Communication Skills | 5 step Effective business communication skills

              Communication Skills

                    BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Communication skills are very important in every field of life so that u can make your mark at every place by Effective communication. Effective business communication specially inBBA  is very necessary in marketing. Effective communication / Effective business communication includes both verbal and non-verbal communication.

Communication Skills | 5 step Effective business communication skills

Question No 1

What is communication? Discuss communication process in detail.

What is communication?

“Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place, person or group to another.

Every communication involves (at least) one sender, a message and a recipient. This may sound simple, but communication is actually a very complex subject.

The transmission of the message from sender to recipient can be affected by a huge range of things. These include our emotions, the cultural situation, the medium used to communicate, and even our location. The complexity is why good communication skills are considered so desirable by employers around the world: accurate, effective and unambiguous communication is actually extremely hard”.

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1.     The 5 Steps of Communication Process

The steps on the theory of 5 steps communication process is encoding, planning, medium, decoding, and lastly the feedback. There is the key point of explaining this assignment and the correct way to ensure the intended audient received the right massage. On the page below will have the 5 steps of communication process diagram which can refer

2.     Encoding

Encoding process is involves to translating an idea to the meaning of the idea. When the sender got an idea to the other party, they must be communicating. Therefore, the idea will need to change the ordinary language into letter or symbols to past the information out to the party. However, the information of encoding is not yet sending out the message to the channel, the messages are only an idea that thinking in the sender. Beside, the sender might have plan of which the sending ways are the better way for the receiver. So encoding is just an idea that came out from the sender mind and when the sender starts to plan for sending out the message, there will be turn to the second step of communication process.

3.      Planed, Organized and Sent

The communication process come to the second step is the step of plan, organize and send. It is very distinct to show. When after encoding an idea, the sender will started to plan how to send the message, so the sender will decided a way send it. For example the sender using letter to send the message, he or she will translating the idea to an ordinary language or symbols into the words, the sender will make sure is using the direct understanding words for the receiver, therefore the receiver will easily get the correct message from the sender rather than have the communication gaps of misrepresentation and misunderstood. Thus, when the sender organizing their sending process, make sure to double confirm on the grammar and sentence meaning to be correct. When it is confirmed to be a right message, it will come to choose the types of how the sender will use to send out their message to the receiver.

4.     Medium

In the communication process, medium is the type of choosing for sending the message out through a channel. For example, using letter, e-sources or request somebody to transfer the message to the receiver to be the sender choosing types of sending. Most of the sender will choose to send a letter for the receiver, because using e-mail, people might not checking the mail and request someone to transfer might not transferring the 100% information from the sender give, so most of the people will choose to use letter for their type of sending sources (medium). Moreover, medium is means a between to the sending and receiving, so both parties communication will base on the type of sending movement channel to understand each other. In the example told us the sender using the letter, so make sure the letter words are correctly as well as the receiver can be easily understand it. As the result, the step of medium has complete.

5.     Decoding

The decoding will be the problem of the receiver. When the step comes to decoding, the receiver is already received the message, and sudden matter will affect the receiver to understand the sender messages, and that is decoding. For example, just like the channel choosing to request someone to transfer the message to the receiver, the person that the sender request might not concentric on listening or rush to present in fact might missing some point to transfer, there is always happening in real life, so not most of the people will choose this channel to past their message in order to avoid the communication distortion and there is the decoding processing. Hence, to avoid communication distortion make sure sender choosing a correct channel to send their message and well to know what channel that receive are always like and easily to got it people message.

6.     Feed back

A feedback is needed to have it in a successful communication because without a feedback, the communication is failed. In the other hand, a feedback is a responding action form the receiver in the communication, therefore in the communication process, a feedback will tell to know as well as getting an answer from the receiver to the sender. In the fact of that the receiver will turn to be the sender because on its feedback. It is complete communication in the process. But sometimes a feedback will become a communication distortion because people might feedback to the sender by using a long time period. In fact, if in the business view, a business will not just sit and wait for a person to reply and not observing in others people. In this example will see the communication will fail although it was a feedback. As the result, a communication must be effectively in a progress in order to get a successful communication skill.

