Thursday, July 5, 2012

Presentation is Communication

Communication is the imparting or exchange of information, ideas or feelings. It is a two-way process, so a message must be received in order for communication to take place. Presentation is a structured communication based on the audience’s needs in order to achieve a certain purpose within a given duration, and the aims are to provide information and to promote ideas.

presentation and communication
"Presenting is communicating"
Presentations are a form of communication, and if we can communicate effectively presentations cease to be difficult. But they are far from being simple communication, and they frequently require additional skills of persuasion and influence.

Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.

Be solemn if your topic is serious. Show your spirit if you are about to motivate your audience. Make your sound confident if you are about to inspiring them about something. Present the desired image to your audience. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Establish rapport with your audience. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly.

Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary. Master the use of presentation software such as PowerPoint well before your presentation. Persuade your audience effectively. Speak loudly and clearly.

3 Steps to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Your presentations skills are important for the information you're presenting. This guide will let you prepare for a presentation as well as polish your current speaking skills for a successful pitch.

The chance to pitch your services to a potential client, spell out your organization plan into a potential small business partner, or promote your organization at a celebration may require that you to give a presentation.

presentation skill is important
Turn your speech into a successful pitch.
To improve your presentation skills, first you have to do some research of your audience. If you're going to be giving a presentation at an event, it is recommended for you to send a questionnaire to several people who will be your audience before you start writing. If you doesn't have time to do research, just talk to the audience at your presentation or just ask them what they're interested in during your speech.

After get some info about your audience, then write a structure of your presentation.  Most presentations can benefit from using this simple structure:

  • Opening: Your opening should be something that makes an emotional connection with the audience using a story, a question, or a shocking static. It should not be an introduction of yourself or your 5 minutes of thank-yous.
  • Body: It's more important to engage the audience. Keep your outcome in mind. You don't have to write your presentation word per word, just remember to keep going back to your main points and reach your desired outcome.
  • Closing: This is the last opportunity for you to give your audience something that will stick in their minds. You can go back to your opening or end on a clever slogan or a call to action.

Practices makes perfect. You can talk into a mirror, talk to a wall, or ask a family member to listen. Do whatever works for you, but make sure it includes practicing out loud so that you can get a sense of timing. Just remember that rehearsing does not mean memorization. Memorizing your speech will only make you look less natural. Consider a few days to rest before your current speech.

How to Inspire People With Your Speech

Inspirational speech topics usually derive from policy or value claims. They might be about latest or historical political, religious, commercial or social events, situations, troubles or moments. But all of it depends on the occasion of your speech.

list of inspirational speech topics
Determine the aim of your speech.
Use the appropriate speech style according to the formality of the occasion. Whatever that could be: always decide upon positive as well as forceful motivational speech topics to inspire and to uplift yourself plus your public.

First,appeal on the feelings, the emotions, the values and thoughts of the audience as well as adapt them to the aim of the speech. Second, determine the aim of your inspirational speech topics, what you would like to complete, what should the audience belief, feel or think, or perhaps to inspire them.

Here’s a summary of inspirational speech topics to assist you brainstorming and create a powerful outline pattern as well to have an unrehearsed persuasive speaking in public:

  • Perseverance:Perseverance is usually a common theme in inspirational speech. You can talk about overcoming obstacles to accomplish dreams. If you use real-life examples as part of your speeches, your audience can much better understand the power of perserverance.
  • Goal Setting:Goal setting is another frequently mentioned topic throughout inspirational speech. You can include some of famous people quotes in your motivational speeches. "My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose--somehow we win out.
  • Positive Thinking:As an inspirational speaker, you have the opportunity to help persons change their attitudes. You can help turn negativity into optimism. 
  • Time Management:A common complaint is we don’t have enough hours inside a day to get everything accomplished. You can speak about time management to help people make the most out of each day. 
  • Failure:Motivational speakers often talk about coping with failure. In your speeches you can tell audiences that a failure can be viewed as a learning opportunity. You can learn from past problems and prevent them in the future.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

How to Motivate People With Your Speech

motivating people with your speech
Ensure the audience to get motivated.
The purpose of the motivational speech is usually to get audience behaving or changing their conduct or morals in some manner. Try and improve determination and at least encourage them to trust your suggestion. Set new suggestions for a speech to help encourage your audience to find completely new views, modern worlds along with new different opinions.

