Unit - 1

Presentation Skills

1.1 Pronunciation, Intonation, Stress and Rhythm

Introduction:   

"Pronunciation" refers to the way in which we make the sound of words. To pronounce words, we push air from our lungs up through our throat and vocal cords, through our mouth, past our tongue and out between our teeth and lips.

Learning English as a second language is very important to learn how to emphasize words, when we use rhythm in each sentence and how it will be used. These are parts of the pronunciation of the English language. Learning English doesn't read words and phrases. You need to learn how to avoid mother-tongue interference in order to improve speech around native speakers. The role of the mother tongue has an impact on language acquisition, rhythm, repression and psychological structure as they alter the same acquisition process. Therefore, it is necessary to learn the pressure, the rhythm and the sounds because they are components of pronunciation. What do these words mean?

Speech rhythm is one of the different parts of language. The English words spoken have a lot of letters. Some syllables are stressed weak and strong, others emphasized long and short. This is why the English language has its rhythm. It means the length of time between extreme pressure or annexation and it looks like a musical term in people's feelings. All languages ​​are said to have their own rhythm. A person who is sick or weak in the tongue may lose their language without interest or rhythmic sounds. It is easier for children than for adults to learn or acquire the rhythm of a language.

As well as creating correct vowel and consonant sounds using the muscles of our mouth, tongue and lips, there are other important aspects of pronunciation, including:

• Word stress - emphasis on certain syllables in a word
• Sentence stress - emphasis on certain words in a sentence
• Linking - joining certain words together
• Intonation - the rise and fall of our voice as we speak

Intonation

The 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)

   Are you going? (question)

   Examples of some metallic sentences:

   Come live HERE.

   Please stand UP.

   Have you ever been there? Find out more

   You love him, don't you?

   Would you like some sugar?

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.

Why is it important?

Intonation is a layer of meaning beyond words and helps speakers communicate meaning through the rise and fall of the voice. The patterns of rise and fall are described as tones. The different types of meaning intonation communicates include: • grammatical meaning example different tones for types of questions

• status of information example, main or subordinate, finished or unfinished

• attitude example, whether we’re certain or not, have doubts or reservations

• feelings example, whether we’re confident, happy, enthusiastic, sad, bored etc

• relational example, how ‘open’, friendly or ‘closed’ we are towards a listener, or to communicate empathy or shared feeling.

How does it work?

Like stress, intonation operates on a system of contrasts. But now the contrast is between the movement of the voice UP () or DOWN (). Intonation can change the meaning of what a person says even when the same words are used.

STRESS

The word Stress has its origin in the Latin words “strictus”, meaning tight or narrow and “stringere” the verb meaning to tighten. Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional, or psychological strain. Stress is your body's response to anything that requires attention or action. Stress is the force that is put into the word to make the meaning clear in many sentences, where you say some words with more energy and others with less energy. English has accents to emphasize keywords such as verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs we name content such as nouns: bag, sausage, verbs: travel, drive, beat, adverbs: well, fast, and adjectives: fat, big, small. And some words that we do not emphasize are usernames: i, an, a, others, any, auxiliary verbs: am, was, can, can, should, should, adverbs: near, near, behind, etc., conjunctions: but, and, or, etc., pronouns: he, she, we, he, her, etc.

There are eight following patterns of accent in English.

Single syllable- Stressed e.g.

   Dog

   DRINK

   GOOD

   Skip

   WELL

Two Syllable - First Syllable Stressed e.g.

   PAINter

   PENcil

   Women

   DRAWing

   HAPPY

Two Syllable - Second Syllable Stresssed

   poLICE

   reCORD

   tWELVE

   NOTE

   RETURN

Three Syllables - First Syllable Stressed

   INtersting

   REStaurant

   Telephone

   Refreshing

   Phone

Three syllable – Second Syllable Stressed

   tomato

   aggressive

   iTAlian

Three syllable- Third Syllable Stressed

   institute

   volunteer

   interfere

   BETWEEN

Four syllable -Second Syllable Stressed

   geographer

   philosophy

   Very much

   especially

Four syllable – Third Syllable Stressed

   elevator

   graduation

   entertainer

In English, stress is very important to pronounce words clearly in order to understand the dialogue. There are the following types of stress.

Emphatic Stress:

The emphasis that emphasizes the flow of tonic pressure from the final state of speech is to focus on the word content.

