categories determine what information must be: (1) included, (2) in reserve or (3) discarded. Always start with the most important information for your target audience group. Try to group your information into three categories: Essential information Supplementary information Redundant information information Essential information: includes key points that are directly related to the topic. Missing this information might reduce the credibility of your message. Supplementary information: provides additional explanation and helps to clarify your point. The absence of this information may not have a significant impact on your content. Redundant information: should be removed. This kind of information may sidetrack or even distract your audience.