Unit – 6

Oral Communication

6.1           Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension comprises of the multiple processes involved in hearing, understanding and making sense of the spoken language. This includes grasping various speech sounds and understanding the syntax of sentences. Listening comprehension can also include the process of understanding how the presentation of sentences changes meaning.

It is often contested that speaking as a skill is more important than listening which is a common misconception. Listening is as important a skill as speaking if not more, as it is only by listening one can learn proper pronunciation and intonation of words which allows him to speak fluently.

Oral language skills including listening comprehension also are important for writing development. Although oral language skills aren't explicitly laid out in the developmental models of writing, they are essential component skills as writing requires generation of ideas, which then need to be translated into oral language.

There are two ways in which a person can listen to something being said to them – active and passive. Passive listening is listening without giving the speaker your full attention. Passive listening is like not listening at all therefore one must always give the speaker their full attention and practice active listening in order to fully grasp the meaning of what the speaker wants to say.

What role does listening comprehension play in communication?
Listening to understanding is the first basic step of communication. The more a student understands what is being said, the better will be their ability to communicate. In addition, they will be better able to identify target language features that will help improve their language development in all four areas of competence.

Students can feel a great sense of pride when they are able to understand something in a target language. This can be a great motivation for continuing to learn the language, and teachers should do everything possible to promote this sense of accomplishment. As a result, teachers need to create learning activities that will enhance students' oral understanding (listening skills) and motivate them, too.

The work of Nunan and Lamb (1996) is of great help in this area. They set out a series of questions that teachers need to do in preparation for listening activities:

• What is the context of obedience?

• Should one or two items from the listening activities be designed for the whole class so that the learners know what to do?

• How often should the object be listened to?

• How will students assess the accuracy of their listening? (i.e., student responses?)

• Is it possible to assess the accuracy of listening to be done independently or collectively?

What are some tips to help teachers develop students listening skills?
An effective teacher knows that students do not always have the ability to develop oral comprehension skills on their own; without additional support for listening, on its own, it is not enough to develop better listening skills. Here are a number of things a teacher can use to facilitate the development of listening skills.

• Encourage active listening:
Giving students something to listen to ensure they are actively engaged in the work. Exercise sheets are another tool that promotes active listening;

• Identify listening strategies:
Provide students with tools to guide their listening; for example, looking for specific information, identifying words or phrases that can be guessed, or discussing what they expect from certain types of speech; for example, newspapers or ads.;

• selecting the most appropriate presentation strategy:
for example, using top-down (general understanding, summarizing) or flattening (indicating words, specific order forms);

• Allow students to hear as much of the target language as possible using a variety of teaching methods:
for example, sometimes using visual cues, sometimes not;

• Use facts:
For example, a speech or radio announcement in a target language, to help students become familiar with different accents and speech speed;

• Make sure the learners are familiar with the goals of the listening activity:
Is the goal to understand what is being said, to decide whether they will continue to listen or to get more information?

• Provide opportunities for reflection and discussion so that learners can share what they heard, read and used to better understand what was said;

• Organize listening activities, such as providing students with appropriate vocabulary, reading related text, looking at a related picture or clarifying required cultural details etc;

• Be sure to check the level of the listening task ahead of time to make sure it is level for the learners.

What are some examples of listening activities to use in the SL classroom?
Here are some listening activities to use with students; they range from semi-guided tasks to unstructured tasks.

• Semi-Guided Tasks (teacher can pose questions)

• Unstructured Tasks:
  Explain one of the following and record it on cassette, computer program, etc. (students may be allowed to make brief notes for preparation)

Pre-Listening and While-Listening Activities
It is often said that spoken and written language are different. Other reasons for this include, the following: spoken language is often used to communicate with people rather than merely presenting information; It occurs in a setting that provides visual and verbal modes that aid comprehension; and, we usually listen with a specific purpose in mind, looking at what we hear to meet that purpose. In addition, native speakers have endless vague ideas of how a conversation should proceed, and interpret the conversation on the basis of their contextual knowledge of the speaker and the situation. All of these things require good listening skills. The teacher can help their students develop their listening skills by performing pre-listening and listening activities.

For example:
Ask class questions about the topic, but DON'T guess the answers. Then read a paragraph related to the same topic. Ask them the same questions again. After that, start the discussion on the effectiveness of the pre-listening questions: did they help the listener focus faster? Why or why not? Option Listing

Selective Listening:
Selected listening skills can be enhanced by giving students things to listen to. The aim would be to increase students' awareness of what they like and understand without the need for metallic input. The ideal task would be for students to listen to any number of the following oral tasks, and to respond to a series of prepared questions. Students may need to do some of these listening activities before the class.

Other Listening Activities:

1. True-False:
   each student has a card - on one side of the card the word 'yes' is written, flip side of 'no' (in target language, of course); students raise the correct card to answer the teacher's questions. This activity can also be done using gestures instead: thumbs up or down, or using the left or right hand to indicate yes or no.

Three card game:
Each student receives three cards with words or pictures written / drawn on them; for example, card # 1 could mean south, card # 2 would mean Friday, and # 3 could be Sports. The teacher asks questions orally and the learners raise the correct card when they answer. For example, the teacher says 'I want a card for the season name'.
 

6.2           Pronunciation, Intonation, Stress and Rhythm

Pronunciation

There is a great difference in how the words are spelled and the way they are pronounced in the English language. Therefore, it is difficult to ascertain the correct pronunciation of a word by just looking at it the way it is spelled. This often results in mispronunciation. Only by hearing the correct pronunciation from a native speaker one can truly understand how words are supposed to be articulated.

For example, consider the following words – through, cough, though, rough, bough. In these words the pronunciation of the letters –ough varies with each word.

Similarly read, need, believe, machine, receive, we, people, key, quay contain nine different spellings for the same vowel sound in the word “need”.

Thus it can be said that there is no one-to-one correspondence between the sounds as they are uttered and the letter or symbol which appears in the written word. Therefore, it is necessary to have some consistent representation of the language so that one can have a clearer understanding of the distinctive sounds which exist in the language. Discrepancies between the pronunciation and ordinary spelling confuse the learner and the result is mispronunciation. Such mispronunciations may be avoided by the use of Phonetic Transcription.

The phonetic alphabet given below is that of the International Phonetic Association (IPA):

Silent and Non-Silent Letters

Sometimes one may find that even though a letter appears in a word, it may not be pronounced. These are known as silent letters. For example, in the word Christmas, the letter “t” is never pronounced thus rendering the title of a silent letter. Another example would be the word “muscle” where the letter “c” is silent.

