Business Communication

Common idioms

- Break a leg - Live it up - Kick the bucket - Shed crocodile tears - Wild goose chase - No room to swing a cat - Play it by ear

Demographics profile

- Males/females and a % of each - Age ranges - Income levels - Education levels - Where do they live - Where do they work - Married/single/widowed/divorced

Objectives of this course

- To assist you in your co-op position - Learning to speak with confidence and intention

Every sound you make is the result of the interaction of the following

- Your power or vibration - breath - Vibration - vocal cords - Amplification - cavities of your body - Articulation - mouth, tongue, teeth and lips

Deep breathing II

- deep breath and clasp your hands together. Hold your breath as you squeeze your palms together tightly. Let go of your hands and breath at the same time

Symptoms of performance anxiety

- nausea, anxiety, blushing, sweating, dizzy, shaking, fear, unable to breathe, freezing up, falling apart, stammering, heart pounding self-conscious

For dry mouth

1, Take no milk, products, ice-cream, soda, or alcoholic beverages. Avoid caffeine! 2. Lightly coat your teeth with petroleum jelly, it will stop your lip from sticking to your teeth 3. Bite the tip of your tongue (this helps you to salivate) 4. Drink room temperature or warm water (with lemon, if available)

Tips for handling stage fright

1. Accept the fact that stage fight is normal 2. Watch other speakers and learn the techniques 3. Concentrate on your strengths, compensate for your weaknesses 4. Practice, practice, practice before you are going to present. 5. Speak often, the more you speak, the better you will be able to manage your stage fright

Why isn't everyone listening

1. An unexpected disturbance in the room, or just outside 2. Movement in the room 3. Your memory fails 4. A photographer is trying to take your picture 5. There's a heckler in the audience

Getting audience to involve

1. Ask the audience questions 2. Get the audience to involve, react or respond 3. Tell the audience a story 4. Use visual aids 5..Form small groups 6. Use people's names 7. Make direct eye contact 8. Move closer to the audience

Strategy to stop fillers

1. Awareness: using a recorder while talking on the phone or asking a friend to stop you in the middle of a conversation when you use a filler. - Record the voice mail you leave others 2. Breathing: stop and take a deep breath when you sense that you are about to use a filler. Slow down your dialogue 3. The pause: pause when you are collecting your thoughts instead of using fillers. Normal pause is between 2-5s 4. exercises

When to pause

1. Before and after crucial points 2. At the end of each major section of the address 3. After especially significant or difficult names or terms 4. After an important statement or a call to action

Computer presentation reminders

1. Check your set-up and power source. Bring a pair of screwdrivers along with your computer in case 2. Bring extension cords, power-surge protectors, and cables you might need 3. Bring duct tape and scissors to secure wires to the floor and walls so no one will trip 4. Be sure your power pack is fully charges or new batteries have been installed 5. Carry on auxillary light with you or request one if the room will be darkened 6. If you are using a modern, verify that the room has compatible phone jacks that they work 7. Have duplicate copies of your software with you 8. Run through your presentation using the computer visuals and make sure they can be seen from all seats 9. Practice using the equipment until you are completely comfortable with it

What today's audience demands

1. Connect with us! - Get and hold our attention - Entertain us - Talk to us personally 2. Be credible - Know what you are talking about - Don't waste our time 3. Customize the content to us! - Know our industry - Speak our language 4. Give us substance! - Give us answers, solutions or tips - Say something we can see - Say something news or unique 5. Make an impact! - Leave us with something that is memorable - Make our lives more thoughtful

What makes a superior presentation/speech?

1. Content 2.Techniques 3.Passion 4.Creativity 5. Theatre 6.Honest

Five steps to perfect delivery

1. Deliver your presentation: turn off all visual before presenting so that audience's attention all on you. 2. Dealing with interruptions - Closing the doors to the presentation room - Posting a sign warning that a presentation is in progress - Posting an associate by the door - Rerouting phones in the room - Asking that questions and comments be held until the end of the presentation - Letting the audience know that there will be a break and when 3. What should you do if you get off track 4. A second closing statement 5. Getting feedback

If your heartbeat is rapid

1. Do some deep breathing 2. Avoid caffeine

Visual checklist

1. Dress appropriately 2. Step out from behind the lectern 3. Speak with confidence and authority 4. Smile 5. Get set before starting to speak 6. Establish eye contact with your audience before speaking 7. Begin speaking without looking at your notes 8. Don't look at the floor or out of the window 9. Use gestures effectively 10. Stand up straight yet relaxed, don't lean 11.Use the facial expressions to add interest - look confident 12.Don't pace 13. Keep your feet still.Keep your movements intentional 14.Don't play with your pens, pointers, visuals, hair, jewelry or rattle change in your pocket 15. Don't pack up to leave before the entire audience has left the room.

