Week 8 Discussion

COLLAPSE

Presentation Preparation

Next week, you will give your presentation. Your goal is to feel confident about your topic. However, as you read this week, some people fear public speaking more than death.

First, identify the topic and audience of your persuasive presentation.

Second, considering the course materials for this week, describe the strategy you will use to hold your audience’s attention, establish credibility, and convey nonverbal emotions. For example, how will you keep your nerves calm? How will you make sure you cover each point you want to make? How will you use effective hand gestures, exert the right tone, and speak with confidence? How do you stay within the time limit? Discuss why you chose that strategy. 

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates’ initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.​

Optional: Feel free to upload and share your PowerPoint presentation with your class for feedback this week.

1st response

 RE: Week 8 DiscussionCOLLAPSE

  Preparing Presentation

Topic

: Effective Communication

Effective communication in an organization plays a crucial role in the long-term prosperity of that firm. For this reason, it is of the essence for members of an organization to understand why they need to ensure they communicate effectively with each other. My presentation will focus on effective communication in organizations at all times and why it is important.

Strategy

My presentation will be either successful or unsuccessful, depending on the strategy I apply when presenting to the audience. Since I want to capture the audience’s attention, the best strategy I can use in this presentation is storytelling. Most lecturers and even guest speakers usually communicate via storytelling. Similarly, I would use a storytelling strategy because it captures the audience’s attention by placing them in my world. By telling a narrative that relates to effective communication, I will gain the audience’s attention and ensure they are concentrating during my presentation.

It is not easy to establish credibility with an audience I have never engaged with before. However, with certain steps, I can build credibility that makes the audience want to listen to my presentation. For instance, I will have to dress the part for credibility, ensure I maintain eye contact, provide my credentials, and set up a common ground with the audience. Additionally, I will establish credibility by ensuring every member of the audience can hear me talk irrespective of where they are sitting.

Conveying non-verbal emotions is a complex activity that will lead to a presenter losing their credibility if not done right. In this sense, I have to convey non-verbal emotions by ensuring my voice is audible, presenting with facial expressions, and ensuring there is personal space between the audience and me as a presenter. Secondly, I can convey non-verbal emotions via gestures. Gestures such as using my hands while speaking, beckoning, pointing, and waving can help me convey non-verbal emotions. Furthermore, I can use eye contact as a significant way to create visual sense with the audience. Presentations are considered dismal if the presenter fails to maintain eye contact with the audience when speaking. The way I will look at the audience will communicate several things, such as affection and interest. In this sense, these ways can help me convey non-verbal emotions while presenting.

Another issue that I have to consider while presenting is ensuring I cover every point regarding effective communication. Some presenters have been linked with increased speeches and storytelling, making them forget there is limited time to talk about certain points. For this reason, notably, I have to be very careful not to waste my time presenting because I chose the storytelling strategy. Thus, I will have to inquire regarding how much time I have to establish a presentation time plan. A time plan will help me allocate time for each point I am supposed to cover and ascertain that I do not spend a lot of time on one point. Time planning is one of the best techniques for ensuring that  I talk about each point I have concerning effective communication as a presenter.

Additionally, speaking with confidence is another issue that I must take into consideration. In presentations, confidence is one of the most common elements that drive a presenter to success. The fact that the audience can note when a presenter is not confident makes it worse. Therefore, I have to display confidence while speaking by visualizing it ahead of time and ensuring that I prepare efficiently for the presentation. Excellent preparation will help me speak fluently and confidently without getting nervous.

2nd Response

   RE: Week 8 DiscussionCOLLAPSE

Topic

Words That Shook the World – An examination of famous communicators and the proclamations which altered the course of our history.

I chose this topic as it is relevant to the course, and I believe it would be interesting to dissect famous examples of communication that helped shape our society. The presentation is aimed at an audience consisting of my classmates.

Strategy

To grab the audience’s attention, I plan to open my presentation with an appeal to pathos (Singh, 1). I hope to evoke emotion by using examples of verbal, written, or illustrative communication which will be familiar to the class, which should allow them to recall a decisive time or place in our history.  