Some common silent letters include:

1. The silent “K”

The letter ‘k’ being a hard-sounding consonant is often pronounced wherever it is found, however, if it is succeeded by the letter ‘n’ it is often rendered silent.

For ex: Knife, Knack, Know, Knit

2.     The silent “G”

The letter ‘g’ is also a consonant which can be found to be silent in words such as malign, benign, foreign, design, sign. It is noteworthy that whenever the letter ‘g’ is silent in a word it is often followed by the letter ‘n’.

3.     The Silent “P”

The letter ‘p’, spoken with the lips, is usually found to be silent in a number of places. For example in words like Phycology, pseudo, receipt etc.

4.     The Silent “T”

The letter ‘t’ is probably the best example of silent letters as it can be found silent in a number of words like thistle, bustle, castle, whistle, hustle, Christmas.

Sometimes there are words in the English language where there is pronunciation of a letter which is nowhere to be found in the word. These letters are called as Non-Silent or invisible letters. This is the opposite of silent letters where a letter is pronounced even though it is not written.

For example, the word “one” is pronounced as ‘Wone’, where the sound of the letter ‘w’ can be clearly and distinctly heard.  Similarly, The Scottish word búrgh can be pronounced as the equivalent bòrough is in England. One can often find the English city of Edinburgh being pronounced as “Edinborogh” by native speakers.

One can also find the presence of an invisible ‘a’ in American names such as McDonalds, McEnroe, McElroy, McCarthy.

THE -ED SUFFIX ON REGULAR VERBS

The past tense of various verbs are formed by adding the suffix “-ed” to the base form of the verb. But Even though all  regular verbs are formed the same way, they might be pronounced quite differently. Depending on the preceding syllable, the -ed suffix can be pronounced in three different ways: /id/, /d/, or /t/.

/ID/

This pronunciation is used when “-ed” is preceded by a “d” or a “t”.

Examples

Need   → needed

End      → ended

Start     → started

Want     → wanted

/T/

Regular verbs that end in a voiceless consonant sound have the /T/ pronunciation. Some common voiceless consonants include: /f/ /k/ /p/ /s/ /t/ /sh/ y /ch/.

Examples

/f/ laugh       → laughed

/p/ stop      → stopped

/sh/ wash       →washed

/k/ like       → liked

/s/ miss    → missed

/D/

Regular verbs having a voiced consonant sound have this pronunciation. Some common voiced consonants are: /b/ /g/ /v/ /z/ /m/ /n/ /l/ /th/ /r/.

Examples:

/b/ grab      → grabbed

/g/ beg      → begged

/n/ listen → listened

/l/ kill → killed

SILENT LETTERS

Silent letters are consonants that appear in a word but are not pronounced. It can be difficult for a non-native speaker to grasp which letters are silent in a word, therefore resulting in errors in pronunciation. For example, There are many English words where the “h” is not pronounced. The same applies to many other consonants. Let’s look at some examples.

Silent H

Although it should be kept in mind that the aspirated “h” in English is always pronounced. Here is a list of words that begin with a silent “h”.

Hour

Honour

Honest

Heir

Herbs

These words containing the silent 'h' usually have a vowel right after 'h' and the actual pronunciation begins from the said vowel.

Silent P

There are a number of words where the first 'p' is not pronounced leading to mispronunciation by non native speakers. Here are those words:

Psychology

Psychiatrist

Pseudo

Pneumonia

Pneumatics

Psalms

Another commonly mispronounced word 'receipt', where the “p” is not at the beginning of the word, is followed by a consonant, but is not pronounced.

There are many other silent letters in English and the only way to recognize them is by practicing their usage. By a general rule, they are consonants followed by other consonants. For example: doubt , subtle , assign , design , knife , knight .

THE STRESS ON DERIVED WORDS

Sometimes the stress passes from a later syllable to the first syllable in some derived forms of verbs. Their visual similarity can be misleading and therefore should be paid close attention to.

Examples

Implant (v) implant (n)

Project (v) project (n)

Upgrade (v) upgrade (n)

Intonation

Intonation is a kind of tone which means sound or whistle. When uttering such a sentence, a voice may increase the volume or tone of voice that makes the speech pleasant and the meaning clear. Introduction is a problem of learning English for a student who wants to master the language as a native speaker. The introduction is a musical language, and is probably the most important element of fluency. English has sounds to explain how speakers speak.

• Consider the examples below.
• HE IS. (statement)

• Examples of some metallic sentences:

The rise and fall of the voice occur in a sentence that we call intonation contour. The English language has captions to give a description of speech such as belief, any emotion, agreement and disagreement, question, statement.

Stress

Word Stress

The meaning of a word with a number of syllables can change with a shift of stress on different syllables. Although stress can emphasize meaning not all English words are affected by a change on stress.

There can be two ways in which a shift in stress can change the meaning of the word. First, the meaning of the word changes partially. And second, by changing the complete meaning of the word by shifting stress and transforming the word into a noun, verb or sometimes an adjective.

Below are few examples where the meaning of the word has changed partially with a shift in stress on the second syllable.

Insult – What they said felt like IN-sults.

Please don’t in-SULT me.

Perfect – This is a PER-fect record.

They need to per-FECT their strategy.

Produce – They bought a lot of bio-degradable PRO-duce.

How did they pro-DUCE so much corn in so little time.

Record – They always keep a RE-cord of their conversations.

It is important to re-CORD important data.

Suspect – The police interrogated the SU-spect for 2 hours.

I sus-PECT there will be no retaliation.

Below are examples where the meaning of the word changes completely by changing the noun into a verb or an adjective.

Address – I do not know his ADD-ress.

You should add-RESS the queen with utmost respect.

Conduct - The restaurant manager wasn’t happy about his CON-duct.

He was asked to con-DUCT the choir performance earlier.

Content- The CON-tent of you project is satisfactory.

She was not con-TENT with how the book ended.

Desert – The army marched through the DES-ert.

She said she would never des-ERT me.

Project – The PRO-ject should be completed within the given time.

We can pro-JECT the film on a white screen.

Word Accent

Word accent may be defined as the degree of force with which a sound or syllable is uttered.

Accent marks are indicated with a vertical line (/) placed before the stressed syllable.

The first syllable is the most common place for stress as in father, any, steadily, obstinacy etc. many words are stressed on the second syllable such as about, before, beginning, magnificent etc. Some words have two stressed syllables such as half-hearted, fourteen, contradiction.

There is no simple way of knowing which syllable or syllables in an English word must be accentuated.

