Unit 3
Technical Presentation: Strategies and Techniques
Most presentations are followed up with a quiz or a question 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 question and answer period altogether. Below are some techniques on handling questions during and after a presentation:
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.
2. What is interpersonal method of presentation? Give some strategies for interpersonal presentations.
Interpersonal methods are dependent on the speaker/presenter’s interactions with his audience. But there may be many hindrances which may not allow the speaker to be as efficient as possible. Are you aware of your strengths and weaknesses as a presenter? You may have some ideas already. For example, if you are very soft-spoken, you may consider that to be a weakness if you’re on a stage, especially without a microphone. Soft-spoken people also sometimes keep low-key in other ways; maybe they’re plainer in the way they dress or have less expressive mannerisms. Many people think that to be effective on stage you must be a rip-roaring extrovert. This is not true. No matter who you are, if you are aware of the qualities that make you a unique individual and you spend time getting to know your audience, you can convert perceived weaknesses into potential strengths. Conversely, if you are so overconfident about your abilities that it shows itself in poor preparation and lack of concern for your audience or environment, your strengths can quite quickly become weaknesses.
Your first step in helping define what makes you yourself is to look at what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing. At the same time, this helps you distinguish what you’re not so good at and what you don’t enjoy. Make a list as you go through the next sections on your verbal and non-verbal communication techniques to get a reasonable prediction about how to focus your strategy as a presenter.
There are 5 basic steps to the interpersonal presentation method:
Self-awareness implies being aware of one’s own thoughts, feelings and emotions. This activity helps in gaining emotional intelligence which in turn helps in effective communication. Every individual is projecting subconscious messages throughout the day that might affect other people around them, therefore it is essential that one is mindful of their thoughts and only share what they want to.
2. Being Respectful and Empathetic Towards Others
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions no matter how different or abstract they may be. To be a good presenter one must always respect another’s opinion with no judgment or condemnation. Empathy is a quality every great thinker and communicator throughout history, if one cannot be empathetic towards others one cannot understand how they feel or what they think in any given situation, therefore it is necessary that one should be compassionate and empathetic towards others.
3. Actively Listening to others
Listening is probably the most underrated skill among the 4 basic communication skills. But much like the other skills it has to be honed and developed. Only when one listens clearly can one respond to a given message. It is easy to passively keep on hearing the speaker but it is difficult to actively listen as it requires total attention on the receiver’s part.
4. Avoiding Talking Over Others
While listening one tends to convey his thoughts as soon as he thinks of them without considering whether the speaker has finished speaking or not, this leads to being perceived as rude and hasty. To avoid this one must let the speaker finish first and then convey their thoughts as clearly as possible.
5. Saying “Yes” Before Saying “No”
It is essential to not outright reject new ideas and thoughts without listening to them or acting upon them. If one does not hear a topic that appeals to his own ideals or opinions, he tends to reject the new without even listening to it. This process inhabits one’s ability to expand one’s horizons and should not be continued.
3. What is impersonal method of presentation? Give some tips for effective impersonal presentations.
Impersonal Presentation methods require the speaker to use a form of language which does not address the audience and themselves directly. It involves communication in the form of impersonal pronouns. This type of language is useful when the presentation is to be performed in front of an unknown audience or in formal situations where the audience is not very familiar to the speaker. There are several ways in which Impersonal methods may be used for effective presentations, they include:
4. What is the process of audience analysis before a presentation?
We will consider an Engineer as a speaker, you will deliver official 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. Ideally, you talk to audience members in the field of shared knowledge and lead them to more understanding.
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:
These questions will help 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.
5. Give some useful methods for audience retention during a presentation.
Below are some useful methods for keeping the audience interested in a presentation:
6. What is stage fear or performance anxiety? What are its main causes?
Stage fright and performance anxiety are perfectly normal phenomena that occur in the majority of people before a public speech or presentation (to some varying degree). It can manifest as anxious jitters before a performance, or, for some people, it may be so debilitating that it actually prevents you from speaking, performing, presenting, and so on.
First of all, it's important to know what stage fright or performance anxiety is, because it's very hard to overcome something that you don’t fully understand. Anxiety, as outlined by Kaplan and Saddock’s introduction to psychiatry, usually consists of excessive worry which is accompanied by either motor tension or restlessness. In performance anxiety when a person is performing in front of an audience, this worry takes your focus off of your presentation, speech, or whatever else you wish to do before of an audience, and drives your attention instead to your fears and worries. The speaker or performer is now no longer interested in how they are going to communicate the message, but are only interested in the fact that they are really scared of that communication, which only further exacerbates the anxiety.