It was very exCIted. (unmarked)

It was a lot of fun. (emphasize / say firmly/ strongly)

I can't speak GREAT. (unchecked)

NEVER talk too much. (emphasize / say firmly)

Contrastive Stress:

This pattern is quite different from stress that is not limited to stress and discomfort. Speech has tonic pressure on any words. It is possible between content words and technical words to compare that world of speech.

Consider the following examples:

a)     Do you want this or THAT one?

b)    I want THAT one.

Some unfinished discussions are found in written documents researching contract involvement.

Consider the following sentences:

   He ate a pizza yesterday. (He was the ……….)

   He ate a pizza yesterday. (Not only does he not drink ……….)

   He ate a pizza yesterday. (It was pizza that ……….)

   He ate a pizza yesterday. (It was yesterday…. ……….)

Tonic Stress:

Tonic pressure is a stronghold of stress. If the syllables have tonic pressure call us tonic sillies. The tonic emphasis occurs in the name of the content of the last position of the pronoun.

Consider listed under the tonic syllable.

a)     You learn.

b)    READ BOOK.

c)     You are reading a book on SUNday.

Identifying Stress

Stress is not always easy to recognize, but there are some ways to identify some signs that you might be experiencing too much pressure. Sometimes stress can come from an obvious source, but sometimes even small daily stresses from work, school, family, and friends can take a toll on your mind and body.

If you think stress might be affecting you, there are a few things you can watch for:

• Psychological signs such as difficulty concentrating, worrying, anxiety, and trouble remembering
• Emotional signs such as being angry, irritated, moody, or frustrated
• Physical signs such as high blood pressure, changes in weight, frequent colds or infections, and changes in the menstrual cycle and libido
• Behavioral signs such as poor self-care, not having time for the things you enjoy, or relying on drugs and alcohol to cope.

Time of Depression:

The English language has time to emphasize because the speakers try to make up the length of time to say something similar in stressed collections while other languages ​​are timed. The English language uses time to say the words depending on the number of words.

Cress Size:

There are two compression pressures. The first is primary pressure. It is very important for compound words and emphasizes the last syllabus. Other secondary pressure. It is not a weak sound and is not as important as the main pressure. It provides some of the stress relieving syxables in the name. When a syllable in a word is stressed, it is called a schwa sound. Schwa's sound means that word synchronization is weak and unfounded.

Where can we add accent?

It is very difficult to put pressure on words. It depends on your experience in using words. When we learn English a new word, you have to learn from the dictionary. It will show how the spelling is and how the word is emphasized. You should learn the stress pattern and practice listening to native speakers and English songs. You must listen carefully to improve your presentation. If you found the word confused, you should repeat that name again.

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.

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.

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.

Conclusion:

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.

1.2 Presentation- effective planning, preparing & delivering

Presentation is the art of expressing oneself along with an agenda. Through this, you can achieve high status in your organization or company. With a little effort and some things in mind, you can learn this art.

There is a common saying about the market that what is seen sells only. This also applies to the workplace. What you are doing or about to do, people will understand only when you better put your point in front of them. Whatever the medium, this art is called a presentation. It has an important role in career success. You will find many people whose presentation often goes awry or they deviate from the subject.

In a survey, when a hundred people were asked when you feel the most scared in the workplace, the answer of 90 people was that if they had to speak among the crowd or some people, then their palm would get sweaty. Their fear comes in the way of promotion in the job. Self-confidence falls apart. In such a situation, firstly some basic preparation is needed to improve the presentation skills. A better presentation has two main aspects. The first is well-written content and an effective way of speaking it.

What is an effective presentation?

An effective presentation makes the best use of the relationship between the presenter and the audience. It takes full consideration of the audience’s needs in order to capture their interest, develop their understanding, inspire their confidence and achieve the presenter’s objectives.

Careful planning is essential.

Seven stages in planning a presentation

1. Preparation

Many factors affect the design of your presentation. A powerful presenter will acknowledge and address each of the following:

• Objectives;
• Audience;
• Venue;
• Remit.

Objectives

Why you are making your presentation? Bear in mind what you want to achieve and what you want your audience to take away with them. Once you have decided upon your objectives, you are in a much better position to make strategic decisions about the design and tone of your presentation. For example, a presentation to a seminar group might require a balanced argument, whereas a charity appeal might require a more creative approach. Ask yourself:

• What do you want your audience to have understood?
• What action do you want your audience to take following your presentation?
• How can you best design your presentation to meet your objectives?