In English all words with more than one syllable are stressed.

Rules for Word Accent:

Accent Rule 1: All words with two or more syllables has one syllable whose vowel is accented. For instance, for-gét.

Accents are vital to spelling rules. Accented means the sound of that vowel is stressed, or louder, then those in other syllables.

Accent Rule 2: an extended word may contain more than one accent. The vowel that's stressed is called the first accent. The first accent is vital to several of the spelling rules. A second accented vowel is named the secondary accent. For instance, cón-ver-sá-tion.

Accent Rule 3: the first accent is typically on the first letter before a double consonant. For instance, for-gét-ting.

Accent Rule 4: Unaccented vowel sounds frequently have the soft /uh/ schwa sound, especially when there's just one letter within the syllable. All vowels can have the schwa sound. For instance, the a in a-boút.

Accent Rule 5: the primary accent is typically on the first syllable in a two-syllable word. For instance, páy-ment.

Accent Rule 6: the first accent on a two-syllable word is usually on the second syllable of the word that has a prefix within the first syllable and a root within the second syllable. For instance, dis-tráct.

Accent Rule 7: For two-syllable words that act as both nouns and verbs, the first accent is typically on the prefix (first syllable) of the noun and on the basis (second syllable) of the verb. For instance, pró-duce as a noun; pro-dúce as a verb.

Accent Rule 8: the primary accent is typically on the first syllable in three-syllable words, if that syllable may be a root. for instance, chár-ac-ter.

Accent Rule 9: the first accent is typically on the second syllable in three-syllable words that are formed by a prefix-root-suffix. for instance, in-vést-ment.

Accent Rule 10: the first accent is typically on the second syllable in four-syllable words. For instance, in-tél-li-gent.

Rhythm

The movement of music and rhythm involved in speech is called vocal rhythm.

Communication is always rumored to be more effective in speech, because the tone relates to thoughts, feelings, or feelings between people who speak.

The English language translation is a music language. We use tone to express feelings or ask questions. In each conversation, it is important to remember the meaning of the tones. If the conversation is vague or incomprehensible, we use tones to look for discrepancies between the speaker and the listener. Gaining insight by pronouncing each word clearly however, if the introduction is out of the ordinary, the meaning you speak will not be clear. That would justify understanding.

The English language is important in the meaning of words, they emphasize the repression of words. English does not have the same sounds of sentences. One syllabus is very emphasized while the others are soft. The native speakers do not care for the weak syllables; on the other hand, they care about the meaning of the words included.

Stress and body language are disorders of the mother tongue. Language learners who need the sound of a target language should see the phonetic difference between the target language and the mother tongue. In contrast, the student will not remember the exact sounds of another language. Therefore, they try to keep their hearing to match the sounds of their mother tongue. That allows them to improve their performance around the traditional platform.
In every language you are unique and have some aspects of it. To be fluent in a second language is required more than just vocabulary, grammar or structures. Information about the important differences between mother tongue and second language is also needed.

It is necessary to understand any language with an emphasis on health because languages ​​depend on the pressure, rhythm and sounds that are part of it. Therefore, it is especially important for students who intend to communicate in any language other than the native one. Thus, students who want to understand another language have the intention to tolerate, test, and obtain research based on the key elements of the target language.

Types of composing:
 

The tone of the fall or the fall applies to the conviction of the content of the speech.
Examples:

• You should ask your Director.
• I have spoken to the landlord.
• Be careful!
• Low pitch (rising tone) is used when the speaker has a question and demands
• Know the answer.

Examples:
a) He is not there yet?

b) YES.

High pitch (rising tone) is used when the speaker asks for repetition or clarification, or to show disbelief. For example:

• She passed her exam.
• You are perfect. (disbelief)
  Fallout is a sign of dependency, continued financial volatility. It happens in the middle sentence non-final units.

Examples:
a) The bus for TURE will be safe.

b) Study at this school is really good.

6.3           Common Everyday Situations: Conversations and Dialogues

Conversations are a tool and a vehicle for expressing ideas, feelings and experiences are very important. It's a great sight and a blessing and is one of the most important ways of preserving and expanding knowledge. One can better reveal one's mind, intentions, ideas, purpose and personality through word of mouth or speech. The man is known by his words and expressions. Speech expresses the inner man’s personality, thoughts and feelings.

Conversation is also participation, cooperation and communication. These are the best ways to communicate with a talk and the oldest and richest. Our oldest and most important religious and spiritual activities have been through oral communication, discussions and discussions. The promotion of information is vital to success, social interaction, business, learning and education. In a broad and general sense, the discussion is very comprehensive and includes speech, talk and public discourse. In conversation a talk is put on three-to-three people but in an interview or lecture it reaches a lot of people who make up a large audience.

In addition, talking is more or less an option. While conversation is about intimacy, education, equal participation, warmth, respect, etc. Good and pleasant conversation is an art in which the heart and mind are completely involved. It is respectful, fun, smart, endearing and intimate. Conversational art is crucial to influencing people to make friends, increase following and achieve success. It can be cultivated and developed. It is a great way to be caught by training, practice, patience and persistence.

The Four Types of Conversations: Debate, Dialogue, Discourse, and Diatribe:
 

When you talk to someone, it helps to know what kind of conversation you are having. You can do that depending on the direction of the communication (a one-way street or two) tone / purpose (competition or collaboration).

When you talk to one, you talk to somebody, rather than to somebody. When in a two-way conversation, participants listen and speak. In a competitive discussion, people are more concerned about their opinion, and in collaborative discussions participants are more inclined to view everyone involved.

Based on understanding and voice, I have organized the discussion into four types: debate, dialogue, speech and diatribe.

• Debate is a competitive, two-way conversation. The goal is to win an argument or to convince someone, such as a participant or a sidekick.
• Dialogue is a collaborative, two-way conversation. The role of the participants is to exchange information and build relationships with others.
• Discourse is a collaborative, harmonious conversation. The purpose is to bring information from the speaker / author to the audience / readers.
• Diatribe is a competitive and one-way conversation. The goal is to express feelings, to attack those who disagree with you, and / or to include those with the same opinion.
   

To highlight the differences between these types of conversations, let's use politics as an example:

Teaching a discussion section always sounds like a breeze. Why do you need to prepare for a discussion class? All you have to do is talk, right? Sure, but it's not as easy as it sounds. You might be able to complete the first few classes with random banter about family and the weather, but where do you go from here? To teach an effective discussion class you must do a little planning. That is why we have put together this list of fun and informative activities for the discussion class.

