Chapter 1

Introduction

Group dynamics is more prominent in the San Joaquin Valley than you would think. The San Joaquin Valley is Central California. The Central Valley is 450 miles of flat land that dominates the interior of California. It's agricultural country where you have a large Hispanic population. Group decisions are made daily by field workers, truck drivers, supervisors, managers, and presidents. Ceasar Chavez established the first farm worker labor union in the United States in California. Cesar turned down a job from President Kennedy to be the head of the Peace Corps, where he would have been making a salary more significant than he had ever seen before; a big house and his children would have had all the advantages, but he said no to live a life of self-imposed poverty.

What's so fantastic about group dynamics is that even though we are from different ethnic backgrounds, learning how to communicate and working in groups is a life skill that will help you in your life [professional, social, or personal]. Let's take professionalism first; how many of you can say if you had to work in a group, you would be capable of working with other individuals in your department that you didn't know? And you could help the group or team reach their goal. You are committed and dedicated to the group during the meetings, giving specific responsibilities and performing at a level to make the group succeed. One day, you will be working in a group, and everyone has to make some sacrifices; you will have had that learning experience, which will be a plus for you and could lead to a promotion.

Socially, another area that causes us frustration is that we don't want to be around specific individual [s], and it's keeping us from attending events or family gatherings. Even though each ethnic group is different, the social issue regarding individual and social events continues.

Personal: What's more important than your mental health and physical well-being? You only have one life. Communicating in friendships and relationships is one of the keys to life. Studies and research state that not having friendships or relationships where you are meeting in groups for chatting or other functions shortens your life expectancy by two to five years.

Among the many things this course will provide you with, learning how to work with others in groups is a monster. Working with other individuals from diverse backgrounds can and will be very helpful. Understanding the steps in solving problems is a game changer; you can use this tool to your advantage.

I saved our biggest concern or problem for last; I know you are thinking, what can that be—Hello Conflict. So many of us have been told or taught to stay away from Conflict. I'm sorry, but whether the Conflict is minor or significant, we must learn to work through it. Many say it will disappear if I don't deal with the problem or situation. But does it go away? Most of the time, it reappears at a later date, and sometimes not, it's bigger than ever.

We can't do anything about the past, so we start with a clean slate. Let's read the chapters, do the theory, and then put the theory into practice. Each of us is different, but after finishing the course, you will be more knowledgeable and feel better about Conflict and the problem-solving techniques you have reviewed.

Presenting a Speech and Group Discussion is Similar 

Giving a speech is a tool you will have in your back pocket, and it will be like riding a bike. Once you learn, you never forget. I hadn't been on a bike for thirty years; after remembering how to balance my weight, I was off and riding down the streets. Yes, this is a required class for your degree. Also, you will be learning techniques and skills that will help you through school, parenting, life adventures, and professionally. 

In preparing for a speech, there are six basic steps. Organizing a speech is ninety percent the same as writing an English essay; the speech is in outline form. The introduction and Body of the speech is the same. The conclusion is different. In giving a speech, you want it short and sweet ninety percent of the time unless you share a story, poem, reading, etc. 

1.1 Six Steps for Outlining a Speech 

Step 1 Picking A Subject Through Consideration 

1. Worth talking about –As the speaker, you must pick a topic that hs substance and provides valuable information. 

2. Subject appropriate to listener—Remember you want to pick a subject they want to hear.  

3. Speaker competent to discuss the topic---You are the expert on the subject, you have background knowledge, written a book or have experiences, etc; this is why your audience is coming.  

Why is Picking A Subject Through Consideration Important? You are getting paid for speaking, or someone has asked you to say, and you must pick a topic they want to hear about. In most cases they will ask you to speak on a certain topic, because they know that is your area of expertise. 