Causes of Stage Fright
Many people are unaware of the underlying causes of their performance anxiety. There are several factors that may be involved and each individual’s causes and experience with this fear may be different. Here are the most widely identified causes for the fear of public speaking:
The benefits of reducing your fear of speaking publicly will sharpen your speaking skills in the workplace and may help you to:
7. How can one overcome stage fear? Give methods.
When you identify what causes your stage fright and the effects of it, then you may be more aware of what you need to do to overcome your fear of public speaking. Below are some effective techniques for overcoming stage fear:
When you organize yourself, you're more likely to possess a clear mind so you'll be able to better concentrate on your key points. You may get organized by:
2. Practice
Your nervousness will dissipate after you practice and practice often. Before you write out cue cards, it can be helpful to jot down out a script that you can read over a few of times to memorize certain details that support your key points. It’s hard to understand what you're doing right once you practice on your own.
Once you complete any or all of these tasks, you'll be able to change your presentation accordingly.
3. Visualize a positive outcome
Think about what a positive outcome appears like, feels like and sounds like to you. Write down these outcomes and identify any probable alternative outcomes. Scratch a line through any outcome you would not want to happen and circle the outcomes that you would like to happen. You may also practice the audience reaction with a person that listens to your speech before you perform it to a big or small group.
4. Get support
It is easier to beat a fear if you have people to encourage you who have experienced similar things as you. There are several ways you can get support before you speak publicly.
Here are a few ways you may want to take advantage of:
5. Start small
There are steps you can take before you overcome your fear of oral presentation and master the art of giving speeches. Start small by:
Starting with small events will likely provide you with the confidence and expertise you need to feel to be able to speak in front of larger audiences.
8. Describe the visual method of presentation. What are the steps in making a PowerPoint presentation?
PowerPoint presentations are an excellent way to present information visually and highlight key points. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint that highlights key elements, communicates ideas and increases the audience’s retention on the subject matter. Learning what to incorporate and how to format PowerPoint slides can make your presentation more visually appealing.
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. PowerPoint presentations are often used for business or educational purposes. Slides within the PowerPoint include but are not limited to text, images, graphics and other elements that help illustrate the subject matter. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint so as to take care of your audience’s attention throughout your presentation.
You can use a PowerPoint presentation:
How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation
You can create a PowerPoint presentation in Microsoft Office- PowerPoint. Below are the steps to be followed to create a PowerPoint Presentation:
2. After opening the application, click “Blank Presentation” on the opening screen and edit it to your liking. You can also create a brand-new PowerPoint by clicking “File” to change to “Backstage View” then “New.” this will offer you the choice to settle on a blank presentation, choose a template or search templates.
3. On the “Home” tab, click the “New Slide” button in the Slides group to create as many as needed for your presentation.
4. To select a unique layout for subsequent slides, click the “Layout” button within the “Home” tab to display the gallery of slide layouts and choose the layout of your choosing.
5. You can then add text, images and graphics to every layout using the toolbar.
6. Once you’re ready to give your presentation, click on the “Slide Show” tab and click “From Beginning.”
7. To go to the next slide, click anywhere on the slide or press the right arrow key.
8. Once you’re finished with your PowerPoint, you can save it on your computer by pressing ‘Ctrl + s’ keys or clicking save under the file menu.
9. Give techniques for making an effective PowerPoint presenation.
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:
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
Colours
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:
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.
10. What are the different modes of presentation?
Extemporaneous Presentation
The extemporaneous presentation is a type of presentation which is prepared, but not memorized. In an extemporaneous presentation, you do not write down
your whole presentation word for word but instead use bullet points, key words and key phrases to trigger the next thought. Note cards or sheets of paper encased in plastic covers are the most efficient methods of delivering this presentation.
In this type of presentation, the contact with the audience is the maximum. The content and length of the presentation can be altered even while the presentation is in progress. Even though you are carefully prepared, you should not sound memorized or that you are reading your notes to the audience during an extemporaneous presentation.
Manuscript Presentation
A manuscript presentation is type of speech given by reading directly, word for word, from a previously prepared written message. This type of presentation involves verbatim reading of a speech and is most commonly used when there are no time constraints or the speech may be telecast.
An advantage to manuscript presentation is familiarity as one has to repeat the exact same words they see before them. However, one major downside is that it can be quite mechanical and monotonous and therefore uninteresting to the audience.
In your career you will probably deliver fewer than 20% of your presentations using a manuscript. These presentations will require you to be well prepared in advance. These speeches will usually be presented to large audiences in a meeting room or auditorium type facility and will be delivered from a lectern.