Have a Debate:
Conversations are about talking. It's about making positive points in a conversation. Teach your students how to do this in class debate. Choose a suitable topic and topic and divide the class into "sides". If you teach a single class of discussion, allow your student to choose his or her position and you can argue on the opposing side. Give your students time to prepare their opening arguments. After introducing and listening to the opposition, each side should give an answer.

Telephone Calls:
Telephone conversations can be more difficult than in-person conversations. On the phone, you can't read the person's body language or collect many leads in this situation. Instead, you should only rely on the spoken word. Get your students to practice “talking on the phone” by placing chairs in the back or by observing two learners' eyes. Teach them how to answer the phone, what to say during a conversation and how to end the call. You can hide it from another student and select another student to start speaking. A blinded student should guess who is "firing".

Celebrity Interviews:
Students of all ages love to “practice faith”. Help your learners expand their discussion skills by interviewing them. Get your learners in pairs. One student should be a reporter and the other should be an interviewer. After the first interview is done, allow your students to switch roles.

Favorite Scenes:
Tell your learners to form groups. Each group should select a scene from one of their favorite movies. Each team member should say who the other character is in the film. Now, the students have to re-rate the event, wrapping up the discussion. After the practice cycle, students can make a class for me.

Situational Learning

Conversations take place anywhere and everywhere; your students should be prepared to speak in many situations. Help your students by giving them new experiences. Create a new environment for your classroom. For example, Transform your class into an airport. Assign one student to work at the check-in counter, one to the immigration officer and the other to the traveler. Now, get your students to have a proper discussion about their situation. If you teach a discussion class, you can be a ticket taker and your student can be a traveler. After that, you can switch roles. You can create instances like: "bank", "school", "shopping", "day", and many more.

These are some of the fun activities to do with your discussion section. Almost all of these activities can be organized by either a whole class or a one-on-one session. When teaching a discussion class to your language students, you simply have to remember to participate and it is appropriate. While discussion classes do not take that arrangement, it is still a good idea to get to your classroom with an idea or two in mind.

Informal Situation 1:

Conversations about 2 people meeting and starting a conversation
Michael: That test was long! Four hours! I really don't understand why we should take this test. Are our grade point averages (GPAs) grade not good enough for college?

Charlotte: That test seemed a long way off, didn't it? But since the curriculum of one high school is slightly different from another high school, the SAT exam allows colleges to consider each student equally. Although one student may have taken different classes from another student, all high school students take the same SAT exam.

Michael: I think that's reasonable. Either way, I really hope I don't have to test that again!

Charlotte: It's the same here. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. Schools will be out in a few weeks. Anyway, have you received your letters of recommendation?

Michael: I've already asked Mrs. Smith, and I'm thinking about asking Mr. Johnson. I loved both of their classes and I think they know me better than my other teachers, so hopefully the letters will be well written. What about you?

Charlotte: I asked Mrs. Smith to write me a letter. You know Mr. Lawson? I would like to receive a letter of recommendation from him. I hope he remembers me as I haven't had a study with him since last year. I'm not sure who else I asked.

Michael: At least, we each have at least one book. Mrs. Smith is the best, isn't she? I wish I had another class with her, but this is our last polygamy, and after that we graduated!

Charlotte: I agree. Mrs Smith really enjoys teaching, and that helps her students enjoy learning.

Michael: What colleges are you thinking of applying to? Have you visited other campuses?

Charlotte: I'm still wondering if I should stay close to home or go to adult school. I touched the Stanford campus and the people there were very kind. I visited Notre Dame, the University of Indiana. What about you? Have you learned any other campuses?

Michael: I want to live closer to home so I hope to attend California State University or the University of California.

Charlotte: Which one? There are probably one or the other in major cities.

Michael: Probably UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles or CSULB, California State University, Long Beach. But I'm not too worried about getting into college right now. I'm really worried about this SAT exam right now!

Charlotte: I understand how you feel. However, we will still consider what should be done next. It will be worse if we fall behind and can't make it to college next fall. Have you decided what you should read? I tend to think in English myself.

Michael: English is definitely possible. I was thinking of becoming an English teacher like Mrs. Smith. But I was also looking forward to Biological Science.

Charlotte: Why not? Science and Biological Science are two different fields of study. What can you do with a degree in Biological Science?

Michael: I also wonder if I should follow the drug. It may not be too early to decide, but if I want to become a doctor, the classes I will take as a student of Biological Science can fill many medical school needs. But like I said, it's still too early to find out what it is now. I just hope I get into college!

Charlotte: I don't think you have to worry about getting into college. Anyway, let's keep trying our best!

Situation 2:

A dialogue between the new comers on the college campus

Sujon: Hi, I think you're a new partner.

Salim: You're right. I am Salim. Please, your name?

Sujon: I'm Sujon. I'm a new character too.

Salim: Nice to meet you. How are you?

Sujon: Am I alive?

Salim: I'm fine too. May I talk to you about our news?

Sujon: Absolutely! Why not?

Isalima: Why did they choose this college?

Sujon: You know, so far, the college of commerce is concerned that this college should be the best college in our country.

Salim: You're right. In addition, the college program of study is very close, I think.

Sujon: Exactly! I have chosen to get approved for this college for this reason only.

Isalima: All right. Do I know why you chose commerce instead of science?

Sujon: My plan for the future is to study for an MBA. And what about you?

Salim: Good purpose in life. Anyway, I want to study CA. Can you help me find a class process?

Sujon: Well, let's go there.

Salim: Thank you

6.4           Communication at Workplace

Good communication is an important tool in achieving productivity and in maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of the organization. Employers who invest in the power and ability to establish clear lines of communication will build trust among employees, which will result in increased productivity, output and overall morale. In the meantime, well-connected employees and colleagues, managers and customers remain the assets of the organization and it is a skill that often separates people from their competitions when applying for jobs.

Poor communication at work will inevitably lead to uneducated employees who may begin to question their confidence in their skills and of course in the organization. The importance of strong communication runs within the business.

Importance

Below are the reasons why good communication is important at workplace:

Team building – Creating/ Building effective teams actually means how those team members interact and interact with each other. By using effective strategies to increase communication you will go a long way in building effective teams. This, in turn, will improve the morale and satisfaction of employees.

Gives everyone a voice - As mentioned above, employees' satisfaction can depend a great deal on whether they have a voice and are listened to, whether it depends on the mood they have or about the complaint they need to make. Well-designed communication lines should be able to afford everyone, regardless of size, ability to communicate freely with their peers, colleagues, and managers.

