Outreach Program
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this
discussion is to provide basic, comprehensive information to assist you in
developing effective presentations. The use of visual aids, coupled with good
public speaking skills, work hand-in-hand to create effective presentations.
Your speaking style and stage presence are personal talents that you can refine
with much practice and experience. Each aspect of effective presentations,
however, could not be detailed in this discussion. Instead, much emphasis is
given to visual aids which are essential to all successful presentations.
DESIGNING THE PRESENTATION
There is no secret to
developing an effective presentation. Establishing your objectives, planning
and organizing your material, and using appropriate visual aids are the
essential ingredients. The recipe for effective presentations calls for all
three ingredients, and you must use them in the order in which they are
presented here. By establishing your objectives first, you can prepare material
that supports each objective. The use of visual aids will move you further
along toward your objectives by illustrating and emphasizing your ideas more
effectively than words alone. Let's begin, then, at the beginning: As you start
to design your presentation, you must ask yourself, "What do I want to
accomplish by making this presentation?"
Establishing the Objectives
For any successful
presentation, you must know your objectives. It is these objectives that drive
your presentation and move the audience to your end goals. Your end goals may
be that the attendees take a particular action, adopt a new perspective, or
respond to facts and information. Establishing these goals requires careful
planning. The key to designing your presentation is determining these
objectives. After all, they become the foundation upon which your content,
organization, and visual aids are built.
Establishing the
objectives for your presentation requires an analysis of your own goals, as
well as your audience's needs and expectations. By considering the nature of
your audience, you can more easily determine what you will present and how you
will present it. An audience analysis will enable you to:
Select appropriate points of emphasis in your
presentation
Develop a useful level of detail
Choose and prepare appropriate visual aids
Create a tone that is sensitive to your
audience's circumstance
Your presentation will
ideally form a bridge between something you have and your audience wants. Let
the audience analysis influence the form of information presented so you can
create this bridge.
Planning and Organizing Your Material
When you have determined
the characteristics of your audience, then you are ready to plan and organize
your material. The tips listed below will assist you in tailoring your approach
accordingly. Keep in mind that the use of visual aids will help to produce
effective one-way or two-way communication. Many factors are involved in
choosing these visual aids, and the type of interaction you want to develop
with the audience will influence your choice.
Planning Your Material
Do not wait to prepare your presentation
while on you way to the training session. You cannot do your best at presenting
or persuading by "winging it."
At a minimum, prepare an outline of goals,
major issues to be discussed, and information to be presented to support main
themes.
Limit content to your major point and no
more than five key supporting points.
Analyze your audience. Prepare your content
considering such things as whether they are likely to be friendly or
unfriendly, lay or technical in their background, and whether they want only to
listen or to respond and contribute.
Select appropriate visual aids and a
presentation style that will be effective in the physical setting for your
training session.
Organizing Your Material
When organizing your
material, consider an "old chestnut" of public speaking - "Tell
'em what you're going to tell 'em; tell 'em; and tell 'em what you told
'em." This recommendation:
Recognizes the importance of
reinforcement in adult learning
Completes the communication for the
listener
Informs people who arrive late of what they
missed
Recognizes the importance of organization,
highlighting, and summarizing main points for the audience
Serves to clarify main themes for the
audience at the end of the presentation
Using Visual Aids
Visual aids help your
presentation make things happen. Visual aids help you reach your objectives by
providing emphasis to whatever is being said. Clear pictures multiply the
audience's level of understanding of the material presented, and they should be
used to reinforce your message, clarify points, and create excitement.
Visual aids involve your
audience and require a change from one activity to another: from hearing to
seeing. When you use visual aids, their use tends to encourage gestures and
movement on your part. This extra movement reinforces the control that you, the
speaker, need over the presentation. The use of visual aids, then, are mutually
beneficial to the audience and you.
Visual aids add impact
and interest to a presentation. They enable you to appeal to more than one
sense at the same time, thereby increasing the audience's understanding and
retention level. With pictures, the concepts or ideas you present are no longer
simply words - but words plus images. The chart below cites the effectiveness
of visual aids on audience retention.
Ave Holiday Home
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Kanyakumari.
Ph: 04652-221337,
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