To establish credibility, I intend to include data, statistics, and changes initiated by communication. I will show the communication’s cause and effect, so to speak, and reinforce my presentation’s ethos (Singh, 1).

I intend to use body language and avoid ‘fidgeting’ to convey nonverbal communication (2). Additionally, I plan to include illustrations and pictures to bolster the audience’s multisensory experience (Gallo, 3). The aim is to appeal to more than merely a single sense (Gallo, 3).

To stay calm, I plan to employ the techniques and exercises detailed by Allison Shapira in her YouTube video entitled, “5 steps to calm your nerves right before a speech” (3). These include:

• Finding a quiet place.
• Getting rid of nervous energy.
• Centering oneself.
• Reminding oneself, “why me.”
• Running through the opening and closing.

I will use slides to complement the presentation (2) and cover all the main points. I will prepare well (Morgan, 5) to avoid losing sight of any topics I intended to cover. This preparation will include deciding on the tone of the presentation and the presentation’s timeframe. I will focus on avoiding the overuse of hand gestures, as these tend to draw the audience’s attention (2).

To maintain confidence, I intend to “stay in my lane” (Gallo, 3). It is far easier to project confidence when one is authentic, open, and transparent.

References:

1. Khushboo Singh. 2019. How to Harness the Power of Persuasion to Improve Communication. Thrive Global. https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-to-harness-the-power-of-persuasion-to-improve-communication/
2. JWI505. Week 8. Lecture Notes
3. Carmine Gallo. 2014. Talk Like Ted
4. Gwen Moran. 2019. 5 TED Talk Strategies to Be More Compelling at Work. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2019/09/25/ted-talks-public-speaking-tips-strategies/

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence

Week 8 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 1 of 8

Presentation and Delivery

What It Means

Over the past seven weeks, you have learned how to demonstrate your authenticity and
presence in your communications. We examined how to build meaningful connections in one-
on-one conversations. Then, we moved to bigger groups of listeners, including your team. It is
now time to turn our attention to an even larger audience.

You have likely heard that some people fear public speaking more than they fear death.
Delivering a speech to a room full of people – many of whom you do not know – sounds like a
daunting prospect. But the fact is, if you want to be a powerful leader, expect to give plenty of
presentations. Giving great presentations is not as difficult as you might think. All you have to
do is communicate your message in a way that is accessible, engaging, and memorable.

In this lecture, you will learn how to give presentations that listeners will remember. We will
explore how to create visual aids that complement your message. We will also discuss
techniques for conveying authority and presence at the front of the room, as well as what to
do before and after your presentation.

Why It Matters

• Presentations are powerful tools to share your ideas with large groups.

• A high-impact presentation can galvanize your entire organization around an idea.

• Delivering a captivating talk to a room full of people demonstrates your executive
presence in a way no other communication can.

“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by
what the listener receives.”

Lilly Walters

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 8 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 2 of 8

Facing Your Fear

In fairness, being afraid of public speaking is not irrational. Even the most experienced speakers
get nervous before talking in front of a large audience. In fact, it is believed that as much as
75% of people get anxious before giving a presentation.1 The source of your nerves is a matter
of perspective. Perhaps you feel as if you do not have enough time to prepare a really great
presentation, or that you do not know your content well enough. Maybe you think you cannot
organize your thoughts in a way your listeners can follow easily. You could be presenting in a
group, and you think your fellow presenters are way better than you. You might just be a
naturally quiet person who gets anxious talking to people. Your reasons may vary, but at the
core of each of these feelings is the same fear: you think your listeners are judging you. You are
worried that the audience – even the people you do not know – will think less of you if you do
not impress them.

That is not a pleasant thought, and it is one you need to rise above. Delivering a high-impact
presentation is a great way to get noticed by your peers and leaders. And even if you are not
addressing unfamiliar faces in a big auditorium, you give presentations all the time. A team
huddle, a sales pitch, and even a board meeting entail you delivering a message to a group of
people. Do you want to pass up an opportunity to share your message – or even land a job –
just because you do not want to talk to people?

