Making Effective Oral Presentation

Making Effective Oral Presentation

By Rupal Jain

An Oral Presentation is explained as a talk given to a group in which an individual presents his/her view on an issue or a topic based on their reading or research. It is a life blood of any business.

Employee needs good communication skills to interact effectively with their superiors / subordinates; to convey their information effectively in business meetings / presentations / seminars; for proper organizational planning, organizing, co-ordination, leadership, motivation and controlling.

Here are few tips which a presenter needs to follow for a powerful oral communication: - 1. Before the Presentation: -

Know your objective, audiences, the total time allotted the message to be conveyed and the resources available to convey the message. Systematically and logically frame the three main parts of the presentation which are introduction, main body and the conclusion.

o Rehearse and practice the entire presentation.

o Anticipate few questions and prepare their answers.

o Prepare a contingency plan.

2. During the Presentation: -

? Check the equipments, room arrangements and the lay-out.

? Use proper visual aids, diagrams, pictures, graphs, facts, figures, over head projector and power point presentation (templates, design and font).

? Take deep breathing.

? Stay confident, relaxed and be enthusiastic.

? Keep it simple, be concise, to the point and avoid repetition.

? Explain the key points with appropriate stories, examples, anecdotes and demonstrations.

? Emphasize on the key points.

? Never read continuously from the script.

? Use appropriate humour.

? Avoid using too many technical details.

? Emphasize on proper body movement, tone, eye contact, posture and gestures.

? Conclude on time.

? Leave time for discussion and for clarification of points.

3. After the Presentation: -

? Allow question and answer session.

? If you don’t know the answer, don’t lie.

? Take proper audience feedback.

? Find out areas of improvement.

Finally, Australian Research has found that the important elements of communication identified by small, medium and large enterprises are:

• listening and understanding;

• speaking clearly and directly;

• writing to the needs of the audience;

• negotiating responsively;

• reading independently;

• empathizing;

• using numeracy effectively;

• understanding the needs of internal and external customers;

• persuading effectively;

• establishing and using networks;

• being assertive; • sharing information; and

• speaking and writing in languages other than English.==========

Written By: Rupal Jain, Lecturer, Atharva Institute of Management Studies (MUMBAI) She can be reached at  jainrupal@sify.com