INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

LISTENING

Objective – To learn how to:

 Listen rather than simply hear.

 Listen actively.

 Continue to build goodwill.

Introduction

Listening is the form of communication we practice most often.

Yet because we rarely have formal training in it, it may be the

one that we do most poorly. Listening is even more crucial on the

job than in classes, and it may also be more difficult.

 In class you’re encouraged to take notes. But you can’t whip

out a notepad everytime your boss speaks.

 Many classroom lectures are well organized. But

conversations usually wander. A key point about when a

report is due may be sandwiched in among statements about

other due dates for other projects.

 In a classroom lecture you’re listening primarily for

information. In interchanges with friends and co-workers,

you need to listen for feelings, too. Feelings of being

 rejected or overworked need to be dealt with as they arise.

But you can’t deal with a feeling unless you are aware of

it.

To receive a message, the receiver must first perceive the

message, then decode it and then interpret it. In interpersonal

communication, hearing denotes perceiving sounds. Listening means

decoding and interpreting them correctly.

What do good listeners do?

Good listeners pay attention, focus on the other speaker(s) in a

generous way rather than themselves, avoid making assumptions,

and listen for feelings as well as facts.

Pay Attention

Good listening requires energy. You have to resist distractions

and tune out noise, whether the rumble of a truck going by or

your own worry about whether your parking meter is expiring.

Some listening errors happen because the hearer wasn’t paying

enough attention to a key point. To avoid listening errors caused

by inattention,
  Before the meeting, anticipate the answers you need to get.

Make a mental or paper list of your questions. During a

conversation listen for answers to your questions.

 At the end of the conversation, check your understanding

with the other person. Especially check who does what next.

 After the conversation, write down key points that affect

deadlines or how work will be evaluated.

Focus on the Other Speaker(s) in a Generous Way

Some people listen looking for flaws. They may focus on factors

other than the substance of the talk: “What an ugly tie.”

“There’s a typo in that slide.” Or they may listen as if the

discussion were a war, listening for points on which they can

attack the other speaker.

Good listeners, in contrast are more generous. They realize that

people who are not polished speakers may nevertheless have

something to say. Good listeners weigh all the evidence before

they come to judgment. They realize that they can learn something

even from people they do not like.

To avoid listening errors caused by self-absorption,

 Focus on the substance of what the speakers says, not his or

her appearance or delivery.

  Spend your time evaluating, what the speaker says, not just

planning your rebuttal.

 Consciously work to learn something from every speaker.

Avoid Making Assumptions

Many listening error come from making faulty assumptions. In

contrast, asking questions can provide useful information. To

avoid listening errors caused by faulty assumptions,

 Don’t ignore instructions you think are unnecessary. Before

you do something else, check with the order giver to see if

in fact there is a reason for the instruction.

 Consider the other person’s background and experience. Why

is this point important to the speaker? What might he or she

mean by it?

 Paraphrase what the speaker has said, giving him or her a

chance to correct your understanding.

Listen for Feelings as Well as Facts

Sometimes, someone just needs to blow off steam, to vent.

Sometimes people just want to have a chance to fully express

themselves; “winning” or “losing” may not matter. Sometimes,

people may have objections that they can’t quite put into words.
To avoid listening errors caused by focusing solely on facts,

 Consciously listen for feelings.

 Pay attention to tone of voice, facial expression and body

language.

 Don’t assume that silence means consent. Invite the other

people to speak.

What is active listening?

In active listening, receivers actively demonstrate that they’ve

heard and understood a speaker by feeding back either the literal

meaning or the emotional content or both. Other techniques in

active listening are asking for more information and stating

one’s own feelings.

Five strategies create active responses:

 Paraphrase the content. Feed back the meaning in your own

words.

 Mirror the speaker’s feelings. Identify the feelings you

think you hear.

 State your own feelings. This strategy works especially well

when you are angry.

 Ask for information or clarification.

 Offer to help solve the problem.

Instead of simply mirroring what the other person says, many of

us immediately respond in a way that analyses or attempts to

solve or dismiss the problem. People with problems need first of

all to know that we hear that they’re having a rough time.

