MODULE 2: Developing Effective Communication and Professional

Presentation Skills

Conversational Skills
The art of conversation is actually based on conversational skills. And these skills can be learned. Few
general principles, to start of with the principles of communication includes-

a) Give to others what you would like to receive from them. In other words, give others your
attention and respect and let them know that you like them.
b) Second, focus on the other person instead of yourself.
c) Use nonverbal cues to communicate your interest in the other person.

Psychologist Bernardo Carducci (1999) suggests five steps for making successful small talk.
1. Indicate that you are open to conversation by commenting on your surroundings (Ex; “This line
sure is slow.”). One can begin with other topics, too, but should be careful about opening line.

2. Introduce yourself. If no one is saying anything,make the first move by extending your hand,
looking the person in the eye, and introducing yourself. It can be done early in the conversation and
use specifics to give the other person information to help find common ground

3. Select a topic others can relate to. Keep an eye out for similarities and differences between you and
your conversational partner. Look for things you have in common— a tattoo, a class, a hometown—
and build a conversation
around that (“I heard a great band last night”). Alternatively work off your differences (“How did you
get interested in science fiction? I’m a mystery fan myself”).

4. Keep the conversational ball rolling. You can keep things going by elaborating on your initial topic

5. Make a smooth exit. Politely end the conversation (“Well, I’ve got to run. I enjoyed talking with
you”). When you see the person again, be sure to give a friendly smile and a wave. You need not
become friends in order to be friendly.

Listening skills
Listening and hearing are two distinct processes. Hearing is a physiological process that occurs when
sound waves come into contact with our ear drums. In contrast, listening is a mindful activity and
complex process that requires one to select and organize information, interpret and respond to
communications, and recall what one has heard. More importantly, listening also involves making the
speaker understand that the listener has understood what the speaker has said and meant. This is what
is generically referred to as active listening—the process by which a listener listens, understands the
message the way it was intended and conveys to the sender that the message is understood as
intended.

Steps in active listening

In order to achieve effective active listening, there are a number of steps that have to take place:
1) Understand the purpose for which you are listening.
Knowing the purpose of listening enables you to put sufficient energy and focus at the right
times during a communication transaction. The various purposes are listed below
2) Tune out unnecessary signals.
This is both a physical and mental process. On the physical side, the listener should
● Turn off unnecessary distractions. For example, turn off mobile phones, laptops and any such
communication equipment.
● Minimize exposure to diversions. For example, instead of sitting overlooking a glass window,
try to sit facing the wall.
● Consciously cut off other distractions like looking out of the window or scribbling on a note
book or bringing up irrelevant topics for discussion.
● Refrain from side conversations with others in the room.

On the mental side, tuning out unnecessary signals involves:

● Putting away any distracting thoughts (‘how will the traffic be when I am
● returning home?’)
● Stop thinking about those urgent pressures like deadlines.
● Put your biases and judgemental feelings about the speaker or the topic aside so that you can
listen objectively.

3) Tune in to the speaker.

 One should not only tune out unnecessary signals, but also tune in to the speaker. Tuning in to
the speaker involves:

● Using a posture that favours understanding and conveys confidence to the speaker:
Sitting back in your chair as if you are watching a boring cricket match is neither
going to increase your listening ability nor is it going to inspire any confidence in the
speaker whom you are listening to. The best posture for effective listening is to sit
bending a little forward. This shows a sense of anticipation. If there is a table in front
of you, leaning forward with your elbow every now and then will be a good posture
for listening. Make sure you don’t get physically tired of whatever posture you
choose. Else, your focus will only be on your physical discomfort and not on the
subject matter you are listening to.
● Providing eye contact to the speaker: Just as a speaker should provide selective eye
contact to the listeners, the listener should provide periodic and selective eye contact
to the speaker. The same benefits of eye contact that apply to a speaker also apply to
a listener.

4) Perform the physical process of hearing.

It is important to remember that this is more than a physical process. Some of the steps given
below transcend sheer physical functioning and bring in a mental and psychological angle.
● Look for the main ideas: Any communication you hear would have the main ideas
that are substantiated by details and supporting facts. Some speakers highlight such
main points by phrases like ‘the point to note is…’ or ‘what I would like to stress
is…’. Some use effective voice modulation (including pauses and suspenseful
silence). Regardless of whether the speaker gives these cues or not, the listener should
develop the habit of looking for main ideas and separating out the essence from the
details
● Put your emotions aside while you listen: Emotions are valves that shut off hearing
and listening when they feel like it. Emotions and strong biases will make you hear
what you want to hear and not what the speaker wants you to hear.
● Defer all judgement and conclusions till you finish listening: As an extension to the
previous paragraph, remember, do not try to be judgemental when you listen. Do not
let the communication go tangential because of counter-arguments stemming from
your predetermined mindset.