A list of general categories that can be used as an opening for a motivational speech:
  • What do you want to achieve in life?
  • What behavior are you trying to change?
  • What level of agreement do you at least want to accomplish?
Or if you need some topics for brainstorming, here it is:
Breakthroughs - Career Development - Challenge - Chang - Commitment - Competence - Competitiveness - Confidence - Decision Making - Discipline - Effective Meetings - Ergonomics - Focused Thinking - Future - Involvement - Inspiration - Integrity - Interpersonal Skills - Leadership - Negotiation Tactics - Personal Effectiveness - Personal Growth - Personal Improvement - Personal Productivity - Personal Wellness - Responsibility - Self Respect - Set Realistic Goals - Stress - Teambuilding - Teamwork - Trends - Values - Work Ethics
Tips for choosing topic:
  • Pick something you feel strongly about, but don't pick something that it's hard for you to understand.
  • Pick something controversial but avoid the topics that have been exposed too much by the media because people will probably already bore to hear it.
  • Pick an issue of interest to the audience. Give a speech about something that the audience care. Pick a smaller part of a big issue but be cautious with issues that some audience members might find offensive.
  • One thing that you should note in motivational speech is to phrase your goal in a declarative statement, in a way that will motivate.
Step by step to get the audience motivated:
  1. Get the interest of your audience. State the benefit of your approach. List the primary benefits to be able to arouse curiosity. Use persuasive speech style if necessary.
  2. State the need for change, and why it should concern them. Relate the challenge or problem for the values, behavior, interests and also needs of the listeners.
  3. Satisfy their needs. Give everything in details and also give interesting facts of your plan. Show how your solution will solve the problem.
  4. Visualize the benefits. Illustrate them with examples, anecdotes, comparisons, statistics, definitions and visual aids. Show example of a successful implementation 
  5. Call to action. Show them what to do to implement your plan.


Friday, June 29, 2012

Career Speech for Presentation and Job Interview


A speech on career usually has a goal the make the audience understands about some career path. Age of the audience is a key point, because it decides how specific your career speech should be. A young audience usually interests more about “what are you doing in your career” and “what kind of outcome you produced”. An older audience usually interests more in the earning potential and the future career development. You also have to predict how long the speech would be, so you will know how deep the speech should be.

speech on career
"Speech on career, sharing experiences"
Here are the step-by-step to build a splendid career speech:

  1. Start your speech by sharing of why and how you start your career, including the background of education that is needed for the career path. 
  2. Share the best and worst thing about your career path
  3. Discuss of how you keep up with the career development. Give the salary range and explain the personality that suits the career
  4. Last but not least, recap your career story at the end of your speech and give chance for the audience for a question-and-answer session.

On a different case where you should write your career speech, for example in a job interview, you can use the same outline as explained above. Start with the introduction (why and how), educational background, and the discussion of how you will keep up with the career development. Describe of how your personality suits the job. End with the salary desired and the conclusion. 

Tips for a speech on career: you have to sound confident in both of your writing and speech, but don’t get over-confident.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Understanding Audience with Descriptive Speech

The main goal of description speech is to narrate about an object, event or phenomenon in the understandable way so the audience is able to imagine the image that is described by the public speaker. Your emotions and feelings are the most important in bringing the ideas to the audience.

description speech should describe the subject clearly
Description speech purpose is to make people understand
To make a good descriptive speech, first list all of the thoughts, memories, facts and ideas about the subject that you want to describe. Again, let your emotions and feelings play. Then, make an outline in a form of text to speech. An outline usually consists of introduction, main body (where the descriptive parts goes), and conclusion. Use image, figures, words and terms that will create impressions of the subject.

Below are the elements that you will help you to make a description speech:
  • Explain the features of the subject 
  • Evolution in time of the subject
  • Statistical data and facts
  • Newly discovered information
  • Important things to know
  • Personal experiences and memories you could share
  • Comparisons between the subject you want to describe and another similar subject that already known by the audience

A descriptive speech usually contains instructions that may be useful to the audience. So your chosen topics must represent a great variety of choice, namely, any memorable event, any place to visit, any experience to be followed, etc. You can also add some description, instruction, advice, and recommendation. 

Passing a Speech Class with Good Grades

Speech on education means that you must communicate using speeches, conversations, and work group. Speech on education is a part of public speaking education or speech class. Speech class has main purpose to make students to feel comfortable with speaking in front of many people. After passing a speech class, you will feel easier at public speaking in the future or writing some speech for your job assignment.