Audience

Your audience will have a variety of different experiences, interests and levels of knowledge. A powerful presenter will need to acknowledge these and prepare for and respond to them accordingly. Ask yourself:

• How much will your audience already know about your topic?
• How can you link new material to things they might already understand?
• Will you need to win them over to a particular point of view?

You may not be able to answer these questions for each member of your audience but you should have enough information to ensure that you have targeted your material at the right level for their needs. This might involve avoiding technical jargon or explaining abstract concepts with clear practical examples. If you fail to consider your audience’s needs, you will fail to appeal to their interest and imagination.

Venue

Where will you be making your presentation? What will the room be like? What atmosphere will the physical conditions create? A large lecture theatre might create a formal atmosphere. Similarly, a seminar room might create a less formal tone. Ask yourself:

• What kind of atmosphere do you wish to create?
• How might the room arrangement affect your relationship with the audience?
• Can you do anything to change the arrangement of the room to suit your objectives?
• What audio-visual aids can you use?

Remit

You may well have been given a remit for your presentation; you will need to stick to this. For example, you may have been asked to present a paper at a conference in a certain style or meet certain assessment criteria on your course. Ask yourself:

• How much time have you been allocated?
• Are you required to stick to a common format or style?
• Have any guidelines been set regarding the content of your presentation (i.e, a predetermined title, or a fixed number of overhead transparencies)?

2. Choosing your main points

Once you have thought about the design of your presentation, you can define your main points. Try presenting no more than three main points in a ten minute presentation. Always allow time for an adequate introduction and conclusion. It is difficult for an audience to follow a more complex argument without significant help from the presenter. A powerful presentation delivers information in a logical, structured manner, building on the previous point and avoiding large jumps in sequence. Ask yourself:

• What are the main points you wish to make?
• Are these points structured in a logical, coherent way?
• Do these main points reflect your own objectives and take account of the needs of your audience?

3. Choosing your supporting information

The supporting information helps your audience understand, believe in and agree with your main points. This evidence might take the form of factual data, points of detail or an explanation of process. It might be presented in imaginative ways using diagrams, pictures or video segments. Think about:

• What will add clarity to your argument (explaining complex terms, reminding your audience of any supporting theories)?
• What will add authority to your argument (making connections with other people's work, quoting experts, offering evidence from your own research)?
• What will add colour to your argument (showing a video clip or a slide, using a practical example or a vibrant analogy)?

4. Establishing linking statements

The next stage is to develop the linear flow of your presentation. This can be achieved by using linking statements to show clearly how your main points fit together. Common linking statements include:

• “The next stage in our project was to …”;
• “Another important issue of consideration was …”;
• “By following this argument we can now see that …”.

Linking statements send signals to your audience, highlighting the next point in your argument, linking to earlier ideas or clarifying the stage you have reached in your argument overall. This may be of particular importance in a lengthy presentation where even the most effective presenter has to work hard to keep an audience involved.

5. Developing an opening

The introduction to your presentation is crucial. It is your first point of contact with your audience; you can either capture or lose your audience’s interest in a matter of seconds. Use your introduction to lay a clear foundation for the presentation to follow. Try using the following structure:

• Introduce yourself;
• State what you will be talking about (a title or subject area);
• State how you will be talking about it (e.g. By comparing test results or reviewing the supporting literature);
• State what you intend to be the outcome of your presentation (an informed group, a lively discussion);
• State what you expect your audience to do (listen, take notes, read a handout, ask questions before/during/after).

Always give your audience a moment to absorb this information before moving into your first main point.

6. Developing a conclusion

Your conclusion is another important stage in your presentation. You can use it to remind your audience of your main points, draw these points to a stimulating conclusion and leave your audience with a lasting impression of the quality of your presentation. The following structure provides a powerful conclusion:

• a review of your title or subject area “In this presentation I wanted to explore the relationship between X and Y.”;
• a summary of your main points “We have discussed the following points…”;
• a summary of the process you have been through“By looking at X we have found that Y …”;
• a conclusion clearly drawn from your main points (this must be supported by the detail of your presentation)“It is clear that there can be no substantive relationship between X and Y”;
• a parting statement to stimulate your audience’s thoughts (this might be a question or a bold comment).

