I recently watched a Ted Talk titled How Language Shapes the Way We
Think, by Lera Boroditsky. During the presentation, Laura highlighted languages
across various countries that were spoken differently in those same situations.
From the way that we say “hello” to the way that we count penguins,
language has a different standard that is determined by where it is spoken.
The presentation was effective because it accomplished the mission of explaining
how language shapes our thinking. The presenter was successful at connecting
with her audience. In the beginning, she displayed an opening stance.
Throughout the presentation, she made eye contact, used visual aids, and
engaged the audience. I enjoyed the way she allowed the audience to
participate in proving her point. For a moment she asked everyone to close
their eyes and gave them a task. The was a creative way to reengage the
audience and get their input. Laura used humor and pauses throughout her
speech that effectively focused the audience and kept their attention. I noticed
that she used the techniques that were mentioned in the textbook. My work
has me loaned out to a location in Northeast Nevada that is known to have a
hard time keeping employees due to other work in the area that pays better
with the same qualifications. Those that live and work there started to form a
union, and now everyone is sitting through at least one anti-union presentation
a week. While I have no say in what happens, they still have us sit through
and listen, hoping that we will not form one at our home base. The presenters
have all been extremely charismatic. Most of the information they present is
extremely cherry picked exactly for the cause they are trying to get across,
without presenting the other side. Unless you are looking for the other side of
the argument it sounds extremely appealing, about what the company will do,
and what they will offer, but there is no way to make sure that the company
follows through with what they are offering. They tend to connect with the
audience by giving general scenarios in how the company helps them, and
asking people what their problems are, and showing them what they can do to
attempt to alleviate them. Another presentation I watched recently was on “How
to motivate yourself to change your behavior” by Tali Sharot from a TEDX
Cambridge video (Sharot, n.d.). The presenter opened with a warm welcoming
to the presentation. She told stories on issues she encountered. In the
presentation Tali talks about how to motivate yourself to change your behavior.
She talks about positive and negative issues that affect our behavior. She
shared a scenario on what changes behavior, that included awareness of the
negative side effects of a product on our health. ww When we are given positive
information, it makes you feel good and initiates beneficial changes. Negative
factors often push us back to the wrong behaviors. The more a person is
given positive information, it helps them sustain their positive behavior. Tali
discussed how social incentives change behavior. Immediate rewards give smiles
and foster progress that allows you to control your behavior.
During the presentation Tail stayed connected with the audience by showing
slides of pictures that were funny and illustrated her message. There was
laughter when she presented a personal behavior change she worked on to
lower her utility bill. She engaged her audience with suggestions and ideas to
help them focus on self-motivation.
I have actually just listened to a business presentation at my job. It was about
the new computer systems that we are to start using as soon as possible. I
work in inside sales, and my job is to take customer's orders and input them
into the system. The new system is confusing and will take time to
understand. However, the presentation that was presented to us was very nice.
The IT team and our boss took their time to create this presentation so that
everyone was able to understand. We were able to ask as many questions as
we wanted. They made sure to be thorough about everything. It was exciting
to learn how this will cut our time in half and make things easier to input.
The presenter was very clear with his words. He knew exactly what he was
talking about. He was always very kind to everyone and would try to make
us chuckle. It was a really great experience. I would say this was a good
presentation, and the presenter could connect with everyone in the audience. I
recently watched a Ted Talk presentation by Amane Dannouni titled, “How
Online Marketplaces Can Help Local Economies, Not Hurt Them.” The
presentation was effective. The presenter, Amane Dannouni, was closely
following what we learned in chapters 14 and 15 of our reading assignments
this week. He had a good visual-aid-to-text ratio on the big screen; however,
the main focal point was on him. He had a spotlight following him around on
stage during his presentation. He maintained a positive and upbeat energy and
close eye contact with the audience. He also told success stories of people and
how they went from rags to riches. Amane talked about how companies like
Amazon, Airbnb and Uber sometimes pose a threat to local businesses such as
hotels, retail shops and taxis by reducing the income to the community or
taking away jobs. He also pointed out how other countries have made a
collaborative effort to help the local communities. Companies like Gojek, Jumia,
and Grab have made an effort to work within the existing members in their
local economies, instead of replacing them all together. According to him, ,
that benefits everyone overall .Amane did everything according to the guidelines
of the book, but I did not see him interacting with the audience by asking
any questions, other than a rhetorical one. He engaged the audience more by
answering questions or concerns, he would be able to connect with the
audience better. Overall, he did a great job presenting his topics, but his
ending was a bit strange, without much of a call-to-action or conclusion. A
presentation should provide information and insight to those it is intended for.
