Effective communication is the sole purpose of any speaker intending to persuade the preferred audience. For a speaker to sway the audience, one must integrate many aspects of communication skills which when put together adds savour to the presentation. Once the speaker has won the attention of the audience, then one can go on to sell the ideas confidently while maintaining their focus. However, every kind of presentation must be effective enough if it has to be relevant to the intended audience. Therefore, this paper seeks to present a reflection on how to achieve control in delivering a presentation that truly persuades the intended audience.
A good presentation is the one that informs and persuades audience to buy your views. To accomplish this, the speaker should incorporate visual aids with limited words especially where PowerPoint is used for presentation. Some of the visual features such as pictures, diagrams, and charts keep the audience engaged more than the texts and words would thus enhance concentration.
When PowerPoint presentation is used, the speaker ought to know what is essential for the audience otherwise the speaker might lack the connectivity with the audience which is crucial. When presenting, the speaker should not use too many unnecessary words while explaining because this can distract the attention and level of concentration.
Many speakers give handouts prior to the presentation thinking that it would make the audience understand better. This is a suicidal action in presentation because the audience might not listen or pay any attention since they already have the information at their deposal. By so doing, the presenter might not achieve the intended goal of selling the idea(s). Nevertheless, if the handouts must be used they should include images that might draw attention of the audience (leRoux, 2007). The level of confidence portrayed by the speaker wins the attention of the audience; and since fear is absent, the presenter is able to use more gestures and expressions that draw the attention of the audience. This will keep the audience wanting more and more. In addition to mastering the art of moving the audience, the speaker should maintain them at that level by involving them with relevant question.
I disagree with this article because it fails to address across audience with different needs. For example, the writers’ emphasis on pictures than the words as a better way of presentation excludes people with sight impairment. A good presenter should be able to present in such a way that all types of audience are catered for. The idea that a speaker shouldn’t read loudly to the audience is a contradictory because how would one explain without using words?
The information from the reading is partly consistent with my prior knowledge of presentation though I find some misleading. The Ideas that are correctly presented agree with my former knowledge on presentation.
Those ideas that enrich the art of presentation will help me greatly in my future presentations. I will for instance use gestures when presenting as one of the ways of attracting the attention of my audience.
I would encourage others with critical minds to read this article since it contains some relevant information that would be important in presentation. However, people without critical minds may not be able to pick what is essential from the misleading ideas.
Reference list
LeRoux, P. (2007). Visual selling. America: T+D.