7. Reviewing your presentation

Once you have written your presentation make sure that you review its content. Ask yourself:

• Does the presentation meet your objectives?
• Is it logically structured?
• Have you targeted the material at the right level for your audience?
• Is the presentation too long or too short?

Characteristics of a Good/Effective Presentation

The presentation ideas should be well adapted to your audience. Relate your presentation message/idea to the interests of the audience. A detailed audience analysis must be made before the presentation, i.e., an analysis of the needs, age, educational background, language, and culture of the target audience. Their body language instantly gives the speaker the required feedback.

1.  A good presentation should be concise and should be focused on the topic. It should not move off-track.

2. A good presentation should have the potential to convey the required information.

3.   The fear should be transformed into positive energy during the presentation. Be calm and relaxed while giving a presentation. Before beginning, wait and develop an eye contact with the audience. Focus on conveying your message well and use a positive body language.

4.   To communicate the desired information, the speaker should use more of visual aids such as transparencies, diagrams, pictures, charts, etc. Each transparency/slide should contain limited and essential information only. No slide should be kept on for a longer time. Try facing the audience, rather than the screen. The speaker should not block the view. Turn on the room lights else the audience might fall asleep and loose interest. Organize all the visuals for making a logical and sound presentation.

5.    A good presentation must be planned. The speaker must plan how to begin the presentation, what to speak in the middle of presentation and how to end the presentation without losing audience interests at any point of time.

Rehearse and practice the presentation. This will help the speaker to be more confident and self-assured. The more the speaker rehearses the better the presentation turns to be.

6.   The speaker should encourage more questions from the audience. He should be honest enough to answer those questions. If any biased question is put forth by the audience, rearticulate it before answering.

7.   Summarize the presentation at the end. Give final comments. Leave a positive impact upon the audience.

8. The speaker must have a presentable appearance while giving a presentation. The speaker should stand with feet far apart maintaining a good balance. He must use confident gestures. He must use short and simple words.

9.  Try to gain and maintain audience interest by using positive quotes, humour, or remarkable fact.

10.  The speaker must be affirmative and optimistic before giving presentation. He should ensure all tools and equipments to be used in presentation are working well.

11. The speaker must state the objectives of the presentation at beginning of the presentation.

Presentation Skills, Types of Presentation Skills, Techniques Of Presentation, Effective Presentation:

Types of Presentation Skills

Presentations can typically be categorized into four basic forms depending upon their purpose:

1. Informative: Informative presentations are common in the corporate world, typically to inform listeners about a specific event or project or to give the audience basic information. For example, a stockbroker might use an informative presentation to inform clients about projected changes within the securities market.

2. Instructive: Instructional presentations exist to provide directions or orders to a specific audience for teaching audience members new skills or presenting key information. This type of presentation typically runs longer than other types of presentations depending on how complex the subject is. An instructional presentation from a builder, for instance, might detail all the steps needed to plan construction, install water and electrical systems, fire escape, blueprints and more.

3.  Persuasive: Persuasive presentations are those in which the speaker works to convince members of the audience to accept a proposal or the speaker is trying to make a sale. For instance, a city councilperson may use a persuasive speech to urge the rest of the council to allot more tax money for a brand-new park.

4.  Decision-Making: Decision-making presentations are useful for professionals when their company has to choose specific policies or to make decisions about the company’s organizational structure. These types of presentations are generally highly interactive because the presenter introduces an idea or set of concepts that the entire group in attendance will work together on.

Depending upon the requirement, presentations can be classified into eight main forms:

1. Visual Presentation: A visual presentation involves the use of visual elements such as PowerPoint slides, videos, images, graphs and charts etc. for presenting an idea. This visual presentation technique is efficient for individuals who have many important talking points. This form of presentation includes a visual of what the speaker is talking about in the presentation.

2. Coach Presentation: The coach presentation style is typically employed by energetic and charismatic speakers.  This presentation style is a great style to use with an audience who needs to be sold on an idea. Coach presentation is oral and does not involve too much detail in the presentation of ideas.

3. Instructor Presentation: The instructor presentation method is used to inform or educate the audience regarding a complex subject. With this form of presentation high impact visuals are used to get the point across to the audience. This presentation style is appropriate for speakers who are well-versed at presenting and are comfortable with their subject.