Innovation - When employees are empowered to communicate publicly without fear of ridicule or refund, they are more likely to bring their own ideas to the table. Innovation relies heavily on this and for an organization that promotes communication to be innovative.

Growth - Communication can be viewed internally and externally. By being internally integrated and having strong lines of communication you make sure the message you send out is consistent. Any growth activity relies on strong communication with all stakeholders, whether internal or external, and at the same wavelength.

Strong Management - The more managers communicate, the better able they are to manage their teams. Assignment, conflict management, promotion and relationship building (all the responsibilities of any manager) are all very easy if you are a strong speaker. Strong communication is not just the ability to talk to people but to empower them to talk to one another - to make communication channels stronger.

How can we improve communication at Workplace?

1. Define goals and expectations - Managers need to provide clear and achievable goals for both teams and individuals, specify exactly what is required for any given project, and ensure that all employees are aware of the project, department and organization goals as fully as possible.
2. Clearly deliver your message - Make sure your message is clear and accessible to your target audience. To do this it is important that you speak openly and humbly - to get your message clearly without confusion or offense.

Ways to Have Effective Conversations in the Workplace:

1. Open Meeting:
   It's easy to communicate your interest and how you feel in your group through open meetings. In this kind of forum, they will not only hear what you have to say, they will see and hear. This approach remains one of the best ways to communicate effectively with a team.

Remember that the point of working as a team is to share ideas and grow the product. When effective communication at work is disrupted, it can disrupt all effort.

You have to work hard on these communication strategies and build some basic rules to keep everyone up to date, which helps to avoid confusion and to ensure project completion easily.

6.5           Interviews

A personal or face to face interview is one that employs a standard structured questionnaire (or interview schedule) to ensure that all respondents are asked the same set of questions in the same sequences.

It is a two-way conversation initiated by an interviewer to obtain information from a respondent. The questions, the wording, and their sequence define the structure of the interview, and the interview is conducted face-to-face.

Studies that obtain data by interviewing people are called surveys. If the people interviewed are a representative sample of a larger population, such studies are called sample surveys.

Types and Techniques of Interviews

Here are seven of the most popular interview types, as well as how to prepare for each of them.

1. Traditional Job Interview

A traditional interview is an in-person style of interview held with the hiring a manager of a company for a position within an organization. Be prepared to answer a wide range of questions about your experience and why you're right for the job. In addition to finding out if you have the right experience for the job, they want to see that you're well-prepared, enthusiastic and a good fit for the team.

Research the company and your potential boss so that when they ask why you want to work there, you'll be able to give a thoughtful, engaging answer. Knowing more about the specific types of work will prepare you when they say, "Do you have any questions for us?"

A traditional interview may be the first in a series of interviews. If the hiring manager is impressed by you, they might invite you back for a panel interview, or to meet one-on-one with other people on the team.

2. Behavioral Interviews

Behavioral interviews focus on getting to know who you are, how you think and how you'll act in certain situations. Behavioral interview questions might be broad ("Tell me about a time when you handled a stressful situation at work"), or they might be specific ("You received an email from a client asking an urgent question, but you're unsure of the answer and your boss is on a plane, away from email. What would you do?").

Before your first job interview, get used to talking through your answers to behavioral questions out loud. You'll be better able to stay calm and create a short and sweet scenario that gives the interviewer a peek into your mind and problem-solving abilities.

3. Video Interview

With the advent of technology, video interviews have become increasingly common (for ex. Skype Interviews). Presentation and preparation are vital for video interviews, as the combination of technology and distance means it's easy for issues to arise.

Before a video interview, you should:

     Ask who is going to be on the call.

     Confirm the time and date of the interview and make sure to adjust for different time zones for international interviews.

     Figure out where you'll do the interview. Choose a quiet place with a neutral backdrop and few distractions.

     Do a test-call to check your equipment.

     Print a copy of your resume and cover letter so you can refer to them easily.

While a range of traditional and behavioral interview questions might arise during a video interview, you might also have to answer more questions about location or work style.

Dress professionally, even if it's a phone interview. You don't want to be caught unprepared, and a sharp outfit can bolster your confidence. Dress as if you were walking into their office for an in-person interview. Check out our complete guide to video interviewing for more information.

4. Panel Interview

Panel interviews are the most common type of interviews. You should always ask with whom you'll be meeting. Therefore, if you're interviewing with a group of people (as in the case of a panel interview), you won't find yourself surprised upon arrival.

It is essential to address everyone in the room during a panel interview. Begin your answers by making eye contact with the person who asked the question and then pulling back your scope to make "soft eye contact" with other members of the group. (Learn more about that technique here.)

5. Case Interview

Prevalent in the fields of management consulting and marketing, a case interview presents a prospective employee with a series of questions or scenarios to answer or solve. Most of the time, these questions center on business cases or markets. It's vital to practice for these interviews, as succeeding in a case interview is all about mastering a way of thinking.

Successful case interview candidates are the ones who prepare in advance. If case interviews are common in your field, you'll know it. If you haven't started practicing yet, now's the time to start.

6. Informational Interview

Informational interviews are usually less formal than traditional interviews and most of the times are conducted before you've even applied. It's a chance for you to ask questions about what entry-level jobs are like in the field, learn about possible career trajectories and discuss other aspects of work life with someone in the profession. You can find opportunities for informational interviews through many informal channels such as your university's career office, a parent's friend or a former mentor.

Even though it's not a job interview, you should dress professionally, ask well-prepared questions and make eye contact while the person you're meeting with answers them. Consider asking them about their career trajectory, as well as advice they might have for someone starting in the field. Remember to be considerate of the person's time and not to ask for a job or a more formal interview. An informational interview is an educational and networking opportunity. If the meeting goes well, they may ask for your resume to pass along to a friend or another connection in the field. Bring a few copies with you, just in case.

7. Telephonic Interview

A telephonic interview is a 30-min interview which is usually conducted by a recruiter or the hiring manager. It's used to decide whether or not you are invited for an onsite interview.

You should have a copy of the job description as well as your resume and cover letter handy, in case you need to reference them during your conversation. You'll want to prepare to answer standard interview questions like "Tell me about yourself" and "Why are you interested in the position?" It is imperative that you prepare some questions to ask the interviewer, in case there's time for that kind of interaction.

If you get a call unexpectedly for a phone screen, it's best to let the interviewer know it's not a good time and set up one that gives you an opportunity to prepare and be in a quiet place where you can focus.