If you want to communicate with confidence, you need to overcome your fear. To do that, you
need to banish the thought that your listeners are judging you, even if they actually are.
Everyone in the room is there to listen to you. You have a message that they need to hear; they
want to learn from you. And nobody in the room wants you to fail. Your job, then, is not to give a
speech. It is to teach your listeners. You will do that if you present your message in an
understandable and exciting way.

Before You Begin

In Week 6 of our course, you learned that knowing your audience is one of the five factors of a
strong communication strategy. As Laura Brown tells us, you need to account for your

1 Rosemary Black, “Glossophobia (Fear of Public Speaking): Are You Glossophobic?” Psycom, September 12, 2019,
https://www.psycom.net/glossophobia-fear-of-public-speaking.

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 8 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 3 of 8

relationship with your listeners, what information they have to know, and what their attitudes
are.2 This is harder to do when you have more listeners to address. So, when you are preparing
your presentation, assess what you know about your audience. What do they already know
about your topic? How do they prefer to receive information? How can you keep them engaged
while you are talking? What will the audience contribute to your topic? What do you need from
them?

The next issue to consider is the environment in which you are speaking. Are you presenting
alongside other people? If so, each presenter needs to know who is addressing what topic.
Each person should also know how much time they have to present. You never want to
monopolize the presentation time, or give your co-presenters less time to deliver their
messages. Speaking of time, how long do you have your audience? Knowing how much time
you have will help you streamline and organize your content. Going beyond your time limit,
especially if you are the only presenter, is an easy way to annoy your listeners. Another
environmental factor to bear in mind is where you are presenting. What sort of materials will you
need for your presentation? If you want to include PowerPoint slides, for example, you have to
make sure the room has the tools you need.

Illustrating Your Points

There is a reason Jeff Bezos has outlawed PowerPoint slides from meetings at Amazon. You
have likely sat through dozens of unengaging slide show presentations. There may have been
too many slides, or maybe the slides contained too much illegible text. Worse, the presenter
might have just read each slide aloud. Those speakers missed the whole point of presenting in
the first place. As Jack once wrote, “Giving a speech is…about igniting stimulating
conversations that go on long after you’re done talking.”3 Visual aids – whether they be slides,
charts, videos, or maps – can be powerful tools for making your messages easy to understand.
Your job is to make sure they are actually engaging.

To begin, your visual aids must complement what you are saying, not replace it. The goal of
your presentation is to deliver a message to a large group of people. The vast majority of that

2 Laura Brown, The Only Business Writing Book You’ll Ever Need (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2019),
22.
3 Jack Welch, “Giving a Presentation? Three Ways to Leave Your Fingerprint,” winning., February 23, 2016,
https://jackwelch.strayer.edu/winning/three-rules-presentation/.

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 8 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 4 of 8

message needs to come directly from you. Visual aids are there to illustrate your key points.
Therefore, they should not contain too much information or text. If you are using slides from a
program like PowerPoint or Keynote, you generally do not need more than twelve slides. If you
include more than that, you risk losing track of your message. Resist the urge to write too much
on your slides, and keep any charts or graphs as simple as you can. Audience members should
not have to strain their eyes to see what you are showing them. And if you are using slides, do
not just read from them. When that happens, either the slides are redundant or you are.

Think of your visual aids as reinforcements of what you are saying. They are there to amplify
your words. Instead of inserting massive blocks of text into your slides, use pictures or graphs.
You can explain what the visual elements mean in your actual speech. For example, if you are
comparing your organization’s performance to that of its competition, show the logos of your
biggest competitors. Include a provocative statistic about each organization’s market
performance. If you have to include text, use short bullet points. Just use them economically.
Choose a simple font like Calibri or Arial, and avoid using only capital letters. If there are key
details that are important to your presentation, consider creating a handout for your audience.

