Oral Presentation skills - 4 - BCA - 3

Oral Presentation skills

4. Key Elements of Presentation

1.     Audience analysis

2.     Researching the topic

1 Audience analysis: to know the audience is the most important part of the presentation. Presentation should be connected with the interest, knowledge and motives of the audience. A presenter should consider why this audience will want or need the information a presenter present, whether audience will like it or dislike it.

Who are the members in the audience?

- What age range dose the audience represent?
- Are the males, females or both in audience?
-  How educated are they?
- What are their occupations?
- What is their religious and political connection?
- To what professionals, community or social groups do they belong?


What do they need to know?

            A presenter should try to discover how informed and knowledgeable our audience is about the topic. Audience will quickly tune out a speaker who is telling them things they already know. Presenting complex information to people who do not know the basics is just as fatal.

What do they expect?

           People tend to hear what they expect to hear. When a presenter is presenting his/her message, there should be a clear statement about the topic and its point of view. Audience can misinterpret the message.  A presenter can provide new information and something that they haven’t heard before.

2. Researching the topic:

            As a presenter one must be knowledgeable about the topic. Knowledge comes through gathering the supporting materials. The source of knowledge is depended upon the topic.
Some principal sources of information are as follows:

1. Personal experience:

           Evidence form firsthand experience usually speaks the audience’s attention and enhances credibility. By presenting personal experiences a presenter can convince audience.

2. Information available in the organization:
  
           The presentation may include material on specifics such as costs, products or service delivered, and data from personal records. All these information is available in computerized database.

3. Library information:

            Books are available in the individual libraries as well through interlibrary loans. Periodicals are also a rich source with articles and catalogues in such sources as “Reader’s guide to periodical literature”, “Business periodical index” and “Technology index”.

4. Other external sources:

           Numerous private and public agencies are sources of information. It includes departments of agriculture, commerce, and labour as well as many other governments.

5. Interviews:

           Personal interviews with experts and or others who have firsthand experience with the topic can enhance presenter’s credibility.

6. Questionnaires

          The research hypothesis must be stated accurately. All the questions must be stated and designed properly. A presenter can take help of experienced people or experts.

Reference book: - Business Communication. Sathya Swaroop Debasish & Bhagaban Das. PHI Learning Private Limited. New Delhi.


 Questions for students:

1. Explain in brief : 1. Audience analysis 2. Researching the topic.
2. Discuss any two questions of 'Audience analysis'.
3. Explain any five sub-points of 'Researching the topic'.

Students have to answer any two questions. 
Give your answers in the comment box.