Oral Presentation Techniques
| PURPOSE AND CONTENTA well documented, well planned, and well-structured presentation can be ineffective if the presentation is delivered poorly. The delivery phase can make or ruin a presentation. The purpose of this session is to provide key points on which to focus in the delivery of the presentation, and to maximize its effectiveness. This will be helpful whether you have to present your program proposal to improve rational use of drugs, or have to make an educational intervention with a large number of people in the audience. This course requires participants to prepare and make presentations. Many participants will use the materials to teach others. OBJECTIVES Develop your ability to: PREPARATION1. Introduce the key factors for successful presentation delivery 1. Read session notes. List at least 3 points of each.and why? REFERENCES Anonymous - 1987 "How to do it?" (Articles from British Medical Journal), British Medical Association, London. Price Waterhouse Siddik, 1987, "Effective Business Communications," Course Material, Price Waterhouse Siddik, Jakarta. This session was originally developed by Dr. Sri Suryawati (Indonesia) and revised by Dr. Beverly Summers (South Africa). Photographs provided by Dr. Sri Suryawati. SESSION NOTES  DELIVERING A PRESENTATION A well planned, and well-structured presentation can almost be ineffective because of bad presentation delivery. The delivery phase can make or ruin a presentation. There are four key factors in the successful delivery of a presentation.  Timing - Timing is of crucial importance. Do not ramble or talk needlessly. Some people simply freeze, and some can not sit down when they got on their feet to talk. Try to stick to prepared speech. Some questions during the presentation might be difficult to answer, and it is best to dispose of them politely, but quickly. If you return to your prepared speech, you are in control. If you become diverted to a detailed answer, the time may just slip away and you may suddenly find the audience looking at the clock. The amount of time required for a given presentation should be determined in advance. As a general guide, one slide needs 1 - 1.5 minutes. So, if your presentation consists of 50 slides and you allowed 30 minutes only, the delivery has to be rushed very much and you may not succeed in conveying your message. Judge your timing by practice.  Attention Span - The level of audience's attention during a presentation varies considerably. In general, the attention is high at the beginning of the presentation, but tends to fall after 10 minutes. Therefore, it is important to highlight or repeat key ideas during a long (more than 20 minutes) presentation. The speaker must be conscious of the attention span concept, so that the presentation can be carefully managed. Something like, "Let me summarize what I just said..." will boost the level of attention. It is also important not to simply fade away at the end of the presentation. Never leave the audience at a low level of attention. The speaker should use some clue to alert the audience to the fact that the end is coming, and that there is some summary or highlight to be expected. Try various ways to end the talk, instead of simply saying "This is the end of my presentation, thank you". Personal Approach - Personal features of the speaker have a major impact on how the presentation is received. There are four aspects, i.e. gesture, voice, eye contact, and breathing. Gesture can be used to highlight points or to make additional emphasis when needed. However, do not repeat the same gesture for more than twenty times in a single presentation. Voice is critical. The speaker should use sufficient volume to be heard. Modulation is also important. It is the process of varying the pitch or level of the voice. Speaking in a monotone manner or at the same level might put the audience to sleep. Monotonous high level voice should also be avoided, it may be tiring to listen to.  Eye contact is the process of looking at the eyes of the audience as often as possible. You will gain trust, involvement and interest. It is also important to face the audience, and not look too frequently at the screen. The smaller the size of audience, the more eye contact is needed.  Breathing is important to continue to talk in a loud voice. Breathing can also be used to generate a pause, and to emphasize an earlier discussed point.
The preparation of a presentation may require considerable time, e.g. 1-2 days for a 30 minutes presentation. This is because the effectiveness of the presentation has to be maximized. A verbal presentation should aim at conveying a message to an audience, but at the same time it must emphasize only the major points. Even though too much detail in a presentation will lead to a loss of focus, a verbal presentation is not necessarily superficial or lacking rigor. One thing that makes a verbal presentation somewhat difficult is that it might need to condense facts into concise ideas. Effective presentations need good visual aids and a logical sequence.  Use of Visual Aids Visual aids help to make a presentation more effective, mainly because they crystallize ideas, and they assist in the retention of information. Visual aids also keep the speaker on track and generate interest. Rules to observe when preparing visual aids: - Keep it simple: Remember to keep visual aids simple, so that the audience can easily understand the concepts. A complicated or vague visual aid is counter-productive. - Minimize words: Keep the amount of text minimal, to avoid the audience spending time with reading the visual aid and not listening to you.  - Use large fonts: Make text and numbers large, so that the audience can read it easily. key points. Steps in preparationaudience can make notes on the handout. The eight steps for preparing visual aids, are presented below in a logical sequence. Some steps are more, or less important, depending on the nature of the presentation, but a good presentation should contain some elements of each of the steps.