Step 2 Narrowing of Topic 

1. General:   Meat           Water                              Hurricane 

2. Narrow: Beef             Bottle Water                 Hurricane Katrina 

3. Specific: Hamburger Arrowhead Water       Hurricane Katrina Largest 3rd fastest 

Why is Narrowing the Topic Important? I want you to think about high school or college classrooms, and the instructor wanted you to write a term paper or a  project, and they gave you a general topic. You were stuck or saying this topic is too broad. Now, you have a tool to help you solve or eliminate that concern from now on. 

On your outline form, your specific topic has to be a sentence: 

Example: Let's say this is a speech to inform. I will do Arrowhead Water 

Specific: I will inform you why you should drink Arrowhead water. This also is your thesis. 

Step 3 Introduction 

1. Hook [English Teachers] or Get the attention of the audience 

2. Thesis or Purpose 

3. Three Main Points or Topics 

Why is the introduction Important? The introduction is the key to if your audience will listen to your speech. If you are excitable and full of energy and cover the three things above, you will have them eating out of your hands. 

Step 4 Body 

1. Main Point 

2. Evidence 

3. Research 

        Why is the Body Important? This is where you go into depth about each of your points from your introduction, so your audience understands what you have shared about your three topics. 

Step 5 Conclusion         

1. Clincher—Last thing you are going to say—It should be something that will take their breathe away 

2. Leave your audience with something to remember you and your speech by 

Why is the Conclusion Important? This is the last thing your audience will hear and, in many cases, will remember about your speech. You want your conclusion to be slow, soft, and sweet unless you share a story. You want it to be a clincher. Something that they will remember for a while. 

Example of a Clincher-----School Play. The last act and the play were over, and the audience stood up and started clapping for actors and actresses to come back out on stage for a curtain call and bow again. The audience wanted to show their appreciation for a job well done. The performer will remember the name of the play and how the audience responded 

Step 6 Transitions 

1. Forms a bridge between two ideas 

2. Uniting Ideas Joining Ideas     

3. It shows where the speech has been and where it is going 

Why is the Transitions  Important? Think about a blind man listening to your speech or anyone and being able to follow from one paragraph to the next. When using the proper transitions, it flows so smoothly. 

Ways to start Introduction and end Conclusion—You can use any of the following: 

1. Statement 

2. Question 

3. Poem 

4. Skit 

5. Story 

6. Quote 

Why are transitions critical? 

Transitions are words or phrases that allow you to move smoothly from one section of your speech to another so that your speech flows smoothly and you do not confuse your audience. 

Transitions are used to ensure your audience knows you are leaving one part of your speech and going to the next. Without transitions, your audience could be confused and didn't know or understand when you were leaving one point and going to another: 

1. Starting with 

2. Beginning with 

3. Next 

4. Moving on 

5. First---Second---Third—Any time you say first, a sequence of ideas is coming, so you must say Second for your point B and Third for your point C. 

6. Last 

7. Furthermore 

8. In addition 

9. Now Let's Consider or On the contrary. 

10. To get started

1.2 Speech Outlining 

Introduction 

Attention Getter in Yellow---Let me explain this a step further ---You must first get the audience's attention, and you can't do that by going right into your topic. It has to be something that will make your audience think. Example: If my speech was on Losing Weight. Attention Getter—I would start with a question---When was the last time you looked at your high school senior picture?—This is to get them thinking. 

Thesis Today, I will inform you how to remove those inches before your class reunion 2027. 

Three Main points---[A] Water [B] Exercising [C] Eating Right 

Other items 

You can practice now on the introduction – Go to MIRROR and watch yourself as you practice. See, are you smiling and opening your mouth? The audience should be able to see your teeth. 

Get ahead of the game. 

