ORAL PRESENTATION:

- Is also known as public speaking or simply presentations,

- consists of an individual or group verbally addressing an audience on a particular topic.
- aims to educate, inform, entertain or present an argument.
- is done within workplaces, classrooms and even at social events such as weddings.
- assesses the presenter’s ability to communicate relevant information effectively in an interesting and
engaging manner when done in a university.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES of EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:

Since communication is a two-way process, it is important that you know the principles to be observed to
make both oral and written communication effective. In either mode, you should apply the following principles:

1. KNOW YOUR PURPOSE in COMMUNICATING

2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
3. KNOW YOUR TOPIC
4. ADJUST YOUR SPEECH OR WRITING TO THE CONTEXT OF THE SITUATION.
5. WORK ON THE FEEDBACK GIVEN YOU.

PRINCIPLES of EFFECTIVE ORAL COMMUNICATION

1. Be clear with your purpose
2. Be complete with the message you deliver
3. Be concise
4. Be natural with your delivery
5. Be specific and timely with your feedback

RENDER AN EFFECTIVE SPEECH and BE a GOOD PUBLIC SPEAKER by considering the

following:
1. AUDIENCE:
- know the profile of your listeners
- know how much the audience knows about the topic
- know how to read the posture and gestures of your audience as this will signal what kind of audience they are.
- know how to deal with any unpleasant incident or conflict with your audience and always stay in control of the
situation

2. LOGISTICS:
- Know who is organizing the event
- know who will be introducing you, who will be speaking before and after you
- tie up earlier presentation with own in order to have a coherent presentation

2.1 VENUE:
- locate the lights and if you have movable visual aids, know where to position them.
- know how to position yourself and how you should move in front to get the attention of the listeners.
- work on your posture and avoid bad habits when speaking.
- Do not block the view of your visual aids as you present them.
- Employ a balanced posture by not standing on one leg only.
- Do not lean on any object that will give support to your weight.
NB. These postures give an impression that you lack confidence and authority.

2.2 FACILITIES:
- Ask beforehand about the pieces of equipment available for you.
- find a way to have one especially if your visual aids are highly complex.
- know how to trouble shoot technical glitches
3. CONTENT OF REPORT/SPEECH/LECTURE:
- contribute new information especially if the purpose of the event is to inform.
- make the speech light-hearted, amusing, and lively if the purpose is to entertain

Planning and presenting an oral presentation

Planning your oral presentation
The most important factors for a successful presentation are: careful planning, lots of practice and engaging the
audience. It's a good idea to watch some professional presentations online to get a sense of what good speakers do.

1. Review the subject outline. Look for all relevant detail that will be needed to understand the requirements of the
task, including when it is due, the weight of the assessment, and the length of time to present. Review the
assessment criteria. What are being assessed on?

2. Analyse the task. Determine the purpose of the presentation. Are there specific questions to answer?

3. Consider the audience. What are their expectations of the content and delivery of the presentation?

4. Brainstorm. Map out everything known about the topic. Write out any ideas that can be used to interact with the
audience, or engage them, and jot down what questions, explanations and information you want the audience to be
provided with.

5. Do the research. Find relevant material, take notes, and remember to keep the references ( you) used.

6. Organise your ideas. Create a logical presentation so the information flows well.

7. Pay attention to the language you are using. Presentations should be delivered in spoken or conversational
language rather than written language. Spoken language is much easier for your audience to follow.

Audience interaction and engagement

Even if it isn’t a specific requirement, it is good practice to engage the audience and/or to have them interact during
the presentation.

Examples of ways to ensure audience interaction are:

 Asking questions, testing the audience, providing a quiz.

 Allowing the audience to ask questions.
 Providing handouts – consider a ‘fill in the blank’ document that goes hand-in-hand with a slideshow or the
information you are presenting.
 Asking someone to volunteer if there are demonstrations.
 Providing small gift bags with information and some lollies.
Using visual aids
In many oral presentation assessments you will be allowed or required to use visual aids, such as slides, images or
props, to add an interesting feature and engage the audience. Keep your visual aids clear and to the point, and
ensure that they are easily readable by your audience.

NOTE: Don’t forget to save your visual material on a USB flash drive so that you can easily access it through the class
computer (if applicable), and have a back-up if you need to submit it in class or print it out.

Preparing to present
Once you have completed writing your presentation and have finalised your visual aids, it is time to practice the
presentation. When practicing your speech consider these aspects:

 Speak slowly and clearly.

 Don’t read off your palm cards.
 Maintain eye contact with the audience.
 Maintain good posture so you can be clearly heard.
 Use natural hand gestures.
 Use a natural tone of voice.
 Practice to improve your confidence.
 Practice pronunciation of difficult words by breaking them into syllables.
 Be mindful of your body language.
 Time yourself to make sure you are within the time limits.

It is also important that you use this time to make sure that you are fully prepared. Do you need to collect props?
Have you thought about how you will access your visual aids?

On the day of the presentation

On the day of your presentation, you might feel anxious or nervous and that is completely normal. Have confidence
in your ability, the presentation you have planned, and the preparation you have done!