4. Freeform Presentation: The freeform presentation method doesn't employ the use of visual methods. This style of speaking is very impromptu and colloquial. This presentation style is useful for a speaker who has a short speech and knows their presentation points well.

5. Storytelling Presentation: The storytelling type of presentation relies on stories and examples to make points in their presentation. This style is suitable if only if the speaker has a lot of time to get their point across. This type of presentation may also appropriate for networking events and conferences. This presentation technique often has a question and answer session at the end of the presentation.

6. Connector Presentation: Connector presentations highly encourage audience feedback. The speaker will try to connect to the audience through their similarities. Sales and marketing presentations are often connector presentations.

7. Interactive Presentation: The interactive presentation method requires interaction between the speaker and the audience. The presenter can connect with the audience by passing out speaker notes or an outline before the presentation. The speaker could also interact with the audience by using a whiteboard or host a webinar. This style helps keep the audience engaged with what the speaker is saying.

8. Educational Presentation: The educational type of presentation is for a speaker who is teaching the audience. Educational presentations are useful for launching new products or informing the audience regarding a new technology. The audience can also be taught about the new product while the speaker is selling or offering it.

Subject of Presentation

The first thing that must be kept in mind while making a 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.

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:

• A broad scope with less detail, or
• 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.

Outlining the Presentation

While defining the scope of a 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 presentation:

• Note down all the topics that are to be covered in the presentation
• Brainstorm each topic for 10-15 minutes and come up with key points which can be put into a mind map.
• Do not spend more time on this activity because you will very quickly hit diminishing returns
• 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.

Using Visual Aids

• 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.
• Most presentations have three different sections: Introduction, The Middle, and Conclusion.
• Draft the Introduction:

Think of it as a journalist: the introduction should explain "in your research, who, when, when, and why. The Middle Ages will explain" how. " Your title slider will convey most of this information. Foreign currency for your research, your slide title should identify the source of your support. In this section, see your Introduction as a bad draft.

• Concentrate on the Middle and Conclusion:

Visualize yourself at the end of the presentation. What do you really want the audience to learn, or take away? Engineering experts recommend that you focus on 3-5 points per presentation (Document, 2009). But in a busy conference, most of us can remember exactly the main point of each speaker (Alley, 2003, 153.). Organize your points in order of importance. Make sure that all the information you put in the Middle on your presentation gives your most important point; many unnecessary details will reveal important details. Select the most convincing visual data to use as supporting evidence.

• Organize your argument and support:

First, protect your computer (Grant, 2010). Instead write your points on note cards and arrange the cards, so that you can see the whole structure where you look and then make quick changes. When you start this project on presentation software, you run the risk of wasting time with the slide design details. This process will also help remove unnecessary information that does not support your main points. Pre-empting the notecard, you have written instead of deleting the slide took an hour to complete.
Repetition helps you emphasize important details. If you want the audience to remember the point, give it a go in advance, present the information as clearly as possible, and repeat your point in conclusion.

• Finally, return to your introduction:

Review all of your draft content, including your title. Make sure that your introduction explains why your work is important - and why it should pay attention to you. Also explain the main context of your work (or "big picture") of a very small member with expert audience experience; that person may have the power or money to help you. If your presentation will last longer than 5 minutes, provide an overview slide to present the content. You can use the overview to define your rating: what to discuss and what not to do.

Delivery Nuances

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:

Create note cards. Even if you are asked to “present the paper,” do not plan to read the paper aloud. Explain it on the cards, stating important points. Make sure you know the sources for all your information. When using presentation software, sources should be identified on the slide. Otherwise, strip the source to your note cards. You may be called to your sources for a question-and-answer session.

Practice in front of friends - not just a mirror. It's amazing how quickly your brain will despise the 10 hours of homework you do when dealing with another human being. A real audience, no matter how small, will help give you a sense of "sensation" to experience and alert you to hats clearly or to create errors on your slides. Practice keeping eye contact as much as possible. Practice twice, and notice your progress. If you are spoken lightly, practice in a very large academic room. Ask your friend to sit in the back row to practice the voice sequence.

Visit the site/ location if possible. Introduced on campus, you should be able to visit the room ahead of time.

Note the size of the room and where you will stand. When presenting in the main lecture hall, check your slides so they can be seen from the back row. Check the projector and screen controls and schedule technical support if necessary.