Presentations should catch and keep the audience’s attention however when
using visuals during your presentation you should use keep topics and graphics
for your presentation and the speaker should elaborate on those topics, not just
“read from the presentation”. The presentation that I watched was neither
thoughtfully prepared nor engaging. The presenter should also be knowledgeable
about not only the information the presentation is on but how to utilize the
software that is being used for the presentation. The presenter should engage
the audience, make eye contact, and be confident in their knowledge of the
material they are presenting.
I have given many presentations in my career and I will be the first to tell
you that it is difficult, at least for me. Although I have been told that I am
a good presenter, I still extensively prepare my material and rehearse my
presentation multiple times prior to my actual presentation in front of my
audience. I try to prepare for any questions I assume may result from my
presentation and either be prepared to answer those questions or if I feel they
are extremely likely to be asked then I will try to make sure my material
covers them in advance. ww
A presentation can be a way of giving information about certain subjects to
the audience, in this presentation I have seen that this presentation was not
engaging the audience in the beginning of the presentation and also the
presentation Did not know how to use delivery technologies or not being
prepared for the technology available. Some way a speaker must connect with
the audience during a presentation is by, looking in the eye of the audience
and moving and speaking confidently, another way that this can happen is by
owning the stage to connect and interact with the audience without forgetting
the manuscript. The speak can also have facial expressions and pauses to have
time rethinking the next script. Lastly they should Refer to what they already
know to help catch the audience’s attention. A business presentation I recently
watched was over a platform that is attempting to replace email. The app is
actually called Monday Board and is something the place I work at has been
attempting to integrate into our system. I believe this presentation is effective
because they bring up a lot of valid points regarding email. For instance, an
email typically is a one-on-one back and forth exchange. This can be extremely
tedious when involving multiple people. Even in the case of a group email the
messages can become overwhelming. Monday Board on the other hand feels a
lot more professional and organized. They have multiple different categories for
the workers. Such as a manager category or really any category the particular
user wants to add. They can have a category for each specific part of the
business. This allows for that entire group of individuals to easily access and
send messages. Ultimately it seemed to be a lot more neat and accessible than
a typical email. The way this presentation stood out to me was the creator’s
idea of connecting people more efficiently. His main goal was to make
business or really any kind of setting feel more responsive. A business
presentation that caught my interest was a video I recently watched on
YouTube called, "The top eight business presentation skills." I believe it was a
very effective presentation although it was only six minutes long there was a
few great key skills that I know I could apply in the future when it comes
to putting together a successful business presentation.A few skills I picked up
from the video that would make it a lot easier for a presenter to connect
with his/her audience. One of the skills was to try and make boring topics
interesting, the point of this skill is to not make it long where you'll lose
your audience attention and to also make things relatable so that people can
understand the point you are trying to make. Another skill is, make sure to be
comfortable with your audience you want to connect to your audience, not
stiff, or shy. The more comfortable you are with your audience the more they
feel like they came to the right place. My industry is construction, and I am
a project manager for a general a contractor. The construction industry is
changing every day. One of the newest technologies in construction is the
virtual reality world. That is the reason I watched a business presentation on
what s called BIM or Building Information Modeling. BIM modeling can be
used to construct the entire project and be able to look for possible issues,
waste, or hazards that are going to be present during the construction process.
This modeling is ensuring all areas of the project are properly planned out to
eliminate future changes.The presentation was very effective. The presenter was
very engaging and had the target audience answering questions, some answers
were only answered to themselves. None the less it was very engaging and
interesting. The presenter covered all of the hot topic ticket items and then
went back to break everything down into further detail with a nice recap at
the end. He did do his best to interject some humor into his presentation that
usually missed the mark with me at least. I believe it is important to
summarize the key points of your presentation. The true purpose and benefit of
summarizing the key points is to reinforce all the points you have made. This
will help emphasize your points and gives the audience an opportunity to ask
any questions they may have intended to ask earlier. This will also make the
presentation appear more professional. However, it is important to keep the
“recap” short since the audience may feel as though you are repeating yourself.