5) Reflect on what you heard.

Reflecting on what you heard is what distinguishes active listening from passive listening.
Reflection means conveying to the speaker your understanding of what you heard. Reflection
can be done by:

● Expressive body language feedback: For example, as a listener you can nod your
head when you agree, shake your head when you disagree, twitch (or mildly frown)
your eye brows when you don’t understand something. Some of these instant
feedbacks could enable the speaker to do any midcourse corrections to facilitate the
correct message to reach you.
● Voice feedback: Occasional ‘ah ah’s and such vocal feedback (that does not
necessarily involve words) could supplement the body language feedback. One can
 also include generic verbal feedback such as ‘that’s interesting’ or ‘you must be
kidding me’ kind of interjections.
● Paraphrase: Occasionally—especially for the important points—paraphrasing or
restating the message in your own words would provide reinforcement for your
understanding and give clear feedback to the speaker as to the extent of your
understanding. Some of the phrases you can use are ‘if I understand you right…’, ‘let
me restate what you said in my words … let me know if I have misunderstood
anything’, ‘sounds like…’, and so on.
● Ask questions: This is absolutely essential to make sure that the message is fully
understood by the receiver. If, as a speaker, you don’t find the audience asking
questions, you should assume that they have not followed your message. You should
then paraphrase your message in different words and/or ask leading questions to your
audience.

Communication problems- Communication apprehension

Communication apprehension,is the anxiety caused by having to talk

with others. Some people experience communication apprehension in all speaking situations
(including one-on-one encounters), but most people who have the problem notice it only when they
have to speak before groups.

Researchers have identified four responses to communication apprehension.

The most common is avoidance, or choosing not to participate when confronted with a voluntary
communication opportunity. If people believe that speaking will make them uncomfortable, they will
typically avoid the experience.
Withdrawal occurs when people unexpectedly find themselves trapped in a communication situation
they can’t escape. Here they may clam up entirely or say as little as possible. Disruption refers to the
inability to make fluent
oral presentations or to engage in appropriate verbal or nonverbal behavior. Overcommunication is a
relatively unusual response to high communication apprehension, but it does occur. An example
would be someone who attempts to dominate social situations by talking nonstop. Although such
individuals are seen as poor communicators, they are not usually perceived as having communication
apprehension.

Avoidance and withdrawal tactics are merely short-term strategies for coping with communication
apprehension. Because it is unlikely that you can go through life without having to speak in front of a
group, it is important to learn to cope with this stressful event rather than avoid it time and again.
Allowing the problem to get out of hand can result in self limiting behavior, such as refusing a job
promotion that entails public speaking. People with high communication apprehension are likely to
have difficulties in relationships, at work, and at school.

There are effective ways to reduce speech anxiety. With the technique of visualization, for example,
you picture yourself successfully going through all of the steps involved in preparing for and making
a presentation. Research shows that people who practice visualization have less anxiety and fewer
negative thoughts when they actually speak compared to previsualization levels.

Other research demonstrates that repeatedly practicing a presentation while being digitally videoed
can help some people with communication apprehension. In particularly acute cases of
communication apprehension, substituting a recorded talk may be preferable to a live presentation.
Both positive reinterpretation and systematic desensitization are highly effective methods for dealing
with this problem as well.

Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict exists whenever two or more people disagree. By this definition, conflict occurs
between friends and lovers as well as between competitors and enemies. Interpersonal conflict is
present anytime people have disparate views, opposing perspectives, incompatible goals, emotional
reactions, and a desire to try to address and resolve their differences

Styles of Managing Conflict

Most people have a habitual way or personal style of dealing with dissension. Studies have
consistently revealed five distinct patterns of dealing with conflict: avoiding/withdrawing,
accommodating, competing/forcing, compromising, and
collaborating. Two dimensions underlie these different styles: interest in satisfying one’s own
concerns and interest in satisfying others’ concerns

1) Avoiding/withdrawing (low concern for self and others).

Some people simply find conflict extremely distasteful. When a conflict emerges, the avoider
will change the subject, deflect discussion with humor, make a hasty exit, or pretend to be
preoccupied with something else. Usually, people who prefer this style hope that ignoring a
problem will make it go away. Yet some researchers argue this style is actually very goal
directed and not at all a passive response to conflict. For minor problems, this tactic is often a
good one—there’s no need to react to every little annoyance. For bigger conflicts,
avoiding/withdrawing is not a good strategy; it usually just delays the inevitable clash.

2) Accommodating (low concern for self, high concern for others).

Like the avoider, the accommodator feels uncomfortable with conflict. However, instead of
ignoring the disagreement, this person brings the conflict to a quick end by giving in easily.
People who are overly concerned about acceptance and approval from others commonly use
this strategy of surrender. Habitual accommodating is a poor way of dealing with conflict
because it does not generate creative thinking and effective solutions. Moreover, feelings of
resentment (on both sides) may develop because the accommodator often likes to play the
role of a martyr.

