Speaking Our Message - Sun. 10am
Type, purpose, format/setting, audience, preparation, delivery, visuals

Presenters: Hershaft, Lyman, Nixon

Alex Hershaft, PhD
Farm Animal Reform Movement, www.farmusa.org

Click here for a formatted version of Alex's outline.

EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

Effective presentations are crucial to the success of our effort to modify the behavior of the American people. Here we address only the technical aspects – not the content.

Elements of Verbal Communication - Beyond Our Control

• Objective: alarm, arouse, inform, persuade, entertain, all of above
• Setting: interview, negotiation, debate, small group, lecture, rally
• Setup: podium, amplification, A/V equipment, light controls, chairs
• Audience: knowledge, demographics, desires, concerns/fears, physical condition

Elements of Verbal Communication - Within Our Control

• Preparation: know more than the audience, write - don’t read, jot down key points, Q&A
• Content: get attention, short phrases and repetition, conclusion and recommendation
• Arrival: early to get ‘feel’ of the place, meet host and key folks, provide introduction, psyche up
• Empowerment: amplification, carriage, introduction, entrance, clothing (updressing)
• Delivery: voice modulation (volume, pitch, speed), body language (posture, gestures, eye contact, space), visuals, never apologize or check equipment after introduction
• Feedback: audience reaction that guides our presentation in different settings

Objectives

• Impact on preparation, content, delivery (eg, if to alarm or arouse, need lots of drama)
• Impact on empowerment (eg, if to persuade, empowerment is important)
• Impact on feedback (eg, easier to get with alert, arousal, and entertainment)

Setting

• Impact on content (eg, for rally use short, simple sentences; for lecture, more complex)
• Impact on delivery and empowerment (eg, wouldn’t make sense in small setting)
• Impact on feedback (eg, easier to get in small groups and one-on-one)

Setup

• Impact on content (eg, if no amplification, shorter and simpler sentences, more repetition)
• Impact on empowerment (eg, if no podium, rely more on other gimmicks)
• Impact on arrival: (eg, if need major adjustment, arrive earlier)

Audience

• Impact on content: what do they know, desire, fear?
• Impact on delivery: great variation in feedback
• Impact on delivery and empowerment: why to impress them and how?

Ten Effective Ways to Screw Up a Great Presentation Without Really Trying

• Don’t bother researching you audience since your presentation has universal appeal
• If you don’t have time to write out your presentation, just wing it on your way over
• Arrive at the last minute and leave right after to impress everyone with your importance
• Leave your introduction to the creativity of your now alienated host
• Leave the A/V system to the technician, but be sure to test it after you’ve been introduced
• Begin your presentation by apologizing for all the things that may go wrong, including A/V
• Read your presentation faithfully, so your audience won’t miss a single precious word
• Leave drama and humor to actors and stand-up comics
• However, be sure to entertain your audience by fidgeting and jingling coins in your pocket
• Challenge your audience’s good sense by leaving out conclusions and recommendations

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Robert Nixon
Animal Lobbyist

My segment will deal with the following:

• Various kinds of speaking possibilities
• How to prepare for your talk
• How to make a star-studded memorable delivery (anyone can do it)
• The use, misuse, or non-use of visuals
• The all important non-verbal messages and how they can turn a so-so presentation into a dynamic one.