Page 152 - Communication in Organizations Basic Skills and Conversation Models

Giving presentations 141

1 Achievements in the last year.
2 Facts and figures.
3 Customer evaluations.
4 Future developments: The importance of customer friendliness.
5 Reactions.

For each point he has made subdivisions.

Another way to maintain audience concentration is by use of linking sentences. Every
time a point has been fully discussed, presenters can ensure the audience keeps up by the
use of a sentence with which they round off the previous point and introduce the next.

Freddy Fortune closes point 3, for example, with the sentences: ‘Thus we
see that our clients are not always fully satisfied with the different
services. Some never come back for that reason. That is why I will now
proceed to point 4: What do I mean with customer friendliness?’

Interim summaries can also be used to keep the presentation well organized and to hold
the attention of the audience.

Text supporting visual aids
The use of a clear structure makes it easier for the audience to follow the presentation.
Graphics and tables may also support the text. They can clarify the spoken text in the
blink of an eye, but they should never be used in place of the text. Here too the audience
must be taken by the hand, as it were, and led through the ‘pictures’ with the help of the
presenter’s words. As an example we remember the sick leave tables discussed in
Chapter 13, which immediately clarified Freddy Fortune’s words.
The use of whiteboard, PowerPoint, flipcharts and overhead projectors each has
advantages and disadvantages. A major advantage of the use of a board is that the thought
process of the presenter appears step by step on the board and the audience becomes
involved in this. The audience sees the image growing. A disadvantage is that the text is
often written quickly and thus sometimes carelessly. The advantage of a PowerPoint
presentation is that it makes a professional impression. This modern technique also offers
a lot of opportunities for a vivid presentation. The disadvantage is that rather often
technical equipment stops working or doesn’t work at all just at the beginning of the
presentation. This can cause a lot of nerves in the presenter. There are two practical
suggestions here. The first is to test the equipment before you give the presentation. The
second is to have overhead transparencies just in case the technique fails. An advantage
of the flipchart and overhead projector is that during the preparation the text can be
written down on them. A disadvantage is that little or nothing can be added during the
presentation. An advantage of the overhead projector over the flipchart is that typed text,
especially large type, is clearly legible if you have used a large font.