3) Competing/forcing (high concern for self, low concern for others).

The competitor turns every conflict into a black and-white, win-or-lose situation. Competitors
will do virtually anything to emerge victorious from confrontations; thus, they can be
deceitful and aggressive—including using verbal attacks and physical threats. They rigidly
adhere to one position and will use threats and coercion to force the other party to submit.
This style is undesirable because, like accommodation, it fails to generate creative solutions to
problems. Moreover, this approach is especially likely to lead to post conflict tension,
resentment, and hostility.

4) Compromising (moderate concern for self and others).

 Compromising is a pragmatic approach to conflict that acknowledges the divergent needs of
both parties. Compromisers are willing to negotiate and to meet the other person halfway.
With this approach, each person gives up something so both can have partial satisfaction.
Because both parties gain some satisfaction, compromising is a fairly constructive approach
to conflict, especially when the issue is moderately important.

5) Collaborating (high concern for self and others).

Whereas compromising simply entails “splitting the difference” between positions,
collaborating involves a sincere effort to find a solution that will optimally satisfy both
parties. In this approach, conflict is viewed as a mutual problem to be solved as effectively as
possible. Collaborating thus encourages openness and honesty. It also stresses the importance
of criticizing the other person’s ideas in a disagreement rather than the other person. To
collaborate, you have to work on clarifying differences and similarities in positions so that
you can build on the similarities. Generally, this is the most productive approach for dealing
with conflict. Instead of resulting in a postconflict residue of tension and resentment,
collaborating tends to produce a climate of trust.

Dealing Constructively with Conflict

The most effective approach to conflict management is collaborating. There are some explicit
guidelines for dealing effectively with interpersonal conflict.

● Make communication honest and open. Don’t withhold information or misrepresent your
position. Avoid deceit and manipulation. Try being agreeable
● Exhibit trust. Being trustworthy and dependable can lead to smooth and successful
negotiations.
● Use specific behaviors to describe another person’s annoying habits rather than general
statements about their personality. One’ll probably get further with their roommate if you say
something like, “Please throw your clothes in the hamper” rather than “You’re such an
inconsiderate slob.” Remarks about specific actions are less threatening and are less likely to
be taken personally. They also clarify what you hope will change.
● Avoid “loaded” words. Certain words are “loaded” in the sense that they tend to trigger
negative emotional reactions in listeners. For example, you can discuss politics without using
terms such as “right-winger” and “knee-jerk liberal.”
● Try using grace. The word “grace” refers to honoring the needs of others by putting aside
one’s own desires. Graceful acts occur when one person shows kindness that is likely never
to be repaid; indeed, the person doesn’t expect to receive any compensation in return. Perhaps
you and your roommate agreed to split chores. She fails to live up to her part of the agreement
one week, presumably because she has an inordinate amount of schoolwork to do. Instead of
instigating a conflict, you do her chores and say nothing about it. Your gracious act helps her
and at the same time avoids creating a conflict; in a sense, you are helping yourself as well.
● Use a positive approach and help the other person save face. Saying “I love it when we cook
dinner together” will go over better than “You never help with dinner, and I resent it.”
Similarly, you can increase your chances of having a request accepted if you say, “I realize
that you are very busy, but I’d really appreciate it if you would look at my paper again. I’ve
marked the places I’d like you to reconsider.”
 ● Limit complaints to recent behavior and to the current situation. Dredging up past grievances
only rekindles old resentments and distracts you from the current problem. And avoid saying
things like “You always say you’re too busy” or “You never do your fair share of the
housework.” Such categorical statements are bound to put the other person on the defensive.
● Assume responsibility for your own feelings and preferences. Rather than “You make me
mad,” say “I am angry.” Or, try “I’d appreciate it if you’d water the garden” instead of “Do
you think the garden needs watering?”
● Use an assertive communication style. This approach will make it easier to head off and deal
constructively with conflict situations.

Developing an Assertive Communication Style

The Nature of Assertiveness
Assertiveness involves acting in one’s own best interests by expressing one’s thoughts and feelings
directly and honestly. Essentially, assertiveness involves standing up for your rights when someone
else is about to infringe on them.

The nature of assertive communication can best be clarified by contrasting it with other types of
communication. Submissive communication is deferential, as it involves giving in to others on points
of possible contention.
Submissive people often let others take advantage of them. Typically, their biggest problem is that
they cannot say no to unreasonable requests. A common example is the college student who can’t tell
her roommate not to borrow her clothes. Submissive people also have difficulty voicing disagreement
with others and making requests themselves.

