KINGS FERRELS KONDOWE

1. Oral Report Presentation.

2. Oral Report Presentation Process.
3. Overcoming Anxiety.
4. Handling Questions Responsively.
• An oral presentation is a formal, research-based presentation of your
work.
• Presentations happen in a range of different places. For instance, if you
work at a company that assigns people to teams to collaborate on
projects, your project team might give an oral presentation of your
progress on a particular project. In academic settings, students also write
reports and then make oral report presentations of the findings,
conclusions and make recommendations.
• Learning how to construct and deliver an effective oral presentation is a
useful skill not only at college but at workplace as well. Employers look
for experience in preparing written documents, but they also look for
some experience in oral presentations as well.
• The process oral report presentation has the following stages:
1. Planning the presentation.
2. Crafting the presentation content.
3. Delivering the presentation.
• If the thought of giving an oral report presentation makes you
nervous, keep three points in mind:
1. First, everybody gets nervous when speaking in front of groups.
2. Second, being nervous is actually a good thing; it means you care
about the topic, your audience, and your career success.
3. Third, with practice, you can convert the nervousness into
positive energy that helps you give more compelling
presentations.You can take control of the situation by planning for
the oral presentation.
• Planning presentations is much like planning any other business
message:You analyze the situation, gather information, select the
right medium, and organize the information.
• Analyzing the situation involves the following:
KNOW THE PURPOSE.
Make sure that you understand clearly the purpose of the report you
are presenting. The most common purpose of an oral report is to
inform an audience.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
The more you know about your audience the better. It will allow you to
prepare a more appropriate and focused oral report. For example, if
your audience already has a good knowledge of the topic you may elect
to leave out information they are already familiar with.
CIRCUMSTANCES.
• Also consider the circumstances in which you’ll be making your
presentation. Will you speak to five people in a conference room
where you can control everything from light to sound to
temperature? Or will you be presenting the report to100 listeners
and little control over the environment?
• Will everyone be in the same room, or will some or all of your
audience participate from remote locations via the Internet? What
equipment will you have at your disposal?
• All these variables can influence not only the style of your
presentation but the content.
• For instance, in a public environment full of distractions and
uncertainties, you’re probably better off keeping your content
simple and short because chances are you won’t be able to keep
everyone’s attention for the duration of your presentation.
• For some presentations, you’ll be expected to use whatever media
and channels your audience, your boss, or the circumstances
require.
• For example, you might be required to use a Microsoft PowerPoint
presentation software or an online meeting software such as Zoom
or Google Meet.
PREPARING YOUR OUTLINE.
• A presentation outline helps you organize your message, and it
serves as the foundation for delivering your speech. Prepare your
outline in several stages:
1. Organize your major points and sub-points in logical order,
expressing each major point as a single, complete sentence.
2. State your purpose and main idea and then use these to guide the
rest of your planning.
LIMITING YOUR SCOPE (SELECT AND PRIORITIZE).
• Limiting your scope is important with any message, but it’s
particularly vital with presentations, for two reasons:
1. First, for most presentations, you must work within strict time
limits.
2. Second, the longer you speak, the more difficult it is to hold the
audience’s attention and the more difficult it is for your listeners
to retain your key points.
• The only sure way to know how much material you can cover in a
given time is to practice your presentation after you complete it.
1. ADAPTING TO YOUR AUDIENCE
• Your audience will influence the style of your presentation.
• If you’re speaking to a small group, particularly people you already
know, you can use a casual style that encourages audience
participation. Use simple visuals and invite your audience to
interject comments. Deliver your remarks in a conversational tone,
using notes to jog your memory if necessary.
• If you’re addressing a large audience or if the event is important,
establish a more formal atmosphere.
1. ADAPTING TO YOUR AUDIENCE
• When you deliver a presentation to people from other cultures,
you may need to adapt the content of your presentation. It is also
important to take into account any cultural preferences for
appearance, mannerisms, and other customs.
2. DEVELOPING YOUR PRESENTATION.
• Ensure your information is well organized. The most successful oral
reports have an introduction, a body and a conclusion:
INTRODUCTION.