7.     Body Language

Beside of the 5 types of communication process, there is another type of communication that can be success in order to ensure the intended audient received the right massage. Thus, body language will be the one of the type, it’s not using to speck during communicate but using body language to send the message. A body language can be an eye contact, head shaking to tell it yes or no, as well as other action that give message or signer to the other parties. For example a person is trying to motivate his partner to have a cup of coffee, after his partner heard, his partner shows his thumb finger to the sender, which is means good idea. See, in this example we can found out body language can use to be communicate. Or give an example with more direct to influence us, when to chat with people sometimes, our body language normally will shows in our words to come out. Therefore, a body language can be intention to audient received the right massage.

8.     Noises

In the communication process, there is a term are showing the affection of communication, it is a noise. A noise will affect an effective communication such like when people communicate in a place that is very noisy, both parties might not receive a clearly message in such environment. Furthermore, a noise can be a third party that affecting the receiver to feedback. When a the sender sending a message to the receiver with a third party and wait for the receiver to reply, but in this time the third party are noising something to the receiver and without focus on the communication, there will influence to become a fail communication.

Effective communication skills:

Ø Non-Verbal Communication

Ø  Verbal Communication

Question No 2

Write short notes on the following:

a)  Non-Verbal Communication

b)  Business communication and Ethics.

a)     Non-Verbal Communication

“Communication without the use of spoken language. Nonverbal communication includes gestures, facial expressions, and body positions (known collectively as “body language”), as well as unspoken understandings and presuppositions, and cultural and environmental conditions that may affect any encounter between people”.

Types of Nonverbal Communication

§  Eye contact.

§  Facial expressions.

§  Gestures.

§  Posture and body orientation.

§  Body Language.

§  Space and Distance.

§  Proximity.

§  Para-linguistic.

§  Humor.

§  Touch.

§  Silence.

§  Personal Appearance.

§  Symbol.

§  Visual Communication.

Eye contact

Eye contact, an important channel of interpersonal communication, helps regulate the flow of communication. And it signals interest in others.

Furthermore,

Eye contact with audiences increases the speaker’s credibility. Teachers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth, and credibility.

Facial expressions

The face is an important communicator. It is commonly said that face is the index of the mind.

It expresses the type of emotions or feelings such as joy, love, interest, sorrow, anger, annoyance, confusion, enthusiasm, fear, hatred surprise, and uncertainty.

Facial expressions are indicated through the mouth (open, wide or closed), eyelids (raised or lowered), nose (wrinkled or relaxed), cheeks (drawn up or back) and the forehead (lowered or raised).

Within the facial area, eyes are especially effective for indicating attention and interest. However, interpretations of facial expressions differ from culture to culture.

Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits:

§  Happiness.

§  Friendliness.

§  Warmth.

§  Liking.

§  Affiliation.

Thus, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable.

Smiling is often contagious and students will react favorably and learn more.

b)    Business Communication and Ethics.

Ethical issues of business communication are the way by which individuals or groups of people exchange information between them. From end-to-end the process, effective communicators try as clearly and accurately to pass on their ideas, intentions and, objectives to their receiver. Communication is successful only when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information. Nowadays business world, effective communication skills are necessary due to the highly informational and technological era, which has made it easier for exchanging of information between the parties.

Despite of the context, communication is all about choice, reflects values, and has consequences. For better communication, understanding the obvious and the subtle issues relating to communication is necessary. Any company that aims to be socially and ethically responsible must make a priority of ethical communication both inside the company and in its interactions with the public. In theory, many consumers prefer to do business with companies they believe are ethical which gives those ethical businesses an advantage in the market.

The work of an organizational communication professional consists in developing communication plans that seek to restore trust, not only in the organization but the leaders and in all the people who work for it, in verbally promoting ethical behaviors and generating spaces of communication that help support institutional values.