The roots of submissiveness lie in excessive concern about gaining the social approval of others.
Moreover, individuals who use this style often feel bad about themselves and resentful of those they
allow to take advantage of them. These feelings often lead the submissive individual to try to punish
the other person by withdrawing, sulking, or [Link] manipulative attempts to get one’s own
way are sometimes referred to as “passive aggression” or “indirect aggression”.

At the other end of the spectrum, aggressive communication focuses on saying and getting what one
wants at the expense of others’ feelings and rights. With assertive behavior, however, one strives to
respect others’ rights and defend
one’s own. The problem in real life is that assertive and aggressive behaviors may overlap. When
someone is about to infringe on their rights, people often lash out at the other party (aggression) while
defending their rights (assertion). The challenge, then, is to be firm and assertive without becoming
aggressive.

Advocates of assertive communication argue that it is much more adaptive than either submission or
[Link] maintain that submissive behavior leads to poor self-esteem, self-denial, emotional
suppression, and strained interpersonal relationships. Conversely, aggressive communication tends to
promote guilt, alienation, and disharmony. In contrast, assertive behavior is said to foster high self-
esteem, satisfactory interpersonal relationships,
and effective conflict management.

Here are three different ways to express the same desire:

Aggressive: I want Chinese food tonight, so that is what we
are going to eat. End of story.
Assertive: I feel like having Chinese food tonight—do you?
Submissive: It’s okay with me if we don’t have Chinese food
tonight; whatever you feel like having is fine with me.

Steps in Assertiveness Training

1. Understand What Assertive Communication Is
To produce assertive behavior, you need to understand what it looks and sounds like. Assertiveness
trainers often ask clients to imagine situations calling for assertiveness and compare hypothetical
submissive (or passive), assertive, and aggressive responses. For example, a woman in assertiveness
training is asking her roommate to cooperate in cleaning their apartment once a week. The roommate,
who is uninterested in the problem, is listening to
music when the conversation begins. In this example, the roommate is playing the role of the
antagonist—called a “downer” in the following scripts-

The Passive Scene

she: Uh, I was wondering if you would be willing to take time to decide about the housecleaning.
downer: (listening to music) Not now, I’m busy.
she: Oh, okay.

The Aggressive Scene

she: Listen, I’ve had it with you not even talking about cleaning this damn apartment. Are you going
to help me?
downer: (listening to the music) Not now, I’m busy.
she: Why can’t you look at me when you turn me down? You don’t give a damn about the housework
or me! You only care about yourself!
downer: That’s not true.
she: You never pay any attention to the apartment or to me. I have to do everything around here!
downer: Oh, shut up! You’re just neurotic about cleaning all the time. Who are you, my mother?
Can’t I relax with my stereo for a few minutes without you pestering me? This was my apartment
first, you know!

The Assertive Scene

she: I know housework isn’t the most fascinating subject, but it needs to be done. Let’s plan when
we’ll do it.
downer: (listening to music) Oh, c’mon—not now! I’m busy.
she: This won’t take long. I feel that if we have a schedule, it will be easier to keep up with the chores.
downer: I’m not sure I’ll have time for all of them.
she: I’ve already drawn up a couple of rotating schedules for housework, so that each week we have
an equal division of tasks. Will you look at them? I’d like to hear your decisions about them, say,
tonight after supper?
downer: (indignantly) I have to look at these now?
she: Is there some other time that’s better for you?
downer: Oh, I don’t know.
she: Well, then let’s discuss plans after supper for 15 minutes. Is that agreed?
downer: I guess so.
she: Good! It won’t take long, and I’ll feel relieved when we have a schedule in place.
A way to distinguish among the three types of communication is in terms of how people deal with
their own rights and the rights of others. Submissive people sacrifice their own rights. Aggressive
people tend to ignore the rights of others. Assertive people consider both their own rights and the
rights of others.

2. Monitor Your Assertive Communication

Most people’s assertiveness varies from one situation to another. In other words, they may be
assertive in some social contexts and timid in others. Consequently, once you understand the nature of
assertive communication, you should monitor yourself and identify when you are nonassertive. In
particular, you should figure out who intimidates you, on what topics, and in which situations.

3. Observe a Model’s Assertive Communication

Once you have identified the situations in which you are nonassertive, think of someone who
communicates assertively in those situations and observe that person’s behavior closely. In other
words, find someone to model yourself [Link] is an easy way to learn how to behave assertively in
situations crucial to you. Your observations should also allow you to see how rewarding assertive
communication can be, which should strengthen your assertive tendencies.

4. Practice Assertive Communication

The key to achieving assertive communication is to practice it and work toward gradual improvement.
Practice can take several forms. In covert rehearsal, you imagine a situation requiring assertion and
the dialogue you would engage in. In role playing, you ask a friend or therapist to play the role of an
antagonist, then practice communicating assertively in this artificial situation. Eventually, of
course, you want to transfer your assertiveness skills to
real-life situations.

