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
*******************************************************************************************************************
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.