In this way, both managers and employees will be "on the same page," employees will feel heard and respected and will treat customers in the same way. Also, this will generate more loyalty on the part of the client and, therefore, more business. In addition, a business that communicates internally with ethics will most likely project that image in the business community; will seek to maintain good relations with the government and its most successful businesses. Without the distractions and negative effects that can have the legal implications of running a business " ethically debatable," the organization will be able to concentrate its efforts on its employees, its products, and its clients.

Effective communication skills | related ethics.

Question No 3

Write a detailed note on structuring effective written business message.

1. Decide How Fast You Need to Send Your Message

If you make this decision early, it will lead you to the best communication channel.

For example, if you need to get a message to someone urgently and you also want a quick response, you should go for a face-to-face or a Skype discussion.

If you want the person to get the message fast, but you can wait for their response, you can write an email, a text message or a note. In this case, the type of communication you choose can depend on how long and complex the message is.

If you need to send official information on behalf of your company, you should probably write a formal letter.

If your superior has asked you to give objective information about a situation, you can write a report.

Whatever you choose to write, you need to keep an open mind and see the big picture. What effect will your message have? Maybe you are feeling the urge to write an email to complain about a situation. Or maybe you are writing to deal with a stressful situation and you feel pressure to press “Send” right now, just to get it over with. Sometimes it’s best to stop and think about what and how you are writing, rather than sending your message too soon and regretting it. A few extra minutes of thinking time may end up saving you more time later.

2. Plan Your Approach

Once you have chosen what you are going to write, focus on planning it. Don’t just start writing. Take a few minutes to plan your writing first. It may seem like planning is time-consuming, but it’s actually going to save you a lot of time. How? Well, when you are done writing, you can easily change small things and correct small mistakes, but you can’t change the whole structure of your message very easily. So not having a plan is actually going to “cost” you more time.

·         Describe the situation or the problem to yourself, even if you think you already know it very well. You may be surprised by how much this can help you see the situation more clearly.

·         Write down the question or idea that you want to write to the other person. For example, let’s say you want to write an email asking everyone in your team not to be late in the morning. You are going to have to explain the situation and the impact it has on business before asking people to arrive at work on time.

·         Decide when you want feedback and how this will help you. Knowing this will help you communicate more effectively. It will also help you get a reply more promptly.

You may need to adapt the above steps to your particular situation, but they should help you start planning.

3. Choose a Tone and Register

Spend some time thinking about the tone of your writing, or how you want the message to sound to the other person. Try to guess the other person’s reaction. Think about how you would feel and what you would do if you received the email or letter or text message.

If you like the feeling you are getting, you probably have the right idea about what kind of tone to use.

For example, sounding angry and authoritative will probably not make the other person want to help you. So try to focus on making them understand that you need their help and that you appreciate their effort. People who feel appreciated for their work are going to be much more helpful than people who feel like you are demanding something from them.

Politeness is always important, as it makes people more receptive to your message.

Once you understand the general idea and tone behind your message, you need to think about the best register.

Register is the level of formality in a message. You can use a very polite, formal register when writing to people you don’t know very well or people who are your superiors. However, you should adopt a more casual, informal register with close friends and colleagues. If the situation requires you to be neither too formal nor too informal, you can always go for a more neutral register.

Writing in the right register is very important because if you get this part wrong, it can make people feel really uncomfortable. For example, people who deserve a formal register could feel offended if you are being too informal with them. On the other hand, colleagues who are on a first-name basis with you will feel awkward if you are suddenly sending an email starting “Dear Sir or Madam.”

4. Think about the Structure

Good writing helps the reader follow the ideas in a structured and logical manner. If you are writing a letter, email or any kind of longer message, you will need to think at this point about how to structure your writing. Each paragraph should have one main idea. So whenever you have a new main idea, you should have a new paragraph. This main idea should be clearly expressed in a topic sentence, which is usually the first sentence in the paragraph.

For example, if your first paragraph presents the reason for writing and the situation about which you are writing, your topic sentence could be:

“I am writing to ask for clarification about the offer we received from your company.”