5. Adopt an Assertive Attitude

Most assertiveness training programs have a behavioral orientation and focus on specific responses
for specific situations. Although most programs don’t talk explicitly about attitudes, they do appear to
instil a new attitude indirectly. A change in attitude is probably crucial to achieving flexible, assertive
behavior.

Structure of Presentation
Organising a presentation is planning what you want to communicate and choosing methods of
reinforcements that realise the plan. This organisation broadly fits into the introduction—body—
conclusion type of organisation.

1) Introduction or ‘Tell Them What You are Going to Tell Them’ Part

It is the most crucial part to draw in audience attention. It is said that in most interactions, the
make or break happens within the first five minutes or less. Opening must serve two
purposes:
● Grab the audience attention, so that they will continue to be in rapt attention
● Give them an outline of topics to be covered or the objectives to be achieved.

To grab the attention of the audience there are certain ways:

 a) Take them by surprise by a most unexpected statement or expression: When Swami
Vivekananda, at that time a little known preacher from India, started addressing the
Parliament of Religions in the USA, he began his speech with, ‘Brothers and Sisters
of America’. This not only brought out his theme—universality of religion—but it
also shook the audience to make them realize his power.

b) Show and (not necessarily) tell- Sometimes just displaying an object at the beginning
in a most dramatic way in which one can immediately capture audience attention.

c) Use a quotation, a short story or a graphic illustration: If you are discussing a new
product idea, you can use a quotation from a subject matter expert to present the
technology trends and then use this to link up why the product idea makes sense. One
can also corroborate this with a graph that shows the increase in user base for the
technology area.

There have been some totally ineffective openings that people sometimes use like
the following:
● An inappropriate joke: Some people consider that in order for a presentation to be
effective, there is a quota of jokes to be met!
● An apologetic statement that sounds defeatist and goes against the message of the
topic being presented.
● A grandfatherly statement like, ‘Did you apply yourself in this situation and stop to
think . . .’
● A seemingly never-ending story going into gory details that are totally irrelevant to
the topic in hand.

2) Body of the Presentation: ‘Tell Them’

This contains the supporting details of the presentation. To put this together one should consider the
following:

● Has the facts researched correctly?

Before putting together a presentation, it is imperative that one has their facts well researched.
One should expect that someone in the audience would refute the facts. Hence you should
also have the source of your data at your fingertips.

● Are you considering the preferences and biases of the audience when you are presenting?
It definitely helps a great deal to know in advance about audience’ reservations and biases—
and technical and educational background.

● Have you considered the possible objections the audience may have for your point of view?
Anticipate questions and interjections from the audience and prepare appropriate responses.
When appropriate, pre-empt such objections by including them (and your responses) in your
presentation itself.

● Have you sequenced the body in an appropriate manner?

The sequencing of the presentation of facts has a bearing on how the audience appreciates the
facts. You should use the right level of abstraction for the audience and present the data in the
right sequence.
 ● Have you planned enough time for the entire presentation?
Timing is, of course, crucial. When sufficient time has not been planned for a presentation, it
would indicate that not enough thought has gone into organizing the [Link],
this would end in a situation where not-so-important points are dwelt upon for extraordinary
and unjustified length, while the important ones are either omitted or rushed through in the
end.

● Have you provided sufficient reinforcement for the key points that you want the audience to
take away?
The most important points of a presentation need extra emphasis. These have to be reinforced,
reemphasized and augmented by extra channels of communication. You might want to
include some multimedia, graphs or demos to drive home such points.

3) Conclusion—‘Tell Them What You Told Them’

It is the final part of the presentation. The audience has been sitting through the presentation and is
ready to leave. Their thoughts are beginning to wander to their next meeting or task. You can be
assured that they will not remember what your presentation said. You have to now make sure that
they walk away from the room with the top points you want them to remember. Summarize the
presentation highlighting not more than five, preferably exactly three, points that you want the
audience to take away. These points:

● Should be the real vital summary of the presentation; they need not contain all the gory details
● Should take no more than about three to five minutes
● Should make the audience converge to your point of view
● Should preferably be visual and appealing (e.g., a picture or a model or a graph)
● Should call for action, guiding the audience to take the action you had intended them to take
● Should lead into the question/answer session naturally.

If PowerPoint is used, it is a good idea to leave the summary slide on the screen during the question
and answer session. This would enable stronger recall as this makes the points seep into visual
memory for a long time. A common pitfall found in presenters is that they get so absorbed in the
details of the body of the presentation that suddenly they find they are running out of time and hence
run through the conclusion and summary in a great hurry. It leaves the audience with the feeling that
the presenter has come completely unprepared and is not clear of the message he or she wants to leave
behind. This results in an orphaned communication, where the follow through is simply non-existent
or not in a direction the speaker intended.