Remember Murphy's laws. Prepare your laptop to crash, the projector light to explode, so that your partner cannot be seen. If you are presenting outside the University, prepare a final program to bring your speech from memory, by handouts.

Anticipate questions and challenges. Be prepared to specify each major point. Prepare to support your sources, methods, and conclusions without coming up in defence. If you don't know the answer, say so.

Handling Questions

Most presentations are followed up with a questions and answer period. To some people this could be one of the most exciting parts of the presentation, whereas to others it can be their worst nightmare. In fact, there are some presenters who purposely avoid the questions and answer period altogether. Below are some techniques on handling questions during and after a presentation:

1. Listen to the entire question. Listen to the whole question before you start to answer any questions. Too many of us start responding to an issue before the whole question is even asked. Not waiting to listen to the whole questions may result in you providing a response which had nothing to try to with the question. Force yourself to concentrate to the whole question and confirm you understand the question.

2.  Pause and permit yourself time to value the question and listener. Repeat the question out load therefore the entire audience can hear it. It is important that everybody "hears" the question or the solution you provide might not add up to a number of the people. Repeating the question may allow you some overtime to gauge the question and formulate a response.

3.  Credit the Person for asking the question. You may say something like, "That was an excellent question" or, "Glad you asked that question" or maybe, "I get asked that question a lot". One word of caution. If you credit one person with raising an issue, make certain to credit everyone for raising an issue. You don't want people to feel their question wasn't as important.

4.  Respond to the Question honestly and the best you can. If you are do not know a solution to an issue, don't attempt to fake it. Be honest, and tell them you are doing not know but do promise to research the solution for them and do revisit to them.

5.  Bridge to subsequent question by asking them a question. "Does that answer your question?", "Is that the type of data you were looking for?". This is often critical. Once they answer you, "yes" you now have permission to travel on to subsequent person. This also gives them another opportunity to mention, "No" and permit them to clarify their question more by asking it again.

Tips for creating a great PowerPoint presentation

When preparing a PowerPoint presentation, it’s a good idea to create with intention, cohesion and purpose. A slideshow should include a clean design and key visual elements to assist audience engagement. Here are several things to think about in your approach and an in-depth check out each of them:

1. Outline Your Presentation: The purpose of a PowerPoint is to focus on key information. Start by making an overview of what you’d like your presentation to appear like. Minimize the number of slides so as to take care of a clear message. Creating an outline before time will assist you in staying focused on what to present to your audience.

2.  Create an Easy Template: Once you have got an idea of what you’d like your presentation to incorporate, consider the visual elements that might correspond to your talking points. A well-designed presentation is vital for keeping your audience captivated.

Make your presentation stand out from the remainder by creating one of your own that's simple, refined and professional. Consistent backgrounds and slide formats will present your message with more transparency, as well. The content within each slide may vary, but the design elements should remain the same.

3.  Consistency with Fonts and Colours: Your audience’s interest and comprehension can be increased with a sleek template paired with consistent design elements. Choose fonts and colours that correspond with your subject material and make the data easily readable.

Fonts

• Limit your presentation to 2 to 3 fonts.
• Try using for sans serif fonts like Futura or Gill Sans that are easier to read on PowerPoint slides.
• Keep a large font size (at least size 24) that your audience can read from afar.
• Use bold type and multiple sizes for subheads, captions or to intensify overall importance.
• Avoid italicized type because it can be harder to read.

Colours

• Limit the types of colours you employ throughout your presentation.
• Choose a colour scheme that matches your subject matter. For instance, you may use greens and blues if presenting a subject associated with the environment.
• Use modern colours and pairings like teal and red, opposites like blue and yellow or a colour scheme palette like blue, green and cyan shades.
• Use contrasting colours in each slide (i.e. dark text on a light background and light text on a dark background).

4. Focus on Your Key Points: When writing the text for your presentation, concentrate on the most essential material you want to cover. Your PowerPoint must guide the flow of your speech. Keeping your points simple will allow your audience to better comprehend your message. Make sure each sentence holds a purpose. Consider adding short and precise sentences to keep your presentation concise.

Many times, words can hinder more than they help when explaining a point. It’s also significant to keep in mind that visual elements such as photos, graphics, graphs and charts must be utilized in PowerPoint presentations in conjunction with the text.