Too Nasal

1. Ear training 2. Mouth opening exercises 3. Muscle strengthening exercises

Stage fright

1. Fear of fainting 2. Fear of being boring 3. Fear of your mind going blank 4. Fear of being judged

Questions team leaders must keep in mind

1. How much time do you have for each part? 2. What should be the order of material? 3. Who are strong/weak presenters? 4. As leader, you should sum up and lead the questions and answer section 5. Make sure you have given adequate preparation time for rehearsing and revising

Developing the informative presentation

1. Keep the information fresh - different spin, new theories 2. Make it well organized - have progression, visual aids 3. Keep it interesting - colourful language stories/examples, case studies, exercise, experiement etc 4. Motivate the audience - WIIFT, relevant to your listeners - Different learning styles - repeat, keep it simple, focus on the big picture

Major blocks encounter while speaking

1. Lack of confidence 2. Performance anxiety 3. Fear of making mistakes 4. Fear of being judged 5. Uncertainty about content 6. Anxiety regarding an accent or vocabulary

Excess breathiness is caused by

1. Lack of muscle tension in the vocal folds 2. Habitual speaking patterns 3. A serious medical condition.

Visual aid rules

1. Leave it up long enough for your audience to look it over before you begin to talking about it 2. Don't talk to the screen, talk to the audience 3. stand so that the visual aid is to your left, point with your left hand 3. Practice before your presentation 4. Keep going if something goes wrong with the visual aids or equipment

Q&As (Don't)

1. Let a stage hog take control 2. Treat a hostile questioner with hostility 3. Lie, if you don't know and answer, say so 4. Be long-winded

Q&As (Do)

1. Let the audience know when you will be taking questions 2. Encourage the audience to ask questions 3.Look at the questioner while rephrasing the question, but look at the audience while you are answering 4. Call on the experts in the audience but take back control after they have responded 5. Set a time limit to control hostile questioners 6. End the question and answer period with a closing remark

Eye contact

1. Look at the whole audience to engage in a relationship with them 2. Scan the audience to make eye contact with each person 3. Speakers want to convey honesty, confidence and conviction

Fear of being boring

1. Make sure you are providing useful information 2. Material is interesting and you have backed it up with facts, figures, anecdotes to enhance and illustrate your points 3. You are speaking directly to each one of them so there is no reason for them to be bored 4. You are enthusiastic about the topic and your voice shows it

Writing for visusl aids (Don't)

1. Never use green and red together 2. Don't out the title of the program on every visual or they will begin to look cluttered 3. Do not capitalize all words. Capitalize only the first word and any proper names

Body language

1. Over 50% of your message 2, Keep your chin up, and eyes open. 3. Do not pace, avoid moving unless you have some place to go 4. Move if you want to make contact with particular parts of your audience 5. Unlock your hands and let your hand gestures be a reflection of your text and energy

Cut your presentation

1. Pick one key point to focus on 2. Use a strong grabber 3. Give a strong follow-up to your grabber 4. Illustrate your point with an anecdote or story so the point is driven home to the audience 5. o structure your shortened speech effectively, use the following format: 1. State the problem 2. State your solution 3. Tell how or why you reached your solution 4. Sum up

You, the content and the slides

1. Platform to present multimedia content to capture attention and interest 2. Involves how you choose to present the content through you with an honest and passionate intention 3. Guide, assist and direct 4. Make info more effective and interesting to absorb 5. Production of sight, sound, content and energy 6. Performance, an exhibition and a demonstration of how well you create and sell you premise 7. Grab attention of audience with mixture of sounds, words and visuals 8. Engage and involve audience as the presentation moves along 9. Conclusion to prove and sell premise so stronger than intro

Guidelines to power points

1. Premise must be on your opening slide 2. Premise is a statement of intent 3. Carefully select logical words and phrases 4. Avoid using font color for the sake of decoration 5. Avoid distracting or excessively colourful backgrounds 6. Font size for headings: larger than content and consistent 7. Be careful with sound and video 8. Use animation that is minimal and targeted 9. Flash each point by using transparency 10. Avoid data dump 1.1.Turn texts into graphics