Objectives of communication

The objectives of communication can be identified through the following questions

a) Am I communicating to educate?
 If you are taking a class or a training session for a customer (or for your employees), you will
be communicating to educate the audience. Here, know the experience or skill levels of the
audience and prepare and use educational material that is appropriate to achieve the
educational objectives.
b) Am I communicating to inform?
This may be the case when you are sending in a status report of a project or formulating the
minutes of a meeting. This may be oral communication but, in general it is either
accompanied by or replaced with written communication.
c) Am I communicating to entertain?
This may not happen too often in business scenarios. But remember that communication
should be entertaining and enjoyable regardless of the motive of communication.
d) Am I communicating to sell something or persuade someone?
When you make a product presentation to a customer, when you are trying to present a case
to your venture capital partner, trying to justify your architecture or approach a problem in
front of your CTO or trying to get funding for your project, you are communicating to sell. It
is said that almost all communication is about selling something and persuading your
audience about your viewpoint.

e) Am I communicating to establish rapport?

This is something that happens very often, especially in a globally distributed team. When the
team members are located in the same place, there is a lot of opportunity to build rapport by
way of hallway talks, coffee table chats, and so on
f) Is this communication intended to be formal or informal?
Formal communication places a lot of restrictions on the delivery, style and language that is
used in communication. Informal communication, on the other hand, is a lot less restrictive.
Sometimes you may have to make a choice of whether to use formal or informal
communication based on the need.
Audience Analysis

Understanding objectives and audience analysis—as two sequential steps. One can start
with some initial objectives for communication and make some initial assumptions about what
audience you would get. Once you know the actual audience, you fine tune your objectives, or at least
the finer details like the negotiable parts of the objectives. Sometimes you may not have a choice of
the audience—you may be forced to communicate with an audience you didn’t expect; sometimes you
get lucky and have the luxury of making a choice of your audience. In either case, you would have to
do a quick analysis of the audience and hone your strategy for communication.

a)For the chosen objective, am I addressing the right people?

If you are convincing someone of the technical capabilities of your product, you better be talking to
the technical folks. If you are communicating to persuade a customer about your product’s value
proposition, your audience could be a mix of technical and management folks.
b)Is the audience heterogeneous in terms of age group, educational background or experience levels?
A heterogeneous group is likely to have different preferences, tastes or biases that you would have to
be prepared for. This could also give rise to potential conflicts in the approaches that you may have to
take to communicate to the individual audience members.

c)Are they there ‘as prisoners’ or by their own will?

Sometimes, the people attending a presentation or a meeting or a training programme come on their
own and sometimes, they come at the behest of someone else—willingly or unwillingly. When they
come on their own, their motivation level to be interested in the subject matter is likely to be more.
Else, you may have to work harder to educate and motivate them.

d)What are the audience’s likes and dislikes?

An approach that can be very effective if some members of the audience have a strong dislike for any
topic, would be to anticipate their objections and preempt them by directly addressing such objections
and allaying any fears proactively. Another approach could be to simply side step the objections, but
that would require you to speak from a position of strength.

e)Are there people in the audience who need ‘special attention’?

The special attention could be needed either because they are influential or because they simply need
ego boosts. The speaker should know the influencers, champions, nay sayers
or decision makers. Influencers are those people who have a say in the subject matter that will affect
the objective you are trying to achieve. They may have some ‘hot button’ that you feel you can touch
upon and turn them into your spokespersons. Champions are those that have (at least) a partial
concurrence with your objectives and hence, if molded properly, can be your spokespersons. Nay
sayers are those who could spoil the show in terms of your not achieving the objectives. You may
have to keep them at bay and proactively address their concerns. Finally the decision makers are those
that have to be finally convinced.

The 2x2 cells can be understood in terms of two dimensions of interest in (or favourable disposition
to) your objectives and the ability to influence the decision in your favour.

● Those with low interest in the subject matter who have low influence on the final outcome are
prisoners in the communication, dragged into the net not out of their own free will. They will
be happy to get out of the meeting ‘asap’ and get on to ‘real work’. You can identify them as
they will be in the back benches, constantly checking stuff on their laptops or using their cell
phones (for text or games!).
● Those with high interest in the subject matter and low influence on the outcome. They
generally ask a lot of nitty-gritty questions and are insistent upon stealing all the air time and
perhaps showing off their knowledge. You need to silently side step these questions and move
on with others.
● Those with high interest in the subject matter and high influence on the final outcome. They
are champions. Speakers need to give them attention and would have to do their homework
on these people.
● Those with low interest in the subject matter you are presenting or those having little
concurrence with your view point or being less favourably disposed to your idea/product,but
with high influence in the decision. Along with the previous set, these are the decision
 makers. These are the nay-sayers or doubters. These people probably require maximum
attention from you to get them to your side, as they are likely to be fence sitters to start with.

f)What do I bring to the table?

