Oral presentation

The oral presentation means delivering an address to a public audience. It also refers to public
speaking and/or speech-making. It is a brief discussion of a defined topic delivered to a public
audience in order to impart knowledge or to stimulate discussion. The skill in oral presentation
is equally as important as effective writing. Almost every oral presentation contains an
introduction, main body and conclusion like a short paper. Though it is a formal speech in
nature or vocal performance to an audience, it may occasionally require adequate planning and
thorough preparation in using one's voice, body language and visual aids such as slideshows to
present and illustrate the points more effectively and to achieve the desired results.
What you need most for an effective oral presentation is to take a thorough preparation. Only a
thorough preparation can help you control your nervousness and give an effective oral
presentation. And if you want to take a thorough preparation, your first step should be to define
the purpose of your presentation. Whenever you have been able to define the purpose of your
presentation, you should find out the points related to the purpose of your presentation.
Body languages such as eye contact, facial expression, posture and gesture plays a
significant role in oral presentation process. The proper use of the voice and the ability to
adjust it to suit the slightest differences of meaning are also very important in oral presentation.
In addition to correct pronunciation, variation in pitch and cadence, free from speech mannerism,
fluency in delivery are also very important in oral presentation.
In some cases of oral presentations if it seems to you that the persons expected to participate in
the meeting spread over a wide geographical area, then you may need to prepare a brochure
and send it to them well in advance. The brochure usually contains some essential information
such as theme, background, main topics for discussion, name of the president/chairperson, chief
guest, special guests, honorable guests and speakers, etc.
You may also require some specific techniques for each oral presentation to ensure that your
audience understands and remembers the points of your speech. When you deliver your speech,
try to keep your presentation brief and to the point as much as possible no unnecessary
details. You should stick to the facts and avoid presenting complicated information.
Basics of Effective Oral Presentation
The audience
Some basic questions to ask about an audience are:

Who will I be speaking to?

What do they know about my topic already?

What will they want to know about my topic?

What do I want them to know by the end of my talk?

By basing the content and style of your presentation on your answers to these questions, you can
make sure that you are in tune with your audience. What you want to say about your topic may
be much less important than what your audience wants to hear about it.
Planning your presentation
In an effective presentation, the content and structure are adjusted to the medium of speech.
When listening, we cannot go back over a difficult point to understand it or easily absorb long
arguments. A presentation can easily be ruined if the content is too difficult for the audience to
follow or if the structure is too complicated.
As a general rule, expect to cover much less content than you would in a written report. Make
difficult points easier to understand by preparing the listener for them, using plenty of examples
and going back over them later. Leave time for questions within the presentation.
Give your presentation a simple and logical structure. Include an introduction in which you
outline the points you intend to cover and a conclusion in which you go over the main points of
your talk.
Delivering your presentation
People vary in their ability to speak confidently in public, but everyone gets nervous and
everyone can learn how to improve their presentation skills by applying a few simple techniques.
The main points to pay attention to in delivery are the quality of your voice, your rapport with
the audience, use of notes and use of visual aids.
Voice quality involves attention to volume, speed and fluency, clarity and pronunciation. The
quality of your voice in a presentation will improve dramatically if you are able to practise
beforehand in a room similar to the one you will be presenting in.
Rapport with the audience involves attention to eye contact, sensitivity to how the audience is
responding to your talk and what you look like from the point of view of the audience. These can
be improved by practising in front of one or two friends or video-taping your rehearsal.
Effective use of notes
Good speakers vary a great deal in their use of notes. Some do not use notes at all and some
write out their talk in great detail. If you are not an experienced speaker it is not a good idea to
speak without notes because you will soon lose your thread. You should also avoid reading a
prepared text aloud or memorising your speech as this will be boring.

The best solution may be to use notes with headings and points to be covered. You may also want
to write down key sentences. Notes can be on paper or cards. Some speakers use overhead
transparencies as notes. The trick in using notes is to avoid shifting your attention from the
audience for too long. Your notes should always be written large enough for you to see without
moving your head too much.
Visual aids
Visual aids help to make a presentation more lively. They can also help the audience to follow
your presentation and help you to present information that would be difficult to follow through
speech alone.
The two most common forms of visual aid are overhead transparencies (OHTs) and computer
slide shows (e.g. PowerPoint). Objects that can be displayed or passed round the audience can
also be very effective and often help to relax the audience. Some speakers give printed handouts
to the audience to follow as they speak. Others prefer to give their handouts at the end of the talk,
because they can distract the audience from the presentation.
Importance of Oral Presentation
Oral presentations are important because they give the presenter the opportunity of showing their
understanding or opinion on a particular topic to other people. More precisely, a oral
presentation is a good way and potentially effective method for some people gathered to
understand your project or even yourself.
The importance of presentation is also given by their flexibility. They in fact can be delivered for
different purposes such as informing, teaching and persuading and permits the support of
external devices that, if used wisely, can improve the outcome of the whole presentation.
For this reason and for the powerful effect that presentations can achieve, they are largely used in
the workplace. Hence the ability of delivering good presentations is well-rewarded and
communication skills have a strong consideration in the selection process.
People are adopting this technique due to the numerous benefits attached with it. Some of them
are being discussed here.

Instant method of conveying as well as receiving information.

Provides better chance to the audience for understanding speakers context.
Presenter is able to acquire an instant feedback for his work and research by judging
reactions as well as body language of audience.
High level of understanding and transparency
Effective oral presentation helps in saving efforts, time and money for listeners as well as
the speaker.