5. Utilize the Right Type of Chart When Necessary: Charts and graphs are a great way to display a statistical data set and add another visual element to a PowerPoint presentation. Choose a chart type that best explains your data. The following are suitable choices:

• Pie charts: For comparing percentages.
• Horizontal bar graphs: For comparing quantities.
• Vertical bar graphs: For showing changes in quantity over time.
• Line graphs: For showing trends over time.

6. Use Transitions with Caution: If you use too many transitions between slides, it may easily distract your audience and make it more challenging to understand your message. If you’re using transitions, use no more than two types of effects, choose simple transitions and don’t use them between every slide.

7. Avoid Sound Effects: Sound effects can obstruct your presentation and distract others from your message. Your audience can easily lose focus with sound effects that are unrelated to your presentation. Use music only when extremely necessary to highlight a point and try to avoid irrelevant sound effects altogether.

8. Use Audio and Video if Necessary: Audio-visual aids are a great way to gain the audience’s attention and will make the subject matter simpler to comprehend. These multimedia elements can often state your thoughts more easily and will separate any string of text-filled slides. Try to use audio and video that adds value to your presentation and does not digress from your overall message.

9. Use Quality Images: Images are a great way to separate the monotony of text and statistical content in a presentation. When adding photographs or graphics to your presentation, make sure the resolution is large enough to fit within the confines of your layout and not be blurry at the same time. If needed, use open-source websites such as Gettyimages.com for high-quality images to add to your presentation.

10. Review Your Presentation upon Completion: Once you think you have completed your presentation and covered every topic, review your slides from the beginning. A well-edited PowerPoint will add credibility and value to your work. Read through every slide as if you’re seeing it for the first time, check for redundancy and remove anything that doesn’t add value. Simplify your wording and proofread for spelling and grammar.

A PowerPoint’s purpose is to highlight key points in your message. Rehearse your presentation, time yourself and use the slides to navigate through your speech. Know your subject material and when you feel ready to present, do so confidently.

Effective Presentation

A formal 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 an effective 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, a 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.

Key Takeaways

1. Presentations usually serve four main purposes: to inform, to instruct, to persuade and to help make decisions.

2. There are 8 main forms of presentations:

• Visual
• Coach
• Instructor
• Freeform
• Storytelling
• Connector
• Interactive
• Educational

3.  The most common types of presentations are visual, instructor and educational

4.  Most presentations are a mixture of one or more of the given types.

5. A Formal/business Presentation is a formal talk given a specific set of topics to inform and educate, it typically includes the use of visual aids such as PowerPoint slides.

6. Formal presentation can be done individually or in a group as per the requirement

7. There are four basic skills of effective presentations: Planning, Structuring, Preparing and Presenting

8. A business 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.

9. The first thing that must be kept in mind while making a presentation is the subject. The content of the presentation must be accurate, factual, and well-organized before there comes any kind of ornamentation to the main content.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. A PowerPoint presentation may be a collection of slides curated to inform an audience on a specific topic. PowerPoint is a part of various software designed for office use be Microsoft called Microsoft Office.

13. The purpose of a PowerPoint is to focus on key information. Start by making an overview of what you’d like your presentation to appear like. Minimize the number of slides so as to take care of a clear message.

14. It is essential to understand the use of fonts and colours while making presentation to leave a lasting impact on the audience.

15. When writing the text for your presentation, concentrate on the most essential material you want to cover.

16. Charts and graphs are a great way to display a statistical data set and add another visual element to a PowerPoint presentation. Choose a chart type that best explains your data.

17. Avoid using too many transitions in between slides as they can distract the audience from the main content of the presentation.

18. Audio-visual aids are a great way to gain the audience’s attention and will make the subject matter simpler to comprehend.

19. Review and edit the presentation after completion.

20. The structure of a presentation must include an introduction, a body and a conclusion.

21. 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.

22. To present effectively one can: prepare note cards, practice in front of friends, visit the location of the presentation, and anticipate questions and challenges.

23. It is essential to keep in mind that handling questions during an after the presentation is an integral part of the presentation process and must plan their presentation accordingly.

References:

1. Oxford Guide to writing and speaking, John Seely, O.U.P
2. A Communicative Grammar of English, Leech, G.N. And Jan Svartvik
3. Better English Pronunciation, J.O O’ Corner, Cambridge.
4. Effective Technical Communication, M.Asraf Rizvi, Tata McGraw Hill
5. Technical Communication Today, Bovea et al. Pearson.