Mr. Grant 

Speech Outline Form             

                                                                                                 Name:  _______________   

                                                                                                     Date:  _______________ 

                                                                                                      Type:  _______________ 

    General ______________________    

    Narrow ______________________ 

    Specific ______________________________________________________   

1. ______________________ B. _____________________ C. ________________  

I  Introduction 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Transition ____________________ 

II Body 

1. ________________________________________ 

1. _________________________________________________________________ 

2. __________________________________________________________________ 

     Transition _____________________ 

2. _________________________________________ 

1. ___________________________________________________________________ 

2. ___________________________________________________________________ 

        Transition _____________________ 

3. ____________________________________________ 

1. ________________________________________________________________ 

2. ________________________________________________________________ 

         Transition ______________________ 

  III Conclusion 

      _______________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________________ 

 References: 

         1. 

         2. 

                                                              Example:                                         

                                                                                                   Name: Mr. Grant 

                                                                                                   Date: 00-00-27 

                                                                                                   Type: Self-Introduction 

General: Man  

Narrow: Mr. Grant                               

Specific: Mr. Grant being successful in life.              Yellow-Attention Getter 

Specific: Must be a sentence                                      Light Green- Thesis  

A. High School Days B. College C. Job Opportunities   Light Blue -Three Main Points 

I. Introduction 

Everyone wants to be successful in life. You are in college because you have goals and want to be successful. Well, this afternoon I want to share with you a few things about Mr. Grant your instructor, being successful in life, [A] High School Days, [B] College and [C] Job Opportunities. 

Transition:  Start with  

II. Body 

A. High School Days 

     1. Loved H.S/Cut Classes 

     2. Average Student/People Helped 

Transition: Next 

  B. College  

      1. Basketball/ Men/ Education 

      2. 4 yr/ Help 

Transition:  Last 

   C. Job Opportunities 

      1.  College classmates/Instructors 

      2.  Networking 

Transition:  In Closing 

III. Conclusion 

   Like the Arm slogan says, “Be The Best YOU Can Be” and you will reach your  

   goal in life. 

   Thank You 

No color and you will be minus 6 Points 

1.3 Delivery

Delivery or how will get you the job or pass the interview. Remember, I’m not taking you through every phase of delivery—If you were in COM 1 Public Speaking, I would do that. I want you to know how to write a basic outline and use your abilities to care for the HOW. Speech is not math, where there is one standard answer. Each speaker is different and unique, and you have your strengths or style. For many of you, it might be a challenge, but coming out of the world of technology into the world of communication is much easier than doing chemistry or calculus. The key to delivery is practicing in front of a Mirror.

When you are delivering a speech, you want to be natural. To me, you must practice in front of the mirror and watch your facial expressions and gestures. I never ask a student to make gestures or facial expressions. It is something we must work on. Have you ever watched the meteorologists?

What is more boring than the weather? Do they make it exciting? Ninety percent of them do make the weather exciting. This is your job as a speaker to make the audience want to listen to you.

You can do two things now to help yourself with delivery: smile and let the audience see your teeth, and speak louder if you are a soft speaker. Speaking softly at job interviews is a sign you are not a strong individual in most cases.

The delivery of your speech is so essential, like the message. Think of the movies, actors, or actresses you watch. Why do you manage them because they perform or keep you entertained?

It’s all about HOW you said it, along with the message.

There is also a non-verbal part of your speech that you must develop. All the following things deliver a message to your audience—Eye Contact- vocal, Body, and facial expressions enhance your message to the audience.

Extemporaneous Speaking— A planned speech using notecards or outline and rehearsed—which allows you to maintain eye contact with the audience. You can see how well the audience understands your message. You can still gauge if the audience is listening and interested when online. It also makes the audience think you are knowledgeable and keeps them more engaged.

What is Good Delivery— The process of presenting a clear-coherent message interestingly [excitable or with energy]

Eye Contact—You must be able to have eye contact with the audience. Making eye contact with the audience is one of the most essential tools toward effective delivery—Eye Contact is a powerful tool—signs of confidence and well-prepared

Facial Expressions—Convey so much information—You want to AVOID NO FACIAL EXPRESSION

Example: I want you to think about this for a couple of minutes: When has someone shared with you that they were going or going to take you to Disneyland and didn’t show excitement? It’s probably hard to remember when someone spoke about Disneyland and wasn’t excited about it. So, as a speaker, you want to be excited about your speech.