After the topic sentence, you should continue with supporting ideas or examples. For example, let’s say your paragraph is about the advantages of using a suggestions box in your company and your topic sentence is:

“Let’s have a look at the benefits of introducing a suggestions box.”

You could then continue with supporting details like this:

“First of all, people will feel more confident about presenting their ideas because they can stay anonymous. Secondly, it will be easier for us to centralize suggestions as they are all in one place.”

To help the reader follow your ideas, use connectors within and between paragraphs. Here are some examples of connectors for different situations:

·         Sequencing (ordering): firstly/secondly/thirdly, in addition, moreover, furthermore, to sum up, in conclusion

·         Cause and effect: therefore, as a consequence, consequently, as a result

·         Comparison: similarly, likewise, compared to

·         Contrast: however, nevertheless, still, although, while, on the other hand

All of the above are essential elements of a well-written English text. To learn how to write well in English, you may want to consider taking a course or reading a book on this topic.

Inky is an excellent resource for English students, offering both courses and books that will teach you how to write better in English. This could be a great investment for your career, if you will need to write often in English.

5. Proofread Again and Again

Proofreading makes the difference between average and good writing. Mistakes make a bad impression because the reader will think you didn’t bother to take enough time in writing to them.

It’s difficult to focus your attention on all the types of mistakes you could make—grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation. So you should proofread several times, each time with just one of these in mind, in order to detect (find) all mistakes.

When proofreading, you may realize there’s something wrong with the whole structure of your writing. If you have the necessary time, you should go back to Step 2 (Plan Your Approach) and rethink the big picture.

While proofreading, you may find the following helpful:

·         Grammar — this is a spellchecker that you can install in your Google Chrome web browser, where it will check all of your online messages or directly to your Windows desktop or Microsoft Office program, where it will check everything you write.

·         Online dictionaries

·         Google Translate

·         Asking a native speaker to help proofread your work

·         Hiring a professional. This costs money, but it is the only way to be 100% sure that your writing is edited perfectly.

Take note that while Google Translate can sometimes help with individual words, it can be misleading with longer phrases or sentences. So if you are not feeling confident about certain parts of your writing, ask a native speaker for help.

Those said, not all native English speakers can do good editing work. When you want your writing to be edited perfectly, then you need to hire a professional editor.

When you need a professional editor, we recommend that you contact Proofreading Services, an online team of professional editors with tons of knowledge and experience—they offer combined proofreading and editing for over 5,000 clients in 93 countries. They offer an exclusive discount to Fluent readers, and all you need is our secret password: FLUENTU15. This code entitles you to 15% off at ProofreadingServices.com!

Question No 4

Write a bad news message to your employee informing them that they are being laid off by your organization.

Seek   training
All organizations need an “effective, efficient, and standardized process” for handling layoffs “and everyone — managers and potential managers — should be trained in how to do it,” according to Stable. “Training makes it a less frightening task,” he adds. Trouble is, says Kolinsky, most organizations don’t “necessarily see the need to offer extensive training because it costs time and money and layoffs are a relatively infrequent occurrence.” This, he says, is an oversight. Companies that do layoffs poorly “suffer tremendous consequences,” including wrongful termination lawsuits and dents to their reputation. “It’s a no-brainer to invest resources in doing this well,” he says. If your company doesn’t offer training, Kolinsky suggests seeking advice and guidance from mentors who have first-hand experience with laying off employees.

Practice
Don’t go into this task cold — and certainly don’t go in alone, says Stable. It’s more comfortable and legally practical to deliver this news with at least one other person in the room. “Ideally you’re working closely with a consultant at an outplacement firm to help you manage the process,” he says. If not, enlist someone from HR. As you practice what you plan to say, role-play how the employee may react. “During the trial run, anticipate worst-case scenarios,” he says. “The person might cry. The person might invoke their family with something like: ‘My daughter is going to college in the fall, how will I be able to pay for it now?’ You need to consider how you will manage your emotions” in these situations. You should have a script, but try not to rely too heavily on it, warns Kolinsky. “The danger of a script is that you become too mechanical and detach yourself so much that you fail to show interpersonal sensitivity,” he says. “At the same time, you don’t want to be so moved by efforts to show sympathy that you don’t deliver the message.” Practicing beforehand helps ensure you “strike the right balance.”