Your visual aids can also be helpful for varying the pace of your presentation. If you show your
listeners ten slides, and all of the slides look very similar, you will lose their attention quickly.
Design your visual aids to include some variety. For instance, if you have to show a series of
slides with graphs, break them up intermittently with pictures or videos. If you can, find a way to
include dialogue in your presentation, or even an activity. When you force your listeners to
respond in different ways, you have a better chance of keeping their attention for the whole
presentation.

Commanding the Room

As we discussed earlier in these notes, you have nothing to fear from your listeners. They are
not judging you – they are in the room so they can learn from you. The audience wants you to
succeed. So many speakers feel intimidated by their listeners, and it shows when they talk.
They slouch and avoid making eye contact with their audience members. They fidget with their
hands. They mumble and trail off at the ends of sentences, using phrases like, “so, yeah.” In
effect, speakers who act this way are making themselves look and feel small. These actions do
not just demonstrate nerves. They indicate a complete lack of executive presence. When
speakers do that, they subliminally tell their listeners, “I do not want to be here right now.”

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 8 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 5 of 8

You do not want to disrespect your audience. You want to assure them that you know what you
are talking about, and that they will benefit from hearing you speak. Respecting your abilities as
a communicator, therefore, is synonymous with respecting your listeners. You respect your own
abilities when you establish your authenticity, attentiveness, credibility, and confidence. Let us
explore how to demonstrate these qualities.

First, think about where you are physically when you begin presenting. Find a way to center
yourself in relation to the audience. This ensures that everyone in the room can see you. If the
space allows for it, you can walk around during the presentation. But begin each presentation in
the center. Just remember that centering yourself to the audience does not always mean
centering yourself to the room.

Speaking of walking, resist the urge to pace a lot during your delivery. Too much movement
makes you look frantic. As a general rule, you should walk when you are transitioning between
your main points. Moving to a different part of the room serves as a visual cue that you are
segueing to a new point in your presentation. Remember, though, to keep talking while you
walk. Shuffling silently to a different place looks awkward and forced. Think of “transition words”
that can serve as cues for you to walk to a different spot. If you are speaking, and you begin a
sentence with “additionally,” “furthermore,” or “not only,” for instance, those would be good
opportunities to walk. Just make sure that, wherever you move to, the entire audience can still
see you.

On the subject of movement, most people do not pay much attention to their hands when they
talk. If you are giving a presentation, however, your listeners’ eyes will follow your every move. If
your hands are moving, the audience will look at every gesture. This is why you should not over-
gesture during your talk, even if you are an extremely passionate presenter. Your hands serve
the same purpose as visual aids; they can emphasize key phrases or points that you make. But,
if you emphasize every single word of your presentation, your message will get lost quickly. If
you are going to gesture, make sure your movements are visible. Avoid gesturing below your
waist or above your shoulders. If you are not moving your hands, keep them in a neutral
position, such as at your sides. Try not to clasp your hands in front of you – this makes you look
unsure of yourself. You want to project confidence in every visual element of your presentation.

However, your most important tool as a presenter is your voice. Remember, you are delivering a
message that you could not just write in an email. You are delivering this talk because you need
to communicate with a large number of people, and you want to elicit an emotional reaction from
them. Your listeners’ response will depend on what they perceive you are feeling. To get the

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 8 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 6 of 8

response you need, think about how you want to express each of your thoughts. Too often,
expressiveness in business gets equated with drama and unprofessionalism. But you do not
need to be a flamboyant speaker. When you prepare your main talking points, ask yourself two
questions about each point:

• What do I want my listeners to feel about this point?
• How do I express that I feel the same way?

If you are talking about something very serious and dire, you will convey the gravity of the issue.
You will pause often, so that you and your listeners can think about what you are saying. You
need to sound sober. But if you are talking about something exciting, you need to sound
excited! You have to make your listeners feel motivated and appreciated. They will feel great if
you show them that you feel great. Whatever your talking points are, you have to bring an
emotional energy to the front of the room. Use your voice to demonstrate that you are excited,
anxious, concerned, wistful, or even sad. There is nothing wrong with showing your emotions in
front of your listeners. In fact, that is exactly what an empathetic and authentic person does.
Just make sure you display your feelings appropriately. If you are too flamboyant, you will
destroy your ethos. But if you do not show your feelings, or do not vary your feelings, you will
commit one of the worst sins a speaker can commit: you will bore your listeners.

