Oral presentations can be very effective when presented in a way that engages the audience. How does the presenter do this; is there a set way to make the audience interested in your presentation? I feel that there is no one answer to these questions. There are several techniques one might use in order to help their presentation go smoothly and be heard by members of the audience. What I feel are some of the most important of these are to actively promote participation, to depict data and facts in a visually appealing way, and to relate the presentation to the audience on a personal level.
In order to actively promote participation, the presenter can use many techniques. One of these might be to ask questions to the audience in order to create a response to data presented. This not only forces the audience to look at data being presented but also causes them to actively think and process the data being presented as well. Also, I think that it helps if the person giving the presentation makes it known that he or she can answer questions; this way, if someone in the audience is confused about the topic or information, that person can clear up that confusion before listening to new information that might rely on what they are confused about.
Second, by using tools such as Power Point, information is presented in a logical and organized fashion. This helps the audience to follow along with the presentation. This does not mean that all information being presented should be put on a presentation and simply read from the screen, but by including a basic outline of ideas presented, the audience gets an idea of what the presentation will cover. Also, using graphs and charts when presenting data allows the presenter to draw conclusions. Instead of simply rattling off numbers with little to no significance to the audience, a pie chart or bar graph might help to show trends and differences between groups.
Finally, if the presenter can find a way to relate their topic to the audience, they will get a much more engaged audience. This often depends on the topic being discussed. How the information pertains to the audience? Does it, or will it, affect the audience in some way? Is the issue pressing and in immediate need of attention? Why did you choose this as a topic? These and several other questions similar to these can help to find a way for the presenter to peak the audience’s interest in their topic.
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We have all sat in a lecture hall or a classroom and listened to someone speak only to be put to sleep by poor presentation skills. A speaker can ramble on and on about some topic that an audience may have no interest in, or even if they do it is presented in a way which makes it impossible to hold that audience’s attention. There are many different ways to present information to an audience and in order to effectively relay this information you must first know your audience. A presentation to be given to a group of junior high school students must be different from a presentation intended to be given in a business setting, for example pitching a new marketing campaign to your boss. A speaker may want to use easy words and some form of humor that teenagers can relate to in the first setting, and may want to use a larger more complex terminology and more in depth and “dry” details to explain his point to his or her boss. It is necessary to remember that different techniques that may keep the attention of one group of people may not be right for another group of people.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your three techniques to help an oral presentation. One of the best ways to keep an audience engaged in what you are speaking about is to make the audience an active part of the presentation. If you are asking members of the audience questions, it requires them to listen to what you are saying. No one wants to be called on by a speaker to answer a question when they have not been paying attention. Asking questions makes the audience think of how they will respond to such questions, which forces them to think about and try to understand what the speaker is saying.
In order for a presenter to avoid being just another guy you have to listen to speak, he or she must be passionate about their topic. There is no way an audience will keep their mind on someone speaking in a monotone voice for an hour as if he wants to get out of there just as fast as you do. A speaker must be up beat and enthusiastic about what he is presenting. He must show he really cares. If it is clear the presenter has little or no interest in the topic, how is an audience supposed to care?
Most importantly in order for me to be truly engaged by a speaker, he or she must display a great deal of confidence. Unfortunately this is the hardest thing to develop for some people. Certain people just have an enormous amount of confidence, whereas others don’t. I will admit public speaking is one of the most difficult things for me because I am so critical of what an audience will think. I feel anything I say in front of a public audience needs to be flawless which leads to a large amount of unwanted and unneeded stress. I have also gotten the impression that many other people have similar issues which eases the pain just a bit. Anyways, although I am not the greatest at it, a speaker must show confidence when he or she is presenting in order to establish a credible ethos. If a speaker has little confidence and hides behind a note card while speaking very softly an audience may not take him for a very credible speaker. And if a speaker’s credibility is in question the material they are speaking on is almost impossible to actively engage an audience.