• The first part of your presentation tells the audience what the
topic is. Try to do this in a way that captures the audience’s
attention. The best way to do this may be to make a formal opening
statement accompanied by some visual representations (images or
a video).You could also use humor to gain the audience’s attention
but make sure it is done in a way that will not offend anyone.
2. DEVELOPING YOUR PRESENTATION.
BODY.
• The body of the oral report should be the focus of your
presentation. Develop your main ideas one by one, and support
them with examples, quotes, photographs, data presented in the
form of graphs and diagrams. These will make your presentation
more interesting and memorable.
• Hold your audience’s attention by:
2. DEVELOPING YOUR PRESENTATION.
BODY.
• Illustrating your ideas with visuals. Make sure that the visuals
(Tables, graphs, and figures) are similar to those for the written
report. Visuals brighten your message and help people retain your
message. Select and prioritize these visual aids.
• Using clear, vivid language. If your presentation involves abstract
ideas, show how those abstractions connect with everyday life. Use
familiar words, short sentences, and concrete examples. Be sure to
use some variety as well; repeating the same words and phrases
puts people to sleep.
2. DEVELOPING YOUR PRESENTATION.
CONCLUSION.
• Let your audience know when you are nearing the end of your
presentation by using words such as ‘in conclusion’ or ‘to sum up’.
In your final statement, briefly highlight the main points you have
made during your presentation.
• Make sure your final remarks are memorable and expressed in a
tone that is appropriate to the situation. If your presentation is a
persuasive request for changing the status quo, you might
emphasize the recommendations that you have made in the report.
CHOOSING YOUR PRESENTATION METHOD.
• Depending on the circumstance of your presentation, you can
choose from a variety of delivery methods:
• Memorizing: Except for extremely short speeches, trying to
memorize an entire presentation is not a good idea. In the best of
circumstances, you’ll probably sound stilted; in the worst, you might
forget your lines.
• Reading: sometimes you may need to read a speech from a
prepared script. However, unless you’re required or expected to
read your presentation verbatim, reading is not a good choice.
• Speaking from an outline or notes: Speaking with the help of
an outline or note cards is nearly always the easiest and most
effective delivery mode.
• The outline or notes guide you through the flow of the speech and
help to maintain eye contact with your listeners.
• Impromptu speaking: Making a presentation without the benefit
of any planning or practice.
• Take a few seconds to identify the one key idea you want to share
with the audience. That idea alone may be enough to get you
started and allow you to piece together additional ideas on the fly.
• Dress appropriately.
• Use body language.
• Talk to the audience NOT to the PowerPoint slides or the visual
aid(s).
• Recognize that nervousness is an indication that you care about
your audience, your topic, and the occasion. These techniques will
help you convert anxiety into positive energy:
1. Put yourself into a positive frame of mind before you start.
Remind yourself of how well you know the material and how
much you enjoy sharing useful or inspirational information. If
appropriate, smile as you take the stage.
2. Stop worrying about being perfect. Successful speakers focus on
making an authentic connection with their listeners, rather than
on trying to deliver a note-perfect presentation.
3. Know your subject. The more familiar you are with your material,
the less panic you’ll feel.
4. Practice, practice, practice. The more you rehearse, the more
confident you will be.
5. Visualize success.Visualize mental images of yourself in front of
the audience feeling confident, prepared, and able to handle any
situation that might arise. Remember that your audience wants
you to succeed, too.
• When people ask questions, pay attention to nonverbal signals to
help determine what each person really means. Repeat the
question to confirm your understanding and to ensure that the
entire audience has heard it.
• If the question is vague or confusing, ask for clarification; then give
a simple, direct answer.
• If you are asked a difficult or complex question, avoid the
temptation to sidestep it. Offer to meet with the questioner
afterward if the issue isn’t relevant to the rest of the audience or if
giving an adequate answer would take too long.
• If you don’t know the answer, don’t pretend you do. Instead, offer
to get a complete answer as soon as possible or ask if someone
else can offer information on the topic.