Ten tips for team leaders

1. Prepare with the audience in mind 2. Have reasonable objectives 3. Arrive early to set up the room, get out materials, and welcome attendees 4. Define objectives, agenda, and ground rules 5. Use a variety of learning opportunities, making the event as experimental as possible 6. Use a variety of learning tools 7. Present information in small chunks giving opportunity for questions 8. Adhere to time constraints 9. Keep things moving 10. Draw conclusions and create action

If your voice is shaky

1. Project your voice to the back row of the audience

Method to find pause

1. Review your script and find the natural pauses by noting them with /. After having found the pause indicate the amount of time for an effective pause in beats (seconds) ¼, 1/2 , 1s, 2 2.After, adjust your voice and projection, vary your tone, and energy to bring the word or phrase alive

12 steps to organization

1. Select the topic 2. Limit the topic to one central theme 3. Gather the information 4. Choose a method of organization 5. Outline your main points 6. Collect supporting data 7. Check for accuracy 8. Design the introduction 9. Write a strong conclusion 10. Out together a final draft 11. Practice your presentation 12. Practice your presentation again and again

Tips for videoconferences

1. Size counts: videoconferences are best suited to small, geographically disbursed groups 2. Have a backup plan if things malfunction. Consider an audio conference instead 3. Make proper introductions. Ensure that each participant is visible when he or she is introduced 4. Establish a facilitator to run the meeting and make sure the agenda is followed. He or she will also make opening and closing remarks 5. Watch the remote locations. When the room is equipped with monitors for both the remote and local sites, don't watch yourself. Focus your attention on the person speaking 6. Pay attention to grooming 7. Show consideration for others. Speak in a normal tone of voice, consider slight audio delays when replying

Vocal checlist

1. Speak with enthusiasm 2. Sound interested and sincere 3. Sound extemporaneous, not like you are reading or have memorized your presentation 4. Keep your pitch comfortably low; use variation in tone 5.Keep your speaking rate at 125 to 160 words per minute. 6.Pronounce your words careful. 7.Avoid power robbers 8.Use pauses for impact 9. Stop at the end of an idea, don't hook sentences together with, and, and uh, like 10.Drop your pitch, not volume, at the end of sentences 11.Don't let your voice rise at the end of declarative sentences 12.Hide, don't emphasize your mistakes 13.Speak with, not at, the audience

Keys to success in Q&As

1. Tell the audience when you will be taking questions and the limit 2. Encourage questions with open body stance and personal enthusiasm 3. Listen carefully and paraphase questions before responding 4. Look at the questioner when rephrasing a question, look at the audience when responding 5. If you don't know the answer, say no. offer to get back to the questioner latter 5. Don't let a stage hog take control 6. Handle hostile questioners respectfully, don't be defensive, cut them short 7.Keep your answers brief 8.End the qna session with a memorable closing statement

Major Failings in Business Presentations

1. The presenter isn't well prepared 2. Proper audience analysis has not been done 3. Presenter too dependent on notes 4. Leaving too many questions unanswered tells audience you really don't know enough about the subject 5. You are going on for too long (30-45mins without break will make audience unable to concentrate) 6. The room is not set up well (people cannot see you), walk around 7 Not ending with a strong call to action or drawing conclusions for the audience

Brody's body languages

1. The rag doll 2. Head rolls 3. Arm swings 4. Shoulder shrugs 5. Yawning 6. Abdominal breathing

Room arrangement checklist

1. The room is set up to your specifications and is of adequate size for the number of people expected 2. A microphone is available or you have your own 3. Practice your presentation where you will give it 4. You can be seen and heard from every seat 5. All electrical outlets and extension cords are where needed 6. You have backups; bulbs, extension cord, visual aids, etc. 7. The ventilation system is adequate 8. The room temperature is 65 degrees 9. The window shades are down to eliminate glare 10. Participants' chair backs are to the door

Goals and Objectives of Presentations

1. To understand communication as a learned process 2. To create a safe and comfortable class environment 3. To master the required skills and techniques to deliver superior presentations 4. To acquaint participants with frameworks and elements for planning superior presentations 5. To work within a team environment to create and deliver superior presentations 6. To foster risk taking 7. To incorporate creativity in your presentations 8. To build confidence and honesty in your delivery 9. To work on and implement voice and body language skills 10. To foster each class member's unique communication style 11. Review the criteria on the evaluation sheets for more specific goals and expectations

Writing for visual aids (do)

1. Typeface: sans serif type for headlines, serif for text (sans serif lacks 'feet"). Don't use more than 2 fonts 2. Keep it simple: save the complicate info for presentation and handout. Summarize when possible 3. Be consistent: either statement/questions 4. Titles: limit the title of a visual to 1 line and sub -titles to 2 lines.

