Unit III
Business Office Practices
1.
Group Discussion
Definition: When several people sit together
and try to arrive at a decision regarding a policy matter or find a solution to
a problem after sharing their views/opinions, the exercise is called a group
decision. It is an effort to use collective wisdom in the best interests of the
organisation so as to increase its productivity, improve the quality of its
products or overcome the problems that come its way in order to maximise its
profit.
Rationale
or Logic behind Group Discussion: Group discussion can sometimes delay a decision
and may result in missing an important opportunity. Then why do business
organisations opt for the group discussion route for taking important
decisions? The reason is very clear. Everybody is familiar with the proverb,
“Two heads are better than one.” It means that collective wisdom is always
superior to individual wisdom, that the decision arrived at after a thorough
discussion is always a better one than a decision taken by an individual,
howsoever wise and intelligent he/she may be. The following arguments will
justify this view.
1. None in the world can lay claim to
all the knowledge in the world even when we restrict it to a particular issue.
Even the most informed person possesses only a fraction of the knowledge
available having a bearing on the issue. Group discussion is a way to benefit from the
knowledge of several rather than depend on the knowledge of a single person.
2. Business issues these days have
become very complex as a result of the growth in the size of business and the
ever increasing competition. It is not possible for any one person to visualise
all the aspects of an issue or problem. Every individual has his/her
limitations. And different individuals can see the different aspects of an
issue. When the issue is discussed in a group, all the aspects of the issue
come before the group. So a decision is arrived at after considering all the
aspects of the issue. Hence the decision is bound to be the best one.
3. Different people have different ways
of looking at the world. Every person sees an issue from his/her own angle.
Group discussion enables us to see the issue in its totality. No angle of the
issue can remain ignored.
So group
discussion is a way to pool the wisdom, intelligence and experience of a number
of people which is bound to be greater than the wisdom, intelligence and
experience of one.
Objectives of Group Discussion: Group discussion is generally used for achieving one of the three
following objectives:-
1.
For decision making and problem solving: Business houses generally use group discussion for decision making and problem solving. Whenever
an important policy decision is to be made or an issue has to be sorted out, a
meeting of the concerned officials is held and a decision is arrived at after
due consultations.
2.
For assessing the merit of candidates for a job: Some organisation use group discussion as a tool for
assessing the merit of candidates for a
job. Group discussion helps them to assess communication skills, leadership
qualities, patience, general awareness, field knowledge, listening to others
etc. It is one of the important tools used by the Indian Armed forces for
selecting candidates for commissioned posts.
3.
For training students in the art of group discussion: Educational and training institute use group
discussion to train students in this art and thus to prepare them for competing
for a job and for successful professional career.
4.
Participating in
a group therefore is an important skill for the students to acquire. It helps
them not only to compete successfully for a job but also to give a good account
of themselves after joining a job and thus earn respect and promotions.
Important Guidelines for participation in a Group Discussion
It
is important to know the things you should do and the things you should avoid
while participating in a group discussion. The following guidelines will help
you become a valued participant in a group discussion:-
1.
Participate actively and make a positive
contribution. Do not be a silent spectator. Let the group benefit by your
views.
2.
Speak loudly enough to be heard and clearly enough
to be understood. But do not shout.
3.
Keep an even pace. Neither speak too fast nor too
slowly. If you speak too fast, others may not be able to understand all that
you say. If you speak too slowly, people may get bored and lose interest.
4.
Try to speak as early as possible. Try to be the
first to speak and open the discussion if you can. But even if you cannot, do
not wait till all the others have spoken. If you do, another member may say
what you have got to say and then you may be left with nothing to say.
5.
Be relevant. Do not waste the time of the group by
talking irrelevant things which do not have any bearing on the issue being
discussed.
6.
Say something original. Show deep knowledge of the
topic. Do not just repeat what another member has already said.
7.
Speak confidently. Do not think or feel that anybody
is superior to you or knows more than you.
8.
Be brief. Try to give your opinion in as few words
as possible so that others may also get enough time to express their views.
Remember, a group discussion is not a lecture by one member. All the members
must get time to speak so that the group may be able to benefit by their views.
9.
Do not do or say anything that discourages another
member from expressing his views. Do not laugh at his views or make any adverse
comments which offend him or make him feel insulted.
10.
Do not interrupt while another member is speaking.
If you have something important to say, wait till he has finished and then say
what you want to say.
