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4. Integrate visual/tech. In Chapter 14 you learned that your eyes support your ears and your ears support your eyes . A good oral presentation includes visual aids . Drawings, graphs, charts, pictures, comics, video clips, photos or maps make an oral presentation more effective and memorable. Select images that help your audience understand the points you’re making. If you are using slides, number them and write the number on the coordinating cue card so the slides and the presentation stay in sync. Do not read slides or other visual aids to your audience— explain them . Use bullet points instead of full sentences for text. Practice your entire presentation using the visual aids. Finally, tech is not infallible, so have a backup source for visual aids , like a copy on a flash drive or disk—even a hand out. 5. Practice, practice, practice. It’s a rare person who can make an oral presentation with little practice and actually do well. Oral presentation skills are learned skills. You can be sure that any speaker who appears to be relaxed, confident, and completely comfortable in front of an audience has put in long hours of practice. In fact, many excellent public speakers confess that they’ve never really gotten over stage fright, but because they practice their presentation many times and have developed speaking skills, the audience never suspects they’re nervous.
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Here are some tips to help you trickout your presentation: Voice. Practice your presentation aloud several times, so you can hear your voice, volume, pace and intonation. When presenting, speak loud enough so the person in the back row will be able to hear you, but don’t shout. Unless you’re trying to put your audience to sleep, try not to speak in a monotone. Voice intonation is a tool speakers use to emphasize a point, or signal the transition between points. An active, intonated voice makes an audience pay attention and want to hear more. Time. Time your presentation. Make sure you meet the requirements set by your teacher.
How to look like an experienced speaker: 1. Use your voice as a tool. 2. Watch the time. 3. Speak at a normal pace. 4. Use gestures for emphasis. 5. Use facial expression and eye contact. 6. Regain composure with cue cards. 7. Use appropriate vocabulary 8. Don’t memorize.
Pace. Nervous speakers often rush through their presentation. Resist doing this! Speak at a normal pace . Pause between main points to allow your audience a chance to absorb information and recognize transitions. Speaking a bit louder, more forcefully, or being a bit more animated usually covers up voice quivers and makes you appear confident – even if you’re not feel’n it. Gestures. Standing still with your hands at your sides in robo-speaker mode is not interesting to an audience. On the other hand, excessive gesturing is distracting and can make you
Chapter 22 | How to Trick Out Your Oral Presentation 200
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