Blocking Response Possible Active Response

Ordering, threatening Paraphrasing content
“I don’t care how you do it. Just “You’re saying that you don’t
get that report on my desk by have time to finish the report by
Friday.” Friday?”
Preaching, criticizing Mirroring feelings
“You should know better than to “It sounds like the department’s
air the department’s problems in problems really bother you.”
a general meeting.”
Interrogating Stating one’s own feeling
“Why didn’t you tell me that you “I’m frustrated that the job
didn’t understand the isn’t completed yet, and I’m
instructions?” worried about getting it done on
time.”
Minimizing the problem Asking for information or
“You think that’s bad? You should clarification
see what I have to do this week.” “What parts of the problem seem
most difficult to solve?”
Advising Offering to help solve the
“Well, why don’t you try listing problem together
everything you have to do ad “Is there anything I could do
seeing which items are most that would help?”
important?”

Active listening takes time and energy. Even people who are

skilled active listeners can’t do it all the time.

How do I show people that I’m listening to them?

Acknowledge their comments in words, nonverbal symbols, and

actions.
Active listening is a good way to show people that you are

listening. Acknowledgment responses – nods, uh huh’s, smiles,

frowns – also help carry the message that you’re listening. Be

wary of differences in cultures as listening responses vary in

different cultures.

Can I use these techniques if I really disagree with someone?

Most of us do our worst listening when we are in highly charged

emotional situations, such as talking with someone with whom we

really disagree, getting bad news, or being criticized. At a

minimum, good listening enables you to find out why your opponent

objects to the programs or ideas you support. Understanding the

objections to your ideas is essential if you are to overcome

those objections.

Good listening is crucial when you are criticized, especially by

your boss. You need to know which areas are most important and

exactly what kind of improvement counts.

WORKING AND WRITING IN TEAMS

Objective – to learn to:

 Work in teams.

 Be a productive leader.

 Resolve conflicts constructively.

 Write collaborative document.

Introduction

Teamwork is crucial to success in an organization. Some teams –

perhaps in additional to providing a service or recommending a

solution – also produce documents. Interpersonal communication is

communication between people. Interpersonal skills such as

listening and dealing with conflict are used in one-on-one

conversations, in problem-solving groups and in writing groups.

Teams are often most effective when they explicitly adopt ground

rules.

 Start on time, end on time.

 Come to the meeting prepared.

 Focus comments on the issues.

 Avoid personal attacks.

 Listen to and respect members’ opinions.

 NOSTUESO (No One Speaks Twice Until Everybody Speaks Once)

 If you have a problem with another person, tell that person,

not everyone else.

 Everyone must be 70% comfortable with the decision and 100%

committed to implementing it.

 If you agree to do something, do it.

 Communicate immediately if you think you may not be able to

fulfil an agreement.

What kinds of messages should groups attend to?

Different messages are appropriate at different points in a

group’s development.

Group messages fall into three categories:

 Informational messages focus on content: the problem or

challenge, data, and possible solutions.

 Procedural messages focus on method and process. How will

the group make decisions? Who will do what? When will

assignments be due?

 Interpersonal messages focus on people, promoting

friendliness, cooperation and group loyalty.

Different messages dominate during the various stages of group

development:

 During orientation, when members meet and begin to define

their task, groups need to develop some sort of social

cohesiveness and to develop procedures for meeting and

acting. Interpersonal and procedurals comments reduce the

tension that exists in a group.

 During formation, conflicts almost always arise when the

group chooses a leader and defines the problem. Successful

leaders make the procedure clear so that each member knows

what he or she is supposed to do. Successful groups analyse

the problem carefully before they begin to search for

solutions.

 Coordination is the longest phase, during which most of the

group’s work is done. Good information is essential to a

good decision. Conflict occurs as the group debates

alternative solutions.

 In formalization, the group seeks consensus. The success of

this phase determines how well the group’s decision will be

implemented.

What roles do people play in groups?

Positive roles and actions that help group achieve its task goals

include the following:

 Seeking information and opinions. Asking questions,

identifying gaps.

 Giving information and opinions. Answered questions,

providing relevant information.

 Summarizing. Restating major points, pulling ideas together,

summarizing decisions.

 Evaluating. Comparing group process and products to

standards and goals.

 Coordinating. Planning work, giving directions, and fitting

together contributions of group members.

Positive roles and actions that help the group build loyalty,

resolve conflicts, and function smoothly include the following:

 Encouraging participation. Demonstrating openness and

acceptance, recognizing the contributions of members,

calling on quieter group members.

 Relieving tensions. Joking and suggesting breaks and fun

activities.

 Checking feelings. Asking members how they feel about group

activities and sharing one’s own feelings with others.

  Solving interpersonal problems. Opening discussion of

interpersonal problems in the group and suggesting ways to

solve them.

 Listening actively. Showing group members that they have

been heard and that their ideas are being taken seriously.

Negative roles and actions that hurt the group’s product and

process include the following:

 Blocking. Disagreeing with everything that is proposed.

 Dominating. Trying to run the group by ordering, shutting

out others, and insisting on one’s own way.

 Clowning. Making unproductive jokes and diverting the group

from the task.

 Withdrawing. Being silent in meetings, not contributing, not

helping with the work, not attending meetings.

Some actions can be positive or negative depending on how they

are used. Criticizing ideas is necessary if the group is to

produce the best solution, but criticizing every single idea

raised without ever suggesting possible solutions blocks a group.

Leadership in Groups
Being a leader does not mean doing all the work yourself.

Effective groups balance three kinds of leadership, which

parallel the three group dimensions:

 Informational leaders generate and evaluate ideas and text.

 Interpersonal leaders monitor the group’s process, check

people’s feelings and resolves conflicts.

 Procedural leaders set the agenda, make sure that everyone

knows what’s due for the next meeting, communicate with

absent group members, and check to be sure that assignments

are carried out.

While it is possible for one person to do all these

responsibilities, in many groups, the three kinds of leadership

are taken by three (or more) different people.

Characteristics of Successful Student Groups

Successful and less successful student groups communicate

differently in three ways:

1. In successful groups, the leader set clear deadlines,

scheduled frequent meetings and dealt directly with conflict

that emerged in the group. In less successful groups,

members had to ask the leader what they were supposed to be

doing. The less successful groups met less often, and they

tried to pretend that conflicts didn’t exist.

 2. The successful groups listened to criticism and made

important decisions together. In less successful groups, a

subgroup made decisions and told other members what had been

decided.

3. The successful groups had a higher proportion of members who

worked actively on the project. The less successful groups

had a much smaller percentage of active members and each had

some members who did very little on the final project.

Peer Pressure and Groupthink

Groups that never express conflict may be experiencing

groupthink. Groupthink is the tendency for groups to put such

high premium on agreement that they directly or indirectly punish

dissent. Groups that “go along with the crowd” and suppress

conflict ignore the full range of alternatives, seek only

information that supports the positions they already favour, and

fail to prepare contingency plans to cope with foreseeable

setbacks. The best correctives to groupthink are to:

 Consciously search for additional alternatives.

 Test assumptions against those of a range of other people.

 Encourage disagreement, perhaps even assigning someone to be

“devil’s advocate.”

 Protect the right of people in a group to disagree.

How should we handle conflict?

Get at the real issue, and repair bad feelings.

Conflicts will arise in any group of intelligent people who care

about the task. Yet many of us feel so uncomfortable with

conflicts that we pretend it doesn’t exist. However,

unacknowledged conflicts rarely go away: they fester, making the

next interchange more difficult. To reduce the number of

conflicts in a group,

 Make responsibilities and ground rules clear at the

beginning.

 Discuss problems as they arise, rather than letting them

fester till people explode.

 Realize that group members are not responsible for each

others’ happiness.

Often the symptoms arises from a feeling of not being respected

or appreciated by the group. Therefore, may problems can be

averted if people advocate for their ideas.

Steps in Conflict Resolution

Dealing successfully with conflicts require both attention to the

issues and to people’s feelings.

1. Make sure that the people involved really disagree. Sometime

someone who’s under a lot of pressure may explode. But the

speaker may just be venting anger and frustration; he or she

may not in fact be angry at the person who receives the

explosion.

2. Check to see that everyone’s information is correct. Sometimes

different conversational styles or cultural differences create

apparent conflicts when in fact no real disagreement exists.

On the other hand, misunderstanding can arise from faulty

assumptions.

3. Discover the need each person is trying to meet. Sometimes

determining the real needs make it possible to see a new

solution. The presenting problem that surfaces as the subject

of dissention may or may not be the real problem. If solving

the presenting problem won’t solve the conflict, then keep

probing until you get to the real conflict.

4. Search for alternatives. Sometimes people are locked into

conflict because they see too few alternatives.

5. Repair bad feelings. Conflict can emerge without anger and

without escalating the disagreement. But if people’s feelings

have been hurt, the group needs to deal with those feelings to

resolve the conflict constructively. Only when people feel

respected and taken seriously can they take the next step of

trusting others in the group.

Responding to Criticism

Conflicts is particularly difficult to resolve when someone else

criticizes or attacks us directly. When we are criticized, our

natural reaction is to defend ourselves – perhaps by

counterattacking. Dealing with criticism depends upon

understanding the real concern of the critic. Constructive ways

to respond to criticism and get closer to the real concern

include:

 Paraphrasing – To paraphrase, repeat in your own words the

verbal content of the critic’s message. The purpose of

paraphrasing are (1) to be sure that you have heard the

critic accurately, (2) to let the critic know what his or

her statement means to you, and (3) to communicate the

feeling you are taking the critic and his or her feeling

seriously.

 Checking for Feelings – When you check the critic’s

feelings, you identify the emotions that the critic seems to

be expressing verbally or nonverbally. The purpose of

checking feelings are to try to understand (1) the critic’s

emotion, (2) the importance of the criticism to the critic,

and (3) the unspoken ideas and feelings that may actually be

more important than the voiced criticism.

  Checking for Inferences – when you check the inferences you

draw from criticism, you identify the implied meaning of the

verbal and nonverbal content of the criticism, taking the

statement a step further than the words of the critic and to

try to understand why the critic is bothered by the actions

or attitude under discussion. The purpose of checking

inferences are (1) to identify the real problem, and (2) to

communicate the feeling that you care about resolving the

conflict.

 Buying Time with Limited Agreement - Buying time is a useful

strategy for dealing with criticism that really sting. When

you buy time with limited agreement, you avoid escalating

the conflict but also avoid yielding to the critic’s point

of view. The purpose of buying time are (1) to allow you

time to think so that you can respond to the criticism

rather than simply reacting defensively, and (2) to suggest

to the critic that you are trying to hear what he or she is

saying.

You-Attitude in Conflict Resolution

You-attitude means looking at things from the audience’s point of

view, respecting the audience, and protecting the audience’s ego.

In conflict, I statements show good you-attitude!

Lacks you attitude: You never do your share of work.

You-attitude: I feel that I’m doing more than my share of
the work on this project.
Lacks you attitude: Even you should be able to run the report
through a spell checker.
You-attitude: I’m not willing to have my name on a report
with so many spelling errors. I did lots of
the writing, and I don’t think I should have
to do the proofreading and spell-checking,
too.

How can we create the best co-authored documents?

Whatever your career, it is likely that some of the documents you

product will be written with a group. Collaboration is often

prompted by one of the following situations:

 The task is too big or the time is too short for one person

to do all the work.

 No one person has all the knowledge required to do the task.

 A group representing different perspective must each a

consensus.

 The stakes for the task are too high that the organization

wants the best efforts of as many people as possible; no one

person wants the sole responsibility for the success or

failure of the document.

Ede and Lunsford showed an emerging profile of effective

collaborative writers: They are flexible; respectful of others;

attentive and analytical listeners; able to speak and write

clearly and accurately; dependable and able to meet deadlines;

able to designate and share responsibility, to lead and to

follow; open to criticism but confident in their own abilities;

ready to engage in creative conflict.

Planning the Work and the Document

Collaborative writing is most successful when the group

articulates its understanding of the document’s purposes and

audience’s and explicitly discusses the best way to achieve these

rhetorical goals. When you plan a collaborative writing project,

 Make your analysis of the problem, the audience, and your

purpose explicit so you know where you agree and where you

disagree.

 Plan the organization, format, and style of the document

before anyone begins to write to make it easier to blend

sections written by different authors.

 Consider your work styles and other commitments.

 Build some leeway into your deadlines.

Composing the Drafts

Most writers find that composing alone is faster than composing

in a group. However, composing together may reduce revision time

later, since the group examines every choice as it is made. When

you draft collaborative writing project,

 Use word processing to make it easier to produce the many

drafts necessary in a collaborative document.

 If the quality of writing is crucial, have the best

writer(s) draft the document after everyone has gathered the

necessary information.

Revising the Document

Revising a collaborative document requires attention to content,

organization, and style. The following guidelines can make the

revision process more effective:

 Evaluate the content and discuss possible revisions as a

group.

 Recognize that different people favor different writing

styles.

 When the group is satisfied with the content of the

document, one person should make any changes necessary to

make the writing style consistent throughout.

Editing and Proofreading the Document

Since writers’ mastery of standard English varies, a group

document needs careful editing and proofreading.

  Have at least one person check the whole document for

correctness in grammar, mechanics, and spelling for

consistency in the way that the format elements, names and

numbers are handled.

 Run the document through a spell checker if possible.

 Even if you use a computerized spell checker, at least one

human being should proofread the document too.

Making the Group Process Work

When you create a co-authored document,

 Give yourselves plenty of time to discuss the problems and

find solutions.

 Take the time to get to know group members and to build

group loyalty.

 Be a responsible group member.

 Be aware that people have different ways of experiencing

reality and of expressing themselves.

 Because talking is “looser” than writing, people in a

group can think they agree when they don’t.

PLANNING, CONDUCTING, AND RECORDING MEETINGS

Objective – To learn how to:

 Plan a meeting.

 Lead a meeting.

 Be an effective participant in meetings.

 Take good meeting minutes.

 Network effectively.

Introduction

Meetings have always taken a large part of the average manager’s

week. Business, non-profit, and government organizations hold

several type of meetings.

 Parliamentary meetings are run under strict rules, like the

rules of parliamentary procedure summarized in Robert’s

Rules of Order.

 Regular staff meetings are held to announce new policies and

products, answer questions, share ideas, and motivate

workers.

 Team meetings bring together team members to brainstorm,

solve problems, and create documents.

  One-on-one meetings are not always thought of as meetings,

but they are perhaps the most common meetings of all.

Other kinds of meetings are also held. Many companies hold sales

meetings for the sales staff. Conventions bring together workers

in the same field from many different employers.

Various technology are also used in meetings. Speakerphones, and

conference calls allow people in different locations to

participate in the same conversation. Online meetings also make

use of different email, chat and video platforms.

What planning should precede a meeting?

Meetings can have at least six purposes:

 To share information.

 To brainstorm ideas.

 To evaluate ideas.

 To make decisions.

 To create a document.

 To motivate members.

When meetings combine two or more purposes, it’s useful to make

the purposes explicit. Intel’s agendas also specify how decisions

will be made. The company recognizes four different decision-

making processes:

 Authoritative (leader makes the decision alone

 Consultative (the leader hears group comments, but then

makes the decision alone)

 Voting (the majority wins)

 Consensus (discussion continues until everyone can “buy

into” the decision)

Specifying how input will be used makes expectations clear and

focuses the conversation.

Once you’ve identified your purposes, think about how you can

make them happen.

For team meetings called on short notice, the first item of

business is to create an agenda (Agenda is Latin for “to be

done.”) The kind of agenda can be informal, simply listing the

topics or goals. For meetings with more lead time, distribute an

agenda several days before the meeting. A good agenda indicates:

 The time and place of the meeting.

 Whether each item is presented for information, for

discussion, or for a decision.

  Who is sponsoring or introducing each item.

 How much time is allotted for each item.

Many groups put first routine items on which agreement will be

easy. Schedule controversial items early in the meeting, when

people’s energy level is high, and to allow enough time for full

discussion.

If you’re planning a long meeting, for example, a training

session or a conference, recognize that networking is part of the

value of the meeting. Allow short breaks at least every two hours

and generous breaks at least twice a day so participants can talk

informally to each other.

Also, allow for creativity and fun.

When I’m in charge, how do I keep the meetings on track?

Your goal as chair is to help participants deal with the issues

in a way that is both timely and adequately thorough.

 If many people are new to the group, make the ground rules

explicit.
  Introduce the person who introduces each issue, recognize

people who want to speak, and remind the group of its

progress.

 Be prepared to summarize issues to shape the discussion when

the issues are complex or when members have major

disagreements.

 If the issue is contentious, ask that speakers for and

against a recommendation alternate. If no one remains on one

side, then the discussion can stop.

 Pay attention to people and process as well as to task.

 If conflict seems to be getting out of hand, focus on ways

the group could deal with conflict before getting back to

the substantive issues.

 If the group doesn’t formally vote, summarize the group’s

consensus after each point so that everyone knows what

decision has been made and who is responsible for

implementing or following up on each item.

What decision-making strategies work well in meetings?

Probably the least effective decision-making strategy is to let

the person who talks first, last, loudest, or most determined to

make the decision. The standard agenda is a seven-step process

for solving problems.

 1. Understand what the group has to deliver, in what form, by

what due date. Identify available resources.

2. Identify the problem.

3. Gather information, share it wall all the group members, and

examine it critically.

4. Establish criteria.

5. Generate alternate solutions.

6. Measure the alternatives against the criteria.

7. Choose the best solution.

Dot planning offers a way for large groups to choose priorities

quickly.

How can I be an effective meeting participant?

Take the time to prepare for the meeting. Read the materials

distributed before the meetings and think about the issues to be

discussed. Bring the materials to the meeting, along with

something to write on and with, even if you are not the

secretary.

It’s frustrating to speak in a meeting and have people ignore

what you say. Here are some tips to be being taken seriously:

 Show that you have done your homework.

 Link your comment to the comment of a powerful person.

  Find an ally in the organization and agree ahead of time to

acknowledge each other’s contribution to the meetings,

whether you disagree or agree with the point being made.

What should go in meeting minutes?

Meeting expert Michael Begeman suggests recording three kids of

information:

 Decisions reached.

 Action items, where someone needs to implement or follow up

on something.

 Open issues – issues raised but not resolved.

Minutes of formal meetings indicate who was present and absent

and the working of motions and amendments as well as the vote.

Committee report are often attached for later reference.

How can I use informal meetings with my boss to advance my

career?

You’ll see your supervisor several times a week. Some of these

meetings will be accidental with some deliberately initiated.

You can take advantage of these meetings by planning for them.

Plan scripts as they are especially important if your boss

doesn’t give you much feedback or mentoring. You need to take the

initiative.

Do electronic meetings require special considerations?

When you meet electronically rather than in person, you lose the

informal interactions of going to lunch or chatting during a

break. Be aware of the limitations of your channel. When you are

limited to email, you lose both tone of voice and body language.

Technical communicator Aimee Kratts recommends the following tips

for making an international teleconference run smoothly:

 Distribute agendas and other materials well in advance.

 Encourage speakers to use standard English with as little

slang as possible.

 Ask for questions periodically.

 Ask for contributions from people who haven’t spoken.

 Listen for disagreements.

 Encourage offline discussions on email to follow up on

topics.

 Call participants individually the next day to take the

emotional temperature.
  Take and distribute written minutes.

MAKING ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Objective – to learn to:

 Turn materials from a paper document into a presentation

 Plan and deliver oral presentations

 Develop a good speaking voice

 Give group presentations

Introduction

Making a good oral presentation is more than just good delivery:

It also involves developing a strategy that fits your audience

and purpose, having good content, and organizing material

effectively. Oral presentations have the same three basic

purposes that written documents have: to inform, to persuade and

to build goodwill. Like written messages, most oral presentations

have more than one purpose.

Informative presentations inform or teach the audience. Training

sessions in an organization are primarily information. Secondary

purposes may be to persuade new employees to follow

organizational procedures.

Persuasive presentations motivates the audience to act or to

believe. Giving information and evidence is an important means of

persuasion. In addition, the speaker must build goodwill by

appearing to be credible and sympathetic to the audience’s needs.

Goodwill presentations entertain and validate the audience.

Presentations at sales meetings may be designed to stroke the

audience’s egos and to validate their commitment to

organizational goals. Make your purpose as specific as possible.

Note that purpose is not the introduction of your talk; it is the

principle that guides your decisions as you plan your

presentation.

What decisions do I need to make as I plan a presentation?

An oral presentation needs to be simpler than a written message

to the same audience. Identify the one idea you want the audience

to take home. Simplify your supporting details so it’s easy to

follow. Simplify visuals so they can be taken in at a glance.

Simplify your words and sentences so they’re easy to understand.

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applications. And they last forever.

Analyse your audience for an oral presentation just as you do for

a written message. Think about the physical conditions in which

you’ll be speaking.

Choosing the Kind of Presentation

There are three basic kind of presentations:

 Monologue presentation – the speaker speaks without

interruption; questions are held until the end of the

presentation where the speaker functions as an expert.

 Guided discussion – the speaker presents the questions or

issues that both speaker and audience have agreed in

advance. Rather than functioning as an expert with all the

answers, the speaker serves as a facilitator to help the

audience tap its own knowledge. This offers a better way to

present material and help an audience find a solution it can

“buy into.”
  Sales presentation – is a conversation, even if the

salesperson stands up in front of a group and uses charts

and overhead. Even in a memorized sales presentation, the

buyer will talk at least 30% of the time. In a problem-

solving sales presentation, the buyer may talk 70% of the

time.

Adapting Your Ideas to the Audience

Measure the message you’d like to send against where your

audience is now. If your audience is indifferent, sceptical, or

hostile, focus on the part of your message the audience will find

most interesting and easiest to accept.

Don’t seek a major opinion change in a single oral presentation.

Make your ideas relevant to your audience by linking what you

have to say to the audience’s experiences and interests.

Planning Visual and Other Devices to Involve the Audience

Visuals can give your presentation a professional image. Well-

designed visuals can serve as an outline for your talk,

eliminating the need for additional notes. Visuals should

highlight your main points, not give every detail. Use these

guidelines to create and show visuals for presentation:

  Make only one point with each visual. Break a complicated

point down into several visuals.

 Give each visual a title that makes a point.

 Limit the amount of information on a visual.

 Don’t put your visual up till you’re ready to talk about it.

Leave it up until your next point.

You can also involve the audience in other ways:

 Ask the audience to perform an action (e.g. shake hands,

etc.)

 Use materials (e.g. pitcher of water and empty glass)

How can I create a strong opener and close?

The beginning and end of a presentation, like the beginning and

end of a written document, are positions of emphasis. Use those

key positions to interest the audience and emphasize your

keypoint.

Four modes of openers:

 Startling Statement

 Narration or Anecdote – the best anecdotes are parables that

contain the point of your talk

 Question
  Quotation

Your opener should interest the audience and establish rapport.

Some speakers use humor to achieve those goals. However, humor

isn’t the only way to set an audience at ease. Smile at your

audience before you begin; let them see that you’re a real person

and a nice one.

The end of your presentation should be as strong as the opener.

For your close, you could do one or more of the following:

 Restate your main point.

 Refer to your opener to create a frame for your

presentation.

 End with a vivid, positive picture.

 Tell the audience exactly what to do to solve the problem

you’ve discussed.

When you write out your opener and close, be sure to use oral

rather than written style. Oral style uses shorter sentences and

shorter, simpler words than writing does.

How should I organize a presentation?

Most presentations use a direct pattern of organization, even

when the goal is to persuade a reluctant audience. In a business

setting, the audience members are in a hurry and know that you

want to persuade them. In a persuasive presentation, start with

your strongest point, your best reason.

Often one of five standard patterns of organization will work.

 Chronological. Start with the past, move to the present, and

end by looking ahead.

 Problem-Cause-Solution. Explain the symptoms of the problem,

identify its causes and suggest a solution.

 Excluding alternatives. Explain the symptoms of the problem.

Explain the obvious solution that will work.

 Pro-Con. Give all the reasons in favor of something, then

hose against it.

 1-2-3. Discuss three aspects of the topic. This pattern

works well to organize short informative briefings.

An overview provides a mental peg that hearers can hang each

point on. Offer a clear signposts as you come to each new point.

A signpost is an explicit statement of the point you have

reached.
What are the keys to delivering an effective presentation?

Turn your fear into energy, look at the audience and use natural

gestures.

Audience members want the sense that you’re talking directly to

them and that you care that they understand and are interested.

Transforming Fear

Feeling nervous is normal. But you can harness that nervous

energy to help you do your best work. To calm your nerves as you

prepare to give an oral presentation,

 Be prepared. Analyze your audience, organize your thoughts,

prepare visual aids, practice your opener and close, check

out the arrangement.

 Use only the amount of caffeine you normally use. More or

less may make you jumpy.

 Avoid alcoholic beverages.

 Use positive emphasis.

Just before your presentation,

 Consciously contract and then relax your muscles, starting

with your feet and calves and going up to your shoulders,

arms and hands.

 Take several deep breaths from your diaphragm.

During your presentation,

 Pause and look at the audience before you begin to speak.

 Concentrate on communicating well.

 Use body energy in strong gestures and movement.

Using Eye Contact

Look directly at the people you’re talking to. The point in

making eye contact is to establish one-on-one contact with the

individual members of your audience. People want to feel that

you’re talking to them. Looking directly at individuals also

enables you to be more conscious of feedback from the audience so

that you can modify your approach if necessary.

Standing and Gesturing

Stand with your feet far enough apart for good balance, with your

knees flexed. Unless the presentation is very formal or you’re on

camera, you can walk if you want to. Build on your natural style

for gestures. Gestures usually work best when they’re big and

confident.

Using Notes and Visuals

Unless you’re giving a very short presentation, you’ll probably

want to use notes. Even experts use notes. Put your notes on

cards or sturdy pieces of paper. Your notes need to be complete

enough to help you if you go blank, so use long phrases or

complete sentences. Look at your notes infrequently. Most of your

gaze time should be directed to members of the audience.

If you have lots of visuals and know your topic well, you won’t

need notes. Put the screen to the side so that you won’t block

it. Face the audience, not the screen.

How should I handle questions from the audience?

Anticipate questions that might be asked. Be honest.

Rephrase biased or hostile questions.

Prepare for questions by listing every fact or opinion you can

think of that challenges your position. Treat each objection

seriously and try to think of a way to deal with it.

During your presentation, tell the audience how you’ll handle

questions. If you have a choice, save questions for later. Don’t

exaggerate your claims so that you won’t have to back down in

response to questions later.

During the question period, don’t nod your head to indicate that

you understand a question as it is asked. Audiences will

interpret nods as signs that you agree with the questioner.

Instead, look directly at the questioner.

If the audience may not have heard the question or if you want

more time to think, repeat the question before you answer it.

Link your answers to the points you made in your presentation. If

a question is hostile or biased, rephrase it before you answer

it.

Occasionally someone will ask a question that is really designed

to state the speaker’s own opinion. Respond to the question if

you want to. If someone asks about something that you have

already explained in your presentation, simply answer the

question without embarrassing the questioner.

If you don’t know the answer the question, say so. If your

purpose it to inform, write down the question so that you can

look up the answer before the next session.

At the end of the question period – or at the end of your talk,

if there are no questions – take two minutes to summarize your

main point once more.

What are the guidelines for group presentation?

Plan carefully to involve as many members of the group as

possible in speaking roles. The easiest way to make a group

presentation is to outline the presentation and then divide the

topics, giving one to each group member. In this kind of divided

presentation, be sure to:

 Plan transitions.

 Enforce time limits strictly.

 Coordinate your visuals so that the presentation seems a

coherent whole.

 Practice the presentation as a group at least once; more is

better.

The best group presentations are even more fully integrated:

together, the members of the group

 Write a very detailed outline.

 Choose points and examples.

 Create visuals.

Then, within each point, speakers take turns. Whatever form of

group presentation you use, be sure to introduce each member of

the team to the audience at the beginning of the presentation and

to use the next person’s name when you change speakers.