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Part 6: Developing and Delivering Business Presentations
In Part 6, students learn how to plan effective presentations, overcome the anxieties that every speaker
feels, respond to questions from the audience, and embrace the Twitter-enabled backchannel. They will
find some tips and techniques for succeeding with online presentations, an increasingly common mode of
communication in today’s environment. And they’ll learn to complement presentations with compelling
visual materials and learn how to create presentation slides that engage and excite an audience.
Chapter 16: Developing Presentations in a Social Media Environment
This chapter shows students how to adapt the three-step process to business presentations. It includes
sections on overcoming anxiety, handling questions, embracing the backchannel, and giving presentations
online.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Planning a Presentation
Analyzing the Situation
Selecting the Best Combination of Media and Channels
Organizing a Presentation
Defining Your Main Idea
Limiting Your Scope
Choosing Your Approach
Preparing Your Outline
Crafting Presentation Content
Adapting to Your Audience
Developing Your Presentation
Presentation Introduction
Presentation Body
Presentation Close
Delivering a Presentation
Choosing Your Presentation Method
Practicing Your Delivery
Preparing to Speak
Overcoming Anxiety
Handling Questions Responsively
Incorporating Technology in Your Presentation
Embracing the Backchannel
Giving Presentations Online
Learning Catalytics is a “bring your own device” student engagement, assessment, and classroom
intelligence system. It allows instructors to engage students in class with real-time diagnostics. Students
can use any modern, web-enabled device (smartphone, tablet, or laptop) to access it. For more
information on using Learning Catalytics in your course, contact your Pearson Representative.
LECTURE NOTES
Section 1: Planning a Presentation
Learning Objective 1: Describe the tasks involved in analyzing the situation for a presentation and
organizing a presentation.
Oral presentations offer important opportunities to put all your communication skills on display,
including:
Research
Planning
Writing
Visual design
Interpersonal communication
Nonverbal communication
Presentations also demonstrate your ability to think on your feet, grasp complex business issues, and
handle challenging situations—all attributes of successful employees.
To avoid the jitters when presenting, keep three points in mind:
Everybody gets nervous when speaking in front of groups, even experienced professionals.
Being nervous is a good thing; it means you care about the topic, the audience, and career
success.
With practice, you can convert nervous feelings into positive energy that helps you give more
compelling presentations.
Preparing a professional-quality presentation takes time—a week or two for one-hour presentation.
Planning oral presentations is much like planning any other business message. The same four tasks apply:
Analyze the situation.
Gather information.
Select the right medium.
Organize the information.
Analyzing the Situation
Analyzing the situation for an oral presentation involves defining your purpose and developing an
audience profile:
The purpose of most presentations is to inform or to persuade.
Make sure your purpose is crystal clear in order to maximize the opportunity and show
respect for your listeners’ time and attention.
When developing an audience profile, try to anticipate the likely emotional state of your audience
members.
Also consider the specific circumstances in which you’ll be making your presentation. The four basic
formats have distinct advantages and disadvantages:
Classroom or theater seating, in which all chairs or desks face forward: keeps attention
focused on the speaker; usually the best method for accommodating large audiences; inhibits
interaction among audience members.
Conference table seating, in which people sit along both sides of a long table and the speaker
stands at one end: common arrangement for smaller meetings; promotes interaction among
attendees; tends to isolate the speaker at one end of the room.
Horseshoe seating, in which tables are arranged in the shape of a “U”: improves on
conference table seating by allowing the speaker to walk between the tables to interact with
individual audience members; impractical for large audiences; requires enough tables.
Café seating, in which people sit in groups at individual tables: best for breakout sessions and
other small-group activities; places some in the audience with their backs to the speaker,
making it awkward for both them and the presenter.
All these variables can influence not only the style of your presentation but also the content. In a
public environment full of distractions, it’s best to keep content simple and short to retain audience
attention.
Selecting the Best Combination of Media and Channels
When selecting the right medium for oral presentations there is an array of choices, which include:
Live, in-person presentations
Webcasts
Webinars (online presentations that people either view live or download later from your
website)
Screencasts (recordings of activity on computer displays with audio voiceover)
Twebinars (online events that combine a webinar with the use of Twitter as a backchannel)
Explore these options early in your planning efforts so that you can take full advantage of the media
at your disposal.
Organizing a Presentation
The possibilities for organizing a business presentation fall into two basic categories.
Linear presentations (e.g., typical PowerPoint presentation) are like printed documents in the sense
that they are outlined like conventional messages and follow a predefined flow from start to finish.
Appropriate for:
Speeches
Technical and financial presentations
Other presentations in which you want to convey your message point by point
Nonlinear presentations (e.g., Prezi) don’t flow in any particularly direction but rather give the
presenter the option to move back and forth between topics and up and down in terms of level of
detail. Useful when you want to:
Show complicated relationships
Zoom in and out between the “big picture” and specific details
Explore complex visuals
Have the flexibility to move from topic to topic in any order
Prezi is sometimes viewed as more dynamic and engaging way, but keep several points in mind:
Always match the tool to the task, not the other way around.
Your message is what matters—not the software. If they are used poorly, even the best
software features only get in the way.
PowerPoint and other slide programs aren’t limited to creating boring, linear flows of bullet
points.
Organizing a presentation involves the same tasks as organizing a written message:
Define your main idea.
Limit your scope.
Select the direct or indirect approach.
Outline your content.
Class discussion question: Have you tried nonlinear presentation tools such as Prezi? What do you
consider the strengths and weaknesses of this approach? How did your audience respond?
Defining Your Main Idea
Identify the most important message you want audience members to take away with them.
Make sure your purpose is based on a clear understanding of audience needs so that you can deliver
information your audience truly cares about.
Limiting Your Scope
Limiting your scope is particularly vital with presentations, for two reasons:
For most presentations, you must work within strict time limits.
You have audience attention for only a finite amount of time.
The only sure way to know how much material you can cover in a given time is to practice.
Factor in time for introductions, breaks, demonstrations, question-and-answer sessions, and anything
else that takes away from your speaking time.
Consider a hybrid approach by presenting key points in summary form and give people printed
handouts with additional detail.
Choosing Your Approach
For short presentations, organize your presentation much as you would a brief written message:
Use the direct approach if the subject involves routine information or good news.
Use the indirect approach if the subject involves negative news or persuasion.
For short presentations, plan your time well:
Introduction: spend a minute or two to arouse interest and to give a preview of what’s to
come.
Body: be prepared to explain the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your subject.
Closing: review the points you’ve made, and close with a statement that will help your
audience remember the subject of your speech.
If the purpose of the presentation is to inform, use the direct approach and a structure imposed
naturally by the subject:
Importance
Sequence
Chronology
Spatial orientation
Geography
Category
If your purpose of the presentation is to analyze, persuade, or collaborate, organize your material
around:
Conclusions
Recommendations
Logical arguments
Use the direct approach if the audience is receptive, and the indirect approach if you expect
resistance.
Presentations have one important advantage over written reports: you can readjust quickly if you need
to.
Regardless of the length of your presentation, remember that simplicity of organization is especially
valuable in oral communication.
No matter what the length, look for opportunities to integrate storytelling into the structure of your
presentation. The dramatic tension at the heart of effective storytelling will capture and keep the
audience’s attention.
Preparing Your Outline
A presentation outline helps organize your message, and it serves as the foundation for delivering
your speech. Prepare your outline in several stages:
State your purpose and main idea and then use these to guide the rest of your planning.
Organize major points and subpoints in logical order, expressing each major point as a single,
complete sentence.
Identify major points in the body first and then outline the introduction and close.
Identify transitions between major points or sections, and then write these transitions in
full-sentence form.
Prepare bibliography or source notes; highlight those sources you want to identify by name
during your talk.
Choose a compelling title. Make it brief, action oriented, and focused on what you can do for
the audience.
Prepare both a detailed planning outline and a simpler speaking outline that provides all the
cues and reminders you need to present the material.
To prepare an effective speaking outline, follow these steps:
Start with the planning outline. Then strip away what you don’t plan to say directly to the
audience.
Condense points and transitions to key words or phrases.
Add delivery cues, such as places where you plan to pause for emphasis or use visuals.
Arrange your notes on numbered cards or use the notes capability in your presentation
software.
Section 2: Developing a Presentation
Learning Objective 2: Explain how to adapt to your audience and develop an effective opening, body, and
close for a presentation.
Although you usually don’t write out a presentation word for word, you still engage in the writing process
by:
Developing your ideas
Structuring support points
Phrasing your transitions
Depending on the situation and your personal style, the eventual presentation might follow your initial
words closely, or you might express your thoughts in fresh, spontaneous language.
Adapting to Your Audience
The style of your presentation is influenced by several significant factors:
Audience size
Venue (in person or online)
Subject
Purpose
Budget
Time available for preparation
Time allotted for your talk
If you’re speaking to a small group, particularly people you already know, you can use a casual style
that encourages audience participation. If you’re addressing a large audience, or if the event is
important, establish a more formal atmosphere.
Crafting Presentation Content
Like written documents, presentations are composed of distinct elements:
Introduction
Body
Close
Presentation Introduction
A good introduction arouses the audience’s interest in your topic, establishes your credibility, and
prepares the audience for what will follow.
Arousing Audience Interest
Some subjects are naturally more interesting to some audiences than others.
If you will be discussing a matter of profound significance that will personally affect the members
of your audience, chances are they’ll listen.
Other subjects call for more imagination. Here are six ways to arouse audience interest:
Unite the audience around a common goal.
Tell a story. Well-told stories are naturally interesting and can be compelling.
Pass around product samples or other stories.
Ask a question to get the audience actively involved in your presentation.
Share a startling statistic.
Use humor, but make sure any comments are relevant, appropriate, and not offensive to
anyone in the audience.
Regardless of which technique you choose, make sure you can give audience members a reason
to care and to believe that the time they’re about to spend listening to you will be worth their
while.