You should also try to stay in your comfort zone (the style of speaking you
feel most natural in) so you that you have a better flow throughout your
presentation. I watched a business presentation on a business called Bumble.
The company sells products with honey. They focus on ensuring the bees are
taken care of that way they can ensure they are selling quality products. The
presentation was effective because there were multiple presenters. Everyone spoke
with knowledge and a voice that didn't put people to sleep. The presenters had
screens where they were able to have the audience view their points. They
also involved the audience in with their presentation. I think the presentation
was good and if I were there I would probably purchase their products. I just
watched a business presentation via zoom about starting a business, registering
your business with the IRS, tax documents dealing with your business and a
few more details about beginning your own business and becoming self-
employed. I believe that the presents is definitely effective for people who
don’t know how to get their EIN, manage their business banking, and keep
money flowing through their business banking account. A lot of people become
confused when dealing with paperwork and things of that nature when started a
business and they become overwhelmed on really knowing where to start with
it.Connecting with an audience by answering brief questions but for limited
amounts of time is helpful. Sending emails with valued information as well as
links for the audience to be able to access these pages where they would
need to apply for EIN and certain information. I also feel that having multiple
people to help people in the audience is beneficial as well so people aren’t
waiting days for information. I actually just had to watch a business
presentation for work last week due to us not only switching buildings but our
programs are become completely different for our clients because they wanna
go away with sheltered workshops. As our manager was giving the presentation
it was very easy to understand the new changes and our manager was
confident in what she was saying and was not stumbling on her words. Her
presentation was simple with little detail so it made it easier to understand.I
think some ways a presenter can connect with the audience during a
presentation can be eye contact and also including the guest of your
presentation in the conversation by asking them to answer. Practicing your
speech over and over so you know exactly what you are going to say and
how you are going to say it. Practicing your speech over and over can also
help you find mistakes with how you may have written your speech and or
presentation so your guest can fully understand and connect with your
presentation you are going to give. I am currently an Affiliate Owner with
CrossFit and prior to making this decision I had talked to other affiliate
owners but also watch a presentation on what all CrossFit had to offer and
what benefits could come with it if I did affiliate with them. prior to
watching this the first thing that came up was the cost it is pretty expensive
to affiliate with them so I wanted to make sure I am getting my money's
worth. In my opinion it was a very effective presentation and it helped me
make the decision to Affiliate with them. They gave a lot of information in
what to expect and what would happen if I did affiliate they offer a lot of
courses to help you become a better coach ( some people might say they
aren't good but in my opinion they are) It also helped with marketing since I
can just say the name " CrossFit" now people already have a basic
understanding of what to expect if they come into my box. Everything that
they had mentioned to me that was going to happen in the first 2-3 months
of becoming an affiliate owner has happened so I am definitely happy with
the decision I made. I watched The four-letter code to selling anything by
Derek Thompson (Ted Talk) via YouTube. The presentation was okay. He
personalized it by telling a story and using names that were familiar. He wore
relaxing, inviting clothing as if you were sitting down talking to a friend. The
message was somewhat interesting, simple but also boring at times. He allowed
one person from the audience to ask a question. I think if the stage
presentation was more inviting and his tone had a bit more excitement in it
then it would have retained my attention more.The presenter can connect with
the audience more by incorporating them to participate in activities. Ask the
audience questions that will get there mind stimulated about the agenda that
will be discussed. Organization and rehearsal will help presenters deliver a good
presentation. Learn about the audience that you will be presenting the message
to also helps with presentations. I have witnessed many monthly meetings at
work that are not planned and unorganized. We are handed the agenda and
immediately everyone is focused on what will be discussed and only pay
attention to what pertains to their group. The speakers are not prepared and no
one properly introduces the next one. It's frustrating to watch leaders be
unorganized and give new information without properly researching the facts. A
big presentation that interests me and my co-workers is about stock and
cryptocurrencies. A lot of my co-workers are huge on it because of the
opportunity to make money on it, but it of course has a lot of negative
outcomes to it. There are a lot of different videos you can watch on site like
YouTube that help you figure out which cryptos or stocks to buy into to
maximize your output, and lately stocks and cryptos have skyrocketed in
popularity with things like Doge coin coming out and sky rocketing in
popularity. The people that make these videos really engage the audience and
make everyone have the idea that they are going to make thousands by
investing in these stocks. They do not really explain a lot of the different
things that go on with these stocks so some people end up buying in a
losing money by not doing enough research before doing it. I think the best
way a presenter can connect with the audience would be saying words like
"you" and asking questions that engage the audience to keep them interested.