If you are speaking about death, sadness, or loneliness, then you are speaking with a low, soft voice with a facial expression, letting your audience see you are also in this place.

Videos to demonstrate: 

1. Meteorologists

2. Facial Expressions

3. Non Verbal expressions 

1.4 Oral Presentations

Section Objectives 

• Create oral presentation materials that reflect standards of effective presentations.

• Apply the standards of effective presentation to Technical Writing.

• Demonstrate formatting and designing of presentations.

• Evaluate presentations for effectiveness.

A common assignment in technical writing courses—not to mention in the workplace—is to prepare and deliver an oral presentation, a task most of us would be happy to avoid. However, while employers look for coursework and experience in preparing written documents, they also look for experience in oral presentations as well.

Oral presentations will be prepared differently face-to-face than in an online environment. You would see many presenters use flip charts, PowerPoint, and other visuals for face-to-face presentations. If you are presenting online, oral reports can be sent in as "scripts," or audio versions can be transmitted live or recorded. You might also use PowerPoint and Prezi presentations as well.

Most people would rather have root canal surgery without Novocaine than stand up in front of a group and speak. It truly is one of the great stressors. But with some help from the resources that follow, you can be a champion presenter. Learning how to have effective presentations can help you close a big deal or explain information to your colleagues at work.

Topics and Situations for the Oral Presentation

For the oral report in a technical writing course, imagine that you are formally handing over your final written report to the people with whom you set up the hypothetical contract or agreement. For example, imagine that you had contracted with a software company to write its user guide. Once you have completed it, you have a meeting with the chief officers to formally deliver the guide. You spend some time orienting them to the guide, showing them how it is organized and written, and discussing some of its highlights. Your goal is to get them acquainted with the guide and to prompt them for any concerns or questions.

The first step is to figure out a topic. It is important to remember what you did in the writing process and the same steps apply here. Start with brainstorming some possibilities on what you want to present:

• Purpose: One way to find a topic is to think about the purpose of your talk. Is it to instruct (for example, to explain how to run a text editing program on a computer), to persuade (to vote for or against a certain technically oriented bond issue), or simply to inform (to report on citizen participation in the new recycling program).

• Informative purpose: An oral report can be primarily informative. For example, as a member of a committee involved in a project to relocate the plant, your job might be to give an oral report on the condition of the building and grounds at one of the sites proposed for purchase.

• Instructional purpose: An oral report can be instructional. Your task might be to train new employees to use certain equipment or to perform certain routine tasks.

• Persuasive purpose: An oral report can be persuasive. You might want to convince members of local civic organizations to support a city-wide recycling program.

• Topics: You can start by thinking of a technical subject, for example, solar panels, microprocessors, drip irrigation, or laser surgery. For your oral report, think of a subject you would be interested in talking about, but find a reason why an audience would want to hear your oral report.

• Place or situation: You can find topics for oral reports or make more detailed plans for them by thinking about the place or the situation in which your oral report might naturally be given: at meetings for your employer? at a city council meeting? at a meeting of the board of directors or high-level executives of a company? Thinking about an oral report this way makes you focus on the audience, their reasons for listening to you, and their interests and background. As in all technical writing situations, identifying and understanding your audience is of the utmost importance.

Contents and Requirements for Oral Presentations

Once you have picked a topic for your oral presentation, it is time to organize your thoughts. The focus for your oral presentation is clear, understandable presentation; well-organized, well-planned, well-timed discussion.

When you give your oral presentation, use the following as a requirements list, as a way of focusing your preparations:

• Situation: Plan to explain the situation of your oral report and who you are. Make sure that there is a clean break between this brief explanation and the beginning of your actual oral report.

