Tips for Effective Oral Presentations - Essay Example

? Tips for Effective Oral Presentations al Affiliation In today’s world, oral presentations have become part of thelives of students and even professionals. Most people, especially businessmen and women attribute their success to oral presentation. Most employers are emphasizing on the issue of oral presentation, and especially when it comes to potential employees. Oral presentation may seem easy to handle, particularly in being confident and eloquent speakers, but this is not the case. One can be a good speaker, but when it comes to the presentation of his or her work, the presentation becomes ineffective and unclear to the audience. In this easy, some tips on how to make an effective presentation are discussed. The issue of stage fright, which is a major hindrance to making an effective oral presentation and how to manage it, is also discussed. At the end of this discussion, there should be clarity on how one can make an effective oral presentation. Keywords: Oral Presentation, Effective, Stage Fright Introduction When making an oral presentation, it is very important for one to be able to present thoughts and ideas effectively. Oral presentations are usually very popular in job interviews, and especially when one starts working (Gupta, 2008). So everyone is encouraged to practice oral presentation even before friends and family so as to perfect the skill before the very important time. Ones ability in this area can either make or break his or her career. This is because a person can be very hard working in the job he or she is doing, but if he or she does not have good skills in oral presentation, his or her growth will not be seen (Aquino, 2008). There are people who have a certain potential for communication, but this does not mean that they are good at oral presentation. The techniques involved would be very beneficial to such people, to sharpen up their skills more. Effective oral presentation skills make a person more popular among colleagues, for example, a manager who has good skills in oral presentation is likely to be popular among his juniors (Gupta, 2008). What is Oral Presentation? Most of the time, people tend to confuse oral communication with oral presentation, but the two are totally different. According to Gupta, “oral communication is an interactive process of sharing information” (2008, p. 91) with people. Oral presentation on the other hand refers to a proper way of transmitting messages to an audience. It is important to note that effective oral presentations are important for the growth of a company or organization one is working for, especially when the partners or donors of the funds are present. Characteristics of an Effective Oral Presentation Purposeful: When being composed, an oral presentation should be directed to a definite purpose and one that is clear, because it is aimed at conveying a message to the audience (Rizvi, 2005). Interactive: Any oral presentation should involve the speaker, as well as the audience (Rizvi, 2005). Formal: This is what differentiates oral presentation from other forms of presentations. As said earlier, it is usually emphasized during job interviews. Thus, it is usually used in formal situations. Audience Oriented: This means that the topic has to be dealt with from the perspective of the audience (Rizvi, 2005). Importance of an Effective Oral Presentation Employers usually put great emphasis on oral presentation skills, than in any other form of communication skills. Gupta asserts that an oral presentation has the potential to educate, inspire and persuade more effectively than any other individual mode of communication (2008). At some point in ones career, he or she may be asked to make a presentation, and this is the reason why most of the business people rank oral presentation skills as among the most important factors responsible for their success. A good oral presentation can work wonders for any person who is looking for lucrative job offer from a company he or she has dreamt of working with (Rizvi, 2005). It is thus important to anyone who wants to be successful in his or her career to be equipped with tips of an effective oral presentation. Tips for an Effective Oral Presentation It is the dream of every person to have an effective oral presentation in one instance in his or her career. There are basic elements that people should understand clearly for an effective oral presentation. These are the four Ps; Plan, Prepare, Practice and Perform. 1. Plan the Presentation: because an oral presentation is used to convey a lot of messages to an audience in a short time, it is advisable to plan it very well so that the information is delivered effectively. Planning the presentation is thus the most vital tip to an effective oral presentation (Rizvi, 2005). Planning of a presentation helps the speaker to: Have a purpose: The presentation should have a purpose; this makes it more focused and also gives it clear objectives. At the end of the presentation, the audience is able to understand the objectives of the presentation clearly (Rizvi, 2005). Analyze the audience: When a presentation is well planned, the speaker is able to analyze his or her audience. Analyzing an audience involves being able to identify audience characteristics and being able to familiarize oneself with ways of getting and maintaining attention of the audience, on the part of the speaker (Rizvi, 2005). Narrowing the topic: This allows the speaker to be able to present the whole of his or her work in the limited time given, without asking for more time. It also allows the presentation to be clear, focused, and complete. For example if it is a topic like pollution, pollution is very general, so it can be narrowed to CFCs and ozone depletion (Rizvi, 2005). 2. Prepare for the Presentation: Once the presentation has been planned for, it becomes vital to start preparing for it. As seen earlier, preparation is vital for a successful oral presentation. When making an oral presentation at any given situation or time, preparation is key for it to effective. Several research sources such as the library, internet, and personal views among others should be consulted. The presenter should also include a list of the material that is going to be included (Rizvi, 2005). These materials are such as, quotations from the reputable sources, and definitions of the complex terms that may arise. During preparation for a presentation, it is important to develop an outline of the collected material, and worked on it until it proves to be in the appropriate order before going to the next step. Here, the presenter makes a draft of the presentation and revises it as required. He or she also checks for mistakes so that the presentation can be accurate. 