11.
Never try to provoke anybody. Try to maintain a
conducive environment so that the discussion may continue in a healthy manner
and be fruitful.
12.
Do not make any personal comments. Do not say
anything against the dignity of any member. Speak only on the topic in hand.
You may not agree with a member’s views but you have no right to make a
personal attack on him.
13.
Use simple and easy language that all may
understand. Do not use high sounding difficult words and complex structures
which may be too difficult for some in the group to understand.
14.
Avoid using jargon if all the members do not belong
to your own field of specialisation. Those who do not may not be able to
understand it.
15.
Do not lose your temper at any cost. Keep your calm
even in the face of provocation.
16.
Do not be aggressive. Express your views politely
but firmly. Even if you do not agree with an argument, voice your disagreement
in a civilised manner.
17.
Use body language to the best effect. Let your eye
contact, facial expressions and gestures do the talking as well as your mouth.
They help to clarify and reinforce your ideas.
18.
Do not try to impose your views on others. Try
rather to convince and persuade with the force of your arguments.
19.
Listen carefully while others are speaking. You
cannot appreciate their views unless you pay full attention to what they say.
Remember, they have a right to be heard.
20.
Do not be adamant. Be flexible. Be ready to change
your views and agree with others if your argument is proved to be wrong.
21.
Try to establish yourself as a leader if you are
participating in a competition or in a discussion for the assessment of your
qualities. To establish yourself as a leader, you have to do the following
things:-
I.
If there is any member who is not contributing to
the discussion, invite and encourage him to speak and give his views.
II.
If anybody tries to discourage another member from
expressing his views, try to dissuade him from doing so.
III.
If a member is taking too much time, tell him to be
brief so that there may be enough time left for the others.
IV.
If anybody is wasting the time of the group by
talking irrelevant things, politely tell him not to do so.
V.
Tempers often run high in a group discussion. If
anybody loses temper, request him to calm down so that the discussion may
proceed smoothly.
VI.
Sometimes, the discussion gets derailed. People
leave the topic being discussed aside and start talking about other things. If
this happens, try to put the discussion back on the rails by pointing out the
fact to the members.
22.
Use the right posture. Do not fall back in the chair
and appear to be relaxing. Nor should you adopt an aggressive posture by
bending forward too much. Sit straight and look attentive.
2. Conducting a Meeting
Meetings are a very important
event in any business organisation. All important decisions about the working
of an organisation are taken in meetings. Whenever any problem arises and a
solution has to be found or a policy decision or any action has to be planned,
a meeting of the executives of the appropriate level is called, the issue is discussed threadbare and the best decision in the interest of
the organisation on the basis of the collective wisdom is arrived at.
These meetings cost the organisation a great deal in
terms of money and time. Therefore, it is very important
to conduct these meetings in such a way as to make them yield maximum positive
results. The success of a meeting in terms of its output depends on the way in which the presiding officer conducts the meeting and the spirit with
which the participating members take part in it. The person responsible
for conducting the meeting must keep the following things in mind in order to
make it fruitful and productive:
1.
He
must be clear about the objective of the
meeting. For that, he must prepare a list of the issues to be discussed well in
advance so that they may be included in the agenda.
2.
The
agenda for the meeting should be prepared well in advance and made available to the members in
order to enable them to prepare themselves for the discussion. They need time
to collect the relevant information regarding the issues on the agenda and to
reflect over them. The meeting cannot be fruitful if the members do not get
enough time to prepare for the meeting.
3.
He
should make proper seating arrangements for the
members and take care that they feel comfortable. The place where the meeting
is held should not be too hot or too cold.
4.
He
should welcome the members cheerfully before
starting the proceedings and then explain the agenda,
and clarify the goals that the meeting seeks to
achieve, provide the background information,
explain the context, throw light on the circumstances that have necessitated the meeting and
clarify the goals that the meeting is expected to achieve.
5.
He
should tell the members to stick to the time limit
and make the maximum contribution to achieve the
goals.
6.
He
should encourage all the members to make a positive contribution to the discussion and
ensure that every member does so. For this, he can do any one of the following:
I.
Ask
all the members to give their views one by one.
II.
Ask questions collectively
and individually and ask the members to answer them.
III.
Ask
the members to write their ideas on a piece of
paper and elaborate them later on.
IV.
Ask those members
who are not coming forth to express their views.
7.
He
should ensure that the participation is not unbalanced and
every member gets a fair chance to express his views. He should not allow one or a few members to dominate the
proceedings of the meeting. If any members takes up too much time, he should
tell him to be brief and leave time for the others.
8.
He
should keep the discussion on course and not
allow any member to derail it. If he finds a member wasting time by talking
irrelevant things, he should tell him to stop and come to the point. If the
discussion loses direction, it is his duty to put it
back on the rails.
9.
He
should not allow any member to make any uncharitable
comment on the views expressed by any member or make a personal attack.
10.
He
should ensure that the discussion is carried on in a
calm and friendly manner. He should keep the tempers
in check. Differences of opinion are
natural. He should handle them in a mature and tactical manner. The discussion should not
become a battleground. The discussion should be used to enlighten and be
enlightened and not to offend and defend their respective views.
11.
He
should take up the issues on the agenda one by one and ensure
that they are dealt with within the prescribed time
limit. He should not allow them to drag on
endlessly.
12.
He
should see to it that all the issues on the
agenda are discussed and none of them left out.
13.
Before
the meeting ends, he should sum up the views
expressed by the members and the decisions arrived
at.
14.
He
should thank the members for their valuable
contribution to the discussion before the members disperse.
15.
After
the meeting, he should ensure that the proceedings of
the meeting are recorded in the minute book by the secretary and the views expressed by the members and the decisions taken are faithfully
reflected. He should not allow them to be
distorted or changed in any way.
16.
It
is also his duty to ensure that the decisions taken are honestly and sincerely implemented.
3. Telephone Etiquette
Indispensabe
Telephone is a medium of communication that no
business organisation can do without. But one has to follow certain principles
of conduct in order to be able to use the telephone fruitfully. We should try
to follow the following rules while using the telephone:
Receiving a call
1.
Be quick to respond
2.
Greet the caller or the person
you are calling cheerfully before you proceed with the conversation. Say hello;
or good morning or good evening according to the time of the day.
3.
Always be polite to the person on the
other end under all circumstances. Be liberal in using the
markers of politeness like please, kindly, thank you,
you are welcome etc. You cannot achieve the
purpose of the call if you are rude or audacious.
4.
Have a message pad, pen and appointment book close
at hand in order to take down any important information. Do not depend on your memory. Nobody has a perfect
memory.
5.
Confirm the correctness of the information
before you write it down by repeating it. Be especially careful with telephone numbers and other facts and numerical data. Similarly
repeat the information to the person on the
other end who is taking it down.
6.
Hold the mouthpiece an inch away from your
mouth while talking on the phone and the earpiece close
to the ear in order to be able to listen clearly.
7.
Do not shout. Nor is it right to speak in too low a
voice. Speak in your natural voice. It may be necessary to speak loudly
sometimes in long distance calls but even then one should try to avoid
shouting.
8.
Speak clearly. Do not mumble or run words into each other.
9.
Always be willing to give the information that
the caller wants to have. Also ensure that the
information is correct. Never give wrong
information. If you do not have it with you
immediately, tell the caller to call again after some
time and get the required information in the meantime.
10.
If you are making the call,
introduce yourself and the organisation you represent before you proceed with
the conversation.
Similarly, if you are receiving a call, ask the caller
to identify himself and his organisation before you give him any
information.
11.
Do not waste your own time and that of the other person by indulging in unnecessary conversation. Time is precious and it
costs.
12.
Treat every call as important. Give the caller the impression
that he is being taken seriously and
attended to. Do not let him feel that you take him lightly or casually.
13.
Give as much importance to inside calls as to
outside ones because people in the organisation are equally important
and they may also need the information urgently.
14.
Have all the sources of information about
your organisation within easy reach so that you
may be able to give the required information to the caller without any delay.
15.
Sometimes, the caller may want to talk to somebody
other than you. If so, tell the caller to wait and inform the person who
is wanted if he is available. If he is not there at the time, let the caller
know when he will be available.
16.
You may sometimes be required to transfer a call.
Do it without delay. And keep the caller informed of
what is happening if it takes longer than usual
to connect the call. Do not keep him waiting and guessing whether he is being
attended to or not.
17.
If the caller wants to leave a message to be communicated to somebody in the
organisation, note the message down and then
remember to deliver it to the person concerned as soon as possible. Take down the phone number of the caller as well as his name and address and
the number at which he can be contacted. Try to deliver
it personally and not entrust the job to somebody else.
Making a Call
18.
Do not call at a time when it would be inconvenient for the receiver to
attend to your call e.g. at meal times or too early in the morning or too late
at night unless there is an emergency and it is absolutely necessary.
19.
In case you do not get the response, repeat the ring once because the
called person may not be close to the phone to take it up immediately. But do
not go on repeating if he does not respond even the second time.
20.
Do not recall if the person called cuts it off. It means he is not in a
position to take the call.
21.
Try to make a call at a time when the rates are low if the call is not
very important.
22.
You may sometimes have to deal with difficult callers. Be
extrapolate and try to calm them down. Feel sorry or express regret if
necessary. Assure them that what they wanted to be done will be done as soon as
possible. If it is not possible, explain it to them and tell the why it cannot
be done. But do not get annoyed and disconnect the phone. This gives them all
the more reason to feel offended.
4. Presentations
A. Preparing a presentation
An oral presentation is a brief discussion of a
focused topic to a group of listeners in order to impart knowledge, create
awareness, stimulate discussion explain plans, get support or cooperation, or
share the results of research.
It is a short
speech or talk on a well-defined topic delivered to an audience in order to
disseminate knowledge, get approval or support, persuade them to perform an
action or create awareness on a social issue.
The Wikipedia defines it as the process of
presenting a topic to an audience. It is typically a demonstration,
introduction, lecture or speech meant to inform, persuade or build goodwill.
Like any research paper or some other document like
a report or article, it has a beginning, a middle and an end.
The beginning contains the introduction in which the
presenter explains the objective of the presentation and the meaning of the
topic it deals with. It may also say something about the background of the
topic and its importance. The middle is the body of the presentation. It is the
largest and the most important part of a presentation. In it, the presenter
puts forward the arguments or the data in an organised manner, analyses it and
arrives at some results.
The ending winds up the presentation. Here the
presenter gives the conclusions that he has arrived at through the arguments or
the analyses of the data he has collected.
a) Planning a Presentation:
Making a
presentation is an art that has to be learnt and cultivated. It can be divided
into three stages.
1.
Planning: While planning a presentation, you have to
keep in mind you aim in making the presentation, the audience to whom you are
going to make it, the main points you are going to present and the results that
you expect it produce. At the planning stage, you have to consider the
following questions:
I.
Who am I speaking to?
II.
What do they already know about the topic?
III.
What more will they want to know about it?
IV.
What do I want them to know about it?
V.
You have to keep in mind that what they want to know
is more important than what you want to tell them.
If you keep these questions in mind while planning
and preparing your presentation, it will put in tune with your audience.
Another thing that you have to remember is that a
presentation is different from a report which is meant to be read. If you are
reading a report, you can take your time, go back and reread if you do not
understand something when you read it the first time. But these things are not
possible in the case of a presentation. The audience have to keep pace with the
presenter. It is not possible for them to go back and listen again to something
which they have not been able to understand. Therefore, a presentation is
ruined if it is too difficult or if its structure is too complicated. Keeping
in view these things, you should follow the following guidelines.
I.
Make it lighter than a report. Put less content in
it than you would put in a report.
II.
Make it easier for the audience to understand by
preparing the audience to receive the points that you are going to make.
III.
Repeat them at the end of the presentation.
IV.
Leave time for the audience to ask questions to
clarify anything that they have not understood.
b) Preparing a Presentation
The job of preparing a presentation involves a
series of steps which are given below:
I.
Selecting the topic: The first step in preparing a
presentation is to select a topic. As stated above, you have to keep your
audience and its needs and interests in mind while choosing a topic.
II.
Deciding the information you need: Having selected
the topic, you have to decide what kind of information you need for the
presentation on the topic you have selected.
III.
Identifying the sources of information: Next, you
have to identify the sources from which you will be able to get the required
information. There are many possible sources where you can find the information.
1.
A library is very rich source of information.
Information related to most of the topics is available in the books, magazines,
journals or newspapers, both old and new, stocked in the library.
2.
Old files of your own or some other organisation are
another source of information. Sometimes, the information you need may be
available in the old files of some social organisation or a government office.
3.
In some cases, you may have to collect the
information from your own observation. You may conduct an experiment and note
down the results.
4.
You may, in certain cases, have to collect the
information from the people by contacting them personally or through
correspondence.
IV.
Collecting the Information: After identifying the
sources, we have to access them and collect the desired information. We can use
any of the following methods for the purpose depending on the source from which
it is available.
1.
Reading: If the information is available in some
books, journals etc., you can get it by reading them.
2.
In case the data is available in the old files of
some organisation, we can request the organisation concerned to show us the
files and get the relevant data.
3.
We may, in some cases conduct our own experiments
and observe the results.
4.
If the information has to be collected from the
people, we have to contact them to get the information. For this purpose
·
We may get into touch with them personally and
interview them.
·
We can also contact them telephonically and gather
the information we need.
·
We can also write letters to them and request them
to supply the desired information.
·
We can prepare a questionnaire and send it to them
by post or give it to them personally and request them to answer the questions.
·
We can also give an advertisement in the press
requesting those who have the desired information to give us the information.
V.
Classification and organisation of the data: After
collecting the information, we have to classify it into different categories in
order to make it possible for us to arrive at some conclusions. For this, we
have to establish certain categories, select the data belonging to the
different categories from the confused mass that we have collected and assign
it to those categories.
VI.
Analyses of the Data: When we have organised the
data into the different categories, we study and analyse it so that we may be
able to arrive at some conclusions.
VII.
Drawing Conclusions: After analysing the data, we
draw some conclusions on the basis of the information contained in different
categories.
VIII.
Drafting the Report: Now we can prepare a rough
draft of the presentation containing the introduction, the main body and the
conclusions and recommendations, if any.
IX.
Preparing the aids: The next step is to prepare the
different kinds of audio, visual or audio-visual aids we need to make the
presentation. These aids may be pictures, maps, graphs, tables, lists of main
points, audio recordings, models, films, videos or even the actual objects.
During the presentation, physically, use an overhead projector, or use the
power point software to make slides and use the computer projector to show
them. If we have a film or an audio or video recording, we can play it before
the audience and let them see or hear them as the case may be.
X.
The last step is to give the final shape to the
presentation and arrange the different kinds of aids we are going to use in the
order in which we are going to use them.
B. Making
a Presentation
Even a well prepared presentation
fail to click with the audience if it is not well presented. Making a
presentation is an art which has to be learnt. There are a lot many things
which the presenter has to master in order to make a successful presentation.
We are going to discuss below some guidelines which can help a presenter to
make his presentation effective and succeed in achieving his objective.
Things to be done before the presentation begins:
i.
The first thing for the presenter to do is to find out the nature,
character and size of the audience that he is going to face. He should get some
information about who are the people that will constitute his audience, how
many people will be present in the audience, and what are the things that they
are interested in. This will help him to get in tune with the audience.
ii.
He should inspect the place where he is going to make the
presentation and find out whether it is large enough to hold the expected
audience. If not, he will have to evolve a strategy to deal with the audience
which will not be comfortably seated.
iii.
He should also inspect what kind
of equipment will be available to him, whether he will have a computer
projector or an overhead projector or he will have to do with a black or white
board, whether a dais will be there or not and what kind of public address
system he will get. It is also necessary to make sure that it is in good
working order so that he may not face problems when he makes the
presentation.
iv.
He should make sure that he has all the aids he will be using with him
and arrange them in the order in which he has planned to use them.
v.
He should also ascertain the time that will be available to him for
making the presentation so that he may be plan his presentation accordingly.
Making the Presentation
i.
The
first thing for him to do is to greet his audience.
ii.
After
duly greeting the audience, he should introduce himself. Proper introduction is
necessary not only to make his identity known but also to make it to known to
the audience that he is the right person to make the kind of presentation that
he is actually going to do. It will make the audience take interest in the
presentation and listen with attention. The audience will not pay due to
attention if they doubt his credentials.
iii.
Before
the start of the audience, the audience is generally busy in talking. It would
be wrong to plunge immediately into the presentation. It is necessary to get
the attention of the audience before coming to the actual presentation. He
should start the presentation by saying something which immediately catches the
attention of the audience. He can start it with an interesting anecdote, with a
shocking statement, with a quotation from some well-known authority on the
subject, or with an illustration from real life. This will help him to make
them stop their conversation and start paying attention to him.
iv.
When
he is sure that he has got their attention, he should give them the title of
his presentation, explain the importance of the subject that he has chosen and
a brief idea of the kind of information that he is going to give them on the
subject. He should let them know the scope of his presentation by telling them
about the aspects of the subject that he will be covering in it and the things
that he will not be covering. He should also give them an idea of how much time
he is going to take.
v.
He
should then explain the purpose of the presentation and give them a brief
outline of the presentation. For example, if he is giving a presentation on
some problem, he can tell them that he will go into the consequences we are
likely to face if the problem is not solved and the causes responsible for the
problem and suggest some solutions also.
vi.
Having
thus prepared the audience to receive the information he has brought, he can
now return to the main body of his presentation and share whatever information
he has.
vii.
While
delivering the main body of the presentation, he should take care that the
content supports the purpose that he has in view. While it is important to put
into the presentation information enough to develop your ideas, he should also
keep in mind the time available and limit his presentation accordingly.
viii.
Proper
sequencing of the ideas is also very important. Haphazardly arranged
information leaves the audience confused. There are different ways of
sequencing the information. The choice depends on the nature of the topic.
1. Logical order: Arranging the material
in the order of importance starting with the most important and going down to
the least important or starting with the least important and going up to the
most important.
2. Chronological order: Arranging the
events or incidents in the order in which they took place starting with the the
earliest and going up to the last.
3. Start with the general and move on to
the specific.
4. Start with the known and move on to
the unknown.
5. Start with the accepted and move on
to the controversial.
6. Follow the causes and effect order
pointing out the cause and then describing the effects.
7. Problem solving arrangement. Explain
the problem and its causes and then suggesting the solutions.
ix.
Signposting:
He should go on telling the audience where they are, what they have discussed
and what they are going to discuss next.
x.
Listing:
He should list the different points by assigning them numbers.
xi.
Linking
the Ideas: He should make his presentation a coherent whole by linking the
different parts. The links can be made explicit by using the following devices:
1. He should keep referring back and
forward showing the link between what is being said and what was said earlier
or will be said later.
2. When he has concluded one part of the
presentation and is going to move on to the next section, he should signal the
transitions by telling the audience about what he is going to discuss next.
3. He can also link the different parts
of the presentation by establishing a cause and effect relationship between
them.
4. He can also link them by establishing
a temporal relationship among them i.e. by arranging them in order in which
they happened.
5. He can also establish a link by
dividing the matter into two parts – that which he supports and that which he
is opposed to.
6. He can also divide the material into
different parts according to the way different people (for example the
government and the people, the employer and the employees, the producer and the
consumer, the students and the teachers, the old generation and the young
generation, the orthodox and the progressive, the religious and the secular)
will look at something.
xii.
He
should also take care that he makes his ideas clear to the audience and
convince them of the correctness of what he is telling them. He can use the
following techniques for the purpose:
1. Give examples to help the audience to
understand what he is telling them.
2. Rephrase what he has said i.e. explain
what he has said in different and easier words which will help them to
understand what he has said.
3. Repeat a point if he feels that the
audience might have understood it the first time.
4. Summarise what he has said at the end
of every part.
5. Emphasise certain points which he
thinks are more important.
6. Refer back and forward to enable them
to see the connection between the different parts of the presentation.
7. Quote the opinion of an expert or
authority on the subject to make his ideas clear to the audience.
8. Refer to common knowledge by using
such phrases as ‘you all know that………..’ or ‘everybody knows that…………….’ or ‘it
is an accepted fact that………..’
Conclusion
You can conclude your presentation by briefly going over
what you have communicated once again. The concluding part of the presentation
can be divided into four parts.
1. You point out what you
have tried to communicate, your objective (aim) in making the presentation, the
main points you have made in the presentation and the message that it has for
the audience to remember.
2. This can be followed by a
brief conclusion in which you the message communicated, the lessons learnt, the
recommendations made and the follow up action required to be taken.
3. Then you thank the
audience for giving you a patient hearing and cooperating with you.
4. Last but not the least,
you invite the audience to ask any questions that they may like to or to have a
discussion. If you are confident that you have all the knowledge about the
subject and can any questions that they may ask, you should invite them to ask
questions. If you are not so confident or you feel that your knowledge of the
subject is just as much as theirs or slightly better, you can ask them to give
their comments or to have a discussion. You accept frankly that you cannot
answer all their questions and the audience may have some clear ideas or
practical knowledge of the subject and you are willing to be enlightened.
In
addition to what has been said above, we may add some general guidelines.
1.
Dress smartly. Your turn out makes the first impression on the audience. A
shabbily dressed presenter loses the respect of the audience.
2.
Look cheerful throughout. Do not look show any signs of nervousness.
3.
Make eye contact with the audience in order to strike a rapport with
them. Do not keep looking at one part of the audience all the time thus making
the rest of the audience feel ignored. Keep your eyes moving from one section
of the audience to another so that everyone feels that he/she is important.
4.
Use body language to the best effect. It makes you look confident. Do not
keep glued to one place. Keep moving around. Do not keep your hands in your
pockets or on the podium all the time. Use them to make gestures. Make use of
your facial expressions also to reinforce your message.
5.
Make effective use of the audio-visual aids that you may have arranged.
They keep you from being nervous and, if used properly, help the audience to
grasp the message easily besides making the presentation interesting.
6.
Do not let your presentation become monotonous and boring. Lend it
variety by introducing some interesting anecdotes and interspersing it with
touches of humour.
7.
To avoid nervousness, practise it at home a number of times before an
imaginary audience. It will give you confidence.
8.
Remember that people do not notice your mistakes as much as you think
they do.
9.
Do not read out your talk from the written text that you may have. It is
all right to refer to the notes that you may carry now and then. But do not
depend too much on them.
10. Keep within the time
limit.
11. Speak clearly enough to be
understood and loudly enough to be heard.
5.
Role of Body
Language and Audio-visual Aids in
Oral presentation
A. Body Language
An oral presentation is an exercise
through which you try to communicate the results of your research to an
audience or highlight the importance of a plan or proposal or share your views
about a social, political or economic issue with them, or create awareness
about a problem or explain a complicated academic topic to them.
The results of
your presentation depend not only on its verbal content but on many other
things that accompany the words that you use. According to Prof. Albert
Meharbian, only 7 percent of your meaning ic communicated through words. 55% of
the meaning is communicated by your facial expressions and 38% by the
paralinguistic features like tone, rhythm, pace and volume of your voice. That is
why it is said that listen not only with your ears but also with your eyes.
Body language. Audio-visual aids also contribute to the success of your
presentation in a big way. Following are the ways in which body language and
audio-visual aids help to enhance the effectiveness of your presentation:
1.
Engaging attention - The
first thing that the body language does is that it catches the attention of the
audience. Your looks, turn out, gait, and posture give the first impression
about you to the audience. The moment you enter, the audience begin to look at
you. And the first bit of communication that you have with them is by looking
at them, by responding to their greetings, by waving your hands or by giving
them a smile and a nod. And the look back at you with expectation.
2.
Reinforcement – They reinforce the ideas that you
express through words. Your gestures, the tone, rhythm, volume and pace lend
force to those ideas. They show how important they are and how seriously you
want them to be taken. They signal urgency, significance and the great need
that the society has for them.
3.
Clarification – They help you to clarify what you
express through words. When words fail you, body language comes to your help.
There may be times when what you say does not help the audience to get your
meaning as clearly as your words. Sometimes, the audience may not hear you
clearly but they still may get your meaning by seeing your gestures or with the
help of your tone, volume etc.
4.
Establishing
rapport with the audience - Your body language helps you to strike a rapport
with the audience. You look at them and they look back at you. They tell you
through their looks that they are ready to listen and your looks assure them
that you will not betray their expectations.
5.
Holding Attention – Your body language keeps the
audience’s attention focused on you. If you keep standing like a statue and go
on speaking without moving anything except your lips and tongue, their
attention will soon begin to wander because words alone do not have the power
to hold their attention for long.
6.
Ending liveliness and interest – Body language makes
your presentation lively and interesting. It keeps the sense of boredom away
from the audience. The delivery of words alone will make your presentation flat
and dull and the audience will soon lose interest and begin to yawn. But your
gestures, your exchange of looks with them, the expression in your face and in
your eyes, your smile and the like make your presentation entertaining besides
being informative.
7.
Expressing deep emotions – Words alone cannot do
justice to powerful emotions like anger, anxiety, excitement, thrill etc. But
when they are supported by your gestures and the modulation of your voice, they
gather a force which is impossible to resist.
8.
Retention – Body language makes what you say stay long
in the minds of the audience. Information imparted through words alone is
likely to be forgotten soon because words are difficult to remember. What
remember what we see more easily and longer than what we hear. The memory of
your gestures and the tone of your voice keep haunting them for years.
9.