DELIVERING THE REPORT/SPEECH/TALK

Delivering the report/speech/talk entails the use of the verbal and non-verbal code.

1. PARALINGUISTIC CUES
 - facial expression, posture, gesture, and movement

FACIAL EXPRESSION – the eyes and eye to eye contact are very important. The eyes are the window to the soul
and one can’t hide his emotional state. A person’s emotion is mirrored by his eyes.

POSTURE – refers to the speakers’ stance. How the speakers carry themselves during the presentation clearly
manifest whether or not they possess credibility. As speakers deliver their speech, they project an air of confidence
to get the attention of the listeners. Stand comfortably with your feet at least six to eight inches apart, with one foot
over the other. Your weight must rest on the balls of the feet and your hands hang naturally at the sides.

GESTURE- Speakers who employ gestures in their speeches or reports are more convincing than those who do
not. Gestures are used to make a point more emphatic. However, they should be used only for important points as
they become distractive when used often. Have a variety of them.

MOVEMENT- as gestures are made by some parts of the body (hand and arm), movement is made by the entire
body( head, shoulder, feet, etc.). Swaying one’s body from left to right, side to side, front to back, or pacing from one
side of the stag/platform to the other can be exhibiting a negative non-verbal cue. A speaker should know how to
move on stage so that her movement will not be distracting.

DRESS/ATTIRE – even if not considered as a paralinguistic cue, this is still considered non-verbal. As a speaker ,
observe the following:
- Dress up properly.
- Look good and pleasing to the eyes of the listeners.
- Dress appropriately but do not overdo.
- Be well groomed with hair neatly combed and your shoes well-polished.
- Use pieces of jewelry conservatively.

2. PROSODIC FEATURES:
PROSODY focuses on the elements of speech that are not individual phonetic segments but are properties of
of syllables and larger units of speech, including linguistic functions such as intonation, stress, and rhythm. Such
elements are known as suprasegmentals. In simplier term, the patterns of stress and intonation in a language.

Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the
form of the utterance (statement, question, or command); the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and
focus. It may otherwise reflect other elements of language that may not be encoded by grammar or by choice of
vocabulary.

Observe features when making presentations.

- Aim at delivering the message clearly through intelligible and comprehensible pronunciation.
- Articulate the sounds clearly by paying attention to how you move your lips, tongue, and teeth.
- Blend the final sound of a preceding word with the initial sound of the following(next) word.
For example:
To each his own -------------------to eachizown
The splendor in the grass-------thus plendor in the grass
The pros and cons ----------------the prosend cons

N.B. While it is impossible to imitate or sound like the Americans or the British who use English as their native
tongue, try to at least approximate them. If the listeners cannot understand what you say because of the rate or
speed by which you speak, DO IT MORE SLOWLY.

PRESENTING in GROUPS
- oral presentation as part of a group is done to test one’s ability to work as a member of a team. Working
within a group can sometimes be a challenge or a great success.

TIPS for group oral presentation:

1. Divide the topic of the presentation into subtopics, and allocate one to each group member. Doing this will ensure
that the workload is evenly shared and that everyone takes part in the assessment.
2. Decide on a strategy as to how you will begin and end your group presentation.
3. Ensure the presentation is consistent by using a consistent style for the visual aids. If the visual aids used by the
group are not consistent in format, colour and font styles, it will be clear to the marker that you have not been
working as a team.
4. Use a cloud-based service or platform to create your presentation. Most cloud-based services and platforms have
functions that allow working on materials remotely from one another.
5. Rehearse together as a group. Although it may seem easy for each group member to go off and cover their own
section alone, not having regular group meetings or rehearsals will cause the presentation to appear disjointed.
6. Get feedback from your team mates as to how you can still improve your presentation in particular and the
presentation of the group in general.
7. As individual and group presenters, think of possible questions that may arise after the presentation. If you
cannot think of an answer, seek the help of your groupmates.
8. Respond to questions effectively during the question time. If it happens that nobody from the group knows the
answer, be honest to admit that you will find time to research on the matter.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY or STAGE FRIGHT:

ANXIETY is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe. Everyone has
feelings of anxiety at some point in their life. For example, many speakers become tense when making
small and big presentation.
This feeling manifests when you are concerned about whether the audience will pick up something
from your talk. Note that a little amount of nervous tension is needed if you aspire for an excellent
performance. At the beginning, you may experience anxiety, but as you go along with your presentation,
your nervous tension will ease up.

Anxiety when speaking is the fear on the negative response, comment, or feedback from the
listeners and not the fear of the process of speaking.

WAYS to OVERCOME ANXIETY:

1. prepare thoroughly for the presentation
- know about the topic, and know more than your listener

2. practice the speech

- the more you practice, the more you become confident

PRESIDING A MEETING
Please read these notes and video for your information and guidance.
NOTES:
PRESIDING A MEETING:
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TOOLBOX MEETING / STEPS:

Notes: [Link]

VIDEOs:
PRESIDING A MEETING: [Link]
TOOLBOX MEETING: [Link]
[Link]

REFERENCES:
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Madrunio, Marilou R. and Isabel P. Martin.2018. Purposive Communication –Using English in Multilingual Contexts.
Quezon City Phil: C&E Publishing.