Impromptu Presentation
An impromptu presentation is type of speech which you have to give in public without any preparation whatsoever. It is a presentation that one can be asked to provide with no prior notice. It can be one of the most terrifying speeches you’ll ever do; standing up in front of a crowd and having to speak for a few minutes without preparation is daunting even for the most seasons speakers. It’s not likely to happen often, however when it does, you don’t want to be caught completely off-guard.
Visual Presentation/ Power Point Presentation
PowerPoint presentations are an excellent way to present information visually and highlight key points. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint that highlights key elements, communicates ideas and increases the audience’s retention on the subject matter. Learning what to incorporate and how to format PowerPoint slides can make your presentation more visually appealing.
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. PowerPoint presentations are often used for business or educational purposes. Slides within the PowerPoint include but are not limited to text, images, graphics and other elements that help illustrate the subject matter. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint so as to take care of your audience’s attention throughout your presentation.
11. What are the five main elements of public speaking?
Public speaking can be defined as a presentation which is given in front of a live audience. It is a performance-based art. The goal of public speaking may be to educate, influence or entertain the audience.
Public speakers often implement visual aids such as power-point presentations; relevant objects etc. to get their content across more easily.
Public speaking is different to an online presentation is the sense that an online presentation is made as per the viewer’s discretion whereas public speaking is performed at a specific time and place.
Public speaking consists of five main elements:
12. State the importance of public speaking.
It is significant to note that one of the most important rules of public speaking is to know one’s audience. In other words, the speaker must know how to talk to and influence his audience, to know which words will carry more effect, how his audience will react to a certain idea, what is the knowledge base or background of his audience etc.
13. Provide some useful methods for effective public speaking.
Methods for effective public speaking:
Watching other efficient public speakers is a good way to learn and practice but everybody is different. That means that there aren't any rules for what makes an efficient orator. Part of being an authentic orator is knowing the way to be yourself when underneath the spotlight. Acting like yourself instead of trying to imitate somebody else allows you to behave more organically, which may be a boon when attempting to connect with an audience.
2. Knowing the Purpose of the Speech:
One should always know whether they want to influence, educate or inspire the audience and depending upon that one should decide how to formulate their speech.
3. Expanding Knowledge Base, Presentation tools and Vocabulary:
Reading about various topics is a great way to expand one’s horizons. ‘Always keep learning’ should be the motto of every public speaker. The speaker should be updated with current affairs and should have a vast vocabulary to incorporate within his speeches. One should also learn how to use electronic slideshows and other presentation tools as they provide an edge to the speech.
4. Playing to One’s Strengths:
Some people are good at storytelling others are good at using information to influence people. One should find out his strengths and practice them time and time again. The most efficient speakers are ready to effectively identify their strengths and use those strengths as tools to make a presence that's authentic and relatable.
5. Improvisation:
While speaking it is rare that things go exactly as planned. Therefore one should practice how to improvise when he fumbles or goes blank. Sometimes the presentation tool may malfunction, a listener may ask a question that the speaker is not prepared to answer or the speaker may simply forget one of their points, in situations like these, improvisation helps to get back on track and prevents the audience from losing interest.
6. Audience is the Center
The speaker is not the focus of the event, the audience is. All good orates cares more about the audience than themselves. This can be difficult if one has speech anxiety, which tends to fill them with bursts of anxiety and self-consciousness. However, focusing fully on the audience lifts a tremendous burden from your shoulders in terms of worrying about your performance.
One should practice taking the audience’s reactions into notice.
7. Using Body Language and Gestures:
Body language and gestures say as much as the words themselves. One should practice employing gestures as much as possible while speaking. Smiling and being active in general is useful for keeping the attention of the audience on the speaker.
8. Recording and Reviewing:
One of the most effective public speaking practice techniques is to record oneself while speaking, preferably video recording. Although few people like their own voice, the audience’s viewpoint is more important. Are you gesturing with your hands too much? Is the intro too long? Should you include a story in the middle, so you hold the audience’s attention? All of these questions are important to answer, and it can be easiest to do so by seeing yourself.
9. Practicing in front of Friends and Family:
Asking family or friends to be practice audience members is a good way to know where one is going right or going wrong. In most cases, these two groups of people know you better than anyone else in your life. That means that, although you may not want to hear it, they know your bad habits better than anyone.
In addition to your bad habits, your family and friends will also be able to tell you if you don’t quite sound like yourself.
14. What is the role of humour in public speaking?
When used properly, humour is a powerful tool in any speaker’s arsenal and it can have tremendous benefits:
It creates a bond with the audience
A speaker who uses humour well comes across as more human, more likeable. This puts an audience at ease and makes people more receptive to your ideas. As British comedian John Cleese has said, “If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas.”