• Introduction: Pay special attention to the introduction to your talk. Here's where you tell your audience what you are going to present.

  • Indicate the purpose of your oral report.

  • give an overview of its contents.

  • find some way to interest the audience.

• Visuals: Use at least one visual—preferably slides using presentation software (such as Powerpoint, Keynote, and Prezi). Flip charts and objects for display are good, but avoid scribbling stuff on the chalkboard or whiteboard or relying strictly on handouts. Make sure you discuss key elements of your visuals. Don't just throw them up there and ignore them. Point out things about them; explain them to the audience.

• Explanation: Plan to explain any technical aspect of your topic clearly and understandably. Don't race through complex, technical stuff—slow down and explain it carefully so that your audience understands it.

• Transitions: Use "verbal headings"—by now, you've gotten used to using headings in your written work. There is a corollary in oral reports. With these, you give your audience a very clear signal you are moving from one topic or part of your talk to the next. Your presentation visual can signal your headings.

• Planning: Plan your presentation in advance and practice it so that it is organized. Make sure that your audience knows what you are talking about and why, which part of the talk you are in, and what is coming next. Overviews and verbal headings greatly contribute to this sense of organization.

• Closing: End with a real conclusion. People sometimes forget to plan how to end an oral report and end by just trailing off into a mumble. Remember that in conclusions, you can:

  • summarize (go back over high points of what you've discussed).

  • conclude (state some logical conclusion based on what you have presented).

  • provide some last thought (end with some final interesting point but general enough not to require elaboration).

  • or some combination of the three.

• Questions: And certainly, you'll want to prompt the audience for questions and concerns.

• The sample chart below can help you with your organization and brainstorming.

1.5 Preparing for the Oral Presentation

Pick the method of preparing for the talk that best suits your comfort level with public speaking and with your topic. However, plan to do ample preparation and rehearsal—some people assume that they can just jump up there and ad lib for so many minutes and be relaxed and informal. It does not often work that way—drawing a mental blank is the more common experience. A well delivered presentation is the result of a lot of work and a lot of practice.

Here are the obvious possibilities for preparation and delivery:

• Write a script, practice it; keep it around for quick-reference during your talk.

• Set up an outline of your talk; practice with it, bring it for reference.

• Set up cue cards, practice with them, and use them during your talk.

• Write a script and read from it.

A good presentation is one that is clear, understandable, well-planned, organized, and on target with your purpose and audience.

It does not matter which method you use to prepare for the talk, but you want to make sure that you know your material. The head-down style of reading your report directly from a script will not work. There is little or no eye contact or interaction with the audience. The delivery tends to be toward a dull, boring monotone that either puts listeners off or is hard to understand. And, most of us cannot stand to have reports read to us!

For many reasons, most people get nervous when they have to give oral presentations. Being well prepared is your best defense against the nerves. The nerves will wear off someday, the more oral presenting you do. In the meantime, breathe deeply and enjoy.

Visuals for Oral Presentations

There are various types of presentation formats you can use:

• Presentation software slides: Projecting images ("slides") using software such as PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, and Prezi, to name a few. One common problem with the construction of these slides is cramming too much information on individual slides.

• Poster board-size charts: Another possibility is to get some poster boards and draw and letter what you want your audience to see. Of course, it's not easy making charts look neat and professional.

• Handouts: You can run off copies of what you want your audience to see and hand them out before or during your talk. This option is even less effective than the first two because you cannot point to what you want your audience to see and because handouts distract the audience’s attention away from you. Still, for certain visual needs, handouts are the only choice. Keep in mind that if you are not well prepared, the handouts become a place for your distracted audience to doodle.

• Objects: If you need to demonstrate certain procedures, you may need to bring in actual physical objects. Rehearse what you are going to do with these objects; sometimes they can take up a lot more time than you expect.

