Effective Presentation Skills

Public Speaking

Speeches and presentations are essential parts of business communication.
Every day, business executives and employees have to make formal as well as informal speeches.
Executives have to make speeches at company meetings, seminars, conferences, etc.
Sales employees have to make hundreds of mini-presentations to persuade the potential customers to buy.
Speeches and presentations involve the same fundamental principles of oral communications and provide the advantage of influencing people with enthusiasm and apparent confidence that a written document cannot.
But compared with presentations, speeches are more formal and are delivered more on formal occasions. Presentations are usually short and less formal. These are delivered with demonstrations of audio-visual aids, followed by answers to questions from the audience.

Speeches

Characteristics of a good speech

Clarity → The speaker should be clear in his ideas, and he should have a good command of the language to express them clearly so that they are instantly understood by the listeners.
Length of speech → It should be neither too short nor too long. If the speech is too long, it will fail to sustain the interest of the audience for a long time. If it is too brief, it won't hold the attention of the listeners.
It should be informative, so that the audience can gain something from it. If the speaker is repetitive and dwells at length on the points already known to the listeners, he will simply bore the audience.
It should be interesting → If the speaker makes an appeal to the emotions of the listeners, he can easily win their hearts over to his side, and if he also appeals to the head, it will have the most desired effect.
speaker should convey concrete facts rather than abstract ideas—a speaker should convey his ideas briefly and clearly to the listeners.

How to make an effective speech?

The delivery of a good speech involves two steps. (1) The preparation for the speech (2) The delivery of the speech

Preparation for the speech involves not only the organisation of relevant thoughts but also the careful selection of those thoughts.
- The speaker must exclude irrelevant thoughts from the flow of the speech.
- The next step for the speaker is to decide upon the language in which he is to express his thoughts. He should prepare the whole speech before hand.
Delivery of the speech → The second step is the delivery of the speech. Once the preparation has been made, the opening of the speech is very important.
- The speaker must appeal to the hearts as well as the heads of the listeners and create interest in their minds.
- He may open the topic with a striking quotation, but he must emphasise how the topic affects the vital interests of the audience.
- He should vary the pitch of his voice according to the point to be emphasized.
- Eye contact with the audience should be made.
- An important point to be discussed is the length of the speech. The speech should be neither too long nor too short.
- The closing of a speech is the most strategic part and should be carefully made. Toward the end, the speaker must summarize, restate, and briefly outline the main points of the speech. The closing may be a befitting verse, a biblical quotation, or a relevant joke, but it must reflect the profundity and earnestness of the speaker.

Guidelines for delivering a speech

At the start of the speech, the opening of the talk is highly important. The speaker has to create interest in the minds of the audience. After formally addressing them, he can gain the immediate attention of his audience by:
- Raising a question
- Narrating a related, interesting story
- Opening with a striking quotation
- Telling how the topic affects the vitals interest of the audience
- Highlighting the shocking facts
During speech
- One should put one's heart into the talking. It should look as if speech is not only flowing out of the mind but also out of the speaker's heart.
- Stress the important words.
- Vary the pitch of your voice, flowing up and down the scale from high to low and back again.
- Establish and maintain eye contact with the audience.
- Speak loudly enough to be heard.
The close of a speech, being the most strategic part, should be made carefully and in accordance with the plans made in advance.

Speeches to motivate

Business executives have to make speeches to motivate different subordinates for high performance and productivity.
These motivational speeches are planned in the same way as other speeches are planned, but the only difference is the purpose.
Other speeches may aim at informing the audience or building goodwill, but motivational speeches aim at motivating individuals.

What is the motivation of the employees?

Motives are the inner urges of an individual that channel them to work.
Each individual has the urge to work, and management must transform these urges into actions that drive the realisation of organisational objectives.

Presentations

Business executives have to make a number of oral presentations on different occasions, like when training employees, introducing new products, etc.
Making an effective presentation involves developing a strategy that fits the audience and purpose, having good content, and organising material.

Purpose of presentations

Oral presentations have the following three basic purposees:

To Inform.
- The basic purpose of a presentation is to inform or teach the audience regarding new schemes, new proposals, new products, etc. Training presentations basically aim at informing the new entrants about the organization's policies and procedures. Sales presentations are made to inform the audience about the features of the product that will benefit them.
To Persuade.
- Presentations have another distinctive purpose: persuading the audience to act or to believe in a certain way. For example, sales presentations are made to persuade the buyers to buy the product.
To Build goodwill.
- Still another purpose of presentations is to entertain the audience. Therefore, at the end of the presentation or during it, jokes are cut to entertain the audience.

