Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 22

Presentations


Presentations

‣ Help solve problems by communicating with your audience face-to-face, in-person

‣ Are an essential part of the workplace

‣ Use many of the same techniques of effective written communication

‣ Often involve interaction between the speaker and audience


Informal Presentations‣ Make up the majority of workplace

presentations

‣ Often occur without a great deal of preparation or rehearsal

‣ Are sometimes spontaneous

‣ Can also be improvised

‣ Are generally not supported by sophisticated written or visual aids


Formal Presentations

‣ Could be the principal factor in determining whether your ideas, products, or services are used and accepted

‣ May actually be the service you and your company provide

‣ Are generally longer and more complex than informal presentations

‣ Are usually delivered in a set-aside place


‣ Are usually supported with various tools, ancillaries, and equipment

‣ Usually includes computer-supported slideshows

‣ Are often delivered to potential clients, members of your own organization or profession, supervisors or managers, and sometimes the general public

Formal Presentations


Preparing for a Presentation

‣ Requires careful planning and preparation

‣ Requires knowing the purpose for the presentation

‣ Understands the audience

‣ Knows the physical context for the presentation


Appropriate Visual Aids

‣ Are influenced by audience, location, the time available

‣ Are even more important the longer and more formal your presentation will be

‣ Make the audience perceive speakers as more professional, more persuasive, easier to understand, and more interesting when they include visual aids


‣ Should be higher-quality

‣ Mesh seamlessly with the material

‣ Reinforce and strengthen information presented, not overwhelm or take the place of quality information

‣ Are those that explain, emphasize, interest, and guide

Appropriate Visual Aids


Handouts‣ Can be duplicates of written material or

slides, summaries of key points, supporting matter in graphs, charts, or tables, or other supplementary information

‣ Should be distributed to each member of your audience

‣ Can be easy and inexpensive to prepare and can reinforce what you’ve said


Posters and Flipcharts

‣ Can be effective methods for displaying visual information to smaller groups

‣ Can be written on by the speaker, which keeps audience members interested and involved in the presentation

‣ Are especially useful in brainstorming


Boards

‣ Can be used to display and create information

‣ Range from the basic chalkboards and erasable dryboards to wireless, digital smartboards

‣ Allow presenters to create graphics and charts on the fly

‣ Are best suited to small groups


Slides and Overheads

‣ Are readily available in most offices, easy to use, and inexpensive

‣ Can project texts or images onto a blank wall or a screen

‣ Are seen as outdated and plain when compared to computer projections


Computer Projections

‣ Are the primary visual aid used in presentations today

‣ Can use web-based or presentation software

‣ Can import content, graphs, and charts from other programs

‣ Can incorporate sound, video, and web links

‣ Are becoming ubiquitous and user-friendly


Creating Effective Visuals

‣ Enhance an audience’s interest and understanding—not inhibit it

‣ Depend on the context; effectiveness is the product of circumstance

‣ Consider the five principles of effective visual design


‣ Signaling groups information together using headings

‣ Segmenting presents information in bite-sized segments

‣ Narrating describes the visual rather than just reading from a slide

‣ Showing and telling combines text and images for a more effective presentation

‣ Streamlining keeps visuals concise, simple, and to-the-point

Principles of EffectiveVisual Design


Additional Suggestions for Creating Slides

‣ Use text and visuals that can be read and seen at the back of the room

‣ Use bulleted or numbered lists that contain phrases and keywords

‣ Be consistent with font styles, sizes, spacing, and backgrounds

‣ Don’t read text word for word from a slide

‣ Avoid the excessive use of “enhancements” in slideshows


Plan Your Speech

‣ By deciding what you will say

‣ By writing a formal speech if it is a highly stressful presentation

‣ By creating an outline that is highly organized or loosely structured

‣ By using notes to guide you through the presentation


Organize Your Presentation

‣ By including an introduction, body, and conclusion

‣ By realizing that listeners have less attention for detail than readers

‣ By understanding that listeners generally require more overlap than readers

‣ By knowing that listeners generally require more explicit signals than readers, like transitions and summaries


Deliver the Presentation

‣ Using effective vocalization: moderate volume, varied pitch, steady pace, and clear articulation

‣ Avoiding filler phrases and non-fluencies

‣ Using effective body language: face the audience, make eye contact, and use movement and gestures

‣ By fielding questions

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

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