Lending credibility – Body language lends credibility
to what you say if you say it with confidence. On the other hand, if you
exhibit lack of confidence, the audience will doubt the truth of what you tell
them because it will give them the feeling that you do not believe in it.
10. Persuasion
– Your body language and the tone etc. of your voice have a much greater power
to persuade than words. Your arguments become much more convincing when they
are accompanied by appropriate body language than they would otherwise be.
11. Naturalness
and spontaneity – Use of body language is instinctive. It comes spontaneously
and naturally. You do not have to tell a child when to cry and when to smile.
And the naturalness and spontaneity of the body language convinces the audience
of the sincerity of what you say.
In short, we can say that a
presentation without body language is a body without a soul. All the organs or
there but there is no life in it. Great speakers are the people who know to
make the fullest use of this powerful tool.
A. Audio-visual Aids
No presenter gives a presentation without using
audio-visual aids these days. And there is ample justification for doing so.
The use of these aids, if used judiciously and imaginatively, enormously
enhances the effectiveness of a presentation. Effective use of audio-visual
aids can make an oral presentation a memorable event which is hard to forget.
On the other hand, a presentation without them is dull and drab affair which
soon passes out of the mind of the audience. Although their role is
complementary to that of the contents of a presentation, they help us to
internalise the contents more easily and more thoroughly than we would
otherwise be able to do. They help us to assimilate what we hear without much
effort just as water helps us ti digest food. The following discussion will
make the importance of the use of audio visual aids clear beyond any doubt.
1.
Grabbing attention – A presenter may not be able to get
the attention of the audience for the first few minutes if does not use audio
visual aids but with their help, he is able to grab their attention from the
word go. The audience may, for the moment ignore what he says but it is
impossible for them to ignore what he shows them.
2.
Retaining attention – After catching the attention, the
next problem of the presenter is to keep throughout the presentation. Again, it
is the audio visual aids that come to his help. Continuous use of audio visual
aids keeps the audience focused all the time on the presentation.
3.
More efficient transmission of the
message – With the
help of the audio visual aids, the message can be transmitted more efficiently
and more effectively. Some in the audience may not be able to grasp the point
when it is presented orally. But when the information is supplemented with the
visual aids, even a complex message becomes clear to everybody. Visual aids
clarify what does not become clear through words alone.
4.
Reinforcement of the message – Audio visual aids reinforce the
message given through words. Thus they increase the absorption of the message
manifold. Message is hammered into the audience’s mind with such force that it
is not only easy to grasp but also impossible to forget.
5.
Power of persuasion – Audio visual aids increase the
persuasive power of the presentation. A study conducted has revealed that the
use of such aids increases the persuasive power of the presentation by 43
percent.
6.
Help in retention - It is much easier to remember a
message conveyed through visual images and for a longer time too. Statistics
show that only 70 % percent of the people can remember the message given only
verbally after three hours. But a very large number of them can remember it
even after three days. 60 % of them can retain a visually enhanced message
whereas only 10% can do so if it is transmitted only though words.
7.
Help to visual learners – All people are not good auditory
learners who are able to synthesise information presented through lectures and
speeches. Some people are good at visual learning. They can better grasp the
information provided through moving or still images.
8.
Making it more interesting – Audio visual aids make the
presentation more lively and interesting. A long speech becomes boring and flat
but visuals provide a change and thus relieve the boredom. The audience is not
only enlightened but also entertained. The change and variety they lend is
welcome in addition to being helpful in internalising the information. Visuals
stimulate their interest in the presentation and they list with geater
enthusiasm.
9.
Boosting the presenter’s confidence – Audio visual aids reduce the
pressure on the presenter and boost his confidence. They are an aid to his
memory. All he is worried about is how to explain the visuals. The tension
caused by anxiety of remembering things is reduced and he can breathe easy.
10.
Improving the presenter’s image – Audio visual aids, if used
effectively, improve the image of the presenter in the eyes of the audience.
Their respect for the speaker is greatly increased if the feel that he has made
an appropriate use of the visuals and it has enabled them to understand his
message more clearly.
11.
Making the presentation more organised – Visuals help the presenter in
organising his presentation in a better way. He has to arrange the visuals in
the order in which he is going to show them. Thus the information in the
presentation becomes more systematically organised instead of being haphazard
or chaotic.
We can
conclude by saying that a presentation which makes a discreet use of visual
images is immensely more effective than one that is purely oral.