Getting Ready

You may not be delivering a theatrical performance when you speak. Regardless, you should
always practice your presentation before you deliver it. You should be comfortable enough with
your content that you do not even need notes. Go over your main points, and think about what
you want your listeners to take from your presentation. Think of one or two key words that
summarize each point. This will help you determine what the crux of each point is – what you
want your audience to think about. Try not to write out your speech word for word and memorize
it. If you have a memory lapse, your confidence will be shattered.

Wherever your presentation is, try to arrive well before any of your listeners do. You can use
this time to ensure that you have all of the materials you need, and that any equipment you are
using works. You can also get a sense of what adjustments you need to make to your delivery.
Is it a big room? If so, you will have to project your emotions more strongly so that your listeners
in the back can get the desired effect. How are the acoustics in the room? If you can hear your

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 8 Lecture Notes

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copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.

JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 7 of 8

voice echoing, you will have to speak a little more slowly. If it is a conference room, will
attendees be seated at the same table? If so, you do not need to walk too far when you
transition between points.

Your voice also needs to be well-prepared before you start talking. Drink water or tea to soothe
your vocal chords. Practice some vocal warmups or tongue-twisters to loosen your facial
muscles. And breathe slowly and deeply before you begin. This will help you relax and maintain
the vocal energy you need.

Wrapping Up

Once you are done talking, you should feel quite relieved. You conveyed a message to a large
group of appreciative people, and you spoke confidently and smoothly. But your presentation
does not always end when your speech does. If your listeners are particularly engaged, they will
have questions for you. In fact, they might have questions before or even during your
presentation. You can ask your audience to hold their questions until you are done, but some
audience members might push back. If someone asks a question, and you refuse to answer it,
you may sacrifice all of the goodwill and empathy you have created with your audience. If you
are interrupted with a question, do not get flustered. Make a mental note of where you are in the
presentation. Then, answer your listener’s question as succinctly and honestly as you can.

If someone asks a question you cannot answer, there is nothing wrong with admitting you
cannot answer it. Do not try to change the topic, do not act defensively, and definitely do not lie.
A blatant lie or mistruth will destroy your credibility. Tell your questioner that you do not have an
answer at the moment, but that you will find out the answer. Ask them for their contact
information so that you can follow up with them after the presentation. Then, obviously, make
sure you find the answer they need.

Even when you make all of your key points and answer all of your audience’s questions, there is
still a chance you do not fulfill your main goal. Imagine you are talking to people in a boardroom.
You have a comprehensive presentation planned out; you need your listeners’ buy-in. About
halfway through, some of your listeners are called away to another meeting. They have not yet
told you whether you have their buy-in. If this happens, and you feel confident enough, ask for
an answer from them. If they cannot give you one, ask what else you need to do for them to
give you an answer. This will help you determine what follow-up work you need to complete.

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 8 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 8 of 8

Finally, you will give many presentations as a leader. You should always be thinking of ways to
grow as a presenter. Once the presentation is completely finished, ask your colleagues for
feedback on your organization and delivery. If you tell them you want to improve your
presentation skills, they will be willing to give you helpful, candid comments. This is also a great
way to build interpersonal relationships with those colleagues. You show that you trust them and
that you believe they want you to grow as a leader.

Looking Ahead

In this lecture, we explored what goes into a strong presentation. We discussed how to use
visual aids to augment your content, as well as how to deliver your presentations in a
professional and engaging manner. Most importantly, you learned why you have nothing to fear
from speaking to large groups of people. Remember, every presentation is just a conversation.
The only difference is the number of listeners.

In the next lecture, we will examine how to communicate through digital and social media. We
will determine what goes into a strong digital engagement policy, what channels to use for your
communications, and how to enhance your online presence.