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Avocational, Expository or Persuasive, and Can Also Be Impromptu, Extemporaneous, Written or Memorized (We Discussed Some of These in Our First Topic)

When delivering a presentation, your personality and delivery are on display in addition to your content and ideas. While some people are naturally energetic presenters, others must work to develop these skills through preparation and practice. Effective presentations require considering yourself as an audience member to understand the purpose and type of presentation needed. There are three main purposes for presentations: to inform, persuade, or build goodwill. Effective communication minimizes misunderstanding between the presenter and audience.

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jesus aragon
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50 views

Avocational, Expository or Persuasive, and Can Also Be Impromptu, Extemporaneous, Written or Memorized (We Discussed Some of These in Our First Topic)

When delivering a presentation, your personality and delivery are on display in addition to your content and ideas. While some people are naturally energetic presenters, others must work to develop these skills through preparation and practice. Effective presentations require considering yourself as an audience member to understand the purpose and type of presentation needed. There are three main purposes for presentations: to inform, persuade, or build goodwill. Effective communication minimizes misunderstanding between the presenter and audience.

Uploaded by

jesus aragon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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When you are delivering a presentation, you are not only putting your content and ideas on

display, but your personality as well. You are performing for your audience and they will respond
to several stimuli such as how you use your voice or how you move your hands or your head.
That is why you need more than just good content to really make a good impression; you also
need to make it flexible, energetic and stimulating. Some people may think they are not capable
of delivering a dynamic and captivating presentation. They think they may be too shy or timid.
While energy and enthusiasm may come naturally to some, others have to work hard at
developing these skills. The point is, a great presentation requires preparation and practice.
A very good first step in preparing your presentation is to picture yourself not as the presenter,
but rather as a member of your audience, and ask yourself the following questions:
What is your purpose? Presentations can be designed and used in a variety of very different
situations, and you will surely find as many as there are presenters in the world. As we stated in
our last topic, we used to believe presentations were limited to the corporate and educational
worlds, but you have to also consider sales presentations, motivational presentations, briefings,
status reports, even interviews or training sessions!
Whether you are trying to build your company’s image or trying to raise funds for your group, you
have to learn how to choose the right type of presentation and how presentations are
categorized so that your choice is perfect. Presentations can be classified as vocational or
avocational, expository or persuasive, and can also be impromptu, extemporaneous, written or
memorized (we discussed some of these in our first topic).
There is no doubt that the most important is the one we’ll be discussing next: the purpose or
main goal of your presentation. There are three basic purposes for giving oral presentations: to
inform, to persuade and to build goodwill (Locker & Kienzler, 2012). We’ll discuss some of them
to help you choose the right one.
To begin, let’s remember the concept of communication; by definition it is “the act or an instance
of communicating; the imparting or exchange of information, ideas, or feelings, such as a
message, letter or a telephone call (Collins, 2012).” Communication is very complex and not
easily defined in just one sentence. It can be broken down into four main categories.
The different categories of communication are (SkillsYouNeed, 2011):
We also have to remember the communication process, where senders and receivers are crucial
for it to happen. The process is different for each category. Verbal communication may sound
simple, but it is rather particular in the way you understand it. As we discussed in past topics, the
tone of your voice. On the other hand, in non-verbal it is very subtle; it can be as simple as eye
contact (or the lack of it) or your body language, etc. When you write, even if you’re trying to
send a message on the same subject, the sender and receiver have different ways of expressing
what it is they want to say.
even speaking in general. Ever heard of stage fright? Well, it’s a valid symptom. So this is where
you should try some techniques that can help you with that.
As we have stated, your speech should be credible. Convey your thoughts logically and be
energetic, entertaining and powerful. Sounds like a lot of work, right? Well, it may be, but it is
also not impossible for sure. You might actually discover you are a natural. Even after a few
successful presentations, there is always a thing or two to improve or change, especially when
your audiences know exactly what to expect from you. Marjorie Brody developed the “Seven
Habits of Highly Effective Speakers” (Brody, 1999) based on her many experiences with public
media and her company. So, let’s review each one of them and learn something in the process.

The sender sends a message through a communication channel to a receiver (or to multiple
receivers, such as in a presentation). The sender encodes the message in an appropriate way to
the communication channel, and the receiver(s) decodes it to understand its meaning.
Misunderstanding can occur at any stage of the communication process given the potential
noise. Noise is anything that interferes in the communication process between the sender and
receiver.
Effective communication, even in a presentation, minimizes the potential misunderstanding and
overcomes any barriers in each stage of the communication process. An effective presenter
understands his or her audience, chooses an appropriate communication channel (type of
presentation), improves his or her message and encodes the message to reduce
misunderstanding by the receiver(s). Remember the importance of feedback from the receiver(s)
as to how the message is understood in order to correct any misperception.
Now, interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information,
moods and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages: it is face-to-face communication.
It’s not just what you say but how you say it. In communication and in effective presentations it is
highly important because it can be used to:

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