Does talking in front of a group of people makes you lose your cool? Are you always sweating, trembling, or shaking when giving a public speech? If so then you will not pass the speech class easily, but here are some tips to help you to pass a speech class with good grades:

speech education class
"Speech class will boost your public speaking skills"
  1. Research on your decided topic thoroughly, take a note and make an outline. The decided topic will be something that you are interested in or something that you already have some knowledge about it.
  2. Improve your presentation skills by practicing speech to things around your room, or in front of a mirror. Once you gain some confidence, try it in front of your family member or friends. Ask for their opinions and feedback.
  3. Even the most charismatic person has a stage-fright sometimes. You don’t have to feel bad about yourself, just take a deep breath to let your mind calms. Then you can start your speech. It is also recommended for you to drink a glass of water before giving speech.
  4. When you first start your speech it may be the hardest, but remember once you get used of the situation, everything will run better than you expected
  5. Always speak loud and clear.
  6. Eye contact with the audience is important, but if it you feel uncomfortable, look at people’s forehead. Remember to look around occasionally; do not focus only on one specific spot.
  7. Stand still. Do not rocking or your body, bouncing, or make any other silly move unless you are in a standup comedy show.
  8. Be confident, assume that no one in the class know the topic of your speech better than you

In the end, it is best for you to not too overwork of yourself. Speech in public is easier if your mind is free. While you up there in a speech class just remember that everyone is also nervous about their own presentations, so they’re probably not paying much attention to you, this will helps you free your mind a bit. Also, if it possible for you to choose, go give your speech first before the others. You should get a better grade because your speech is the base for others, and you don’t have to feel nervous that you can’t be better than the person before you, because you are the first to come up!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Convincing People With a Persuasive Speech

effective persuasive speech technique
The aim is to persuade people

An effective persuasive speech should be able to persuade the audience with your topic. Persuading people to respond in a particular way is the primary point of all speech. Persuasive speech is more complex than just an informative or descriptive speech because its aim is to change someone’s mind or behavior. Persuasive speech technique is also needed in a motivational speech, and even it should be needed in all kind of speech. That’s why we may call this technique as the basic for speech.

You have to appear confident, so get rid of your stage-fright first. Obviously, you have to make an outline before speech, and you have to set the goals of your speech. And the simplest technique to persuade people is using the “What-How-Why” logic.

Examine these two examples:
  1. Will you buy this super computer? It has the latest technology built in it. It can browse the internet really fast. All features you need for your work is here.
  2. This super computer has the latest technology built-in. It can browse the internet really fast. All features you need for your work is here. Now give a reason of why a businessman like us should not buy this super computer.
The example 1 is using the “Why-How-What” format which is less effective than example 2 that using the “What-How-Why”. As you can see, the “why” section is in bold, “how” is in italic, and “what” is underlined. To make your persuasive speech more effective you should put “what” is your main subject on the opening, then “how” the main subject is is so important, and last is “why” the audience should follow your action to the main subject.

Having a strong opening and closing is important to persuade people. If you want to provide a detail, put it in a handout and share it to your audience if necessary. You also have to watch for your words, phrases and sentence. Use inclusive words like “our”, ”us”, “together”, etc. Use some words that show that people respond well to your subject such as “improved”, “tested”, “recommended”, etc. This has been proven to be more effective in persuading.

Well, now that you learned the technique, you can use this in your presentation.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Learn to Speech Without Preparation

The meaning of extemporaneous is something that done without planning or preparation. Therefore, an extemporaneous speech is a spontaneously created speech that spoken without taking a note or memorizing it first. Extemporaneous speech usually given for school or college assignments, or may be a business presentation. You may have an awesome presentation skills, but will it help you in a sudden speech? Don't be panic of what should you do in an extemporaneous speech because it will only ruin your confidence. And your presentation skills is not that useless, you can still count on it as long as you follow the tips provided here:
learn to speech without preparation
Learn to speech without preparation 
  1. Before start your speech, make yourself relax by taking a deep breath or drinking a glass of water.
  2. To find an opening line for extemporaneous speech: If there are no topics given, you can analyze the current event or issue from the news or the internet. But this is very uncommon because the topic is usually given. So you can just ask yourself a question that related to the topic. It may be a question about fact, value, or policy. From that question you can start a speech. Every time you feel stuck on some idea but you still have time remaining for your speech, just ask yourself another question. You can involve the audience in the discuss as well, this will help you a lot in spending your time. 
  3. Stay in the subject! Don't ever think to change the subject decided. Avoid getting distracted by always thinking some argument of the topic. Support your argument using evidence, statistics, or any other reference you know.
  4. Always keep the determination of speech, whether it is to describe or to persuade.
  5. Make your time management effective, and you can also add some funny extemporaneous speech to help you avoid the awkward silence.