Speakers should clearly articulate their personal credibility and make it compelling for the audience to
listen to you and communicate with you. They also must show conviction that what you are
presenting is indeed something you strongly believe in. And, what is more, you have to prove that
given your personal credibility, your conviction is something that is significant. Any personal
experiences or anecdotes that you can quote from your own experience can richly enhance audience
interest.

Visual Aids
Visual aids are things extraneous to the speaker that are visual and are used to enhance
the effectiveness of the message. Visual aids include, but are not restricted to, white (black) boards,
flip charts, posters, web sites, presentation materials (such as PowerPoint slides), models, working
prototypes and so on.

Visual aids serve the following purposes:

a) They act as a reminder to the presenter not to miss the key points: Visual aids lead the
presenter through the presentation. They give cues for sequencing the presentation so that the
presentation proceeds in a logical (and planned) sequence.

b) They leave an impression on the audience as they get visual input: As we have seen before,
the visual channel is the most powerful way of getting through to the audience. When a
speaker uses visual aids, they act as significant reinforcement to the vocal and the verbal
channel. Visual aids enhance the recall of a message by the audience.

c) They can incorporate transitions, graphics and other multimedia elements for added emphasis:
A PowerPoint presentation for example can include effective graphics and multimedia effects
to drive home key points. For example, to show sales rising over the years, a graph with the
value of each year coming up one by one can convey a lot more information than any words.

d) They can be left behind as handouts with the audience for further reference: Copies of a
presentation can be left behind with the audience so that these copies can be referred to as
needed in future, thereby providing more opportunities to reinforce the message.

What visual aids are NOT meant to be:

a) They are not supposed to replace the speaker: Visual aids are just that: aids to the speaker.
They are not meant to steal the thunder from the speaker. Visual aids cannot and should not
replace the speaker.

b) They are not meant to be ‘read aloud verbatim’: Since the visual aids do not replace the
speaker, it follows that the visual aids should not contain each and every word that the
speaker is going to utter. They should only contain pointers that trigger or prompt the full
presentation.
Types of visual aids
● There are various types of visual aids. These fall into two categories: prompted, interactive
visual aids and pre-canned [Link] prompted, interactive visual aids is
appropriate to give an impromptu feeling to your presentation when you want to develop the
entire storyline as you go along. Black (white) boards, flip charts and overhead transparencies
are the common types of visual aids in this category. In each of these, the presenter writes on
the board or chart or the foil during the presentation. The advantages that these media
includes-

● They have a real-time, ‘developing’ feel to them and therefore present an opportunity for
being more flexible and spontaneous than canned presentations.

● Since the presenter has to write in the media, it can slow down the presenter and give the
audience more time to understand the presentation.

● These may leave a permanent record of the presentation and the direction in which the
presentation went.

● Some of the ‘low-tech’ options like white board and flip charts would not get derailed
because of power cuts and such infrastructural glitches.

Some of the disadvantages of this type of media are:

● Since no canned presentation is used, it is easy to forget some of the key points.

● Since the presentation is interactive by design, it is easy to get sidetracked .

● In the case of white boards and flip charts, the presenter would have to turn his or her back to
the audience to write and during this time, he or she loses valuable chances of establishing
eye contact and opportunities to watch and respond to the audience’s body language.

● In the case of writing on an overhead foil, the presenter’s eyes are obstructed by the glare of
the projector and the presenter also obstructs the projection onto the screen. Anyway, this
media is not much in vogue today, being replaced by a computer connected to projection
equipment.

Powerpoint components
1) Slides
PowerPoint organizes a presentation into a series of slides. Each slide presents a unit of
information and can act as an anchor for other slides.
There are different formats for a slide:
Pure Text
Such a slide will have only text, usually in large fonts. Typically these may be used for
emphasis and such text is usually self explanatory
Bulleted Text
A bulleted text would have a series of bullets; each bullet is a specific point or topic
of the presentation that could be expanded in subsequent slides. You could have single level
bullets or multi-level bullets. Typically, single level bulleted slides are used
 as agenda slides or to highlight the major points.

2) Graphics
Graphics can be a mix of graphs, trend charts, pictures, cartoons and multi-media. Some of
the common uses of graphics are:

Graphs and Trend Charts: These can be used to pictorially present some of the
results. These are effective in situations where details like sales figures, profitability
analysis, competitive analysis, category distribution, root cause analysis and so on,
have to be presented.

Pictures and Cartoons: These are very effective in providing some lighter moments
and variety. An appropriate cartoon can get the message across in a more effective way than
pure text and it will also have a higher retention and recall value in the minds of the audience.

