2.6.

1 Oral Presentation Obstacles

To sell your ideas to others, you should first be convinced that your ideas will accomplish
the task at hand. Oral presentation requires a high degree of creativity.
People resist change, although they may announce that they embrace it. Humans like
familiar methods. Change requires additional efforts, which humans, in general, resist.
Typical reactions to change include

• We tried before.
• It is a too radical change.
• We have never done that before.
• Get back to reality.
• We have always done it this way.
• I don’t like the idea.

Keep in mind the following:

• Only 70% of the spoken word is actually received and understood. Complete
understanding can come through repetition and redundancy in speech.
• People mostly understand three-dimensional objects. Two-dimensional projections
need to be transmitted with added details.
• People usually perceive problems from their own perspectives.
• Convey ideas so that they may be interpreted with the least expenditure of energy.

2.6.2 Oral Presentation Dos and Don’ts

Remember the following in making oral presentations:

1. Know your audience thoroughly.

2. Never read solely from notes, a sheet, or directly from an overhead projector. You
can use your notes for reference, but remember to make eye contact with your
audience from time to time.
3. Bring the audience up to the speed in the first few moments.
4. Stay within the time allotted.
5. Include relevant humorous stories, anecdotes, or jokes (only if you are good at it).
6. Avoid using specialized technical jargon. Explain the terms you feel the audience
may not know.
7. Understand your message clearly. The entire goal is to communicate the message
clearly.
8. Practice, practice, practice! You may like to memorize the introduction and con-
cluding remarks.
9. The dry run is a dress rehearsal. Use it to iron out problems in delivery, organiza-
tion, and timing.
10. Avoid mannerisms: Speak confidently but not aggressively.
 11. Maintain eye contact with audience members, and keep shifting that contact
through the talk.
12. Never talk to the board or to empty space.
13. Present the material in a clever fashion, but not in a cheap and sensational fash-
ion. Be genuinely sincere and professional.
14. A logical presentation is much more critical in an oral one than it is in a
written one.

2.6.3 Oral Presentation Techniques

The following will help you make your oral presentation as effective as possible:

1. Visual aids (sketches, graphs, drawings, photos, models, slides, transparencies, and
the Web) often convey information more efficiently and effectively. Visual aids
permit the use of both the hearing and seeing senses, and they help the speaker.
2. Limit slides to not more than one per minute.
3. Each slide should contain one idea.
4. The first slide should show the title of your presentation and the names of the
collaborators.
5. The second slide should give a brief outline of the presentation.
6. The last slide should summarize the message you just delivered.
7. If you need to show a slide more than once, use a second copy.
8. Avoid leaving a slide on the screen if you have finished discussion on the topic.
9. Never read directly from the slide. Spoken words should complement the slides.
Prepare notes for each slide and use them during practice.
10. Use graphs to explain variations. Clearly label the axis, data, and title.
Acknowledge the source.
11. Every graph should have a message (idea). Color should enhance the communi-
cation, not distract from it.
12. Audiences respond to well-organized information. That means
a. Efficient presentation
b. All assumptions clearly stated and justified
c. Sources of information and facts clearly outlined
13. Begin with the presentation of the problem and conclusion/recommendation (pri-
mary goal).
14. Finish ahead of schedule and be prepared for the question/answer session.

2.6.4 Question/Answer Session

The question/answer session is very important. It shows the enthusiasm of the audience
and usually reveals interest and attention. In the Q/A session you should

1. Allow the questioner to complete the question before answering.

2. Avoid being argumentative.
 3. Do not let the questioner feel that the question is stupid.
4. Adjourn the meeting if the questions slack off.
5. Thank the audience one final time after the Q/A session.

LAB 6: Presentation Style

Purpose
Unlike the advertising executive, the engineer is ill equipped to sell his or her ideas. Second-hand
information represented by company officials may not answer all the client’s questions. This lab pro-
vides startup training for your presentation style.