Guidelines for Preparing for Interviews

Preparing for an interview can be a difficult task, but it’s not impossible. With the help of a few basic interview techniques, it should be fairly simple to crack

Visualizing the Interview:

Visualizing the interview is an excellent way of working out what areas one needs to work on. One should imagine as if they were in a interview where the interviewer is looking at their resume for the first time. One should then imagine the most difficult questions that the interviewer could ask them, e.g. “Why weren’t you more proactive at university?” or “Why has it taken you a whole year to find your first graduate job?”

Then one should try answering these questions. It is also helpful to prepare a format for these answers to be used in an actual interview. Also, one should try to imagine the qualities that the interviewer might be looking for in an ideal candidate. And one should ask themselves, how many of those qualities are possessed by them and how can they be shown in an interview.

Self-Reflection and Selling Oneself:

It’s worth making a list of one's values, interests, strengths and weakness with accompanying examples or evidence to back up each one. One needs to sell these attributes to the interviewer and give examples of times when they have been shown in everyday life.

One also needs to think about why they want the job or position and what you have to offer the organization. What would one change or what ideas would one bring to the role? It might also be worth thinking about one's short-term and long-term career goals.

Asking Questions:

One should not be afraid to ask the interviewer to clarify a question. Questions should also be asked by the interviewee during the interview and not just at the end. The key here is to position oneself so it looks that, whilst they are interested and enthusiastic about the job, they have a sense of their own self-worth. However, it is important that this should not seem as arrogance to the interviewer.

Body Language:

Body language is very important. Slouching with one's arms crossed won’t exactly make them look like a model employee. The head should be straight up and the eyes should meet the interviewer’s line of sight at all times. Making eye contact with the interviewer while speaking to them is almost as important as saying the right words during an interview.

Paying attention:

It’s extremely important to keep one's concentration levels up during the interview and to make sure one listens attentively. Interviewers tend to go on long rants about their organizations but the interviewee must never lose focus and always show the interviewer that he is listening attentively by nodding and smiling.

Speaking correctly:

During an interview the most important thing is to choose one's words carefully. The pronunciation, intonation and syntax must all be appropriate and the words should be spoken as clearly as possible. One should be articulate in expressing one's thoughts and opinions but at the same time it is essential to be cautious of others opinion's and feelings and should try not to hurt them.

Whom to Speak to:

In many cases the interview is conducted by more than one person. One needs to make sure they pay attention to all of the different interviewers. So while answering a question, they should all be given proper attention, so as not to exclude anyone. Although, if an interviewer asks a direct question, it’s important to address the answer solely to them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the ten most frequently asked questions in interviews:

1. Tell me a little about yourself.
2. What experiences have led you here?
3. Why are you a good fit for this position?
4. What will you bring to our team?
5. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
6. Where do you see yourself in five years?
7. How would your boss describe you?
8. Tell me about your work ethic.
9. Why do you want to work here?
10. What questions do you have for us?

Your answers should always come back to how your experiences and education prepared you to succeed in this job. If a potential boss says, "tell me a little about yourself," you can start with some personal details, but don't lose track of the goal.

Figuring out what you have to offer will help you prepare for most interviews. You need to be able to confidently and competently tell your story: Who you are, what you're about, how you got to where you are, what is important to you and how that aligns with that organization."

Some of these questions may seem to have obvious or simple answers, but it's still essential to practice answering them out loud. But don't overdo it. You shouldn't over-rehearse, which can lead to a robotic feel in an interview.

6.6           Formal Presentations

A presentation is a formal talk given on a specific set of topics to inform and educate. They may be short or long, include slides or other visual aids, and be done individually or in a group.

Planning and structuring a presentation is similar to the process of writing an essay, except the speaker needs to be conscious of a live audience and use spoken language instead of written.

Below are the four basic skills required to create a successful presentation:

Step 1: Planning:

While planning a presentation, the following questions should be kept in mind:

1. What is the aim of your research?
2. Why are you presenting it in oral form?
3. What is important about your findings?
4. What is the key focus of your presentation?
5. To whom are you presenting your findings?
6. Are they more or less knowledgeable on the topic than you?
7. What does your audience expect to gain from listening to you?

The presentation must be planned in such a way that it answers all these questions first before moving on to the structuring stage.

Step 2: Structuring the Presentation:

Like an essay, an presentation needs an introduction, body and a conclusion. The introduction may consist of an anecdote or provocative question to engage the audience right from the start. A question that includes your audience will make them want to follow through with you to find out the implications as they relate to them directly. The body will contain the main theme of the presentation where the ideas introduced earlier are explored thoroughly. The concluding statement should be a clear summary of what has been said in the main part of the presentation. It should also point toward further research or conclusive results if possible.

There are a lot of differences in speech and writing, and they must be kept in mind while preparing a presentation.

One of the most obvious ways in which to achieve natural speech is to speak sometimes in the first person - you can refer to yourself in a presentation, for example, "I'd like to start by..." or "Let me give you an example...", whereas in written projects it is best to keep the use of the first person to a minimum.

While preparing for a presentation, visual aids such as PowerPoint presentations could be very useful to illustrate one’s ideas more clearly. It can be very purposeful to employ such visual aids while discussing the central themes of the topic.

Step 3: Preparation:

Preparedness helps in easing nerves nous and boosts confidence. The following considerations should be kept in mind while preparing for presentations.

Time limits:

The presentation must be practiced a number of times to get the pacing right and to ensure the information can be contained in the time provided. Finishing too early might make the audience think that you lack proper material or understanding of the topic whereas finishing too late might make them feel boredom.

Speak from notes:

It's preferable to reduce the original paper to bullet points while presenting so as to not lose eye contact, intonation and good posture.

Body language:

Use of gestures and good posture combined with a smile keeps the audience engaged and interested.

Voice:

Loudness should be ample so that the audience can hear you clearly and the pace should be perfect so they can follow your arguments. Use silence and pauses effectively when making particular points, also speaking in monotone should be avoided.

Step 4: Presentation:

If all of the previous steps are followed carefully, one should be able to present easily and effectively. Questions should be welcomed and special attention should be given to the audience’s reactions and one’s own body language.

It should always be kept in mind what the purpose of the presentation is and all improvisations should be done in accordance to that purpose. The presentation should be ended with a polite “thank you” and all questions from the audience should be answered as clearly as possible.

Importance of the Subject of Presentation

The first thing that must be kept in mind while making a technical presentation is the subject. Since content is central to any presentation, your content must be accurate, factual, and well-organized before there comes any kind of ornamentation to the main content. In an ideal world, you would have a thorough knowledge of your subject matter before you start to present, but we all know that doesn't happen every time. Our clients and supervisors give us assignments just outside our comfort zones, or we change jobs and have to learn new product lines, or a new issue comes up that we have to quickly learn, digest, and be able to explain to someone else.

