Productive

Language :
Presentation
Skills
PREPARED BY: AUNKITA
PANDEY
Unit 2 Spoken Communication
Listening Skills

Telephone and teleconferencing challenges and etiquette

Oral Presentation:

Planning Presentation

Delivering Presentation

Developing and displaying visual aids,

Handling questions from the audience

TELEPHONIC CONVERSATIONS AND
ETIQUETTE
Hello Mom, how are you?

I am fine, how are you? What’s up?

Mom, I want to go on a tour with my friends to Shimla. Can you transfer Rs 5000 to my
account?

Yes dear, I will do that. Check at your account in the evening.

Thanks Mom, bye.

Take care.
Sitting anywhere in the world, we can share information, make requests, discuss business

matters, and be in touch with our family, friends, and colleagues over the phone. We can

get information about any place, product, or people across the globe on the Internet, and

for more information, we can directly contact the concerned organization over the phone

and speak to them.

 With the advancement in technology applicable to various domains,

such as education, industry, government, consumers, etc., the telephone—fixed line as

well as mobile connections—has become an essential means of communication in today’s

competitive world.
In a telephonic conversation, the two parties cannot see each other’s facial expressions and other
aspects of body language. This makes it all the more important for them to incorporate the
correct tone and articulation in their voices, so that the purpose of the phone call is achieved
successfully.

For example, when you are corresponding with a new client for the first time, you need to create
a desired impression and give the client the correct picture of your operations.

If you are doing this over telephone, your conduct assumes huge importance. Therefore, although
you cannot see the caller in a telephonic conversation, you need to follow all the etiquettes that
you apply in a face-to-face conversation.
 Here are some etiquettes that you need to
follow in any kind of telephonic calls:
Use polite expressions such as ‘How can I help you?’, ‘May I speak to Mr …?’, ‘You

are welcome’, ‘Thank you very much’, ‘May I help you?’, ‘Could you please give me the

details of …?’, etc.

 If you are the receiver, identify your name/your organization’s name as soon as you pick

up the call (e.g., Harish here/Sales Division, Monarch & Co.). Avoid saying ‘hello’.
 Be clear and precise in your expressions and use pleasant tone of voice while speaking.

 Do not shout.

Do not use slangs.

 Do not interrupt the caller when he/she is speaking.

• If you are transferring the call to somebody else, please ask the caller to hold on.

Listen to the caller patiently and get any unfamiliar terms clarified.

• Before you call up anybody, think what and how to discuss so that you stay focused on

your objective.

• Do not slam the equipment when the call is completed. Place it softly.

• Do not eat or drink while speaking on the phone.

• Do not talk to others around you while speaking on

Pick up the phone as early as possible. Do not allow it to ring for a long time.

• If you do not return the missed call, apologize/tell reason when the caller speaks to you

next time.

• If the call is not meant for you, try to guide the caller for reaching the right person.

• If you are the caller, ask the other person, ‘Is it good time to talk to you?/Can I speak to

you for five minutes?’

• Always keep a pen and note pad while taking calls.

• Be enthusiastic and courteous.

• Thank the caller before ending the call.

 Challenges of Telephonic Conversation
Lack of Body Language. For instance, when you speak with a customer in person and see the person's
facial and body expressions, you can more clearly understand the message he or she is sending.
No Eye Contact.

Long Wait Times.

The use of jargon. ...

Emotional barriers and taboos.

Lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver.

Differences in perception and viewpoint.

Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties.

Teleconferencing Etiquette

Check Your Hardware and Internet Connection

Take the time to check your equipment before you join a teleconference. When one person has technical
difficulties, it interrupts the entire meeting and pulls things off track. Ensure you have enough internet
speed to support a strong connection. Testing your equipment ahead of time gives you the chance to identify
and fix any problems before they interfere with a meeting.

Create a Quiet Space without Distractions

Remote work comes with challenges, especially if partners, kids, and pets are at home. Teleconference
attendees need to find a quiet space for meetings where they can avoid distractions. Distraction interrupts
the user and makes it difficult for them to keep abreast of what is going on during the call. Similarly, they
also distract others and impact the flow of the meeting.
Be Prepared and On-Time

Ensure that you and your team members write down notes and questions ahead of time for the call. Rifling
through papers and files during a teleconference is noisy and disruptive, so being prepared is imperative.
This also includes joining a teleconference on time. In case you have difficulties joining the meeting, you
should plan to join at least five minutes ahead of time.

Mute Your Mic When You Aren't Talking

Background noise can be distracting and is one drawback of teleconferencing. Whether you are on an audio
or video teleconference, you can eliminate this issue by muting your mic whenever you aren't speaking. This
allows everyone on the call to hear more clearly the person who is speaking. You should also avoid eating for
the same reason. Others do not want to watch people eat online, nor do they want to hear it.
Don't Speak Over Others

Meetings, business transactions, and other online events can be passionate and full of emotions that range from
anger to excitement. Like in a face-to-face meeting, it's proper etiquette not to speak over others during a
teleconference. Take notes about comments and feedback that you have and politely wait your turn to interject.
This way everyone has a voice during the meeting.

