The Oral Presentation-1-1

The Oral Presentation
PREPARING A SPEECH OR ORAL REPORT

Being able to speak effectively in front of an audience will always be an
advantage. Some professionals become most sought-after speakers because of
their good oral communication skills. They are invited to give keynote speeches or
give lectures on a select topic in conferences or give trainings in seminar-
workshops. Sometimes, they are also tapped to give a sales pitch or a product
presentation. Likewise, they are asked to deliver inspirational or motivational
speeches during graduation ceremonies or in a similar setting.
So how do you prepare for this difficult task? In previous lessons, you already
learned some tips and principles of effective presentation, wherein these
principles are related to public speaking. Consider the following so you can render
an effective speech and be a good public speaker.
✓ Audience – know the profile of your listeners. Also, know how much the
audience knows about the topic. Know the posture and gestures of your
audience members. Know how to deal with any unpleasant incident or conflict
with your audience and always stay in control of the situation.
✓ Logistics – as a speaker it is basic and essential for you to know who is
organizing the event. Know who will be introducing you and who will be
speaking before and after you. You may even give the audience an idea as to
what the next talk is going to be.
Aside from knowing who the organizer of the event is, when it comes to
logistics, you also need to consider the Venue and the Facilities.
✓ Content of report/speech/lecture – since you have been invited as a
speaker, the organizers might have sought you because of your reputation
as an effective speaker. You have to tailor suit your speech depending on
the purpose of the event, that is whether it is informative, entertaining and
persuasive. Note, however, that any communicative event may have more
than one purpose but there is always a more dominant one.
So how do you prepare for the big event? The following are some tips for
you:
❑ Read a lot.
❑ Prepare your oral presentation with an introduction, body, and a
conclusion. You can employ different techniques to open and close your
presentation. As regards the body of your presentation, emphasize the
major points you wish to make backed up with supporting statements to
further elucidate your main points.
❑ Rehearse by practicing aloud and getting the feedback of those who will
act as your audience during the rehearsal stage.
❑ Use technology.
DELIVERING THE REPORT/SPEECH/TALK
When you deliver your report/speech/talk, make use of both the verbal and
non-verbal code. In Unit 1, you already learned that effective communication
calls for the blending of the two codes. These two are always linked together.
While the former is important, the latter is equally essential as it gives
emphasis to a striking thought or idea. During the delivery of your speech ,
you have to take into considerations in particular these non-verbal codes:
▪ Paralinguistic cues – subsumed under this category are facial expressions,
posture, gestures, and movement. It is to be noted that while dress or
attire is not considered as paralinguistic cue, it is still classified as non-
verbal. One way to attract the attention of the audience is by dressing up
properly.
▪ Prosodic features - when making presentation, there are features that you
need to observe. When you speak, you aim at delivering your message
clearly through intelligible and comprehensible pronunciation.
Finally, note that successful communication depends on prosodic features
such as intonation, tone, stress, and rhythm. Pauses and phrases and
sentences are likewise prosodic features.
PRESENTING IN GROUPS
The earlier discussions apply to both individual and group presentation.
However, when making a group presentation, everyone should be a team player
and members should not compete with each other. Note that since you are working
with a team, there should be coordination among you. Guidelines should be strictly
followed especially if it is a group task. Planning is the essence so that your
presentation is coherent and does not become fragmented. As you prepare your
presentation, note the following tips:
1. Assign a specific task to each group member.
2. Divide the work accordingly. Each should know the part assigned to him/her as
well as the time allotted to each.
3. Decide on strategy as to how you will begin and end your group presentation.
4. Prepare your audio-visual aids to hold the attention and increase the interest of
the listeners.
5. Practice on your own. Then come up with a schedule acceptable to the team in
which you can rehearse as a group.
6. Get feedback from your teammates as to how you can still improve your
presentation in particular and the presentation of the group in general.
7. As individual and group presenters, think of possible questions that may
arise after the presentation. If you cannot think of an answer, seek the help of
your groupmates.
8. As individual and group presenters, respond to questions effectively during
the question time. If it happens that nobody from the group knows the answer,
be honest to admit that you will find time to research on the matter.
OVERCOMING ANXIETY OR STAGE FRIGHT
Many speakers become tense when making small and big presentations.
This is normal. Becoming nervous only shows that you care about your
presentations. You are concerned about whether the audience will pick up
something from your talk. Note that a little amount of nervous tension is
needed if you aspire for an excellent performance. At the beginning, you may
experience anxiety, but as you go along with your presentation, your nervous
tension will ease up.
There are ways by which you can overcome stage fright. One way is by
preparing thoroughly for your presentation. It is important that you know about
the topic and that you know more than your listeners. Another way is to
practice. The more you practice or rehearse, the more confident you become.
Stage fright then can be minimized. It is not also a negative feeling all the
time. Learn how to convert this social fear into something positive so that you
can aspire for top performance.

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The Oral Presentation

PREPARING A SPEECH OR ORAL REPORT

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