• Zoom, Teams, Google Hangouts (conference style software): We are seeing more and more companies using these software to conduct business meetings. So, people are conducting virtual meetings and presenting. So learning how to use this software to present your presentations is very important.

Take some time to make your visuals look sharp and professional—do your best to ensure that they are legible to the entire audience.

As for the content of your visuals, consider these ideas:

• Drawing or diagram of key objects: If you describe or refer to any objects during your talk, try to get visuals of them, so that you can point to different components or features.

• Tables, charts, graphs: If you discuss statistical data, present it in some form or table, chart, or graph. Many members of your audience may be less comfortable "hearing" such data as opposed to seeing it.

• Outline of your talk, report, or both: If you are at a loss for visuals to use in your oral presentation, or if your presentation is complex, have an outline of it that you can show at various points during your talk.

• Key terms and definitions: A good idea for visuals (especially when you cannot think of any others) is to set up a two-column list of key terms you use during your oral presentation with their definitions in the second column.

• Key concepts or points: Similarly, you can list your key points and show them in visuals. (Outlines, key terms, and main points are all good, legitimate ways of incorporating visuals into oral presentations when you cannot think of any others.)

During your actual oral report, make sure to discuss your visuals, refer to them, guide your audience through the key points in your visuals. It is a big problem just to throw a visual up on the screen and never even refer to it.

As you prepare your visuals, look at resources that will help you. There are many rules for using PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, and Prezi down to the font size and how many words to put on a single slide, but you will have to choose the style that best suits your subject and your presentation style.

You may also have heard about the presentation skills of Steve Jobs. The video that follows is the introduction of the I-Phone...and as you watch, take notes on how Jobs sets up his talk and his visuals. Observe how he connects with the audience...and then see if you can work some of his strategies into your own presentation skills. This is a long video...you don't need to watch it all, but do take enough time to form some good impressions.

Steve Jobs iPhone Presentation

1.6 Format and Design

Presentation software allows you to take an oral presentation to the next level—engaging your audience verbally and visually as well as aurally. What’s particularly powerful about using presentation software and other visual aids is the ability to use imagery to bridge cultural and language gaps and arrive at a shared understanding of the issue/opportunity at hand.

Using multimedia—images, photos and video and animation—that supports your point also provides repetition and can increase retention.

Common Presentation Tools 

There are various formats you can use to create effective presentations. Depending on your operating system there is Keynote for Mac computers, PowerPoint is a Microsoft product, and there are online options such as Prezi. These applications are easy to use and can provide step by step instructions. 

Various Types of Presentation tools to consider:

1. PowerPoint

2. Prezi

3. Keynote

Creating Effective Presentations

Presentations are quite common in both academic and professional settings, and, because they are such an important part of how you’ll likely present your ideas and information to an audience, it’s helpful to have some basic information on how to create an effective presentation.

The basic purpose of a presentation is to give you a way to present key ideas to an audience with visual support. Your presentation shouldn’t be full of text. It is meant to provide you with speaking points, and detailed notes should be kept from your audience. You want to keep your slides clear, clean, short, focused, and you want to keep your audience from using the expression that we sometimes hear in reference to long, boring presentations, “death by PowerPoint.”

When you start to think about the layout of your presentation make sure to have an outline of how you want your presentation to flow. This will help you make sure you cover all your points. Make sure that your presentation is spaced out well and your content does not look cluttered on the slide. Remember that you want the color to be suitable for all audiences. Some people are color blind and cannot see certain colors. So make sure your colors go well together.

Designing the Presentation

When creating a presentation make sure it is visually appealing and easy to read for your audience. You want to have less text and use more bullet points. You want to also have visuals to highlight your topic. The examples below will help you create a slide that highlights bullet points, illustrated points, and speaker props.