 Step 1: Situation analysis It is essential to concentrate on adapting and tailoring the message to match the audience's expectations. First, be very clear about the type of presentation and its objective, i.e. whether it is persuasive or instructional. Second, assess the audience and the situation carefully. How big will it be, who will be present, what possible resistance is there, what is the level of knowledge, and, most important, how much time is available. Step 2: Theme/title The theme/title should be concise, direct, and meaningful. Do not develop a long winded theme, and assume that it will become obvious during the presentation. It may lead to feelings that the presentation is not focused, and the audience may become confused and/or frustrated. Step 3: Story line Write a story line covering the major elements of the presentation. It involves breaking down the theme into major components. The story line is like a road map leading you from one place to another, passing through various checkpoints. It should be logical and not be too long; fewer than 5 checkpoints is generally manageable. Step 4: Storyboard  Developing a storyboard is simply breaking down the story line into its major parts or ideas. Once you have developed the storyboard, you have the basic framework of your presentation. What is then needed is to develop the storyboard into slides. The basic principle is "one slide for one idea". Step 5: Master Finalize a master version of the storyboard, or the presentation as a whole. For example, for a 10-minute presentation, use an A4 sheet of paper for the master. Fold it into 8 or 9 pieces (remember 1 - 1.5 minutes/slides), and write down your storyboard in sequence. It is still hand written, but it should represent close to the final contents of each slide. The idea here is to give the speaker the total presentation in perspective, before the final visual aids are prepared. More important, the master allows for the full check of logic and contents of the presentation. It can be easily used as a rehearsal while the visual aids are being produced.  Step 6: Production of visual aids Once the speaker is satisfied with the master, the production of slides can proceed. When preparing visual aids allow yourself adequate time to get them right. It is very rare to produce perfect slides at your first attempt. You will need to revise, revise, revise! Remember that what looks perfect on the computer screen may print out or project very differently. Have only one key message per slide, overhead or flip chart. This allows the presenter to reinforce the key point without the audience reading ahead to the next key point. Step 7: Rehearsal  The final step in preparation, but often omitted in verbal presentation, is rehearsal. Adequate rehearsal is essential for a good presentation. In particular, it aims at focusing on the development of each visual aid, transitions, self-confidence, and timing. When making a trial speech, using the master or slides, the speaker may experience areas of deficiencies where he or she feels uncomfortable, and where some changes are needed. The transition from slide to slide and from section to section is important. It needs to be practiced so that there is a comfortable flow in the presentation as a whole. Otherwise, there can be awkward gaps in the presentation delivery. Self-confidence is also an important issue. Practicing the presentation and using the actual slides will help consolidate the speaker's confidence in the presentation materials, and in the overall ideas that are being presented. Rehearse to ensure that timing is reasonable. Ask comments from colleagues invited to your rehearsal. Be careful where you stand and how you move around. If you stand in a fixed position, you may block the view of the screen. If you move around too much, you may distract from the visual aid.  Step 8: Evaluation After making a presentation, evaluated how the presentation went. Did the audience 'get' the key points? Were the visual aids clear and useful? Were the questions related to the presented material? If possible, use written evaluation papers that can be reviewed after the presentation. CONCLUSION Any professional can become an effective presenter if they follow the approach described above. Having knowledge is not enough, being able to communicate useful information is equally important. Investing time and effort in improving presentation skills is always rewarded.  As a group activity, prepare a visual aid related to producing visual aids. Each group should use a different medium, such as flip charts, overheads, black or white boards, posters, etc. At the end of the preparation time, group members should review what has been produced by other groups. ORAL PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES For this activity, complete the checklist individually. Then, discuss your ratings with colleagues in your group. At the end, discuss your comments in a plenary session with the presenter, other groups and the course director. Checklist -- Activity Two Evaluation of Presentation Skills Presenter: Evaluator:
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