Deliver it effectively

1. Use a remote 2. Each bullet point should appear as you are just about to talk about it 3. Give audience time to read or assimilate information 4. Connect with your slide 5. Repeat your premise 6. Move but do not pace 7. Use notes but memorize intro/conclusion to sell 8. Without notes is impressive, professional + credibility 9. Mistakes happen, move on

Flip chart (DO)

1. Use large letter, in blue and black only 2. Leave room between points 3. Follow the 4-4 rule: use no more than four lines and four words per line 4. Write on the top ¾ of the page 5. Write large enough so those in the back of the room can see 6. Prewrite lightly with pencil. 7. Stand on the correct side of the flip chart while presenting 8. 3 Ts - touch, turn and talk 9. If you are presenting in a room with soft walls, use push pins to attach the finished pages to the walls so the audience can see and discuss

Strategies for superior presentations

1. WIIFT 2. Clear audience profile. Is your goal to inform,persuade or motivate? 3. If you are doing in-house presentation, you can employ a creative vehicle and have some fun

Public speaking, what to avoid

1. Weak introduction/conlusion 2. Poor projection of voice 3. Talking too quickly 4.Disorganized or rambling 5. Speaking in a monotone voice 6. Not using word phrase emphasis 7. Using fillers 8. A breathy voice 9. Not smiling enough 10. Lacking emotion and passion 11. Talking without content 12.Using abstractions without concrete examples 13. Not explaining concepts 14. Using unfamiliar jargon or phrases 15. Using poor grammar

If you have red splotches on your face

1. Wear pink or red colors 2. Wear high necklines 3. Use humor to release endorphins

WIIFM - questions to disocver audience's purposes

1. What are their experiences with the topic? 2.Why are they there? Do they want to be/have to come? 3. What do they hope to get out of the presentation? 4. What are their trigger issues? 5. Are they there with open minds?

7 ways to increase confidence

1. What's the worst thing 2. Imagine already have done it in the past 3. Copy a confident example 4. Use as if framework 5. Imagine in future, won't go anywhere if you don't try 6. Disarm negative voice

Energy and passion

1. coupled with voice projection. 2. be honest and passionate about what you are saying 3. Make an emotional connection to your text thus creating energy in delivery and a sense of urgency

Handling hostiles questioners

1. let them say whatever they want to say. You listen while they vent 2. Paraphase what they have just said and how they feel about it w/o being condescending 3. Ask probing questions to try to find out what the real issues are - Choose one of the following options: • I know what your issues are, now let me respond • Let's look into this together after this presentation has concluded.

Why pause

1. listeners love the chance to let important points sink in

Breathing tip for handling stage fright

1. take a deep breath in through your nose and tighten your body, from neck to toes 2.Hold the breath for 6s, then slowly let go of the tension in your body as you exhale through your mouth to a count of 10s

Pitfalls in team presentation

1.Appearing disorganized, poor timing 2. Holds in presentation because people think others are covering the topic

For sweaty hands

1.Carry a handkerchief 2.Use talcum powder or corn starch on hands

Visual aid reminders

1.Check the room set-up and equipment availability before preparing your visual aids 2.If possible, practice using the visuals on-site 3.Arrive early on the day of your presentation to have adequate time to set up equipment 4.Carry, extra bulbs, extension cords, duct tape, and tools 5. If using computers, make sure all electrical outlets are grounded 6. Make sure your power pack is fully charged or new batteries have been installed on your laptop or hand-held computer 7. Make sure proper phone jacks are available if you are using a modem 8. Make sure the keyboard operator has an auxiliary light if the room is to be darkened 9. Bring duplicate copies of software 10. If renting or borrowing equipment, make sure you are familiar with it in advance of your presentation 11. Make sure your visuals can be seen from every seat 12. When using slides, make sure they are in order and none are upside down 13. Make sure everything is spelled correctly, especially customers' names and products. 14. Be prepared to speak without visuals

Disadvantages of fillers

1.Confuse our message 2. Distract our listeners 3.Alienate our listeners 4. Destroy the impact of our words 5. Eliminate clarity of thought 6. Have a negative impact on our credibility 7. Undermine our professional status 8. Make us appear unprepared

