Chapter 9: Types of Presentations

Author: Lisa Marie Coppoletta

Rashad is excited about his new role working for a major pharmaceutical company. This new position is a promotion for him giving him the opportunity to lead the sales department — a role fitting his background and college major.

As a lead in the sales division, Rashad will have opportunities to participate in the training of new hires. One of his first projects is to redesign the training program to make it more interactive. Rashad has also decided to create a synchronous, online orientation to connect employees in the sales division working from home and in the company’s distributed locations.

Last week, Rashad was asked to represent the division at a local conference where he highlighted the benefits of one of the company’s newest products for a group of physicians. Although Rashad never imagined his marketing degree would lead him into a position involving designing and delivering oral messages to various groups of people, he feels confident in his ability to engage an audience and has come to enjoy this part of his job role.

As you consider your professional career, it is important to be aware of the opportunities to speak in front of an audience you are likely to encounter. In fact, as you move further up the career ladder, you should expect to have increased public speaking opportunities in the workplace. This might include employee training, sales presentations, and speaking events at professional meetings and conferences.. This chapter will first examine three common types of speeches: informative, persuasive, and special occasion presentations. Second, we will explore how audience analysis is used to better understand the characteristics of listeners. Finally, we will analyze the use of situational context analysis of the places in which we deliver our speeches.