PROFESSIONS LEARNING CENTRE
TRANSITION WORKSHOP
Oral Presentation Skills
Isabella Slevin
(isabella.slevin@adelaide.edu.au)
ASPECTS TO BE COVERED
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The Kinesthetic Speaker
 Proximity
 Voice
 Gestures
Type of Presentation
 Informative
 Persuasive
Structure and look of and Oral Presentation
 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion
 Slides
Being a Confident Speaker
 Overcoming nerves
OVERALL
Purpose – clear and relevant
 Audience – engaged & included
 Content – addresses task fully with appropriate
support
 Structure – logical & easy to follow
 Delivery – clear, confident & engaging, using
both effective voice and body language
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Know what you presenting so you can focus on how
to present it
NIXON VS KENNEDY
THE KINESTHETIC CONNECTION
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Link the physical with the intellectual
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A great presentation should bring information to life
Be aware of and use physical presence (space,
gestures, posture, movement) to enhance the
delivery and communicate the content
Use physical distance to create rapport, reinforce
points and maintain audience interest
Use hand gestures, head movement, eyes and
your smile!
PUBLIC, SOCIAL OR PERSONAL DISTANCE?
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Students stand up…walk and talk…point to slides “as you
can see”; make a point “but this is the most important
aspect”; ask a question “is this the outcome we want?”;
bring in the audience “what would you do in this
situation?”
Where would you stand?
 Asking for a show of hands
 Describing the problem/information
 Stating your point of view
 Giving an overview of the presentation
 Persuading with evidence
 Making a personal observation/sharing an anecdote
 Making the closing statement
VOCAL DELIVERY
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A monotonous presentation is a boring
presentation…you lose your audience and do not
achieve your purpose!
Keep your audience attentive & engaged through:
Emphasis
 Pausing
 Phrasing & pacing
 Vocal quality:
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Volume
 Pitch
 Intonation
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EMPHASIS
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Emphasise important words & group words into
meaningful phrases. For important points…
Speak the word(s) more slowly
Speak the word(s) more loudly
Pause briefly before and after important words
The need for more effective management skills has never
been greater and, paradoxically, never more basic and
important
EMPHASIS, PAUSING & PHRASING
The need for more effective management
skills/ has never been greater/ and/
paradoxically,/ more basic and important
Anyone can become a successful manager; but, of
course, the unprepared, the untrained and those
given too much responsibility too soon will fail.
That’s what this morning’s presentation is about
EMPHASIS, PAUSING AND PHRASING
Anyone can become a successful manager; but,
of course, the unprepared/, the untrained/ and
those given too much responsibility too soon/
will fail.
That’s/ what this morning’s presentation is all
about
PACING
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Do not let nervousness make you speak too quickly – maintain
phrasing and use of pauses
Pay attention to signals from the audience and respond
appropriately
Vary your speed of speaking with changes in ideas and level of
importance:
 The fact is bad management costs jobs
 The fact is…bad management…costs jobs
 The fact is…bad …management…costs…jobs
“It has become evident there has been too much importance
given to image rather than substance. This is the root
cause of our company’s recent failures. If we are to survive
and grow, this problem must be addressed immediately.”
VOCAL QUALITY
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Volume – project your voice to ‘bring your
audience in’. Good posture; proper breathing;
‘break through’ with your voice
Pitch and Intonation – use high and low pitch
and rising and falling intonation to add
expression and maintain attention
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A dramatic rise creates anticipation
Keeping your voice up signals you are still making
your point
Dropping intonation shows completion of the
sentence, idea, evidence, etc
Help the audience…give them verbal clues!
TYPE OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS
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Presentations tend to fall into 2 categories:
 Informative
 Persuasive
(argument for informative also needing to be persuasive)
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Informative
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Giving information
Describing, analysing, comparing, justifying
Use of valid and reliable facts presented in a logical framework
The C.U.R.E. Method for Persuading Audiences
Credibility…establish at the beginning that you have something of
value to say
 Using Evidence…you cannot simply rely on your own opinion or
experience; authoritative evidence is needed
 Reasoning…using a logical framework that flows naturally
 Emotion…necessary to persuade an audience to ‘come with you’
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STRUCTURE (FRAMEWORK) OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS
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Determine the Purpose of your presentation; who your
Audience is; what Message you want to convey…tailor
your presentation accordingly
Introduction
 Tell them what you are going to tell them – this is not a
mystery novel..prepare your audience for what is to
come
Body
 The main section…tell them what you told them you
would tell them
Conclusion
 Tell them what you told them
INTRODUCTIONS
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Give a clear introduction that lets your audience
know the aspects you will cover and the order in
which you will do this
‘ Management skills have become increasingly important
in today’s global business environment. We can see this
with the advent of business courses that now heavily
weight their curriculum towards leadership and
communication skills. In my presentation today I will cover
3 aspects of management skills, namely: what skills are
most highly valued and why; the consequences of poor
management skills both on the business and on staff and,
finally, the role of Universities in teaching their students
these so called ‘soft’ skills’
BODY
The main part of your presentation – it needs to
follow what you said you would cover in your
Introduction
 Use linking words and phrases to enhance the
logic and flow of your presentation:
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‘My first point is…’
‘As you saw in the previous slide…’
‘This leads me to my next point…’
‘This evidence demonstrates…’
‘Moving on to my final point…’
CONCLUSION
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Less is more (NOT a repetition of the Introduction)
Focus on the key points and present them as a
summary, not simply a ‘laundry list’ of conclusions
(Not – In summary, my 3 points were…)
This is the last impression your audience will have of
you and your presentation…do not ‘die out’ at the
end…be confident and decisive (NOT – So…that’s it.
Thanks)
SLIDES
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Ensure your slides are easy to read:
 font size…colour…contrast
Not too much information per slide
 Add verbal explanations
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Used as a support – NOT a substitute
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Face the audience – not your slides
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Quality control
 Spelling…grammar…accuracy…references
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Do not use more colours than is needed to
be effective.
Do not put too much information on one slide…this means you may have to use a small font which is
difficult to see, especially for the students who are sitting at the back. Use phrases, bullet points, etc
rather than whole sentences or paragraphs. One main point or theme per slide
Rmember to prof red your work. Grammar
ard spilleng mestakes are viry distrecting
for yeur audience
Relevance of illustrations?
DEALING WITH NERVOUS ENERGY
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Confidence comes from preparation:
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Practise…out loud…in front of a mirror
Present to someone ‘comfortable’
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Tap into the feeling of this
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Breath slowly and rhythmically
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Use positive self talk
IN SUMMARY
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The points you will take away with you?
Remember!...Oral Presentations are an
opportunity to demonstrate your understanding
of a topic and your ability to communicate this to
others
Think of oral Presentations as a Dialogue – you
are connecting with your audience
Prepare well…then relax and enjoy!
REFERENCES
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Morgan, N 2001,The kinesthetic speaker: putting
action into words, Harvard Business review, Vol.
79, Issue 4, pp. 112-120
Powell, M 2011, Presenting in English, Heinle
Cengage learning, Andover, England
Public Speaking International 2013, Public
speaking tips, viewed 12 march 2013,
http://www.publicspeakinginternational.com/publicspeaking-tips