Advances in presentation technology (like PowerPoints and multimedia) has made it easier to get distracted from the main content of the presentation. Many times, people spend hours working on slideshows and various little details in those slideshows when what really matters is the actual message. It's pretty easy to understand how this happens. Research is hard if you're working on a new subject. And if it's a familiar subject, you feel like you know it so well you don't even have to prepare.

However, keep in mind the great and famous presenters who shaped world history: Moses; Jesus; Gandhi; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Abraham Lincoln. What stands out about these speeches are the concepts expressed and the words used to express them. Most of these orators lived in a time before any kind of visual aids were available (except for Moses, who had the stone tablets) a lack of visuals forced speakers to focus on the message.

People will say that we live in an MTV-world, where everyone is so accustomed to bright colours and flashy packaging that they can't pay attention to anything else. But remember that glitz without substance is just like a tin-foil necklace--something to be tossed aside and forgotten at the earliest opportunity.

The Scope of the Presentation

After the subject of a presentation is defined, the second step is defining the scope of the presentation. The scope of a presentation refers to how much of the subject is covered in the presentation or how much detail the presentation will encompass.

Depending upon the objectives of your presentation and the time you have been allotted, the scope of your presentation can be divided into two types:

1) A broad scope with less detail, or

2) A narrow scope allowing for greater detail.

The broader the scope of a presentation, the harder it becomes to go into detail of each specific topic. Similarly of the scope of the presentation is narrow, it allows you to go in depth regarding specific topics. Depth and scope of a presentation to be decided before starting to create the actual presentation, otherwise a lot of time would be wasted.

Depth and scope decide a duration of the presentation, it is essential to have a balance of depth and scope as the audience often tends to find longer presentations tedious and boring. There is a well-known saying that states 'a successful presentation needs a good beginning and a good ending, and these should be as close together as possible'.

This sentiment is truer now than ever before. Most people have more work than they can comfortably deal with in a working week and they do not appreciate having their time wasted unnecessarily. Even a well-structured and well-delivered presentation will be unpopular if the audience feels that it went on too long.

Know Your Purpose

The purpose of a presentation is a key factor in deciding the content and style of a presentation. Depending upon your purpose – to inform, to analyse, or to persuade – you can create a presentation that will elicit your required response from the audience and eliminate possibilities of unexpected output from them.

Below are some key points one must keep in mind while creating a purposeful presentation:

What's the Purpose of Your Presentation?

1. Specific. The objectives of a presentation must be precise, if they are too general or unspecific you might digress from the central idea of the presentation.
2. Measurable. They only way to know if you have achieved the purpose of your presentation is by measuring it. Therefore, it is essential to set measurable goals and not some far-fetched wayward objective.
3. Achievable. A good presentation is made with the audience in mind. The goals of a presentation should always be achievable with regards to the audience. If the goals are too distant the presentation might fail to make an impact on the audience.
4. Relevant. The presentation should be relevant to your audience and locale. It should be perfectly understood by every member of the audience.
5. Time. Is your purpose achievable in the available time? This is because a fifteen-minute presentation might be too short for a detailed understanding of a new product or a new piece of technology. But it might be just sufficient enough to explain a new procedure to a well experienced audience.

Analysing audience and Locale

We will consider an Engineer as a speaker, you will deliver technical presentations to a wide variety of audiences with different levels of technical knowledge: graduate students, graduates, professors, university administrators, and managers and industry colleagues. Think about what your audience already knows about your topic. If you are not sure how to speak to your audience, imagine discussing your topic with a member of the audience. You could hire different dictionaries and sentence structures to discuss your work with another engineering student rather than defining a marketing student, right? Ideally, you talk to audience members in the field of shared knowledge and lead them to more understanding.

And try to anticipate the feelings of your audience. You should organize your presentation in a different way to a friendly audience than you would a stranger or hostile. Typically, friendly listeners can agree to an instant mention of your main point, followed by supporting information. Doubtful audiences, however, respond positively to the production of shared anxiety, followed by a “delayed thesis,” or the main point (Ramage & Bean, 1995, 164).

Finally, make sure you know what your audience likes the presentations. Does your audience expect or need PowerPoint or other presentation software? Do your audience, like Edward Tufte (2010), despise PowerPoint? Would your audience like other presentation modes, such as showing slides as Web pages (Olivo, 2006)? These types of questions may be difficult to answer for someone with limited knowledge of referrals, but doing the initial research on your audience's expectations will make you a more successful broadcaster/ effective presenter.

A thorough understanding of your audience is important for an effective

Presentation. Never overestimate an audience’s knowledge, never

Underestimate their intelligence. The following questions regarding the audience should be kept in mind before designing a presentation:

1. Who are they?

2. How many will be there?

3. Why are they coming?

4. What do they know about the subject?

5. Why are they interested in the subject?

6. What is their relationship to you?

These questions will hep you determine the perfect strategy to create and present your presentation. Remember your audience can be: friends, colleagues, clients, unknown people or a combination of all of these.

At the start of your presentation make eye contact with your audience. This

Will help you to assess whether they are reluctant, hostile, accepting, interested or simply dull.

One should always begin the presentation with a pleasant greeting and a smile.

Even though your audience might be well educated, don’t go for words rarely used in

Conversation, rather than impressing you will end up in confusing them.

The more meticulous you are in your choice of words, the greater are the

Effects of your oral presentation.

Collecting Materials

After you have identified the main ideas and key concepts you want to incorporate into your presentation, the next step involves converting this information into factual representations such as graphs, models, charts etc.

Manuals, research papers, dissertations, reports, catalogues, news articles etc. obtained from the internet or the local library can prove to be very useful in obtaining information that you would want to include into your presentation.

These supportive materials not only make the presentation more attractive but also make it more informative and interesting. Statistics are often significant with respect to persuasive presentations.

These support materials can be classified into two types viz. Verbal and visual material. Verbal material includes examples (instances used to state a point), explanations, statistics (numerical facts), illustrations (short stories, anecdote, personal experiences), testimonies (expert quotes from various fields), comparisons (similarities and differences). Visual material includes graphs, charts, tables, slideshows, models, objects, handouts, photographs etc.

