What role does body language play in making oral presentation effective

When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. Establish rapport with your audience. Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to project to the back of the room. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly.

Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary. Master the use of presentation software such as PowerPoint well before your presentation. Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them.

Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience effectively. The material you present orally should have the same ingredients as that which are required for a written research paper, i.e. a logical progression from INTRODUCTION (Thesis statement) to BODY (strong supporting arguments, accurate and up-to-date information) to CONCLUSION (re-state thesis, summary, and logical conclusion).

Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. No need to make excuses or apologize profusely.

Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.

Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. If what you have prepared is obviously not getting across to your audience, change your strategy mid-stream if you are well prepared to do so. Remember that communication is the key to a successful presentation. If you are short of time, know what can be safely left out. If you have extra time, know what could be effectively added. Always be prepared for the unexpected.

Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.

What are the different types of sentences? Give 4 examples for each type

A sentence is a group of words beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full-stop, exclamation or question mark in written language, containing a main verb.

Kinds of Sentences :

Declarative - A declarative sentence makes a statement. A declarative sentence ends with a period.

Example: The house will be built on a hill.

Interrogative - An interrogative sentence asks a question. An interrogative sentence ends with a question mark.

Example: How did you find the card?

Exclamatory - An exclamatory sentence shows strong feeling. An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark.

Example: The monster is attacking!

Imperative - An imperative sentence gives a command.

Example: Cheryl, try the other door.

Sometimes the subject of an imperative sentence (you) is understood.

Example: Look in the closet. (You, look in the closet.)

What do you mean by the barriers of communication? Explain any two barriers of communication

When you send a message, you intend to communicate meaning, but the message itself doesn’t contain meaning. The meaning exists in your mind and in the mind of your receiver. To understand one another, you and your receiver must share similar meanings for words, gestures, tone of voice, and other symbols.

1. Differences in perception:

The world constantly bombards us with information: sights, sounds, scents, and so on. Our minds organize this stream of sensation into a mental map that represents our perception or reality. In no case is the perception of a certain person the same as the world itself, and no two maps are identical. As you view the world, your mind absorbs your experiences in a unique and personal way. Because your perceptions are unique, the ideas you want to express differ from other people’s Even when two people have experienced the same event, their mental images of that event will not be identical. As senders, we choose the details that seem important and focus our attention on the most relevant and general, a process known as selective perception. As receivers, we try to fit new details into our existing pattern. If a detail doesn’t quite fit, we are inclined to distort the information rather than rearrange the pattern.

2. Language problems

When you choose the words for your message, you signal that you are a member of a particular culture or subculture and that you know the code. The nature of your code imposes its own barriers on your message. Barriers also exist because words can be interpreted in more than one way. Language is an arbitrary code that depends on shared definitions, but there’s a limit to how completely any of us share the same meaning for a given word. To overcome language barriers, use the most specific and accurate words possible. Always try to use words your audience will understand. Increase the accuracy of your messages by using language that describes rather than evaluates and by presenting observable facts, events, and circumstances.

How is GD conducted?

A group of people are made to sit together in a room. There will be a person (sometimes two or three) co-ordinating the GD. After the topic is given, the candidates start discussing the topic amongst themselves. They stop the discussion when moderator asks them to stop. In some cases, you may be asked to write the summary of the GD. Hence, while taking chance to speak; you should, at the same time concentrate on what the others are saying, so that it is easy to write others’ point of views. Don’t be in a wrong impression that writing a summary means it is mandatory that you have to come to a conclusion by the end of the allotted time for GD. This is not so! Even if you are asked to come to a conclusion, it is not always possible. In such cases, the moderator will look for your approach to the problems and not your prescription in the form of consensus.

Seating arrangement:

The groups of candidates are made to sit in a circular/ semi-circular fashion or in a u shape or in rectangular “boardroom” seating arrangement. In most cases the group size ranges from 8 to 15 students per group. However, it may also vary to a bigger number of participants depending upon the institute/company, which is conducting the GD. In most cases, the moderator decides the seating arrangement. The participants are allotted a specific seat in the GD. It is very rare that the participants are allowed to select their preferred place. If the seating arrangement is circular, then there is no difference between any two positions. However, if it is a rectangular arrangement, then the best positions are the middle of the shorter side. This gives the advantage of the better noticeability by the other members of the group. The next best position is the centre of the longer side. Physical prominence makes it a little easier to get one’s way into the discussion. The position at the two ends of the longer sides is probably the least desirable. But if don’t have any choice, you should make the best of the situation. Concentrate on your participation rather than on the position of your seat. To make yourself visible to others, you may lean a little forward while speaking. If you are getting physically excluded from the group, push your chair a little forward. Alternatively, request your neighbors to pull their chair a little back.

Time: Normally 15 to 20 minutes is the time given to each group for discussing the topic. There may also be variations. It may be terminated much earlier or it can be extended to 30 minutes or more.

Moderator: The person who co-ordinates the GD is called the ‘moderator’. He is neutral person, either from the company / institute conducting the GD or a professional. The moderators are normally experienced persons, who have the ability to judge the performance of every member of the group -even if is a large one. His primary role is to evaluate the performance of every participant. He is the one who announces the topic and time of the GD. He also keeps track of the time and the way the GD progresses. Generally, he does not interfere during the GD. However, he may intervene at two situations.

i) When the group discusses the points that are not relevant to the given topic.

ii) When there is chaos and noise in the discussion.

In the first case, the moderator may interfere to bring the discussion back to the track and the second case, he may stop the GD temporarily till order settles in. The moderator also has the right to ask a participant to stop talking, when any member dominates the GD. In other word, the moderator is only a facilitator or an observer, who is present to help the smooth flowing of the GD and evaluate the participants during the process.

What are the purposes of conducting a Group discussion

Group Discussion is forum where people sit together; discuss a topic with the common objective of finding a solution for a problem. The members are expected to arrive at a common consensus. While discussing, it is important that the intention of the members is to facilitate the exchange of views.

You should be aware that in GD, all the members of the group will participate and you have to listen to the views of the other members of the group. It is discussion and the speaker will be “interrupted” by the other members of the group while speaking. At this point, the speaker should modify what he says, based on the points that other members of the group make while the discussion is in progress. He has continually keep evaluating the situation. Also, each participation tries to “grab” the chance to speak or to focus the attention of the group on himself/herself.

You might wonder, “Why should I participate in GD? What is the purpose of GD? Well, Group discussion are arranged in order to measure certain traits of the participants, which are otherwise difficult to identify and time consuming to assess. It is common that a number of people who can communicate their ideas well and discuss effectively with others in a one-to-one situation become tongue-tied in a group situation. They will just not be able to present their ideas or discuss their ideas with the other members of the group. A group discussion will identify people who have such skills and people who do not. It is very necessary for potential candidates to have such group communication skills. The course work at most premier institutes requires group projects to be undertaken. A candidate without the ability to communicate the ideas effectively in a group situation will be a misfit in such and environment.

Further, when you are appointed at any level in an organization, you do not work in isolation of others. Decision making is done after discussing the relevant issues with others-be it superiors, peers or subordinates. In a number of such cases, you will need to interact with more than one person at the same time-very akin to GD type of situation. Unless you are equipped with some of the skills, which will be discussed in the course of this unit, you will not be able to do justice to your role in the organinsation. Hence, it is important to know the nuances of a GD.

What are listening skills? Enlist the types of listening skills

Types of Listening

1. Discriminative listening:

As the name itself suggests, Discriminative listening is the most basic type of listening, whereby the difference between the sounds is identified. If you cannot hear difference, then you cannot grasp the meaning that is expressed by such difference.

We learn to find the difference between sounds within our own language early, and later are unable to discriminate between the phonemes of other languages. This is one reason why people belonging to one country find it difficult to speak the language of another nation, as they find the sounds similar, but cannot distinguish the subtle sounds that are required in that language.

Likewise, unless a person is attentive to the slight variation in the tone of the speaker’s voice, he is less likely to discern the emotions experienced by the speaker.

2. Comprehension listening:

When the discrimination between sounds is achieved, one should learn to make sense of the perceived sound. To comprehend the meaning, one requires a lexicon of words and all rules of grammar and syntax by which one can understand what others are saying.

The same is true with regard to the visual components of communication. An understanding of the body language helps us understand what the other person really means.

The communication, some words are more important and some are less and comprehension is often facilitated by the extraction of key facts and words from a verbose communication.

3. Evaluative listening:

Evaluative listening is also called ‘critical listening’ because we make judgments about what the other person is saying. We seek to assess the truth of what is being said. We also judge what they say about our values, assessing them as good or bad, worthy or unworthy. Evaluative listening is particularly relevant when the other person is trying to persuade us, perhaps to change our behavior or belief held by us.

4. Appreciative listening:

In appreciative listening, the main intention is to seek certain information which will be appreciated. For example, the information that helps meet our goals and needs are looked for. We use appreciative listening when we are listening to good music, poetry or may be even the stirring words of a great leader.

5. Empathetic listening:

When we listen empathetically, we seek to understand t the beliefs, moods emotions and goals of other people. This requires excellent discrimination and close attention to the nuances of emotional signals.

In order to make others exposes their deep emotions to us, we also need to demonstrate our empathy in our demeanor towards them, asking sensitively and in a way that encourages self-disclosure.

6. Therapeutic listening:

In therapeutic listening, the listener has a purpose of not only empathizing with speaker but also to use this deep connection in order to help the speaker understand, change or develop in some way.

This not only happens when you go to see a therapist but also in many social situations, where friends and family seek to both diagnose problems from listening and also to help the speaker find a remedy for those problems. This also happens in work situations, where Managers, HR people, trainers and Coaches seek to help employees learn and develop.

7. Dialogic listening:

The word ‘dialogue’ stems from the Greek words ‘dia’, meaning ‘through’ and ‘logos’ meaning ‘words’. Thus dialogic listening means learning thorough conversation. It is an engaged interchange of ideas and information in which we actively seek to learn more about the person and how they think. Dialogic listening is also known as ‘relational listening’ because with the help of exchange of ideas while listening, we also indirectly create a relation.

How can overhead projectors be used to enhance the quality of presentations

Overhead projectors (OHP's) are used to project and enlarge an image contained on a transparent sheet onto a remote screen for easy viewing. Overhead projectors are old in the art but continue to enjoy widespread use in the fields of education and marketing. Overhead projectors have been popular as a means of projecting prepared transparencies or free-hand transparencies that are drawn in real-time, on to a display screen for viewing by a group of viewers. Overhead projectors enable a marking on a transparent film to be projected on a screen or wall by shining light through the transparent film. A speaker giving a presentation can write on the transparent film, and/or make additions or corrections to a preprinted image, while the film is on the overhead projector. The use and display of graphics and text in business presentations, lectures and the like often augments the effectiveness of the speaker and of the presentation. Transparencies, bearing graphics and/or text, are often exhibited to the viewers on a screen using an overhead projector. Transparencies allow the presenter to preview the presentation, easily sort through materials, point out specific features, and easily add additional comments or graphics. This allows the speaker a flexibility which would not be possible if transparencies or other audiovisual aids were used. Use of OHP's has recently expanded from the traditional projection of images printed on transparent films, to the projection of images which are stored in machine-readable form and which are presented by means of a light-transmissive liquid crystal display (LCD) panel which is laid on the stage of the OHP.

Here are three general types of overhead projectors: transmissive, reflective, and opaque. Transmissive overhead projectors are generally comprised of a base having a transparent stage area, a light source inside the base, a projection head mounted above the stage, and a condensing lens system located near the stage for directing the light towards the projector head. The base includes a light source and optical element designed to direct light from the source through a transparent stage defining the upper surface of the base and to the projection head. The post is pivotable between the illustrated upright projection position and a storage position wherein the post is rotated forward and down to engage a clip. Above the base is disposed a projection head having lenses and a mirror which function to gather light from the projector base and redirect it to the screen. The projection head is supported by a post extending upwardly from the base. It is necessary that the distance between the projection head and the base be adjustable so that the image projected on the screen may be brought into focus. A transparent film having translucent or opaque indicia may be placed on the stage and an image of the indicia projected onto a distant vertical surface by the projection head. In a transmission type of overhead projector, a stage is constituted by a Fresnel lens. The condensing lens system often takes the form of a Fresnel lens or a two-element Fresnel lens combination. Transmissive projectors have the light source below the stage and an overhead arm carrying a projection lens and a mirror. Light is focused and transmitted through the transparency on the stage toward the projection lens which is located by the arm over the stage and reflected by the mirror. The image of the transparency is thereby projected onto a large surface.