Business Communication Essentials - Assignment Example

Two presentations have been selected from an online website by the name of Ted Talks. The presenters of these videos are Pamela Mayer and Alison Gopnik. Let us begin with the presentation of Pamela Mayer where she is giving a presentation on how to spot a liar (TedGlobal, 2011a). Mayer relies on humor and presentation aides to make her presentation interesting and light. Mayer continuously uses the help of pictures shown on a slide-mounted above and behind her so that viewers are able to clearly see the pictures and without the pictures, the slide shows a close shot of Mayer.

Mayer begins her presentation by interacting with the audience and giving them a chance to laugh. In an online presentation, interaction with the audience would be limited and Mayer would not have been able to point at a specific person in the audience, rather she would have asked the viewer to consider his friend as a liar. The face-to-face presentation allows Mayer to pause while the laughter subsides and the attention of the audience is back on the presentation. Also, Mayer uses presentation aides which are shown for a limited period of time and from afar off-angle.

In an online environment, the viewers would have been able to view these aides at his pace. The presentation of Alison Gopnik relates to what babies think (TedGlobal, 2011b). The presentation of Gopnik is very similar to that of Mayer and we observe the same pattern. Gopnik gives her presentation standing up the whole team. In an online environment, Gopnik would have had the option of sitting down and giving her presentation in a relaxed manner. Gopnik also uses the help of presentation pictures to make her presentation more effective and communicative.

In an online environment, the presenters have the option of adjusting their presentation to the pace of their viewers since online presentation do not allow for any adjustments.