There are basically three kinds of presentations.

Monologue Presentation
Guided Discussions
Sales Presentations

Monologue Presentation

In monologue presentations, the speaker speaks without interruption and, at the end, answers the questions of the audience.
The speaker plans the presentation in advance by collecting the relevant literature and anticipating the audience's demands.
This kind of presentation is most often used in classroom situations. But it leads the audience to get bored. Therefore, good delivery skills are needed to retain the attention of the audience and make the presentation more interesting.

Guided Discussions

In the guided discussion, the speaker presents the questions or issues that both speaker and audience have agreed upon in advance and acts as a facilitator to help the audience with the expert knowledge.
This type of presentation is very useful when the audience has knowledge of the subject. Here, the speaker has to supplement with his specialised knowledge.
Compared with monologue presentations, guided discussions have the following advantages:
- More audience response
- More detailed analysis
- More commitment to the results
But this kind of presentation involves more time.

Sales presentation

A sales presentation is made to convince the audience to buy the products or services or accept the new idea.
In this, the speaker speaks to the audience, asks questions that raise their curiosity for the product, overcomes their negative assumptions regarding the product, and finally gains their commitment to buy the product or service.

Factors Affecting Presentations

1- Audience Analysis

If the speaker has properly analysed the audience before presenting, his presentation will be more effective.
On the other hand, poor or improper audience analysis leads to ineffective presentation.

2- Communication environment.

The communication environment affects the effectiveness of the presentations. Much of the audience notices the physical things surrounding the speaker—the stage, lighting arrangement, background, etc.
Proper arrangement of these things can enhance the impact of the presentation. If there is noise in the surrounding environment, it deters the audience from listening and consequently leaves an unhealthy message.

3- Personal appearance

The personal appearance of the speaker has a great impact on the audience.
A well-dressed person can deliver a good presentation.
Therefore, the speaker should wear neat and clean clothes and take time to check his appearance just before starting his presentation.

4- Use of visuals

Visuals can enhance the professional image of the presentation.
Different research studies demonstrate that presenters using the latest visual techniques are perceived as better prepared, more persuasive, more credible, and more interesting than speakers who do not use visuals.
But visuals work only if the technology on which they depend works well. Therefore, the presenter should check the equipment in advance before presenting.

5- Opening and closing of the presentation

The beginning and closing of a presentation are the points of emphasis.
Those presenters who can open the presentation with interesting remarks are likely to create more interest and enthusiasm for listening to the presentation. On the other hand, presenters with poor openings are likely to leave the audience bored.
Similarly, the ending of the presentation has a profound impact on the audience. Endings with vivid and positive pictures are more likely to have a profound impact on the audience.

6- Organization of presentation

Clarity in presentation is essential and comes with proper organisation of the information.
Organizing the information in a proper manner can make the message more understandable, keep the audience happy, and boost the speaker's image.
Proper organisation of the presentation enhances its effectiveness. On the other hand, improper organisation of the presentation will not influence the audience.
Improper organisation of presentation is reflected as follows:
1. taking two long times to get to the point.
2. inclusion of irrelevant material
3. Leaving out necessary information
4. mixing up of ideas
To overcome these problems, presentation can be organized in one of the four standard patterns.
1. Chronological. It starts with past, moves to the present and ends by looking ahead.
2. Problem-Causes-Solution. It explains the symptoms of the problem, identifies its causes, and suggests remedial measures.li>
3. Excluding Alternatives. It shows the symptoms of the problem, suggests possible solutions, explains the reasons why these don't work and ends the discussion with a solution that will work.
4. Pro-Con. It explains the advantages and disadvantages of the problem(s).

7- Language and Words.

The quality of presentation is affected by the language and words. To make the audience understand the message, the speaker has to talk in the language known to the audience.
To enhance the impact of the presentation, he should choose catchy words that appeal to the heart and emotions of the audience.

8- Quality of voice.

The quality of the presenter's voice affects the effectiveness of the presentation. A vivid voice is likely to have a greater impact on the audience than a monotonous voice.

9- Body language.

The effectiveness of the presentation is also affected by the body language of the speaker.
A speaker who has eye contact with the audience is likely to impress more than a speaker who reads out the handouts.

10- Answering questions

The effectiveness of a presentation is also effected by the presenter's skill in handling questions asked at the end of the presentation.
A speaker who answers the audience's questions and handles hostile questions with tact is likely to influence the audience. more.