It energizes people and keeps them engaged
When we laugh, there is a lot that goes on inside our body. Our heart rate increases and that keeps us stimulated and alert.
It can provide emotional relief for the audience
Many talks are serious and many talks are emotionally challenging for an audience. Well-placed humour can give your audience some much-needed relief in an otherwise serious talk.
It helps the audience remember your points
Laughter has been shown to improve memory and cognitive function. This helps the audience remember your ideas.
It leaves the audience with a good impression of the speaker
American poet, Maya Angelou, said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
15. What are the benefits of emotions and audience connections in public speaking?
Emotions make humans different from the rest. Having emotions distinguish us from robots. Having emotions is what makes us humans. Feelings make us feel alive. Having emotions helps us to know one another. Having an emotional impact on the audience will allow the following:
Emotions help the speaker to relate to the audience and make the audience understand the message.
The main reason for giving a speech is to induce the message across to your listeners; whether you want to educate, persuade or inspire them. When a speaker shares a true-life experience, a speaker tells a story. By telling the story with feelings, the audience will understand what the speaker went through and also the points that the speaker is trying to make. The speech message will get across to the listeners faster and more practical. Through understanding, the questions of why, how and what are often answered.
Emotions helps speaker to connect with the audience.
Every time you hear a speech, you're always trying to find something or someone who you'll be able to relate too. what's the purpose of listening to someone who that does not understand you? A speaker who speaks with feelings can connect easily with the audience.
Emotions move the audience.
The use of emotions is vital especially when you try to inspire and motivate your audience. you need to deliver your speech with enthusiasm and dynamism. The audience will be inspired and motivated by you. you'll be able to convince them, to move them and drive them towards changing their life and their mind-set. History has proven that powerful speeches changed the planet and the greatest speakers in history delivered their speeches with passion, intensity and filled with heart.
Emotions make the speech more interesting.
The audience will not be interested in the speech of a speaker who does not show emotions while speaking. These expressions allow the audience to relate to what is being said and develops a sense of empathy in them towards the speaker.
16. What is Individual Conferencing (IC)? What are its advantages?
Individual Conferences (IC), or one-on-one conferences are a critical tool of supervision, is arranged to facilitate interaction, sharing and feedback between supervisor and supervisee in an exceedingly systematic, planned and confidential setting. ICs are supposed to be held weekly during the assigned time. It provides a platform to debate the problems and concerns arising out of field work.
The supervisor is expected to facilitate the participants to relate theory with practice, and monitor their progress in terms of accomplishment of field work tasks and objectives and improvement in quality of reporting. It provides the participants, an opportunity to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses and work on them for the betterment. All participants are mandatorily required to attend all such Supervisory conferences. Field work without IC is considered as unsupervised field work and stands a chance of being cancelled.
There are certain advantages to individual conferences which are listed below:
17. What are the essentials of individual conferencing?
Individual conferencing gives each participant personal face time with the supervisor in a designated space. In case of a student-teacher conference, individual conferences allow teachers to assess the abilities of students more efficiently while also allowing them to focus on strength and weaknesses of each individual student. Conferencing is an efficient technique to promote and develop relationships and gather important and specific data.
The essentials of individual conferencing are as follows:
18. Which are the fundamental skills required for creating a successful classroom presentation?
A Class Room 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:
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.
19. What is interpersonal communication? Describe the basic interpersonal communication skills.
Interpersonal communication skills are the skills one uses while communication with individuals or groups in their everyday lives. People with good interpersonal communication skills often tend to be more successful than people who lack them. Interpersonal communication skills are vital in all areas of one’s life. People with good interpersonal communication skills are able to work well with other people and are also good with social interactions.
Though they are more targeted towards communication, interpersonal skills also include understanding body language, active listening, using gestures to express thoughts and feelings, and also dealing with different attitudes. They also include the skills and attributes associated with emotional intelligence, or being able to understand and manage your own as well as others’ emotions.
Interpersonal skills are extensively useful in work environments, they help maintain good social relationships among colleagues and also help mitigate employer-employee affairs.
Some of the most common interpersonal skills are:
20. What are some methods for improving interpersonal communication skills?
The development of interpersonal communication skills requires dedication and effort. The following are some of the ways in which one can improve their interpersonal communication skills:
21. What are the four basic purposes of presentations?
Presentations can typically be categorized into four basic forms depending upon their purpose:
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.
22. Provide the different forms or types of presentation with their uses.
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.