Establish Objectives
Every presentation should have an objective. The speaker’s main objective is to deliver the message
(objective) to the audience. The objectives may vary from one speech to another. To identify the real
objective, ask the following question: “If everything goes perfectly, what do I intend to achieve?” Also,

Even the best idea or design will not be effective if you cannot properly communicate your ideas to others.
(Igor Karon/Shutterstock)
know your audience and their education level. In most cases, time is limited. It is of utmost importance
to keep within the scheduled time for the question/answer session. Doing so requires detailed planning.
Different audiovisual tools can be used in the presentation, such as slides, models, transparencies, and
the Web. If more than one medium is used, allow for time to shift from one medium to another. One
easy way to gauge the effectiveness of a presentation is for one team member to play the role of the
speaker and the rest of the team to pose as the audience (a team member may also play the devil’s
advocate).

Oral Presentation Obstacles

To sell your ideas to others, you should first be convinced that your ideas will accomplish the task at
hand. Oral presentation requires a high degree of creative ability. Humans resist change; they like
familiar methods. Changes require additional effort, which humans in general resist. The following
are typical reactions to proposed changes:

• We tried before.
• It is too radical a change.
• We have never done that before.
• Get back to reality.
• We have always done it this way.
• I don’t like the idea.

Keep in mind that

• Only 70% of spoken words are actually received and understood. Complete understanding can
come through repetition and redundancy in speech.
• People best understand three-dimensional objects. Two-dimensional projections need to be
transmitted with added details.
• When considering a proposed change, people usually perceive potential problems.
• Convey ideas so that they are interpreted with the least expenditure of energy.

Oral Presentation Dos and Don’ts

1. Know your audience thoroughly.
2. Never read directly from notes, a sheet, or directly from an overhead projector.
3. Bring your audience up to speed in the first few moments.
4. Stay within the time allotted.
5. Include relevant humorous stories, anecdotes, or jokes (only if you are good at it).
6. Avoid using specialized technical jargon. Explain the terms if you feel the audience may not
know them.
7. State your message clearly.
8. Practice, practice, practice. You may want to memorize the introduction and concluding
remarks.
 9. The dry run is a dress rehearsal. Use it to iron out problems in delivery, organization, and
timing.
10. Avoid mannerisms: Speak confidently but not aggressively.
11. Maintain eye contact with some audience members and keep shifting that contact throughout
the presentation.
12. Never talk to the board or to empty space.
13. Present the material in a clever fashion, but not in a cheap and sensational fashion. Be gen-
uinely sincere and professional.
14. Logical presentation is much more critical in oral than in written presentation.

Oral Presentation Techniques

1. Visual aids (sketches, graphs, drawings, photos, models, slides, transparencies, the Web)
often convey information efficiently and effectively. Visual aids permit a dual sense of hear-
ing and seeing, and they help the speaker.
2. Limit slides to not more than one per minute.
3. Each slide should contain one idea and text that is clearly readable by the
audience sitting furthest away from you.
4. The first slide should show the title of your presentation and names of collaborators.
5. The second slide should give a brief outline of the presentation.
6. The last slide should summarize the message you just delivered.
7. If you need to show a slide more than once, use a second copy.
8. Avoid leaving a slide on the screen if you have finished discussion on that topic.
9. Never read directly from the slide. Spoken words should complement the slides. Prepare
notes for each slide and use them during practice.
10. Use graphs to explain variations. Clearly label the axis, data, and title. Acknowledge the
source.
11. Every graph should have a message (idea). Color should enhance the communication, not
distract.
12. Audiences respond to well-organized information. That includes
a. Efficient presentation
b. All assumptions clearly stated and justified
c. Sources of information and facts clearly outlined
13. Begin with the presentation of the problem and conclusion/recommendation
(primary goal).
14. Finish ahead of time and be prepared for the question/answer session.

Question/Answer Session
The question/answer session is very important. It shows the audience’s enthusiasm, interest, and atten-
tion. In the Q/A session you should
 1. Allow the questioner to complete the question before answering.
2. Avoid being argumentative.
3. Do not let the questioner feel that the question is stupid.
4. Adjourn the meeting if the questions slack off.
5. Thank the audience one final time after the Q/A session.