Dress for Your Audience

If you are in a video conference call, you should dress for your audience. You might be tempted to wear your
workout gear, pajamas, or other lounging house clothes. Yet, you must dress professionally. Set the expectations
for your team. For some meetings, business casual attire might be acceptable, and other teleconference events
might require full business attire.

Don't Sneak Out of the Meeting

Best practices for teleconferences require being present throughout the entire meeting. Unless it is an absolute
emergency—bathroom or otherwise—remain in front of the camera and engaged in the meeting. Even if stepping
away does not interrupt the meeting or conference, it could lead to awkward situations when an attendee does not
hear something discussed.
Teleconferencing Challenges
1. Cultural barriers

Time and time again, differences in culture usually affect many aspects in our world. This is no
different when it comes to video conferencing. It is one of the major challenges of video
conferencing for virtual teams

This is seen with the global virtual teams where communication is much more difficult between
people from different cultural backgrounds.

2. Non-verbal cues

This is one of the top challenges of video conferencing for virtual teams. This is also seen with the
global virtual teams mostly. To be coherent and understand what the other’s intended information,
both verbal and non-verbal cues must be well known. It becomes a challenge if neither of the
parties involved misunderstand the non-verbal cues.
3. Lack of collegiality

Most virtual team members often say that there is not enough time to even build a formal
relationship during their virtual meetings. This always results in lack of collegiality amongst
them.

4. Lack of trust in virtual team members

In addition to lack of collegiality that results from failure to build formal relationships, the lack
of trust among the virtual team members is a very concerning. Thus, it makes it very difficult to
build rapport.
5. Difficult decision making processes

This is another interpersonal challenge of video conferencing for virtual team members. Above
50% virtual team members claim that it is much more difficult to make decisions. It results from
failure to express ideas or opinions on virtual teams.

6. Differences in time zones

An amazingly 70% of virtual team members claim that the difference in time zones is a strong
barrier. We tend to forget on the different time zones that may clash with scheduled video
conferencing schedules.
7. Slow internet connections

It may cause a huge problem when trying to establish a connection or during a communication
process, the internet connection slows down.

8. Compatibility issues

It do exists compatibility issues with the video conferencing software. This has to top the list of
challenges of video conferencing for virtual teams. It can be very stressful when trying to
communicate and an unknown error occurs caused by the software or the computer device itself.
Oral Presentation:

Planning Presentation

Delivering Presentation

Developing and displaying visual aids,

Handling questions from the audience

 ‘Half the world is composed of people who have something to say
and can’t, and
the other half
who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.’
–Robert Frost
Successful and inspiring speakers are remembered not only because they were eloquent,
humorous, or had a good style, but primarily and principally because their messages and ideas
caused a change in their audience’s actions, attitudes, lives, or made the purpose clear to them

This is true for all types of presentations—professional presentations, business speeches,

classroom lectures, and so on, especially in an age of instantaneous communication via
telephone, computer, and fax.

Face-to-face business presentations are enormous time consumers— from scheduling a date
when everyone can attend, to making every arrangement necessary for the presentation, it takes
much more time and effort than it would have taken to send the same message as an attachment
in an email, in the form of a memorandum, circular, or notice. Nevertheless, presentations still
play an important role in business for obvious and good reasons..
The following points are to be attended to when preparing for
a professional presentation.

• Planning: Occasion, audience, purpose and material

• Outlining and structuring: Introduction, main body, and conclusion

• Choosing the mode of delivery

• Guidelines for effective delivery

• Body language and voice

• Visual aids
Planning: Occasion, audience, purpose, thesis, and
material

Preparing and delivering the first business presentation or public speech in our life can be

daunting.

We may find it difficult to decide what we want to say and how to say it, or perhaps

the thought of speaking before an audience scares us.

It is true that some people are naturally talented at public speaking. However, with some
helpful guidance, anyone can prepare and deliver a successful speech that will be remembered
for all the right reasons.
Planning: Occasion, audience, purpose
and material
Effective preparation enables us to answer all the questions and doubts about our speech
before they arise. The contents of our speech, and how we deliver it, are based on five
important factors.
 Occasion

 Audience

 Purpose

 Material
 Occasion

 Occasion refers to the factors such as the facilities available for our presentation, time, and

context of our presentation.

Facilities include the venue or locale along with the projection equipment, lighting, seating,
ventilation, etc. Every location has its unique physical environment. We may present in
magnificently large auditoriums or oppressively small conference rooms.

