Page 147 - Communication in Organizations Basic Skills and Conversation Models

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Giving presentations

Practical example

Within Dinner Ltd there is an annual meeting in December concerning past achievements
and future developments. Managing Director Freddy Fortune usually gives a presentation
on these subjects. He writes his annual speech in cooperation with Gerald Glass.
Although he is a good manager, Freddy has some difficulties in speaking in front of a
large audience. He is always glad when he has fulfilled this part of his job. Now he has to
prepare his speech. What exactly should his information be about? What should the staff
know at the end of his presentation? Does he want to influence their attitudes in doing
their work? Could he make use of the evaluations of the clientele about the service? What
are the most important figures to be presented? Then, he should also consider the
different educational levels of the personnel. When giving information on financial
aspects, he should realize that many of them have only basic economic knowledge. It
seems rather simple, this annual presentation, but now that it has actually come to it, first
some questions must be answered before he can really make a start.

Introduction

In this chapter we will consecutively discuss the steps which a speaker has to make
before during and after the presentation of a certain subject. Broadly outlined, the whole
process of presentation can be divided into three phases:
• the preparation phase
• the presentation itself
• dealing with audience reaction.
During the preparation phase, the situation in which the presentation has to be held is
analysed. The presenter considers a number of questions, looks for information and
prepares his material. The presentation itself consists of three stages: the introduction, the
core and the closing. One could say there is a ‘head-body-tail division’. In the last phase
the reactions of the audience must be responded to. In responding to the reactions, it is of
primary importance that the person who asks questions or the one who has comments
discerns that they are understood. The presenter must respond to the reactions as clearly
as possible. At the end of this chapter the various presentation skills are summarized in an
overview.