Unit 3
Technical Presentation: Strategies and Techniques
Most presentations are followed up with a quiz or a question 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 question and answer period altogether. Below are some techniques on handling questions during and after a presentation:
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.
2. What is interpersonal method of presentation? Give some strategies for interpersonal presentations.
Interpersonal methods are dependent on the speaker/presenter’s interactions with his audience. But there may be many hindrances which may not allow the speaker to be as efficient as possible. Are you aware of your strengths and weaknesses as a presenter? You may have some ideas already. For example, if you are very soft-spoken, you may consider that to be a weakness if you’re on a stage, especially without a microphone. Soft-spoken people also sometimes keep low-key in other ways; maybe they’re plainer in the way they dress or have less expressive mannerisms. Many people think that to be effective on stage you must be a rip-roaring extrovert. This is not true. No matter who you are, if you are aware of the qualities that make you a unique individual and you spend time getting to know your audience, you can convert perceived weaknesses into potential strengths. Conversely, if you are so overconfident about your abilities that it shows itself in poor preparation and lack of concern for your audience or environment, your strengths can quite quickly become weaknesses.
Your first step in helping define what makes you yourself is to look at what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing. At the same time, this helps you distinguish what you’re not so good at and what you don’t enjoy. Make a list as you go through the next sections on your verbal and non-verbal communication techniques to get a reasonable prediction about how to focus your strategy as a presenter.
There are 5 basic steps to the interpersonal presentation method:
Self-awareness implies being aware of one’s own thoughts, feelings and emotions. This activity helps in gaining emotional intelligence which in turn helps in effective communication. Every individual is projecting subconscious messages throughout the day that might affect other people around them, therefore it is essential that one is mindful of their thoughts and only share what they want to.
2. Being Respectful and Empathetic Towards Others
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions no matter how different or abstract they may be. To be a good presenter one must always respect another’s opinion with no judgment or condemnation. Empathy is a quality every great thinker and communicator throughout history, if one cannot be empathetic towards others one cannot understand how they feel or what they think in any given situation, therefore it is necessary that one should be compassionate and empathetic towards others.
3. Actively Listening to others
Listening is probably the most underrated skill among the 4 basic communication skills. But much like the other skills it has to be honed and developed. Only when one listens clearly can one respond to a given message. It is easy to passively keep on hearing the speaker but it is difficult to actively listen as it requires total attention on the receiver’s part.
4. Avoiding Talking Over Others
While listening one tends to convey his thoughts as soon as he thinks of them without considering whether the speaker has finished speaking or not, this leads to being perceived as rude and hasty. To avoid this one must let the speaker finish first and then convey their thoughts as clearly as possible.
5. Saying “Yes” Before Saying “No”
It is essential to not outright reject new ideas and thoughts without listening to them or acting upon them. If one does not hear a topic that appeals to his own ideals or opinions, he tends to reject the new without even listening to it. This process inhabits one’s ability to expand one’s horizons and should not be continued.
3. What is impersonal method of presentation? Give some tips for effective impersonal presentations.
Impersonal Presentation methods require the speaker to use a form of language which does not address the audience and themselves directly. It involves communication in the form of impersonal pronouns. This type of language is useful when the presentation is to be performed in front of an unknown audience or in formal situations where the audience is not very familiar to the speaker. There are several ways in which Impersonal methods may be used for effective presentations, they include:
4. What is the process of audience analysis before a presentation?
We will consider an Engineer as a speaker, you will deliver official 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. Ideally, you talk to audience members in the field of shared knowledge and lead them to more understanding.
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:
These questions will help 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.
5. Give some useful methods for audience retention during a presentation.
Below are some useful methods for keeping the audience interested in a presentation:
6. What is stage fear or performance anxiety? What are its main causes?
Stage fright and performance anxiety are perfectly normal phenomena that occur in the majority of people before a public speech or presentation (to some varying degree). It can manifest as anxious jitters before a performance, or, for some people, it may be so debilitating that it actually prevents you from speaking, performing, presenting, and so on.
First of all, it's important to know what stage fright or performance anxiety is, because it's very hard to overcome something that you don’t fully understand. Anxiety, as outlined by Kaplan and Saddock’s introduction to psychiatry, usually consists of excessive worry which is accompanied by either motor tension or restlessness. In performance anxiety when a person is performing in front of an audience, this worry takes your focus off of your presentation, speech, or whatever else you wish to do before of an audience, and drives your attention instead to your fears and worries. The speaker or performer is now no longer interested in how they are going to communicate the message, but are only interested in the fact that they are really scared of that communication, which only further exacerbates the anxiety.