Speaker Props

This type of presentation is random pictures that will flash across your screen. You have to be careful when using it as it could be distracting for the audience and some people cannot handle flashes like that. The video below is an example of this type of presentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RrpajcAgR1E

Fonts and Size for Your Presentation

When you are creating your presentation make sure to pick a font and size that is easy for your audience to read. Your audience needs to be able to read the information being projected in the room. Remember you could be in a conference room or an auditorium. Make sure you are using the same font throughout your presentation and the font is appropriate for your topic and audience. It can be distracting if you have various fonts throughout the presentation.

Tips

1. Use a font that is easy to read.

2. Make sure the font and the background are compatible.

3. Make sure your title font is bigger than the content and stands out.

4. The common size is 24 font.

5. Bold important information.

1.7 Aesthetically Pleasing

For our purposes, aesthetics refers to the beauty or good taste of a presentation aid. Earlier we mentioned the universal principles of good design: unity, emphasis or focal point, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm. Because of wide differences in taste, not everyone will agree on what is aesthetically pleasing, and you may be someone who does not think of yourself as having much artistic talent. Still, if you keep these principles in mind, they will help you to create attractive, professional-looking visuals.

The other aesthetic principle to keep in mind is that your presentation aids are intended to support your speech, not the other way around. The decisions you make in designing your visuals should be dictated by the content of your speech. If you use color, use it for a clear reason. If you use a border, keep it simple. Whatever you do, make certain that your presentation aids will be perceived as carefully planned and executed elements of your speech.

How to Choose Good Color

Color is very important and can definitely make a strong impact on an audience. However, don’t go overboard or decide to use unappealing combinations of color. For example, you should never use a light font color (like yellow) on a solid white background because it’s hard for the eye to read. You should also realize that while colors may be rich and vibrant on your computer screen at home, they may be distorted by a different monitor. While we definitely are in favor of experimenting with various color schemes, always check your presentation out on multiple computers to see if the slide color is being distorted in a way that makes it hard to read.

Visual and Audio Effects

Everyone who has had an opportunity to experiment with PowerPoint, Keynote, and Prezi knows that animation in transitions between slides or even on a single slide can be fun, but often people do not realize that too much movement can actually distract audience members. While all presentation software packages offer you very cool slide movements and other bells and whistles, they are not always very helpful for your presentation. If you’re going to utilize slide transitions or word animation, stick to only three or four different types of transitions in your whole presentation. Furthermore, do not have more than one type of movement on a given slide. If you’re going to have all your text come from the right side of the screen in a bulleted list, make sure that all the items on the bulleted list come from the right side of the screen.

Good writers make conscious choices. They understand their purpose and audience. Every decision they make on the page, from organizing an essay to choosing a word with just the right connotations, is made with their purpose and audience in mind.

The same principle applies to visual communication. As a presenter, you choose the following:

• When to show images or video for maximum impact;

• Which images will best produce the effect you want;

• When to present information using a table, chart, or other graphic;

• How much text to include in slides or informational graphics; and

• How to organize graphics so they present information clearly.

Your goal is to use visual media to support and enhance your presentation. At the same time, you must make sure these media do not distract your audience or interfere with getting your point across. Your ideas, not your visuals, should be the focus.

Tips

Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating an effective presentation:

1. Remember to avoid too much text. You should keep your text brief and include talking points only. Detailed notes can be inserted into the notes section (or you can use some other form of notes as you present), but only you should see those notes, unless a professor asks to see your notes to evaluate your presentation as an assignment.

2. Be consistent and clear with your font choices. Helvetica is a nice font for presentations. Make sure your font is large enough that an audience in a room would be able to see your text, even if audience members are sitting in the back of the room.

3. Be careful with your color choices for text and background. You want to make sure your audience can read your text easily. Black on white text is easiest to read but is also boring for a presentation. Still, when you add color, just be sure you are adding color that works and doesn’t distract.

4. Add images. Text on slides for every slide is boring. Add appropriate images to your slides. Relevant charts and graphs are excellent, as are pictures that will connect to your content. Think about moments where an image can more easily convey information or a message. A powerful image on a slide with no accompanying text can be a powerful way to capture your audience’s attention.

