Introduction
presentation skills are very substantial and
significant in many spheres of work and life. Effective presentation skills are
very important in business, marketing, training, teaching, lecturing and
generally entertaining an audience. Presentation skills are extremely helpful
in development of confidence and personality. Why do we see a difference in
cost of Barbeques in a Stall and famous restaurant? It is not the taste that
makes the contrast but the way of its presentation. It is not a herculean task to be good in
presentation. Anybody can give a good presentation or deliver a speech of a
very professional and impressive standard, if he will imbibe in him some
specific and fundamental presentation skills. It just needs a bit of organized
preparation and practice. There can be numerous kinds of presentations, for
example: oral speeches, multimedia speeches (using audio visuals, etc), power
point presentations, lectures etc; but every successful presenter or speaker
uses some basic presentation skills, which are briefly summarized as under:
Before the delivery: The speaker should organize his speech keenly before
its delivery. The speech must have three parts, Introduction, Core and
conclusion. There should not be repetitions in the speech. The most important
thing in organizing the speech is that it should be kept under the time limit. Before
a speaker commences its talk, he should give a brief introduction about himself
and also a general briefing of the topic. He must keep the “KISS” rule in mind,
which suggests that a speaker should Keep
It Simple and Straight. He
should be very well aware about his ethical responsibilities like; his talk
should not hurt the sentiments of audience. He should overcome his fears and
phobias before the speech. He should train himself to avoid the distracting
mannerisms, like playing with the buttons of his shirt or scratching his head,
again and again.
Basic manner techniques (Presentation Skills)
Facial expression
The most impressive
tool of a speaker is his face. Facial expression determines how much a speaker
is confident. Smile is suggested as one the general effective facial
expression. If the speech is not asking for a smile, one must not wear then.
Sometimes, the semantics of the word is delivered by your facial expressions
and not by the word itself.
Eye contact
The connector between
the spectators and the audience are the eyes. If a speaker ignores the eye to
eye contact, he loses the attention of the audience. Public speakers have
suggested that most important tool for a speaker to make his speech winsome and
peachy is his eye contact with the audience.
Body Language
The hardest part in the
delivery of speech is to maintain the language of your body. The language of
body or body language is termed as Kinesis. It is very substantial for a
speaker to keep his body still while delivering a speech. His movement of hands
or hand gestures makes a great impact on the onlookers. The position of hands
is very important to learn. One can keep his hands on dais, if available, but
his body should stand upright. It he is holding a free mike, he should walk at
a very low pace and should try to mingle with the audience.
Voice Modulation, Pauses and intonations
These are the calligraphic
tools of the speech. While writing text, we use many tools to highlight, bold,
italicize or underline; but, in a speech we don’t use such things. In
alternative we are blessed with tools like our voice. We can play with its
pitch, high or low, as per our need. If we are supposed to give stress on any
word or sentence, we can intonate that word. And at times, if we have to grab
the attention of the audience, what better we can do than doing a pause for a
while, as Martin Fraquhar Tupper says, “Well-timed silence has more eloquence
than speech.”
Language and Grammar
We must be very well
aware about the usage of grammar and language. If we are assigned with a formal
speech, then we must use formal language and grammar. For example: we cannot
use ‘Where it comes from?’ but ‘Where does it come from?” Similarly, we cannot
use words like ‘Guys and Gals’ but ‘Boys and girls’ or ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’.
We must be quite known to the nature of speeches. If a speech is entertaining,
then we should not bother about the formality of grammar or language.
Pronunciation and Accent
If we are second
language speakers of a particular language, we must keep in mind to use a
neutral accent and proper pronunciation. We shouldn’t try to imitate the native
speakers of that language. It can cause irritation to the audience. For
example; if we have to deliver a speech in English, which is our second
language, we should not copy the accent and pronunciation of English; rather we
should use our accent ‘Hinglish’ with proper articulation of words.
Motivation and sense of Humor
These two human skills
are very essential for a speaker to imbibe in his speech. This presentation
skill decides how much long lasting effect of your speech is going to be on
your audience. The speaker should make it sure to himself that his audience
must leave with something to remember. Motivation toils there to do that task.
Your sense of humor is one more effective exercise to make your audience to
remember you for a longer period. The more your delivery is entertaining, the
more successful your purpose of speech becomes.
In conclusion, I wish
to leave reader with quote to ponder over,
“Speech is power:
speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Social
Aims,” 1875