Consider logisticsThe physical environment in which you deliver the news should be a private, quiet room or office, Kolinsky says. Have a box of tissues at the ready. The goal is to “maximize your comfort in delivering the message” while also granting “dignity to the person who’s being laid off.” Your safety is another consideration. “Oftentimes the reaction of the person is shock or sadness, but the person could get angry.” In light of this, Stable recommends you “make sure that the person has direct access to the door in case he gets emotional” and needs to leave. “Make it easy for the person to storm out,” he says. While there is “no right time of day” to tell someone he no longer has a job — frankly, they’re all terrible, “try to do it on Friday because it gives the person the weekend to deal with it,” he says. “If you do it on Monday, everyone will be talking about it for the rest of the week.” And if you’re shutting down an entire division, it might be better to announce the layoff to everyone at once, according to Kolinsky, “since they’re all suffering the same fate.”

Be direct

The script for letting an employee go is relatively straightforward, says Kolinsky. “Get to the point quickly: Be direct, be honest, and no small talk.” Stable recommends beginning the conversation by saying: “‘I have some bad news to deliver today’ because it emotionally prepares the individual. It’s equivalent to saying: ‘I’m about to punch you in the stomach’ versus just punching you in the stomach,” he says. Then say something like: “The purpose of this meeting is to tell you that your career with this company has come to an end.” Next, give the person a folder containing the severance arrangements. If your company is providing outplacement services, then say: “As part of the respect we have for you, we have hired a firm to help you successfully land on your feet.” Then hand over the meeting to the consultant or HR rep who will explain next steps. “It doesn’t need to be long and drawn out,” Stable says. “Say what you need to say, then leave the room. The outplacement firm should take over.”

Question No 5

Write short notes on the following:

a)  Analytical memorandum report

b)  Informational letter report.

a)     Analytical memorandum report

Memorandum

1. 

a.  

a short note written to help one remember something or remind one to do something

b.  

a record of events or observations, esp. one for future use

2.  

an informal written communication, as from one department to another in an office

3.  

in diplomacy, a summary or outline of a subject under discussion, reasons for or against some action, etc.

4.  Business

a statement, made by the consignor, of the goods and terms of a consignment sent with the privilege of return

5.  Law

a short written statement of the terms of an agreement, contract, or transaction

The following represents a complete set of three analytic memos completed by a graduate preserves teacher in a kindergarten classroom in an urban school setting. The children were primarily African American; the graduate preserves teacher was White. The study was a curriculum analysis of a scripted reading program. The critical question was, “How does the scripted reading curriculum represent race, socio-economic, and family structure and how might this influence teaching and learning in my urban school?” This combined set of memos shows the progression of data collection and ongoing analysis. The memos are unedited, except that all names are pseudonyms. There are several ways to read and learn from the memos; it may be useful to read with the criteria for trustworthy preserves teacher action research in hand; or read and then use the scoring guide for analytic memos; or read and act as the teacher/researcher’s critical colleague

While studying a specific subject matter, you have to be aware that there are certain items that you need to take into account for you to come up with an output that is highly-usable and beneficial for those who intend to use it. The factors that can affect the efficiency and usability of your study are also the same factors that can impact the content of the report that you will make from it. As a thorough discussion of a research or corporate review undertaking, an analytical report should have all the details that are expected by various stakeholders.

When tasked to develop an analytical report, you have to be keen on how you do the processes of research, content organization, report development and finished the analytical review. If you do not know how to make this kind of report, do not worry as this post can help you understand parts and procedures related to the creation of analytical reports.

What Should be in a Basic Analytical Report?