Lab 6 Problems
Choose one of the following topics and prepare a 5-minute presentation for your classmate or team-
mates. Adhere to the instructions provided in this lab. Your classmates or teammates will provide
anonymous evaluation scores through the instructor. The evaluation scores consists of the following
elements:

1. Level of preparation (out of 10 points). What level of preparation was expressed in the slides’
quality and content?
2. Level of audience engagement (out of 5 points). Did the speaker maintain eye contact with
the audience?
3. Level of professionalism (out of 5 points). Was the speaker dressed properly, and did he or
she act professionally during the presentation?
4. Communication skills (out of 5 points). Was the presentation clear? Was the speaker able to
convey the message?
5. Time management (out of 5 points). Did the speaker leave time for questions? How much
time is really needed to convey the message?
6. Overall performance (out of 10 points).

The instructor will collect the evaluations and pass them on to the presenter. The purpose of this
exercise is to provide you with an evaluation of your presentation skills. You need to enhance the
strong aspects and work on improving the weak aspects of presentation technique.
The following is a suggested list of topics. Students may choose a different topic with instructor
consent.

1. How can a person maintain reading time in a busy schedule?

2. How can a school library raise funds for more resources?
3. How can engineers keep up with the latest technology?
4. How can you maintain a steady study schedule when you have tons of
homework?
5. What are the pros and cons of teamwork?
6. How can teamwork become a nightmare?
7. How can teamwork become fruitful?
8. Why is design a social activity?
9. Compare the old versus the new paradigms of design. n
2.7 PROBLEMS
2.7.1 Team
Activities Scheduling
1. Painting a two-story house was broken down into a number of major jobs or
activities, as shown in Table 2.3.
(a) Develop a CPM network.
(b) Determine the critical path of the network.
(c) Determine the expected project duration time period.
2. Assume that the optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic activity times are as
given in Table 2.4.
(a) Complete the table.
(b) Find the probability of finishing the job in 32 weeks.
3. You should work on this activity during lab hours.
(a) Develop a CPM network and determine the critical path for the events defined
in the Gantt chart in Figure 2.1.
(b) Develop a Gantt chart for the events defined in the Table 2.2.
(c) For the events defined in Table 2.5,
i. Complete the table.
ii. Draw the PERT network.
iii. Find the probability of finishing the task on time if the design due date is
after 95 days.

2.7.2 Individual Activities

4. Define the following terms:
(a) CPM
(b) Gantt chart
(c) PERT

TABLE 2.3 Team Problem

1
Activity Identification Predecessor Duration

Contract signed A — 2
Purchase of material B A 2
Ladder & staging in site C A 2
Preparation of surface D C,B 5
Base coat complete E D 6
Base coat inspected F E 2
Trim coat complete G E 5
Trim coat inspected H G,F 2
Final inspection I H 2
Removal of staging J H 2
Final cleanup K I,J 2
 2.7 Problems 95

TABLE 2.4 Team Problem 2

Pessimistic Most Likely Optimistic Expected Time Variance

3 2 1
3 2 1
3 2 1
7 5 3
9 6 4
3 2 1
7 5 4
3 2 1
3 2 1
3 2 1
3 2 1

TABLE 2.5 Team Problem

3
Predecessor Optimistic Most Likely Pessimistic Expected Variance

1 3 5 8
1 4 6 9
3 3 4 5
2 2 3 4
5 3 4 5
1 8 12 14
4 14 18 21
7 5 10 14
7 5 10 14
7 5 10 14
7 5 10 14
7 5 10 14
12 4 6 10
11 4 6 10
10 4 6 10
9 4 6 10
8 4 6 10
13 10 12 18
6 16 18 24
14 7 10 15
14 10 15 22
17 5 9 9
18 4 6 8
16 6 8 12
15 3 8 12
19 3 4 5