3. Practice the presentation: This is the third tip for someone targeting to achieve an effective oral presentation. The speaker should always practice the presentation before the final day, even though he is going to use the manuscript method. This allows the speaker to present his or her work within the time frame given, and it also allows him to at least save a few minutes, so as to engage the audience with questions (Gupta, 2008). One might be brilliant in his or her preparation and planning, but without practicing the presentation, the confidence fades away. As a result, the presentation ends up being meaningless and ineffective. It is also important to rehearse or practice the presentation, so as to familiarize oneself with his or her work. In practicing the presentation the following are ways that can help: Plan the rehearsal or practice: This should be planned well in advance so as to leave sufficient time between the practice and the actual presentation (Rizvi, 2005). This gives room to make adjustments if any is required, like may be putting more ideas to add to the presentation. Timing during the practice: Timing as earlier mentioned calls for great concern. Each speaker has his or her own personality; there are those who are slow talkers, while others are quick talkers. During the practice, the speaker should make sure that he or she looks at the time the presentation takes. A speaker should realize that he or she should be moderate when presenting and in some instances, he or she should pause, especially between important points. Recreate the presentation environment: Rehearsals are very essential in a presentation. When the environment of the presentation is recreated before the actual presentation, the speaker is able to experience how the actual presentation is going to be (Rizvi, 2005). This is to make the speaker gather more confidence for the main presentation. This should be repeated till the speaker is confident of delivering the presentation. 4. Perform the presentation: Once the presentation has been planned, prepared, and practiced, the remaining part is to perform the presentation. It is very crucial to improve the performance of presentation, so that it can be effective. The way a presentation is delivered influences the way the listeners will respond to the message, thus this becomes the most relevant element of a speaker’s presentation. A speaker is supposed to choose a technique which is very appropriate to the kind of audience he or she is conveying the message to. The following are the different methods that can be used to deliver or perform the presentation: Manuscript: In this method, the speaker uses notes while presenting. The speaker who is due to present writes word for word and practices how he or she will deliver the speech. The disadvantage of this method is that the presentation may sound rehearsed (Roberts, 2013). The following are some ways suggestions on how one can go about with this method so as not to sound rehearsed. The speaker should prepare a full script of the presentations. He or she should use capitals letters, spacing, or underline the important parts and points (Rizvi, 2005). Rehearse the presentation before a live audience. Use non-verbal signals and voice modulation in order to maintain the interest of the audience (Rizvi, 2005). Use personal expressions and short sentences (Rizvi, 2005). Memorization: In this method, the speaker is supposed to memorize the presentation before delivering it orally. This method allows the speaker to move around and still maintain eye contact with his or her listeners, without relying on any notes. To avoid boredom, the speaker should use tone variations so as to keep the presentation lively (Roberts, 2013). At times, it is advisable for the speaker to keep the notes nearby incase he or she forgets a statement which might be very crucial to the presentation. The following can be steps to be followed in this method: Do not memorize the entire presentation but instead, memorize the significant parts such as the opening and the attention catching statements (Rizvi, 2005). Rehearse the presentation thoroughly before performing it and keep a set of notes ready for reference (Rizvi, 2005). Try to be flexible and spontaneous (Rizvi, 2005). Impromptu: In this method, the speaker follows the notes. It is an ideal method especially if one did not have enough preparation time. This method allows maintenance of eye contact while still delivering the presentation, in a natural manner (Roberts, 2013). The following are tips on how to use the notes method effectively: Plan and prepare the presentation carefully and write an outline containing the important points (Rizvi, 2005). Rehearse the presentation using the outline. This will help give the required confidence (Rizvi, 2005). While performing the presentation, the speaker should glance time to time at the outline for the main points, and look back to the audience while maintaining eye contact and making the necessary pauses to drive the point home (Rizvi, 2005). The speaker should use notes just as a starting point so as sound natural (Rizvi, 2005). If the speaker is not natural, the audience might get bored and the presentation will be not be as effective as aimed. Extemporaneous: It is a method of presentation that involves the combination of the above three methods. In this method the presentation is organized in an outline form. The speech is written down word for word. The speaker then practices the whole presentation so as to gather the required confidence. On this note, the speaker is reminded to highlight only the key points, while he or she memorizes the other major parts of the speech. This method allows the speaker to engage the audience and easily adapt to any situation (Roberts, 2013). Stage Fright Everyone who has faced an audience or ever had to make a speech or presentation must have experienced stage fright. People tend to ignore this, but it should be of great concern and should be handled before any presentation. When one is faced by a frightening situation, it becomes very difficult to handle his or her body parts. Even though one is a good speaker, at one time, he or she must have experienced a degree of stage fright. Some degree of stage fright is considered very normal and is allowed, but when it is quite extreme, it becomes quite tricky to handle it (Rizvi, 2005). The following are some of tips to handle stage fright and have an effective oral presentation: Concentrate on the first three Ps, and then perform the actual presentation. Set realistic goals because this will enhance confidence during the presentation. While on stage, one should avoid negative thoughts because they might interfere with his or her thinking process, and thus the presentation might end up being unsuccessful. Learn and speak slowly as a way of controlling nervousness. The speaker is also asked to learn techniques of reducing stress before and during the presentation. In conclusion, when all the above is observed, the end product is a very effective oral presentation, which is the dream of every person in his or her career, and a wonderful experience for the speaker and the audience (Tripathi, 1991). A speaker should realize that none of the tips given above is important than the other, thus it is important to observe them all. Reference List Aquino, A. (2008). Speech and Oral Communication for Nursing’ 2008 Ed. Manila: Rex Bookstore, Inc.  Gupta, S. (2008). Communication Skills and Functional Grammar. New Delhi: Laxmi Publications Limited.  Rizvi , M. A. (2005). Effective Tech Communication. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.  Roberts, C. (2013). Four Methods for Delivering Oral Presentations. eHow. Retrieved October 2, 2013, from http://www.ehow.com/info_8321366_four-methods-delivering-oral-presentations.html Tripathi, B.R. (1991). Speaking at Scientific Meetings: Oral Presentation Techniques. Addis Ababa: International Livestock Centre for Africa.   Read More