An analytical report must be complete so that its usage can be maximized. More so, a comprehensive analytical report can impact businesses and other entities on a bigger scale. If you want to have an analytical report that is complete with all the details included in it, here are some of the information that you should not forget to include in the formal report document:

·         A title page which includes the main purpose of the analytical report or the topic as to which the report will revolve.

·         The table of contents arranged based on the chronological and/or logical order of discussion.

·         A clause where the methods used for the activity are specified and presented accordingly.

·         The main discussion of the analytical report broken down into actual and specific sections varying on the scope of the undertaking, which includes:

o    The heading of the particular discussion.

o    A sub-heading for a more defined topic presentation.

o    The body of the discussion.

·         The conclusions based on the gathered information and results showcased in the analytical report.

·         The recommendations should be given by the person who made the report varying on the conclusions identified.

·         Sections for appendices and bibliography, especially when requested or is necessary.

a)     Informational letter report.

Informational reports provide data, facts, feedback, and other types of information without analysis or recommendations. There are four uses for these types of reports: Decision-making reports are a use of informational reporting that contains facts about monitoring and controlling operations

Informational and analytical report.

Informational Reports and Analytical Reports

The informational report is one that contains only facts and data. There are no proposed solutions, and it does not contain personal views.

- Even though all reports present information,…simply put, the purpose of Informational Reports…is to provide information…in an organized, objective way,…without analysis or recommendations;…in other words, to report the facts.…The writer is then expected…to summarize that information.…The information provided may stand alone,…or it may be used as the basis for making a decision.…Therefore, the information included…should be specific, complete, and relevant.…

Most Informational Reports are informal,…and are written as memos or letters.…Some Informational Reports may be prepared…following a company's template,…which identifies what needs to be included…and in what order.…These highly specialized Informational Reports…are generally the easiest type of report to prepare.…However, if a standardized format isn't available,…you may need to determine…the format and the content.…If the Informational Report…is one that may possibly continue…to be required in the future,…giving thought and attention…to its appearance and arrangement…

Informational Reports and Analytical Reports

Business reports are compiled for several reasons. Depending on for whom the report is written, the information can be as simple as an expense report for a short business trip or as complex as a full-blown annual report.

Let's start by looking at two types of business reports. The informational report is one that contains only facts and data. There are no proposed solutions, and it does not contain personal views.

The analytical report, on the other hand, contains facts and data, but it also provides an analysis of this information and offers recommendations for solving a problem or making a business decision.

Let's take a look at planning to write informational and analytical reports.

Writing an Informational Report

Sven Steel man is thinking about opening a second location of Sven's Muscle City in a new town.

Sven's been in the business of pumping iron for more than half his life. Unfortunately, he doesn't know too much about business expansion.

The good news is that his client Becky Brain trust just graduated from business school and does know a little about how to choose a new location.

Becky remembers that there are a few steps to planning an informational report:

Step 1: Analyze the issue.

Step 2: Gather information.

Step 3: Analyze data.

Step 4: Draw conclusions.

So the first thing Becky will do is to analyze the situation. This means Becky will have to look at the cost involved in opening a new location. She should also investigate whether the location makes sense. And she has to look at the market.

Her next step will be to gather information. Becky might begin by contacting real estate agents to inquire about available storefronts in the area, rental costs and taxes. It would be a good idea to check out the possibilities for foot traffic, proximity to highways and businesses and even where bus and train stops are located.

Once she gathers information, she will analyze the data. This might include comparing rents, utilities and taxes for different sites.

She may evaluate different trends in the area. Perhaps there are several office buildings near a particular site that do not have an in-house gym. Even if they're more expensive, these make more sense compared to a lower-priced site far from an office complex.

Once she analyzes her facts and figures, she will draw factual conclusions and report back to Sven. This report will solely be for the purpose of Sven to decide whether to forge forward with a new location.

Again, there will be no recommendations at this time. Becky's report only contains facts and analysis of the facts, trends and a financial overview.

Once Sven reads the report and makes a decision to move forward, the information in this report will become part of an analytical report.

Effective Presenter with best Communication Skills

Question No.2

Discuss strategies to become an effective presenter.