Causes of Stage Fright
Many people are unaware of the underlying causes of their performance anxiety. There are several factors that may be involved and each individual’s causes and experience with this fear may be different. Here are the most widely identified causes for the fear of public speaking:
The benefits of reducing your fear of speaking publicly will sharpen your speaking skills in the workplace and may help you to:
7. How can one overcome stage fear? Give methods.
When you identify what causes your stage fright and the effects of it, then you may be more aware of what you need to do to overcome your fear of public speaking. Below are some effective techniques for overcoming stage fear:
When you organize yourself, you're more likely to possess a clear mind so you'll be able to better concentrate on your key points. You may get organized by:
2. Practice
Your nervousness will dissipate after you practice and practice often. Before you write out cue cards, it can be helpful to jot down out a script that you can read over a few of times to memorize certain details that support your key points. It’s hard to understand what you're doing right once you practice on your own.
Once you complete any or all of these tasks, you'll be able to change your presentation accordingly.
3. Visualize a positive outcome
Think about what a positive outcome appears like, feels like and sounds like to you. Write down these outcomes and identify any probable alternative outcomes. Scratch a line through any outcome you would not want to happen and circle the outcomes that you would like to happen. You may also practice the audience reaction with a person that listens to your speech before you perform it to a big or small group.
4. Get support
It is easier to beat a fear if you have people to encourage you who have experienced similar things as you. There are several ways you can get support before you speak publicly.
Here are a few ways you may want to take advantage of:
5. Start small
There are steps you can take before you overcome your fear of oral presentation and master the art of giving speeches. Start small by:
Starting with small events will likely provide you with the confidence and expertise you need to feel to be able to speak in front of larger audiences.
8. Describe the visual method of presentation. What are the steps in making a PowerPoint presentation?
PowerPoint presentations are an excellent way to present information visually and highlight key points. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint that highlights key elements, communicates ideas and increases the audience’s retention on the subject matter. Learning what to incorporate and how to format PowerPoint slides can make your presentation more visually appealing.
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. PowerPoint presentations are often used for business or educational purposes. Slides within the PowerPoint include but are not limited to text, images, graphics and other elements that help illustrate the subject matter. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint so as to take care of your audience’s attention throughout your presentation.
You can use a PowerPoint presentation:
How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation
You can create a PowerPoint presentation in Microsoft Office- PowerPoint. Below are the steps to be followed to create a PowerPoint Presentation:
2. After opening the application, click “Blank Presentation” on the opening screen and edit it to your liking. You can also create a brand-new PowerPoint by clicking “File” to change to “Backstage View” then “New.” this will offer you the choice to settle on a blank presentation, choose a template or search templates.
3. On the “Home” tab, click the “New Slide” button in the Slides group to create as many as needed for your presentation.
4. To select a unique layout for subsequent slides, click the “Layout” button within the “Home” tab to display the gallery of slide layouts and choose the layout of your choosing.
5. You can then add text, images and graphics to every layout using the toolbar.
6. Once you’re ready to give your presentation, click on the “Slide Show” tab and click “From Beginning.”
7. To go to the next slide, click anywhere on the slide or press the right arrow key.
8. Once you’re finished with your PowerPoint, you can save it on your computer by pressing ‘Ctrl + s’ keys or clicking save under the file menu.
9. Give techniques for making an effective PowerPoint presenation.
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:
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
Colours
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:
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.
10. What are the different modes of presentation?
Extemporaneous Presentation
The extemporaneous presentation is a type of presentation which is prepared, but not memorized. In an extemporaneous presentation, you do not write down
your whole presentation word for word but instead use bullet points, key words and key phrases to trigger the next thought. Note cards or sheets of paper encased in plastic covers are the most efficient methods of delivering this presentation.
In this type of presentation, the contact with the audience is the maximum. The content and length of the presentation can be altered even while the presentation is in progress. Even though you are carefully prepared, you should not sound memorized or that you are reading your notes to the audience during an extemporaneous presentation.
Manuscript Presentation
A manuscript presentation is type of speech given by reading directly, word for word, from a previously prepared written message. This type of presentation involves verbatim reading of a speech and is most commonly used when there are no time constraints or the speech may be telecast.
An advantage to manuscript presentation is familiarity as one has to repeat the exact same words they see before them. However, one major downside is that it can be quite mechanical and monotonous and therefore uninteresting to the audience.
In your career you will probably deliver fewer than 20% of your presentations using a manuscript. These presentations will require you to be well prepared in advance. These speeches will usually be presented to large audiences in a meeting room or auditorium type facility and will be delivered from a lectern.