We need to know the physical setting; find out whether we will have a podium or a table,
whether we will have a public address system, and so on. Also, attention should be paid to the
physical conditions prevalent in the venue such as seating, room temperature, and lighting.
The occasion dictates not only the content of our speech, but also the duration, the tone, and

the expectations of the audience. For example, humour may be inappropriate during a serious

sales presentation, while it may be welcome during a wedding speech, or a sports event. We

should also be aware of our role and any observations that we might make during our speech.

For example, if you are presenting the final report of your project to a group of professors or

senior colleagues, you need to take care of the short duration, firm but polite tone, and also their
expectations.
Audience
All audiences have one thing in common. They are at the receiving end of our communication.

They may be our friends, clients, colleagues, sometimes unfamiliar faces, or a combination of

all these. The nature of our audience has a direct impact on the strategy we devise for our

presentation. Hence, it is necessary to have some prior knowledge of the audience.

• What are their interests, likes, and dislikes?

• Are they familiar with the topic?

• Is their attitude hostile or friendly?

• What is the size of the group?

• Age range? Gender distribution?

 Purpose

 There can be three different purposes of a presentation: to inform, to analyse, or to persuade.

 For instance, when our purpose is to provide information or to analyse a situation, we generally interact
with the audience in a limited manner.

On the other hand, when our purpose is to persuade people to take a particular action,

collaborate with them in solving a problem, or making a decision, the interaction would be more.
Material

when we are giving a product presentation, besides the complete information about the product, we may
have to collect information pertaining to the competing products and their features. For most of the
professional presentations, we may have to consult the library, Internet, magazines, newspapers,
organizational records, statistics, and publications.

Sometimes, we may even have to collect information through surveys or interviews. We may also have to
contact external organizations to procure information for some of our presentations. Once we finish
collecting material and ideas for our presentation, we should assemble them at one place. We may list all the
ideas on a piece of paper and then organize them.
Outlining and structuring: Introduction, main body, and conclusion

An outline is a framework in which bits and pieces of the presentation material are fitted.

It serves as a guide to show us the right path for our presentation. Hence, spending time in

developing an outline never goes waste.

The key to all these problems is to organize our ideas into a well-known pattern. First, we need to tell
our audience what we want to tell them; then, we should tell them the ideas; and finally, we should
repeat what we have already said. In other words, a presentation should have the following format:

• Introduction should grab attention, introduce topic, contain a strategy for establishing

credibility, preview the speech, establish rules for questions, and have a smooth transition

to the main text. Greeting the audience in different way.

• Main body should contain all the main points and supporting material; the entire matter

should be organized into a logical sequence. Problem –solution, cause and effect etc.

• Conclusion should contain signal, highlight/summary, closing statement/re-emphasis, a

vote of thanks, and invitation to questions.

• Choosing the mode of delivery

What is it that makes our presentation hold the attention and interest of the audience? Our

manner of presentation, our vocal inflections, our perfectly timed pauses, our facial
expressions,

and our gestures—all these are part of an expert delivery. Even a dull and drab topic will
turn

out to be more interesting if presented well, whereas a really interesting topic may appear

to be dull because of poor delivery. So one thing becomes clear—having something to say is

not enough; you must also know how to say it.

Guidelines for effective delivery

Success of any presentation also depends on the various elements—verbal, non-verbal (body

language), vocal, and visual—used during a presentation.

Word pictures

Warm words
Non-verbal elements

Our appearance, facial expressions, eye contact, postures, gestures, and the space we share with our audience, all communicate
our interest, enthusiasm, dynamism, intention, and confidence

to our audience. Whatever the occasion, the following tips will help you to use body language effectively during your
presentation.

• Wear a formal dress and use simple accessories; take care of your personal hygiene

• Use facial expressions to exhibit your enthusiasm and interest; do not show your irritation

or anger even when someone interrupts you or asks a question that appears to be silly to

you; be polite in answering them

• Make eye contact with all sections of the audience (avoid staring at somebody) to observe

their reactions and also to show your sincerity and interest

• Use well-timed gestures; avoid monotonous gestures

• Stand tall and straight with shoulders upright; walk/move swiftly; avoid too many and

monotonous movements
Handling questions from the audience

1.Make eye contact with the questioner.

2.Always take a brief pause before launching into your answer.

3.Be sure that you understand the question they are asking or point that they're making.

4.Acknowledge how valuable the question they're asking is.

5.Always keep your cool

WAYS TO OVERCOME BOREDOM FACTORS:

1.Break the ice to attract attention. ...

2.Adapt the pace of the presentation to your audience. ...

3.Incorporate audience feedback via open questions into your presentation.

4.Use quizzes to build anticipation. ...

5.Videos give you a chance to catch your breath. ...

6.Use the power of louds and softs