Page 380 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Making Public B

Presentations of the

Group’s Output

ften groups must make a public presentation of their output, which is, many
times, a report of some kind. The group’s leader or selected representatives
Omay present the report to the parent organization, a political body, an open
meeting of interested community representatives, or another type of public gathering.
The audience members may themselves become participants who will discuss the
report of the group. These public presentations involve three stages: planning, orga-
nizing, and presenting. In the discussion to follow, we will highlight the various deci-
sions that your group must make at each stage. We follow this with information about
group presentation at public meetings.

The Planning Stage
Start planning as soon as you know you must give a presentation. You must consider
your group’s audience, the occasion, your purpose, your topic, group member strengths
and limitations, and logistics. Having an effective presentation rides on how well you
initially assess what your presentation needs and how carefully you follow through.

Your Audience
Good audience analysis helps to create a comfortable speaking environment for both
your group and the audience. Audience analysis is a systematic approach to gathering as
much information as possible about the audience. Audience members process material
they hear in presentations through their own personal perspectives, as we discussed in
Chapter 2. Understanding how your audience perceives your topic helps you tailor how
1
best to present it. Engineers, for example, may give presentations to clients, fellow engi-
neers, their staffs, local or federal agencies, and so forth. Their vocabulary and examples
will change depending on their audience. They must be able to communicate their main
ideas in a multitude of different ways. If your audience does not know anything about
2
your topic, you need to stick with basic facts and clearly communicate background infor-
mation. If audience members have some background with the topic, but your particular
material is new to them, then you need to explain why your new information is relevant
to them and why they should care about the topic. If audience members hold attitudes

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