It can be used for conveying confidential information to a selected group of individuals

which ultimately improves the level of communication & exchange of information.
Oral communication increases level of participation.

The Importance of Reports

A report is an informational work made with the specific intention of relaying information or
recounting certain events in a widely presentable form. Reports are often conveyed in writing,
speech, television, or film. Reports are used for keeping track of information, which may be used
to make decisions. Written reports are documents which present focused, salient content,
generally to a specific audience. Reports are used in government, business, education, science,
and other fields, are often to display the result of an experiment, investigation, or inquiry.
Reports use features such as graphics, images, voice, or specialized vocabulary in order to
persuade that specific audience to undertake an action. One of the most common formats for
presenting reports is IMRAD: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. This structure is
standard for the genre because it mirrors the traditional publication of scientific research and
summons the ethos and credibility of that discipline. Reports are not required to follow this
pattern, and may use alternative patterns like the problem-solution format.
Additional elements often used to persuade readers include: headings to indicate topics, to more
complex formats including charts, tables, figures, pictures, tables of contents, abstracts and
nouns summaries, appendices, footnotes, hyperlinks, and references.
There is a common saying that, no job is finished until the paperwork is done. That is just as
true for the security officer as it is for the accountant or lawyer. Security officers are often unseen
in the middle of the night. Generally, the only way a client can judge how well the guard is
performing the job is by reading the reports in the morning. If it didnt get into the report, the
client assumes it didnt happen. If the report is inadequate, the client assumes that the guard is
inadequate. If the report is neat, thoughtful, and comprehensive, the client assumes that the guard
is doing a great job. A security guard is only as good as his reports.
The client and security guard alike should never overlook the value of the reporting process. It
doesnt matter what type of security is being used armed guards, unarmed guards, vehicular
patrol, executive protection, or security receptionist they must all adhere to a comprehensive
reporting process.
The five basic questions that most reports should answer are:
1. Who
2. What

3. Where
4. How
5. When
If the report does not answer all of those questions it is not finished, yet.
Business Report Format
Business reports can take different forms. Generally, they are concise documents that first inform
by summarizing and analyzing key facts and situations and then make recommendations to the
person or group asking for the report. Before writing this or any report, you must ask yourself
two important questions:
1. Who is my audience? (In business, this is likely to be either your supervisors or clients, such
as the task force above, who will read your report.)
2. What is my purpose? (This is what your readers need to know to do their job.)
If you dont understand your audience and purpose, you are not likely to create a report that
meets the needs of those who will be reading it.
There are few standard rules for writing business reports that dictate what information should
come in which section of the report. The most widely used format consists of the following
standard sections:
Title Section: In a short report, this could be the first page bearing the title of the report, author
name and date. The reason of making such a report could also be included in this section, so that
the reader can establish an instant connection with the information in subsequent sections. In
case of long reports, include the Table of Contents, Terms of References and so on.
Summary: As the name suggests, this is the summary of the whole report. Then why include it
in the beginning? It is because this is the section that most of the senior personnel, who do not
have enough time read the whole report, will read through. Hence, give very clear and precise
information about the problem/aspect of business that the report is analyzing. Also, include the
main points, conclusions, recommendations and important results. Use bullets or numbered lists
to highlight important points.
Methodology: List the methodologies used in your research, like if you interviewed focus
groups or consulted research firms. Also, give the reason why you resorted to using a particular
methodology.
Introduction: This is the first part of a proper report. Use this section to provide the background
of the report. Highlight the reasons why the report is important for the readers. Include

information about what is covered in the main body and the order in which the details are
covered in the report. In case, the Terms of Reference has not been mentioned in the Title
Section, Introduction is the section to include it.
Main Body: This is the heart of the report. Arrange all the information in order of priority, so
that this section follows a logical sequence. Divide this section further into subsections. Lend
greater order to the Main Body using sub-titles within each subsection. A paragraph about the
relevance of the findings of the report can also be included in this section.
Data Tabulation: Another important factor when writing format of business report is data
tabulation. Presenting your data in lists or tables can help in readily understanding the report.
Also, data tabulation or listing makes the report look professional and neat. So, accompany
necessary lists or tables in your report whenever required. Make sure you use neutral colors to
make tables and keep the list and tables looking neat and crisp.
Conclusion: Present logical conclusions for the topic investigated in the report. One can also
suggest an option for the way forward. In case, discussion has not been included in the Main
Body, include it in the conclusion. Otherwise keep this section small.
Recommendations: Since you have worked on the report, no one would have a better
understanding of the topic than you. There may be a few solutions or actions that you think
would be effective in dealing with the problem, investigated in the report. Include those solutions
in this section. List them in bullets and numbered lists for easier comprehension.
Appendix: Although very few people read the Appendix, the information in this section gives
support to the arguments used in the report. It is the Appendix where the author includes all the
sources and research information, in detail.
Although it is not about creative writing, good writing skills are important in business
information reports, as one needs to give comprehensive information using precise words. It is
advisable to keep the language simple and lucid in a business report, specially in the Summary
and the Recommendations, as these are the sections most commonly read by senior level
managers. However, some technical jargon can be used in the Main Body, as this is the section
that is mostly read by experts.
In the world of business, time is money. Following a standard business report format is what
senior level managers and busy businessmen look for, as it reflects what they value the most, that
is effective utilization of time. You can find many such examples online and use them as a
reference for designing a suitable report format.