Advantages of using a team to develop and complete a presentation - Essay Example

Advantages of using a team to develop and complete a presentation Presentations to any type of audiencewhether it be for business, social, educational or other purposes, when produced and delivered by a team effort offer an enormous opportunity to generate a much greater impact than when developed and presented by a single individual. While it is certainly true that many times it seems more efficient, less stressful and just plain easier to perform a task ones-self rather than delegate it to someone else, most times the task, in this case giving a presentation, is infinitely more effective if it developed and completed by means of a team effort.

Collaborations utilizing the talents and wisdom of knowledgeable persons provide the presentation with a higher level of credibility and in-depth informative aspects far beyond what a single perspective and solitary voice could offer to the audience.It is commonplace in today’s high-tech society for presentations to be produced and delivered by means of a group effort rather than by an individual. It has been found to be much more effectual for numerous associates to speak instead of just a single person speaking for the entire organization or group.

A presentation is broken up into several sections with each requiring a specialized knowledge base which is more effectively addressed by an expert in that particular area. One person can hardly be considered the most knowledgeable within an organization regarding every aspect of a complex subject or project. In addition, the audience retains more interest for a longer period of time if the presentation is broken up with differing speakers. When team members speak only on what they know best, this not only allows for a more informative presentation but does not put the burden on one person to speak about unfamiliar aspects of the subject.

Each member is confident with their part and thus at ease with the material unlike a single person attempting to cover everything, a confidence which is openly conveyed to the audience. Group presentations also serve to present a cross-section of the organization’s employees instead of viewing just one representative, a major selling point to the intended audience (Friedmann, 2003).Team presentation offers a heightened level of attention for the audience as they are presented with a variety of speakers.

When practiced well, the presentation flows more smoothly and coherently with a group effort because, for example, one person might be given the task of operating visual and or audio aids while another focuses on speaking to the audience. If audience participation is an aspect of the presentation, the team members are there to answer specific questions in a more detailed manner giving added credibility to the project and thus more confidence of its content. Team members are put in a position to exploit their strong suits throughout the presentation.

“Typically, we want the quick thinker to handle the questions, the detail person doing the technical comments and the dynamo for the opening and closing” (Nowell, 2002). If two heads are better than one, then it goes to follow that a team of any size is ultimately more effective than one person. Consider a comparison to the animal kingdom. Ants, in addition to many other types of creatures, are not considered intelligent by human standards yet as a group accomplish amazing feats amounting to rather sophisticated outcomes.

Business, social, medical and other groups can learn from the example of the tiny ants’ teamwork skills. A presentation provided by a well coordinated team effort by two or more persons is highly effective in conveying information in an efficient and effective manner. Preparation is the key for this approach to be successful. A group presentation is more multifaceted than an individual presentation requiring additional groundwork and coordinated planning but if the group does their homework, its presentation will enjoy greater heights of success than would an individual presentation.

References Friedmann, Susan. (July 2003). Meeting and Event Planning for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing Company.Nowell, David. (2005). “The Group Presentation.” Building Group Presentations. Ontario, CA: Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. Retrieved 25 August 2006 from