BC Unit 6

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Developing Oral Business Communication

Skills

Dr. Smita Choudhary

Unit 6 Business Communication

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Unit Outline

1. Advantages of oral communication

2. Oral business presentations

Steps in making presentations

Using visual aids to support presentations

Unit 6 Business Communication

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Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to

Explain the advantages of oral communication skills in a

business environment. Classify oral communication is different categories.

Recognize the need for preparation of oral presentations.

Use a step by step approach for making presentations.

Select visual and other presentation aids for maximumeffect.

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Advantages Of Oral Communication

The advantages of oral communication include its personal quality, highinteractivity, possibility of making immediate contact, instantaneous feedbackand control over the receivers attention.

Oral communication is also classified into Oral face-to-face communication (meetings and presentations)

Oral non face-to-face communication (teleconferencing, telephone and voice mail) Face-to-face meetings are more effective than non face-to-face

communication but they are expensive and impractical sometimes, due to thedistance factor.

Due to advances in technology, meetings can take place without being face-to-face, through teleconferencing.

Telephone communication is also a form of non face-to-face communication.

With its help, we can contact a receiver who would be impossible to reach inperson.

Voice mail is a type of telephone communication and is similar to ananswering machine.

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Advantages of Oral CommunicationChannel Advantages

Oral face-to-face Personal nature Use of body language

Problem solving

Oral non face-to-face -

Teleconferencing

Overcomes distance factor

Oral non face-to-face

- Telephone

Immediate contact

Use of non-verbal cues - tone

of voice

Oral non face-to-face voice

mail

Saves time

Control over message

Permanent record

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Oral Business Presentations

Oral business presentations have thefollowing characteristics

They are more persuasive

They get immediate attention and

feedback Help in getting approval for

important ideas

Presentations can be made tointernal and external audiences

Presentations may be of differenttypes

They serve a variety of purposes

Unit 6 Business Communication

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Steps in Making Oral Presentations

1. Definition of the Purpose of the Presentation Before preparing for the presentation, the goal of presentation should be

clear.

The purpose of the presentation may be stated in broad or general terms, orin more specific terms.

A broad or general statement of purpose could be To inform (create awareness)

To persuade (Change attitude or behavior of audience)

To entertain (make audience relax)

A specific statement of purpose, finds answers to the followingquestions:

Whom do I want to influence? What do I want them to do at the end of the presentation?

How do I want them to do it?

When?

Where?

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2. Development of the Key Idea

The key idea of a presentation is a statement that expresses the

main message to be conveyed to your audience.

3. Audience analysis

The following information should be gathered about your audience, even

before beginning to prepare for the presentation

Designationsandareasofexpertise Preferredstylesofpresentation

Demographiccharacteristicsoftheaudience

Audiencesize

Thelevelofknowledgeonthesubject

Attitudetowardsspeakerandtopic

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4. Analysis of yourself as a speaker

- Apart from analyzing your audience, you also need to do a

self-analysis to determine- Your own purpose of making the presentation

- Your level of knowledge on the subject

- Your feelings about the subject

5. Analysis of circumstancesThis includes taking into consideration any limitations of

- Infrastructure

- Time and

- Context

that might affect your presentation in any way.

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6. Preparation of Outline

After the initial work has been done, you will need to develop an outline of

your presentation.

The outline includes

Introduction

Body or main section

Conclusion

7. Collection of Information and Material

Once the outline of the presentation has been developed, you will need to

start gathering the relevant material.

The information can generally be gathered from existing sources such as

magazines, newspapers and the internet. (secondary sources) Or, you may need to do original research in the form of a survey to gather

fresh data. (primary sources)

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8. Organization of the Body

The body of the presentation should always be prepared

before the introduction. Organizing the body means identifying the key points that will

support your main idea and then selecting a plan to develop

these key points.

9. Planning the Introduction

It is where you make the first impression.

It should take up between 10 and 15 percent of your total

speaking time.

An attention getting introduction should be developed, using

techniques such as humor, dramatic questions, an interesting

story, a quotation, etc.

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10. Planning the Conclusion

The conclusion of a presentation should be shorter than the

introduction and occupy only 5 per cent of the presentation. Every conclusion should have a review and a closing statement.

The review is a summary of the main points.

The closing statement should be as strong as your opening

statement, so that your audience will remember the presentation.

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11. Selection of a Delivery Style

The presentation must be delivered effectively, by selecting an

appropriate style of delivery.

Five different delivery styles are available to speakers 1. Speaking impromptu speaking without preparation

2. Speaking extemporaneously speaking without support

3. Memorizing delivering word for word

4. Reading from written notes reading word for word

5. Speaking from notes referring to trigger words

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Using Visual Aids To Support Presentations

The use of visual aids increases the effectiveness of a

presentation and involves the audience more than a

completely oral presentation.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Hence, presentations

made with visual support have been more successful inpersuading audiences than presentations without visuals.

Some of the commonly used types of visual aids are

Product demos

Photographs

Diagrams

Lists and tables

Pie charts and graphs

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Media for Presenting Visual Aids

Medium Advantages Disadvantages

Flip Charts Easytoprepareand

use

Unsuitedforlarge

audience

Wearandtear

Transparencies Quickertoproduce

Suitedforlarge

audience

Convenientforreuse

Unwieldy

Complicated

PowerPoint Slides Goodforillustrating

ideas

Easytoproduceand

store

Detractsattention

frompresentation

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Media for Presenting Visual Aids

Medium Advantages Disadvantages

Handouts Permanentrecord

Addvalue

Reduceneedfor

notes

Distracting

Computerized

Displays

Inexpensive

Convenient

Unsuitedforlarge

audience

Videotapes Audio-visualimpact

Illustrateaction

Distracting

Qualityconcerns

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Guidelines for Using PPT

1. Avoid clutter

2. Limit number of slides

3. P

lan time on each slide4. Watch font size, number of words and lines

5. Pay attention to overall appearance

6. Ensure consistency

7. Keep text to a minimum

8. Add value to PPT

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Guidelines for Using Visual Aids

1. Value addition

2. Appropriate level of

sophistication

3. Clarity

4. Simplicity

5. Minimum text

6. Numbering and captions

7. Synchronization with

presentation

8. Testing in advance

9. Rehearsal

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