3) Use of Transitions and Animations

Transitions and animation will help you direct the audience to focus on one point or object at
a time, without getting diverted. When you have bulleted texts or objects (like cartoons,
graphs, shapes, etc.) in a slide, you can make the bullets or objects appear one at a time. After
you finish explaining the first point, you can press a key and the second bullet (point) will
appear on the screen and so on. PowerPoint provides several ways to effectively use
transitions.

● In case of multi-level bullets, you can control the sub-levels that appear together:
make all the sub-levels of a bullet appear together or make the sub-bullets appear one
by one. It depends on what you want to emphasize.

● You can control the direction from which the bullet or object appears. For example,
you can make it come from top, bottom, left, right or from a diagonal direction.

● You can control the pace with which the bullet or object comes in. This is especially
useful for emphasis. For example, if you want a tortoise and a hare to appear on the
screen, you can make the hare come in really fast and the tortoise can come in slowly.

● You can add special effects for transition. For example, you can make the text or
object come in with a diamond pattern, checkerboard, box, etc. You can further
become very creative and use options like ‘Box In’, ‘Box Out’, etc.

4) Use of Icons and Pictures for Transitions

As an example, suppose you are going to present on the various functions served
by the offices in San Francisco, London and Bangalore, you could show a world map. When
the mouse is clicked on San Francisco, the functions of that office can be shown as a pop-up.
Similarly, when the mouse is clicked on Bangalore, the functions of that office can be shown
 as a pop-up. Since this approach combines graphics and transitions, it is likely to leave a
better impact on the audience.

5) Use of Action Buttons

PowerPoint provides a set of action buttons that can be used to control the movement through
the various slides. For example, each slide can have the next, previous, first and home
buttons. The next and previous buttons, when clicked, can take you to the next or previous
slide. The home button can be the transition to the first slide of the presentation, while the
first could make the transition to the first slide of a given set.
6) Use of Embedded Objects
Sometimes you may want to show an Excel spreadsheet or a Word document or some other
object within a presentation. You can embed such an object within the presentation
7) Use of Tables
In general, we feel that tables are not very effective when used in PowerPoint, except when
they are very small. The size of the cells and the space available reduce readability. It is
visually far more appealing to link the slide to a table in Word or Excel and show those in full
screen and then jump back to the original screen.

Rehearsing
For very important and crucial presentations, it is absolutely essential to rehearse under
conditions as close to real-life as possible. Some of the practical techniques to rehearse are as follows:

● See yourself making the presentation in a full length mirror. This may give you first
impressions and an outsider’s view of your own presentation. While this is a good first step,
this alone would not suffice as you may not be able to play it back and see it again and again
nor would you be able to show this to your friends and get their feedback.

● Make a video recording of yourself making the presentation and watch it several times. See
which movements you feel are natural, which ones are distracting. Listen to when your voice
is showing proper emotion and emphasis. Judge whether the body language, voice and the
visual aids are reinforcing each other.

● Make the presentation to a group of your colleagues and friends and ask them to give a
critical and unbiased opinion. You should also ask them to play the devil’s advocate by
making them ask difficult questions.

Getting over nervousness

After all the rehearsal and fine tuning, it is likely for speakers to be experience anxiety and
nervousness.

● Is it okay to be nervous? It is indeed perfectly standardize to be [Link] fact, without any

nervousness, the biological system would simply not rise to the big occasion. Nervousness
keeps adrenalin flowing and gives the energy.
● How can I reduce nervousness? While you cannot (and should not) completely eliminate
nervousness, it would certainlymake sense to reduce unnecessary nervousness. Some ways to
reduce such fears and nervousness are:

a) Constantly practice, do a thorough audience analysis and clearly understand your objectives
of communication.
b) Understand the big picture, know your role in it and take pride in it
c) Don’t try to be a perfectionist. Don’t feel bad that you forgot the third point when you are
talking about the seventh point—the audience would not know you had missed the third point
unless you confessed to them
d) Don’t take public speaking (or any failure thereof) as a reflection of your actual self worth—
there is more to life than this! Once you take this pressure off your chest, you will feel lighter
and less nervous.

● Am I nervous because I am a rookie?

Even the most established pros do tend to become nervous. The difference between these
people and a rookie is not in how nervous they feel but how they channel their nervousness.

● How can I use my nervousness for my benefit?

Tap the nervous energy. If you feel your heart pumping, use the pace to add spice and energy
to your presentation instead of biting your nails or fiddling around with your buttons. If you
feel you are slumping down with nervousness, pep yourself up and start taking quick strides.
If you are thrown an unexpected question from the audience, take a deep breath, rephrase the
question and defuse the situation a bit. Just like you learnt in physics, convert nervous energy
into some other form of energy that has a positive effect on your presentation.