Presentation as performance

Making a presentation puts you on public display. An audience not only listens to your ideas, it also responds to the way you use your voice and your body. You need more than a well written presentation to make an impact. You will also need to deliver it in a lively, flexible and interesting way. In this leaflet we suggest many ideas for invoking energy in your presentation style.

To begin with, imagine that you are in the audience for your presentation. What might:

grab your attention?

stimulate your imagination?

inspire your confidence?

develop your understanding?

Now think about ways to encourage these things.

Six steps to becoming an effective presenter

1. Practice

The more familiar you are with your material the more you will be able to inspire your audience’s trust and confidence. Do more than practice reading through your material to yourself. If possible, stand up in a room and deliver your presentation to the walls. Get used to hearing your own voice filling a room. Familiarize yourself with the words and phrases in your presentation. Play around with different volumes and see how well you can hear your own voice. Above all, familiarize yourself with the main thrust of your argument and explore how the individual elements of your presentation piece together. This will help you to keep to your chosen objectives and avoid distractions when it comes to your actual delivery.

To read or to learn?

Should you read out your presentation from detailed notes or present it completely from memory? Find a way to compromise between these two approaches. There are dangers in each.

Reading
Reading tends to focus your thoughts on your notes, thus losing contact with your audience. Reading can also reduce your voice to a monotone, removing energy and enthusiasm from your delivery. Directly addressing your audience is much more engaging.

Learning
Learning is fine until you lose your way; for example, a member of the audience asks a question or your overhead projector bulb blows. Always have some form of notes to keep you on the right track. Also, if you over learn your notes you might lose a sense of energy and enthusiasm. Always work for a sense of confident spontaneity.

Find a way of making notes to support your presentation style. The most common form of note making is to use index cards. These can be read at a glance. Use them as visual prompts to guide you through your presentation. Use one card for each main idea, including details of the supporting information for each point. Connect your cards together with a tag or a piece of string so that they can't get out of order.

2. Assert yourself

An effective presenter needs to be assertive, not aggressive. There are two important Ps.

Posture

It is important to appear confident at all times. Different postures create different moods. A very formal, upright and still posture will create a very different atmosphere from a relaxed and active one. Remember to match your physical behavior to the objectives underpinning your presentation. If you want to be either formal or informal, make deliberate choices about your physical style and stick to these.

Presence

Have the confidence to fill your space in front of an audience. Avoid apologizing for your presence by saying “sorry” (although you must be polite if circumstances so demand— e.g. the session is running over time, or the microphone has stopped working). Also, avoid physical apologies by hiding behind a desk or lectern. You must be confident that the audience wants to listen and that you have something interesting to tell them. Don’t be afraid to wait for an audience to settle down before you start speaking or to ask for quiet if this does not happen.

3. Make contact with your audience

One of the key challenges faced by the presenter is to establish links with her/his audience (a poor presenter appears to be speaking to an empty room). Making contact helps to maintain an audience's interest and encourages them to believe that you are genuinely interested in talking to them. You can make contact with your audience in a number of ways, including:

·         eye contact;

·         gestures;

·         spoken contact;

·         your use of language.

Eye contact

Eye contact is part of everyday communication and an audience can feel uncomfortable if they are denied it. Making eye contact with individuals gives them a sense of involvement in your presentation and helps to convey your objectives on a personal level. Make sure that you share eye contact with all members of a small audience and all areas of a large audience. Regularly shift your focus around the room, not so that you look nervous, but to help involve as many people as possible in your talk.

A handy tip: if you can’t make eye contact in a large group, don’t look at the floor or ceiling (this looks like boredom or rudeness). Try looking at people’s foreheads. The people sat around them will read this as eye contact even if the individual won’t.