The various sources from which you can obtain materials for you presentation are as follows:

LIBRARY CATALOGS

A key tool you need to familiarize yourself with is the library catalogue. Today’s modern library has replaced the card catalogue system with a computer that can search several databases for the information you are looking for. It will also usually tell you if this resource is available or already signed out by someone. This computerized system is very similar to those used in your large bookstores today. The process is the same. The library electronic catalogue will also allow you to search other libraries if your local library does not have the information you are looking for.

PERIODICALS

Another wonderful resource available to you is the periodical database. This database contains hundreds of thousands of articles and publications from a large variety of journals, magazines, and publications. Much of the recent and past research done within universities is published in a number of journals, each specific to a particular type of industry. When you are looking to find some good published material to reference for your presentation, this is great place to look.

NEWSPAPERS

Your local library will also have a section with several of the various local and national newspapers. They usually have the current paper along with some of the recent and past newspaper publications. On the morning of all my presentations, you can look at some of the local newspapers in your area (or the area you may be speaking at). You will be amazed how many times you will find a timely article related to your presentation. This not only serves as a good visual aid and prop, it also visually adds credibility to the information you read from the publication. When your audience sees you read from a source, they more readily accept that information. If that newspaper happens to be that morning’s newspaper, then you automatically have shown you have used the most current data.

REFERENCE WORKS

Several types of reference works are available. All of these sources have information collected and organized in an easy-to-use and easy-access format. Two of the most popular types of reference work are: Encyclopaedias. Finding just the right quotation for your presentation can add that special flare you are looking for.

THE INTERNET

The amount of information available to you today on the Internet is staggering. You can find the exact information you are looking for with a few clicks of your mouse. The Internet has changed how people do research and has had a big impact on your local library. You are actually able to search your local library’s database online without leaving your house. In fact, you can search libraries from all over the world and then request to have the book or resource sent to your local library, where you can pick it up. There are many Internet tools you can use, such as search engines, online databases, virtual libraries, and even private publications. Like any other resource, you need to verify and validate the information you find; there is a lot of incorrect information online as well. Regardless of which resources you use, the process from here remains the same. You have to select the information to use and then decide how much of it you will include in your presentation. To accomplish this, you need to know how long your presentation will be. The amount you will be able to discuss in a one-hour presentation differs from the amount you will talk about in a full-day workshop or even a 15-minute overview presentation. The level of the detail may be different in each case; however, the format or structure of your presentation should be the same in all cases. Deciding on the format is your next challenge. It is at this point that you need to decide how much material you will use and in what sequence you will present the material you have chosen. How much material you comfortably present will depend on the length of your presentation.

Preparing Outlines

While defining the scope of a technical presentation, it is essential to know what is to be included in the main content and what isn't. One way to achieve this objective is by making a preliminary outline of the key content in the presentation.

This preliminary outline is made up of a number of topics which support the main content of the presentation. The most difficult part of a presentation is to decide what to include and what to exclude from the presentation. Therefore, the main content of the presentation should be supported by 3-5 key points. If more than 5 points are presented the audience might not be able to keep up and might lose interest in the presentation.

To create an outline for a technical presentation:

1. Note down all the topics that are to be covered in the presentation

2. Brainstorm each topic for 10-15 minutes and come up with key points which can be put into a mind map.

3. Do not spend more time on this activity because you will very quickly hit diminishing returns

4. If you remember a certain key point later you can always add it to the list.

Using a mind-map can be very advantageous at the outlining stage of a presentation. Mind maps allow you to make associations, form links and group similar topics together.

To draw a mind map, take a black piece of paper and start the subject of the presentation at the centre. After that think of all the ideas and concepts associated with the subject and start writing it around the central idea. Try to be as inclusive as possible at this stage. Don't try to edit the list down, just write down everything that occurs to you and don't worry about where to begin, it doesn't matter.

A presentation Outline comprises of several stages:

● State your purpose and main idea and then use these elements to guide the rest of your

Planning.

● Organize your major points and sub-points in logical order, expressing each major

Point as a single, complete sentence.

● Identify major points in the body first, then outline the introduction and close.

● Identify transitions between major points or sections, then write these transitions in

Full-sentence form.

● Prepare your bibliography or source notes; highlight those sources you want to identify

By name during your talk.

● Choose a compelling title. It should be brief, action oriented, and focused on how the audience can benefit from the presentation.

● Add delivery cues, such as places where you plan to pause for emphasis or use visuals.

● Arrange your notes on numbered cards or use the notes capability in your presentation software.

Most speakers like to prepare both a simple and complex outline that provides them with all the necessary cues and reminders they will require to present their material.

Organising the Content

Most technical presentations have three different sections: Introduction, The Middle, and Conclusion.

Visual Aids

Spoken words are ephemeral: as soon as they come out of our mouth they evaporate into air. Because of this limitation, speeches often need strong visual support – handouts, chalkboards, flip chart, slides, computers, charts, tables, film, etc.

The importance of visual aids:

• Increase audience interest
• Illustrate key points
• Signal transition from one part of the presentation to the next
• Increase impact of message
• Help listeners retain information
• Help you; present ideas without depending on notes
• For those not familiar with your language or accent, turn the incomprehensible to understandable.

Guidelines to make effective visuals:

1. If you feel that the audience needs explanations for your visual aids explain to them lest they should misunderstand it.
2. Organize the visual aids as a part of the presentation. Fit them into the plan.
3. Emphasize the visual aids. Point to them with bodily action and with words.
4. Talk to the audience, not to the visual aids. Make sure that lecterns, pillars, charts, and such don’t block anyone’s view. Take care not to stand in anyone’s line of vision.
5. Refrain from removing the aid before the audience has an opportunity to absorb the material.
6. Don’t talk about the visual aid after you have put it aside.
7. Use enough visuals to make your points clear, but don’t overdo it.
8. Don’t use too many lines or figures on one aid, make sure that it’s visible to one and all from all the corners of room.
9. It should not be very light that the audience finds it too hard to see. Too small an illustration will not be visible to those in the back of the audience.
10. Keep them at an inconspicuous place, if aids are too many, or they may distract the attention of the audience.
11. Be familiar with the basic operation of the electronic devices which you would use for your presentation.

As a graduate, you will usually use PowerPoint in your slide projects, but you should be aware of its limitations. Remember three principles:

Delivery Nuances

Below are some useful techniques that may help you while presenting:

Public speakers, politicians, and professional actors get nervous before they get on stage, why shouldn't you? Ironically, a certain level of 'nervousness' works to your advantage because it keeps you alert and boosts your performance. However, learning to channel that energy takes time and practice. Delivery can make or break a presentation, so start planning it early. Prepare your delivery as follows: