No
one would eat a well cooked food served in unwashed dishes. Presentation
is the finesse of conveying information in an engaging manner. We are
going to learn different captivating techniques at this point in the course.
Let' begin
The Three Talk Styles to Avoid
1. The
Sales Pitch: Give as much value as possible. Don't try to take from you
audience. For instance, Don't go up there telling the audience to buy your
book. You can refer to it in passing or let them know you are teaching from the
book, if you are. People can tell when you are reaching for their pockets
instead of their minds. Build a reputation as someone who gives so much value
in his/her speeches and people will willingly buy your books off the stand or
contribute financially in appreciation.
2. The
Ramble: Time is the most valuable gift anyone can give. Your audiences
make sacrifices to sit there for however long to listen to you; don't waste it
by sounding unprepared. Ensure you offer tangible solution to a given problem,
state clear directions or call to action. Avoid unnecessary oohs, aahs and
umms. Be cautious to give value such that they beg you to speak on when you are
done.
3.
The Organisation Bore: No one cares about your organisation, how the
team built seven sky scrappers or that your hard work paid off in
millions of dollars. People are more interested in knowing the secrets or
solution. Give them that not the history of your organisation.
Chris
Anderson (2016) in his book “Ted Talks:
The official guide to public speaking” gives the two statements below to
illustrate the difference between an organisation bore and an interesting
speech.
The
Organisation Bore
“Back
in 2005, we set up a new department in Dallas in this office building [slide of
glass tower here], and its goal was to investigate how we could slash our
energy costs, so I allocated Vice President Hank Boreham to the task . . .”
The
Interesting Speech
“Back
in 2005 we discovered something surprising. It turns out that it’s possible for
an average office to slash its energy costs by 60 percent without any
noticeable loss of productivity. Let me share with you how . . .”
Can
you see the difference? The skill is in finding an interesting way to pass the
message about your organisation while giving tangible value.
TECHNIQUES TO USE
We
learnt in the previous lesson that your speech should have a main idea.
The rest of the talk should be to support the main idea. Six common forms
of supporting your main idea are the use of
- Facts
- Testimonials
- Statistics
- Examples
- Narrative
- Comparisons
All
of these can be used in various degrees in the following presentation
techniques.
1. Narration
Story telling is an important part of our lives. From
Nursery school to University, we engage life experiences and share same
via stories. If the goal of your speech is to inspire or enlighten, narration
is a good technique to consider. Anderson (2016) advises that speakers
remember to emphasize these four things:
- Base it on a character your
audience can empathize with.
- Build tension, whether through
curiosity, social intrigue, or actual danger.
- Offer the right level of detail.
Too little and the story is not vivid. Too much and it gets bogged down.
- End with a satisfying
resolution, whether funny, moving, or revealing.
Boundless states the
following directives on how to best use a narrative
·
Story
telling points toward a single goal. Your story should not be forced, but
should come across as a natural part of your speech. If your audience thinks
you’re telling a story just because you read that it was a good idea to do so,
your story won’t work.
·
The
task of a story is to make the audience care. Your narrative should
be something that your audience can easily understand and relate to.
·
Keep it
short and sweet. Limit your narrative to three or four minutes at the most.
Remember, you are using it to support or clarify your point. Once you’ve done
that, move on.
·
Your
story is not there to replace information. It is there to put something you
have said into perspective.
·
The
best stories paint a picture. They allow your audience to visualize what you
are saying.
·
Make
sure your story builds over time and doesn’t get boring. Keep your audience
interested until the end.
·
Don’t
overuse stories. Of course, as the old adage says, “use what you know.” Stories
are not just about facts—they’re also about communicating what you have
experienced and what you personally know, and feel, to be true.
2. Explanation
If
you seek to build on an idea which you expect the audience to embrace, then
explanation is the best technique for your speech. The following are core
elements of a perfectly crafted explanation.
- Clarify what your
main idea isn't about
- Start with the
present, something the audience can relate with or readily connect with
from their everyday lives.
- Spark curiosity
- Introduce one
concept at a time
- Use a metaphor to
buttress the main idea
- Use relatable
examples to establish your main idea.
3. Persuasion
If
the focus of your speech is to introduce an entirely new idea to your audience,
persuasion is the best technique to consider. Persuasion involves convincing your audience that the way
they see a subject presently isn’t "quite" right. It is practically
about convincing the audience to accept your point of view.
Persuasion could be
applied to get the audience to change their belief, behaviour or
attitude.
People will always
have a mind of their own, no matter how amazing a speaker sounds. However, the success of a persuasive speech is
often determined by the extent to which the audience is willing to consider
your argument. To
effectively persuade an audience, you need to apply Aristotle's Triad of
Persuasion-
- Ethos: An appeal
to Authority.
- Pathos: An appeal to Emotion
- Logos: An appeal to logic
Persuasion with Ethos
The Greek word ethos means
“character”. When used in the context of rhetoric, it refers to the authority
or credibility of the speaker. Whenever anyone presents an argument, we first
evaluate whether or not we can trust them. Engaging character to gain
trust in other to persuade people is what persuasion with Ethos is about.
Here is how to make that happen
1. Share personal stories that
show you have experience with the topic. Refer to your qualifications if
applicable.
2. Show that other people trust you. Use referrals or testimonials to
prove this.
3. Shed concern.
People need to know that you genuinely care for them. Make them see that you
are getting them to believe, see or do is for their good.
Again, Share, Show, Shed.
Persuasion with Patheos
The
Greek word pathos means “suffering,” “experience,” or
“emotion. This approach is used to evoke emotions in your audience.
Pictures, videos or vivid descriptions of what you intend to convey can help
evoke emotions in your audience such that they become persuaded.
Martin Luther King, Jr. used pathos in his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. At the end of his speech, he employed descriptive language to envision a country where racism was no longer a reality: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” 2
Persuasion with Logic
Logos means “word” or “reason” in Greek. It involves appealing to reason or logic. It’s the proof you present to show that your method works, that your position is rock solid, that your claims are accurate. 2
In applying this, use facts, figures and statistics to persuade your audience
In 1789, William Wilberforce made a speech before the House of Commons in England in which he called for the abolition of the slave trade. In his speech, he utilized logos, presenting specific details of the “savage” conditions aboard slave ships. At the beginning of his speech, he noted, “I wish exceedingly, in the outset, to guard both myself and the House from entering into the subject with any sort of passion. It is not their passions I shall appeal to. I ask only for their cool and impartial reason; and I wish not to take them by surprise, but to deliberate, point by point, upon every part of this question.2
Resource 1: Presentation Analysis
Resource 2: TED TALK: The Official Ted Guide to Public Speaking
Footnotes
1. Boundless
communication"Using life experience" https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-communications/chapter/using-life-experience.
(Accessed June 4, 2010)
2. Nicole Bianchi ”How to Use the Four Modes of
Persuasion to Make Your Writing Irresistible" https://nicolebianchi.com/modes-of-persuasion/ (Accessed June 18, 2020)
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