Gesture

People use their arms and hands in every day conversation to add emphasis or to help describe events. Presenters will therefore look rather awkward if they keep their hands in their pockets or rooted firmly at their sides. Use gestures to welcome your audience, to add emphasis to your main points or to indicate an ending. Try to use open gestures which move away from your body, extending them out to your audience. This helps to break any audience/presenter divisions. Make sure that all gestures are controlled and precise; too much movement will appear nervous and unfocussed. Always watch against distracting your audience from the content of your presentation. You should continually be trying to find ways to help them listen and understand.

Spoken contact

Acknowledge your audience by making verbal contact with them. At the beginning of your talk ask if they can see and hear you, or check that lighting and sound levels on audio-visual equipment are satisfactory. During your presentation, ask rhetorical questions that you can then answer (e.g. “How do we know this was true?” or “So, what does this prove?”). At the end of your talk give the audience an opportunity to ask questions or to clarify detail— this encourages them to take ownership of your material.

The use of questions is an important tool. Questions involve your audience’s mind in a more stimulating way than simply asking them to sit and listen to your talk. Draw an audience in with clear, focused questions.

Language

Your use of language is particularly important in developing and sustaining a relationship with your audience. Try using language that involves your audience. For example, asking questions such as “What can we learn from this?” or “How did we arrive at this conclusion?” involves your audience in an exploratory process or discussion. When looking at visual aids, introduce them by saying “If we look at this slide we can see that ..” or “This slide shows us that…”. Use language that is welcoming and involving throughout your presentation.

4. Use your voice

Your voice is a very flexible and powerful tool. You can use it in many different ways by varying the:

·         volume;

·         pace;

·         pitch.

Volume

Make sure that your voice is loud enough for your audience to hear clearly. Speaking too loudly or too quietly can make it difficult for your audience to follow your presentation. Listen to people speaking in normal conversation. They tend to raise or lower their volume for emphasis. For example, they may speak loudly when giving an instruction but softly when apologizing. To add energy to your presentation, use these colorful changes to your best advantage: a conspiratorial whisper can draw an audience in; a loudly spoken exclamation can make them sit up and listen.

Pace

Make sure that the speed of your delivery is easy to follow. If you speak too quickly or too slowly your audience will have difficulty following your talk. To add life to your presentation, try changing the pace of your delivery. A slightly faster section might convey enthusiasm. A slightly slower one might add emphasis or caution.

Pitch

The pitch of your voice also varies in day to day conversation and it is important to play on this when making a presentation. For example, your pitch will raise when asking a question; it will lower when you wish to sound severe.

Play around with the volume, pace and pitch of your voice when practising your presentation. Find different ways of saying the same sentence. Explore different ways of adding emphasis to your main points. Always try to convey enthusiasm and energy through your use of your voice.

5. Breathe

Always remember to breath steadily and deeply. If you are anxious about making a presentation your breathing will become fast and shallow. This will affect the quality of your voice and your ability to speak clearly for extended periods of time. Try to take a few deep breaths before you make your presentation, making a conscious effort to slow your breathing down and taking in more air with each breath. During your presentation, use pauses after questions or at the end of sections to allow comfortable breathing patterns. Don’t be afraid to slow down the pace of your presentation if your breathing becomes uncomfortable.

6. Drink

It is a good idea to have some liquid to hand to quench your thirst if you are speaking for a long time. However, be careful not to gulp ice-cold water before you go on as this constricts your throat and affects the quality of your voice. Drink a warm (not hot) cup of tea to relax your throat and ease your speaking voice.

And finally ... a note about humor

Only use humor if you know it will work. Humor needs to be relaxed and confident - if used badly, it will only heighten senses of awkwardness and anxiety if these are already present. Use humor if you know you can and if you feel it is appropriate to do so.

Conclusion

Continually explore your personal style using any or all of the above suggestions in different combinations for different effects. Above all, remember two main points:

·         be yourself— even in the most formal of surroundings you will need to be yourself. No one will be impressed if you try to perform like a classical actor or act like a stand-up comedian;

·         avoid any behavior that might be off-putting to your audience— always be deliberate and clear in your use of your voice and physical actions.

The next study guide in this series, Using visual aids, looks at how you can use visual images to increase the impact of your presentation.

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