What is communication?

- the exchange of ideas, thoughts, information and even

feelings between people by listening, speaking , writing,
reading or nonverbal means
- A two-way process

Taken from: Lucas, S.E. (9th Ed)(2005). The Art of Public Speaking. McGraw Hill.
 Types of communication
Verbal
communication Written
Communication
(Oral)

Visual Non-verbal
Communication communication
Oral Presentation
 Objectives
By the end of Unit 4, you should be able to:
• Explain why it is important to learn about
effective oral presentations.
• Discuss the main ideas and supporting ideas of
selected topics logically and clearly.
• Use audio-visual aids to efficiently enhance
presentations.
• Facilitate questions and responses during
feedback sessions.
Why is oral presentation
important?
When do we have to give oral
presentations?
 Interesting
What topic Knowledge of the
should I topic
choose? Passionate of the
topic
 Choosing a topic
When choosing the topic, consider the
following aspects:
• Will your audience be interested in your
topic?
• Will your audience gain any new knowledge
or understanding?
• Will you be able to deliver your topic within
the allocated time?
• Does your topic have any value to you?
 Initial preparation

• What is the occasion?

Occasion • Who is the organiser?
• Is there any ritual?

Factors to • Who are you speaking

Audience to?
consider

• Where is the
Location presentation held?
 Audience Analysis

• How much do they know about me?

• What do they expect me to speak on?
• What will their attitude be towards me?
• What is their age group and gender?
• How much does the audience know about the topic I am
going to speak on?
• How interested will they be in my topic of presentation?
• What level of language will be appropriate for my audience so
that they can consider what I say seriously?
• How will they react towards what I am going to share?
 Audience Analysis
• What positions do they hold in their organisation(s)?
• What is their educational background?
• What is their ethnic/cultural, political, occupational,
geographic and religious background?
• What is their socio-economic background?
• Are there any kinds of cultural biases that they might
have towards me and my topic?
 Gathering Information

Reliability

Accuracy

Five characteristics to
ensure credible Currency
information

Bias

Context
Characteristics of credible information
• Reliability
– Does this author or this journal have a reputation
for providing valid and accurate information?
– Are the author’s credentials provided?
– Is the author a very well-known person who has
published widely on this subject?
Characteristics of credible information
• Accuracy
– Are the sources accurate?
– Do the arguments make logical sense?
– Are they based on evidences?
– Are they coherent and based on facts?
Characteristics
Characteristics of
of credible
credible information
information
• Currency
– Has the source been published recently enough to be
relevant?
– Is it up-to-date?
– Has there been latest findings?

• Bias
– What stand or perspective does the author take on
the topic?
– Is there any indication of bias in the language used?
Characteristics
Characteristics of
of credible
credible information
information
• Context
– Does the source have appropriate context related
to the issue you are presenting?
– Are the information based on a similar culture?
– Example: If you are talking about Malaysian law, a
law from China may not be applicable.
 Guidelines for Citation
Quote Paraphrase
• Word for word; exact • Presenting the gist of
words of the person the person’s ideas in
you are quoting vs your own words
• Most effective when • Longer than two or
they are brief, when three sentences
they convey your • Has complicated
meaning better than sentence structure
you can, they are
witty, eloquent or
compelling.
 Guidelines for Citation
• Quote your sources – give your audience some
background information of the author and
context in which the quote was made ; avoid
quoting out of context.
• Paraphrase correctly – always give credit to the
source
• Present statistics effectively
• Use multiple sources - support viewpoint or
argument better.
– A mixture of relevant quotes, statistics, visual media,
testimony.
 Answer this question
• Do you think it is important to adjust or limit
the material collected to the topic of your
presentation? Why?
 Structuring Oral Presentation
• Audience cannot rewind and hear what you have
said again.
• Structure of an oral presentation is extremely
important to help them to follow what you are
saying.
Attention Curve of the Audience
 What distracts the audience?
• Speaker overestimate the background
knowledge of audience.
• Structure of presentation is unclear and line of
reasoning is hard to follow.
• Visual aids are confusing, inadequate,
unreadable and too small to follow.
 What distracts the audience?
• Speaker uses long sentences with jargons and
abbreviations
• Speaker reads from the prepared script.
• Speaker uses monotonous sentences – speak
too fast/too slow, unclear pronunciation and
lack emphasis.
• Speaker does not have eye contact with
audience.
 Defining the main idea
• Think of one message you want the audience to walk away
with after listening to you.
• Your presentation must be organised to achieve that
objective.
• The sequence of the main idea and supporting ideas
should help the audience follow the presentation
effectively.
 Right now
• Spend some time thinking of the topic of your
presentation.
• Find out what are the areas you wish to cover
for this topic and plan your ideas.
• Prepare a rough layout of what you want to
talk about and look for relevant information
for this presentation.