Top commandments of informative presentations

1.Less is more 2.It's a jungle to the audience therefore provide reviews 3.Assume they don't understand : so provide extra explanations and examples 4.Keep relating back to what they already know: compare,highlight similarities n differences 5.Use visuals and simplify 6.Keep lingo and jargon to a minimum 7.Insist on Interaction 8.Demonstrate: help increase comprehension and memorability 9.Do the unexpected 10. Sell: point out the value

The type of visual aid you choose depends upon several variables:

1.The lengths of your presentation 2.The audience size 3.The logistics of the meeting room 4.The available equipment 5.The type of presentation you will be giving

Verbal checklist

1.Use descriptive language 2. Start with a grabber to get their interest and create need 3.Use transitions to make your ideas flow 4. Make sure your information is interesting, useful and understandable 5. Repeat the information to enhance retention 6. Avoid words that create doubt about what you are saying ( kind of, sort of, I hope, I guess, perhaps) 7.Time your speech accurately

Psychographics

1.What do they think about your topic? It is new to them? 2. Have they attended any presentations on similar topics? 3. What are their hopes, aspirations, dreams, and goals? 4. What are their interests? 5. Are they politically active? 6.Have they supported causes like yours before? 7. Are they open-minded?

Flip chart (definition)

A large pad of paper mounted on an easel. It is bound at the top and lose at the bottom

how to develop competency for persuasive speech?

Competency can be established by your introduction:state your credentials and accomplishments

how to develop conviction for persuasive speech?

Conviction will be established during presentation when you demonstrate your knowledge

Pie charts

Depict pieces in relation to the whole and to one another. It is a way to simplify a combination of details for your audience

Extrovert

Energized by being around other people, friendly and outgoing

Organization charts

Help to clarify complex subjects or procedures so that audience can understand quickly. Useful for detailing social groups or chains of command.

Bar graphs

Let you audience see blocks of information, allowing them to make visual comparisons quickly

Disadvantages of flip chart

Look sloppy at the end, hard to go back to previous point

Line graphs

Make it easy to illustrate trends and show increases or decreases in a quick way

If your legs are shaky or your knees are knocking

Move about the platform or walk

Introvert

Not simply shy, who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people

When to use flip chart ?

Only during small-group presentations

three modes of persuation

Perceived trustworthiness, perceived competence, perceived conviction

Flow charts

Show a series of sequences or relationships in an easy to follow format

How long to pause

Simply swallow! It take less than 2. It has the additional advantage of soothing the vocal cords, helping to promote a clear, pleasant voice quality

Speaker presence is the direct result of voice projection, to be heard. The pronunciation of your text allows you to be understood by your audience

Speaker presence is the direct result of voice projection, to be heard. The pronunciation of your text allows you to be understood by your audience

Tone

The catchall category for the many moods and textures of the voice: harsh, sarcastic, sincere, whimsical, pleading, serious, goofy

Comfort zone

This is your place, which you have learned to feel comfortable within. Most of the qualities that don't make for a superior speaker. When you take your comfort zone to a speech or presentation, it is often less than successful!

Lack of control of exhalation causes the speaker to run out of breath before they are finished the word or phrase.

This results in choppy sentences or weak and inaudible endings of sentences

how to develop trustworthiness?

Through common ground- sharing similarities with audience, including demographics, attitudes, experiences

Pictographs

Use figures rather than a line or bar to show the same type of information

persuasive presentations appeals

Use logos (logical appeals: fact,figures), pathos (emotional appeal:need,want,desire),ethos (credibility)

Profile graphs

Use shading underneath the data and make it easy to see large or significant changes

Voice projection: With a weak diaphragm, phrasing is dependent on the speakers breath supply not on what is being said

Voice projection: With a weak diaphragm, phrasing is dependent on the speakers breath supply not on what is being said

Essential elements of chapter presentation

Your premise, vehicle and content

Our voice was intended to

convey our ideas, convictions, passions, our affection, and our intentions

Deep breathing I

deep breath in through your nose and tighten everything in your body from your head to neck, to shoulder, hands, fingers, legs and toes. Hold breath for 6secs then slowly let go of tension in your body as you exhale through your mouth to a count of 10

Spatial organization

nature of space, best used with visuals, classroom set up effects

Geographical organization

not just space, but geographical space, breakup of the soviet union

Volume

refers to how loudly or softly you speak.

Pitch

the relative highness or lowness of your voice

Chronological organization

time sequence, time line

When speaking we have to take a quick breath controlling the rate of exhalation

to sustain the length of a phrase or sentence

Psychographics

what traits do they share, politics, interests, attitudes, learning styles

idiom

words/phrases/expressions that are unusual either grammatically or there is a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements