Presentation Skills
ENC 3254
Speaking & Writing for
Premed Students
Presentations are expensive.
Consider whether it is really necessary.
Cost in salaries of
audience
Cost in time for
presentation
Cost in time to
prepare presentation
Presentations have advantages over documents
Work can come alive
for audience
Presenter can read
audience and react
Work
C
A
B
C
Presenter receives
instant reaction
!
?
!
D
?
Presentations also have disadvantages
? ?
Speaker has limited
chance to catch errors
Audience cannot
reread text
?
audience
Audience cannot look
up background material
has one
chance
to hear
Informative Speech Assignment
What are the most common public
speaking challenges?
 Anxiety
 Lack of preparation time
 Not knowing your purpose
 Not knowing the audience
Communication Apprehension
 The Book of Lists ranks fear of public speaking as the
#1 fear, even ahead of death, disease, and nuclear
war.
 A 2001 Gallup Poll found that public speaking was
second only to a fear of snakes.
 But….is it Genetic? Or a Learned Behavior?
 Is it Trait or State CA?
What are the causes of CA?
or Why should we be scared?
 Fear of Embarrassment
 Fear of Failure
 Fear of Rejection
 Fear of the Unknown
Overcoming or Controlling CA
 Choose your topic
 Know your environment
 Breathe & Relax
 Use extras wisely
 Get the audience’s attention early
 Know your material & practice
 Make eye contact with your audience
 Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
 Put in the situation into perspective & welcome the
experience
Presentations can be viewed
from three stylistic perspectives
Structure and
Speech
Supply plenums for each liner panel allow
for independent flow control
Visual Aids
Delivery
Archives, Cal-Tech
Structure and
Speech
Visual Aids
Delivery
Archives, Cal-Tech
Begin preparing a scientific presentation
by analyzing your constraints
Who are they?
What do they know?
Why are they here?
What biases do they have?
audience
to inform
formality
to persuade
to inspire
purpose
occasion
size
time
to teach
There are 2 messages in any speech:
1. The one you send
2. The one the audience receives
Challenge:
Audiences can be Poor Listeners
 Reactive to trigger words or topics
 Listen faster than you can speak
 Prefer info similar to their beliefs
 Retain very little
Goal: Be Compelling
 Know Purpose of Speech
 Know Audience
 Show Value of Message
 Build Rapport
Types of Speeches
 Informative
 Informative/Persuasive
 Persuasive
Types of Audiences: Demographics
 Technical or Non-technical
 Educational Level
 Age
Types of Audiences:
Situational & Psychological
 Occasion
 Size of Room & Group
 Roles & Motives
 Culture
 Feelings about you or your topic
Goal: Present a clear message
 Speech Overview/Preview
Prepares Audience
 Use Connectives/Transitions
Signals Topic Change
 Review Points
Enhances Audience Retention
As with documents, the structure of presentations
should have clear beginnings, middles, and ends
B
e
g
i
n
n
i
n
g
Middle
E
n
d
i
n
g
Beginnings prepare the audience
for the work to be presented
Defines work
Shows importance
Work = A + B
Maps presentation
Gives background
B
A
C
D
Speech Organization
 Introduction





Attention grabber
thesis/central idea
relation statement
qualifications (if necessary)
preview/forecast
Speech Organization
-Organizational Patterns
 Body—or middle of the speech, presents
the information in a logical order
 Topical
 Triad
 Chronological
 Problem/Cause/Solution
 MMS
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
 Step 1--Attention
 Step 2-Need
 Step 3-Satisfaction
 Step 4-Visualization
 Step 5-Action
The ending should summarize main points and place
those results in the context of the big picture
point 1
point 2
point 3
point 4
point 5
point 6
point 7
point 8
point 1
point 7
Big Picture
Summary
Speech Organization
 Conclusion
forewarn audience of ending
 summarize your main points
 remind audience of desired response
 end in an upbeat manner

Sample Outlines
Structure and
Speech
Visual Aids
Delivery
Archives, Cal-Tech
Delivery is the speaker’s interaction with the audience
Cal-Tech
Cal-Tech
AIP
Voice
Movement
Stage Presence
Goal: Be Captivating & Memorable
 Delivery
How You Give the Speech
 Verbal Techniques
Volume, Rate, Emphasis, Vocal Variety,
Articulation
 Non-verbal Techniques
Personal Appearance, Gestures, Eye Contact
 Language
Enhances Understanding
Speech Delivery Options
Memorizing the Speech
Reading From a Text
+ allows eye contact
- difficult for long speeches
- room for precision errors
- no room for improvising
+ ensures precision
- does not sound natural
- no room for improvising
- hinders eye contact
Winging It
Speaking Extemporaneously
+ sounds natural
- has much room for error
+ insures organization
+ allows eye contact
+ allows improvising
- some room for error
Delivery Essentials
~65% of total message
 Eye Contact and Facial Expression

50% of nonverbal message
 Body Movement--body language

hand gestures, walking, podium use
 Vocalics or Paralanguage

30% of nonverbal message
 Distracting Mannerisms
Structure and
Speech
Supply plenums for each liner panel allow
for independent flow control
Visual Aids
Delivery
Archives, Cal-Tech