Communication is about the sharing of information. We term this information as emotions, facts or ideas. There are times when we communicate only to PERSUADE. However, we also have more to do with our primary human competence to speak and write. Let's understand this power.
At times, the communicator does not want to influence the thought process of the receiver and communication serves the purpose to INFORM. Sometimes, the audience is required to be served with pleasure and delight. Then the purpose becomes to ENTERTAIN.
Hence, there are primarily three things that we do through Communication:
- Persuade
- Inform
- Entertain
Effective Communication remains the key in all these objectives and their manifestation through various tools-techniques or form of presentation. The Presenter has to prove that there is a presence and that has to be taken seriously. One needs to make sense of the content and the delivery of the content. A Presentation is defined as "a live mode of sharing information with a select audience." It is an organized representation of your thoughts and ideas, substantiated by facts and research. Hence, preparation remains the foundation of a successful presentation. It is an oral communication to an audience that has come or is being invited to give time. When we take time from someone, we need to make sense to them.
Presentation Skills have been discussed, taught, imparted for many decades and still, we see people who tend to forget what they really knew before they went to the dais. The butterflies in the stomach are our friends and we need to channelize the negative energy into positive. A lot can be shared about becoming a Good Presenter and we all have been reading thousands of articles about becoming a good presenter. I am sharing here some observations that we need to keep in mind before we take up the charge of giving a PRESENTATION.
A simple process of Presentation is given below:
- Plan (Audience, Resources, Venue, Time, Objective, etc.)
- Prepare (Information Packaging, Organising Content, Tools, etc.)
- Practice (Simulation or Rehearse the Presentation to Time it.)
- Present (The Real)
These four steps are followed as they are mentioned above. There are THREE main components of Presentation:
- Audience
- Content
- Presenter
"Tell them what you are going to tell them — tell them — and tell them what you just told them."
