Business Communication Today, 11e (Bovee/Thill)
Chapter 16 Developing Oral and Online Presentations
1) Speeches and oral presentations are much like any other messages in that
A) they require similar planning.
B) they require no planning.
C) the interaction between the audience and speaker is similar.
D) they deal with emotional or personal issues to a similar extent.
2) When you prepare a speech or presentation, your first step involves
A) analyzing the situation.
B) choosing the right words.
C) planning the content, length, and style of your speech or presentation.
D) doing all of the above.
3) The two most common purposes of business presentations are to
A) analyze and synthesize.
B) regulate and validate.
C) inform and persuade.
D) illustrate and entertain.
4) One of the steps in analyzing your audience is to
A) determine whether your audience is comfortable listening to the language you speak.
B) remember to keep your speech or oral presentation short.
C) define your purpose.
D) prepare a detailed, informative outline.
5) Selecting the right medium for your presentation is
A) easy—you’re simply giving a speech.
B) an important decision since technology offers a number of choices.
C) only an issue when addressing audiences from other cultures.
D) not something you need to think about early on.
6) When organizing a speech or presentation, your first step is to
A) develop an outline.
B) define the main idea.
C) write the introduction.
D) decide on the delivery style.
7) The best way to clarify your main idea in a presentation is to
A) provide a lengthy handout for your audience to review during your presentation.
B) describe it using jargon and complicated language to emphasize its importance.
C) develop a single sentence that links your subject and purpose to your audience’s frame of
reference.
D) allow your audience to gradually figure it out on their own.
8) For business presentations, time restraints are usually
A) rigid, permitting little or no flexibility.
B) meaningless—audiences expect presenters to take a little more time than they’re allotted.
C) imposed only on lower-level employees.
D) not important if you are presenting to your colleagues.
9) When using conventional structured slides, try to average one slide for
A) each minute you speak.
B) every 3 minutes you speak.
C) every 7 minutes you speak.
D) every 10 minutes you speak.
10) In preparing presentations, keep in mind that audience attention levels and retention rates
drop sharply after ________ minutes.
A) 5
B) 20
C) 45
D) 60
11) If you have 10 minutes or less to deliver a presentation
A) speak as quickly as you possibly can.
B) limit yourself to four or five main points.
C) you can assume your audience is already interested.
D) organize your presentation as you would a brief written message.
12) Longer speeches and presentations are organized like
A) reports.
B) memos.
C) letters.
D) email messages.
13) When organizing a speech, use the indirect approach if your purpose is to ________ and the
audience is ________.
A) entertain, resistant
B) motivate, receptive
C) persuade, resistant
D) inform, receptive
14) When preparing an outline for your speech, keep in mind that
A) it can include delivery cues, such as where you plan to pause for emphasis or use visuals.
B) you should keep each item to two- to three-word descriptions of what you will say.
C) you can leave out all transitions.
D) this is not the place to include “stage directions.”
15) To reduce the formality of an oral presentation,
A) deliver your remarks in a conversational tone.
B) use a large room.
C) seat the audience in rows.
D) do all of the above.
16) Formal speeches differ from informal ones in that
A) formal speeches always include obscure, unfamiliar vocabulary.
B) formal speeches are always much longer.
C) formal speeches are often delivered from a stage or platform.
D) when delivering a formal speech, you should speak more rapidly.
17) In the introduction to your presentation, it is important to
A) discuss the three or four main points on your outline.
B) establish credibility.
C) ask for audience input.
D) boast about your qualifications.
18) One effective way to arouse interest at the start of a speech is to
A) always start things off with a joke.
B) unite the audience around a common goal.
C) tease the audience by not mentioning specifically what you’ll be talking about.
D) do none of the above.
19) As a speaker, how you go about establishing credibility depends in part on
A) what time of day you deliver your remarks.
B) whether or not you are a well-known expert in the subject.
C) how you are dressed.
D) the size of your audience.
20) “Now that we’ve identified the problem, let’s take a look at some solutions” is an example of
A) a transition that is overly specific and promises too much.
B) a good transition between major sections of a speech.
C) a transition that fails to use the proper transitional phrase.
D) a transition that can link two sentences, but not two sections of speech.
21) To hold your audience’s attention during the body of your speech
A) make at least seven or eight main points.
B) include numerous abstract ideas.
C) relate your subject to your audience’s needs.
D) do all of the above.
22) At the close of a business presentation
A) audience attention tends to reach its lowest point.
B) be clear about what you want the audience to do next.
C) you should avoid making it obvious that you’re about to finish.
D) audiences resent being reminded of the presentation’s main ideas.
23) When you have covered all the main points in your speech
A) make sure your concluding remarks are memorable and expressed in a tone that is appropriate
to the situation.
B) wrap up as quickly as possible.
C) avoid using such phrases as “To sum it all up” and “In conclusion.”
D) keep it simple with a statement such as, “Well, I guess that’s it.”
24) If there is a lack of consensus among the audience at the end of your presentation, you
should
A) gloss over it as quickly as possible.
B) make the disagreement clear and be ready to suggest a method for resolving the differences.
C) identify the individuals causing the disagreement and ask them pointed questions.
D) do all of the above.
25) If your speech or presentation requires the audience to participate in an upcoming project,
you should
A) go directly to the question-and-answer session after you cover the main points of your speech.
B) close your speech on a note of uncertainty.
C) close your speech by explaining who is responsible for doing what.
D) lead people to believe that the decision will be easy to carry out.
26) You should always close your speech
A) on an encouraging and memorable note.
B) by leaving the audience with a feeling of incompleteness, which you can resolve in the
question-and-answer period.
C) with something dramatic or flamboyant.
D) by introducing some new ideas for the audience to think about.
27) Disadvantages of delivering a presentation from memory include all of the following except
A) sounding stilted.
B) possibly forgetting your lines.
C) sounding too informal.
D) all of the above are disadvantages.
28) Delivering your presentation by reading it word-for-word is usually a bad idea except when
A) your presentation is very lengthy.
B) you’re covering policy statements or legal documents that must be presented verbatim.
C) the presentation is humorous.
D) the audience is hostile.
29) The most effective and easiest mode of speech delivery in nearly all situations is
A) memorization.
B) reading from a prepared script.
C) speaking from an outline or notes.
D) impromptu speaking.
30) When speaking from notes, it is best to print them on
A) regular white typing paper.
B) heavy note cards.
C) brightly colored note cards.
D) your smartphone.
31) Rehearsing your presentation on video will
A) help you check your voice, timing, phrasing, and physical gestures.
B) increase your nervousness.
C) most likely ruin your ability to make an effective presentation.
D) rob you of the confidence you need.
32) When checking the location of your presentation in advance, you should
A) not worry about seating arrangements—they have no effect on how you deliver your remarks.
B) always request a whiteboard, even if you aren’t sure you will need it.
C) find out whether the venue offers a projection system that you will be expected to use.
D) do all of the above.
33) Which of the following is not a good way to deal with speaking anxiety?
A) Prepare more material than necessary.
B) Focus on being perfect.
C) Take a few deep breaths before speaking.
D) Have your first sentence memorized and on the tip of your tongue.
34) In business presentations, the “backchannel” is
A) the “notes” portion of an electronic slide, which only the presenter can see.
B) subtle, nonverbal cues the presenter sends during the presentation.
C) electronic communication among audience members during the presentation.
D) password-protected electronic slides that only certain audience members are allowed to view.
35) Sending preview materials to the audience prior to an online presentation
A) will cause most audience members to ignore what you present later.
B) suggests that you are not confident.
C) can be helpful.
D) is an example of the backchannel in action.
36) Because you can adapt to your audience while you are speaking, it’s not as important to
research your audience for an oral presentation.
37) You will communicate more successfully with a multilingual audience if you speak slowly
and distinctly and pause frequently.
38) Planning a business presentation is similar to organizing a written message.
39) You should be able to summarize the main idea for a speech in a single sentence that links
your subject and purpose to the audience’s frame of reference.
40) If you have 10 minutes or less to deliver your presentation, you should organize it much as
you would a brief written message.
41) Even when you expect your audience to be skeptical, the direct approach is always best for
presentations.
42) If your purpose is to analyze, persuade, or collaborate, you should organize your speech
around conclusions and recommendations or a logical argument.
43) Simplicity of organization is important only if your speech is short.
44) In preparing a speaking outline for your presentation, you should avoid cluttering it with
complete sentences.