Impromptu Presentation
An impromptu presentation is type of speech which you have to give in public without any preparation whatsoever. It is a presentation that one can be asked to provide with no prior notice. It can be one of the most terrifying speeches you’ll ever do; standing up in front of a crowd and having to speak for a few minutes without preparation is daunting even for the most seasons speakers. It’s not likely to happen often, however when it does, you don’t want to be caught completely off-guard.
Visual Presentation/ Power Point Presentation
PowerPoint presentations are an excellent way to present information visually and highlight key points. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint that highlights key elements, communicates ideas and increases the audience’s retention on the subject matter. Learning what to incorporate and how to format PowerPoint slides can make your presentation more visually appealing.
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. PowerPoint presentations are often used for business or educational purposes. Slides within the PowerPoint include but are not limited to text, images, graphics and other elements that help illustrate the subject matter. It’s important to make an efficient PowerPoint so as to take care of your audience’s attention throughout your presentation.
11. What are the five main elements of public speaking?
Public speaking can be defined as a presentation which is given in front of a live audience. It is a performance-based art. The goal of public speaking may be to educate, influence or entertain the audience.
Public speakers often implement visual aids such as power-point presentations; relevant objects etc. to get their content across more easily.
Public speaking is different to an online presentation is the sense that an online presentation is made as per the viewer’s discretion whereas public speaking is performed at a specific time and place.
Public speaking consists of five main elements:
12. State the importance of public speaking.
It is significant to note that one of the most important rules of public speaking is to know one’s audience. In other words, the speaker must know how to talk to and influence his audience, to know which words will carry more effect, how his audience will react to a certain idea, what is the knowledge base or background of his audience etc.
13. Provide some useful methods for effective public speaking.
Methods for effective public speaking:
Watching other efficient public speakers is a good way to learn and practice but everybody is different. That means that there aren't any rules for what makes an efficient orator. Part of being an authentic orator is knowing the way to be yourself when underneath the spotlight. Acting like yourself instead of trying to imitate somebody else allows you to behave more organically, which may be a boon when attempting to connect with an audience.
2. Knowing the Purpose of the Speech:
One should always know whether they want to influence, educate or inspire the audience and depending upon that one should decide how to formulate their speech.
3. Expanding Knowledge Base, Presentation tools and Vocabulary:
Reading about various topics is a great way to expand one’s horizons. ‘Always keep learning’ should be the motto of every public speaker. The speaker should be updated with current affairs and should have a vast vocabulary to incorporate within his speeches. One should also learn how to use electronic slideshows and other presentation tools as they provide an edge to the speech.
4. Playing to One’s Strengths:
Some people are good at storytelling others are good at using information to influence people. One should find out his strengths and practice them time and time again. The most efficient speakers are ready to effectively identify their strengths and use those strengths as tools to make a presence that's authentic and relatable.
5. Improvisation:
While speaking it is rare that things go exactly as planned. Therefore one should practice how to improvise when he fumbles or goes blank. Sometimes the presentation tool may malfunction, a listener may ask a question that the speaker is not prepared to answer or the speaker may simply forget one of their points, in situations like these, improvisation helps to get back on track and prevents the audience from losing interest.
6. Audience is the Center
The speaker is not the focus of the event, the audience is. All good orates cares more about the audience than themselves. This can be difficult if one has speech anxiety, which tends to fill them with bursts of anxiety and self-consciousness. However, focusing fully on the audience lifts a tremendous burden from your shoulders in terms of worrying about your performance.
One should practice taking the audience’s reactions into notice.
7. Using Body Language and Gestures:
Body language and gestures say as much as the words themselves. One should practice employing gestures as much as possible while speaking. Smiling and being active in general is useful for keeping the attention of the audience on the speaker.
8. Recording and Reviewing:
One of the most effective public speaking practice techniques is to record oneself while speaking, preferably video recording. Although few people like their own voice, the audience’s viewpoint is more important. Are you gesturing with your hands too much? Is the intro too long? Should you include a story in the middle, so you hold the audience’s attention? All of these questions are important to answer, and it can be easiest to do so by seeing yourself.
9. Practicing in front of Friends and Family:
Asking family or friends to be practice audience members is a good way to know where one is going right or going wrong. In most cases, these two groups of people know you better than anyone else in your life. That means that, although you may not want to hear it, they know your bad habits better than anyone.
In addition to your bad habits, your family and friends will also be able to tell you if you don’t quite sound like yourself.
14. What is the role of humour in public speaking?
When used properly, humour is a powerful tool in any speaker’s arsenal and it can have tremendous benefits:
It creates a bond with the audience
A speaker who uses humour well comes across as more human, more likeable. This puts an audience at ease and makes people more receptive to your ideas. As British comedian John Cleese has said, “If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas.”