5. Make sure your main points are clear. Remember to connect your ideas well and provide background information and transitions when necessary.

6. Keep your audience in mind. Your audience will affect the overall tone and appearance of your presentation. Sometimes, humor can be appropriate. Other times, a more serious tone may be necessary. Just as you evaluate your situation any time you write a paper, you should evaluate your situation for creating a presentation.

1.8 Delivering Oral Presentations

When you give an oral report, focus on common problem areas such as these:

• Timing: Make sure you keep within the time limit. Finishing more than a minute under the time limit is also a problem. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse until you get the timing just right.

• Volume: Obviously, you must be sure to speak loud enough so that all of your audience can hear you. You might find some way to practice speaking a little louder in the days before the oral presentation.

• Pacing, speed: Sometimes, oral presenters who are nervous talk too fast. All that adrenaline causes them to speed through their talk, making it hard for the audience to follow. In general, it helps listeners understand you better if you speak a bit more slowly and deliberately than you do in normal conversation. Slow down, take it easy, be clear...and breathe.

• Gestures and posture: Watch out for nervous hands flying all over the place. This too can be distracting—and a bit comical. At the same time, do not turn yourself into a mannequin. Plan to keep your hands clasped together or holding onto the podium and only occasionally making some gesture. Definitely keep your hands out of your pockets or waistband. As for posture, avoid slouching at the podium or leaning against the wall. Stand up straight, and keep your head up.

• Verbal crutches: Watch out for too much "uh," "you know," "okay" and other kinds of nervous verbal habits. Instead of saying "uh" or "you know" every three seconds, just do not say anything at all. In the days before your oral presentation, practice speaking without these verbal crutches. The silence that replaces them is not a bad thing—it gives listeners time to process what you are saying.

• Practice, Practice, Practice: It is vital to practice using the technology. Nothing is worse than watching a speaker stand up and not know how to turn on the computer, access the software, or launch his or her presentation. When you use technology, audiences can quickly see if you know what you are doing, so don’t give them the opportunity to devalue your credibility because you can’t even get the show going.

• Always Have a Backup Plan: Unfortunately, things often go wrong. One of the parts of being a professional is keeping the speech moving in spite of unexpected problems. Decide in advance what you will do if things break down or disappear right when you need them. If you take this responsibility seriously and check the room where you will be presenting early, you will have time to adapt.

• Face Your Audience: Maintaining eye contact may not be as simple as it sounds. The trick is to focus on one person at a time. Zero in on one person, make eye contact, and maintain it just long enough to establish a connection. (A few seconds will suffice.) Then move on. This way, you connect with your audience, one person at a time. Pay attention to your facial expressions as well. If you have thought about how you want to convey emotion during different parts of your presentation, you are probably already monitoring your facial expressions as you rehearse. Be aware that the pressure of presenting can make your expression serious or tense without your realizing it.

Tips

If you are speaking to a very large group, it may be difficult to make eye contact with each individual. Instead, focus on a smaller group of persons or one row of people at time. Look in their direction for a few seconds and then shift your gaze to another small group in the room. 

This chapter highlighted how to plan, create, and present oral presentations. There are so many presentation solutions out there that you need to find one that works with your computer and you feel comfortable using. When you create a PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slide, or Keynote presentation, be sure to consider the principles discussed. 

1.9 General Presentation Tips

When you create a PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slide, or Keynote presentation, be sure to consider the principles discussed. You now know how to:

• Brainstorm your topic.

• Plan and prepare your presentation.

• Create content for an effective presentation.

• Choose a presentation medium that fits your audience.

• Use a font and size that is appropriate.

• Position objects and content appropriately.

• Avoid distracting colors and text and make sure colors are in contrast with each other.

• Select backgrounds that are easy to read and see - remember some people are color blind.

• Pick effects and visuals that are stimulating and pleasing to the eye.