It energizes people and keeps them engaged
When we laugh, there is a lot that goes on inside our body. Our heart rate increases and that keeps us stimulated and alert.
It can provide emotional relief for the audience
Many talks are serious and many talks are emotionally challenging for an audience. Well-placed humour can give your audience some much-needed relief in an otherwise serious talk.
It helps the audience remember your points
Laughter has been shown to improve memory and cognitive function. This helps the audience remember your ideas.
It leaves the audience with a good impression of the speaker
American poet, Maya Angelou, said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
15. What are the benefits of emotions and audience connections in public speaking?
Emotions make humans different from the rest. Having emotions distinguish us from robots. Having emotions is what makes us humans. Feelings make us feel alive. Having emotions helps us to know one another. Having an emotional impact on the audience will allow the following:
Emotions help the speaker to relate to the audience and make the audience understand the message.
The main reason for giving a speech is to induce the message across to your listeners; whether you want to educate, persuade or inspire them. When a speaker shares a true-life experience, a speaker tells a story. By telling the story with feelings, the audience will understand what the speaker went through and also the points that the speaker is trying to make. The speech message will get across to the listeners faster and more practical. Through understanding, the questions of why, how and what are often answered.
Emotions helps speaker to connect with the audience.
Every time you hear a speech, you're always trying to find something or someone who you'll be able to relate too. what's the purpose of listening to someone who that does not understand you? A speaker who speaks with feelings can connect easily with the audience.
Emotions move the audience.
The use of emotions is vital especially when you try to inspire and motivate your audience. you need to deliver your speech with enthusiasm and dynamism. The audience will be inspired and motivated by you. you'll be able to convince them, to move them and drive them towards changing their life and their mind-set. History has proven that powerful speeches changed the planet and the greatest speakers in history delivered their speeches with passion, intensity and filled with heart.
Emotions make the speech more interesting.
The audience will not be interested in the speech of a speaker who does not show emotions while speaking. These expressions allow the audience to relate to what is being said and develops a sense of empathy in them towards the speaker.
16. What is Individual Conferencing (IC)? What are its advantages?
Individual Conferences (IC), or one-on-one conferences are a critical tool of supervision, is arranged to facilitate interaction, sharing and feedback between supervisor and supervisee in an exceedingly systematic, planned and confidential setting. ICs are supposed to be held weekly during the assigned time. It provides a platform to debate the problems and concerns arising out of field work.
The supervisor is expected to facilitate the participants to relate theory with practice, and monitor their progress in terms of accomplishment of field work tasks and objectives and improvement in quality of reporting. It provides the participants, an opportunity to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses and work on them for the betterment. All participants are mandatorily required to attend all such Supervisory conferences. Field work without IC is considered as unsupervised field work and stands a chance of being cancelled.
There are certain advantages to individual conferences which are listed below:
17. What are the essentials of individual conferencing?
Individual conferencing gives each participant personal face time with the supervisor in a designated space. In case of a student-teacher conference, individual conferences allow teachers to assess the abilities of students more efficiently while also allowing them to focus on strength and weaknesses of each individual student. Conferencing is an efficient technique to promote and develop relationships and gather important and specific data.
The essentials of individual conferencing are as follows:
18. Which are the fundamental skills required for creating a successful classroom presentation?
A Class Room 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:
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.
19. What is interpersonal communication? Describe the basic interpersonal communication skills.
Interpersonal communication skills are the skills one uses while communication with individuals or groups in their everyday lives. People with good interpersonal communication skills often tend to be more successful than people who lack them. Interpersonal communication skills are vital in all areas of one’s life. People with good interpersonal communication skills are able to work well with other people and are also good with social interactions.
Though they are more targeted towards communication, interpersonal skills also include understanding body language, active listening, using gestures to express thoughts and feelings, and also dealing with different attitudes. They also include the skills and attributes associated with emotional intelligence, or being able to understand and manage your own as well as others’ emotions.
Interpersonal skills are extensively useful in work environments, they help maintain good social relationships among colleagues and also help mitigate employer-employee affairs.
Some of the most common interpersonal skills are:
20. What are some methods for improving interpersonal communication skills?
The development of interpersonal communication skills requires dedication and effort. The following are some of the ways in which one can improve their interpersonal communication skills:
21. What are the four basic purposes of presentations?
Presentations can typically be categorized into four basic forms depending upon their purpose:
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.
22. Provide the different forms or types of presentation with their uses.
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.