In discussing business presentations, I believe it is important to find some
common ground with other business communications. Analyzing the situation and
gathering information functions very much the same for a business presentation
as it does with other forms of business communication. Let's consider analyzing
the situation as our first step. In analyzing the situation for a business
presentation, it is important to understand your audience' expertise and their
potential state of mind before preparing your message. If it is likely that your
audience will be hostile or combative you would need to utilize a different
approach than if your audience is willing to except the information that you
will be sharing. While watching my morning dose of heavy economics and
stock market changes on CNBC. A CEO was being interviewed about the new
changes in the companies approach to fitness. Peloton a well known home
fitness was on talking about how their company is exploring new plans for
business professionals returning back to work. The presentation was so intriguing
that I completely tuned out everything else going on at the time I was
intrigued by the way he started the message to consumers stating that we
believe health and fitness should have no barriers. That spoke to me and
grabbed my attention, while listening to him talk I thought to myself what
barriers do I face as a fitness professional and what are some things that
people state as a reason they can't find time to workout either work or home
life is too stressful. The presenter talked briefly about their plans to provide
memberships and equipment at subsidized rates for companies with large
numbers of employees returning to work in the coming months. I thought to
myself simple and brilliant the presenter didn't get into numbers or statistics he
just appealed to the need of the consumer to welcome the idea of returning to
work with more incentives. the way the presenter appealed to me was his call
to the audience giving hope and inspiring ideas in the world ahead. I love
when a presenter makes me ask myself a question that question usually
determines how much research and what I hope to retain from the message of
the presenter. An effective presentation gives you insight to the idea and also
provides you with information needed make a clear decision on the value and
credibility of the information given. Last Wednesday I saw a business
presentation on crypto currency. The speaker presented everything in a clear
understandable voice while still making the information on screen easy to see.
Its obvious that the speaker was very knowledgeable on the subject but his
dull tone made him sound bored which made it easy to get distracted and
lose interest. crypto currency is a topic that a lot of younger people are trying
to get into so when the speaker did a fantastic job of using his failures
where he lost money i was inspired to try again. crypto currency is the new
wave of things and it interesting to me because you can make a lot of
money over time. some people even get lucky and become millionaires just by
investing into crypto currency. I've even seen on the news that some places
will let you buy things with your crypto currency , some people even said it
will be the new currency in the future. some ways the presenter can connect
with the audience during a presentation is by asking them questions to check
their understandings, and joking with them to keep the mood light. I chose to
watch "The greatest TED Talk ever sold" by an independent film producer
Morgan Spurlock. If you don't know who Morgan Spurlock is, he was the
main caricature in the documentary "Super Size Me" where he ate only
McDonalds for 30 days.Spurlock started his presentation building credibility by
going over his past documentary's and describing some of the health and
physical risks that he encountered along the way. Spurlock was upbeat, funny,
but also direct with his message. He carefully planed out his presentation and
built his message using the building block message. He would start with a
small fact and then build what he wanted to convey off of that fact.
Spurlock effectively showed his failures in the process showing the audience
that he could overcome an objective. Overall the presentation was a success,
Spurlock used comedy to connect to his audience as well as real life fears.
The structure of his presentation was what kept my attention and how he
showed his audience that he was a person just like the rest of us, and did
not use his fame to advance in his accomplishments. The most effective
presentations usually take the form of a conversation with the audience. Even
if the audience is not actively participating in a vocal manner, as they listen
to the speaker, they find themselves commenting and answering mentally. When
the speaker develops this “give and take” with the audience and establishes an
effective rapport, the audience is attentive and ready to absorb the information
given in a critical manner which increases the likelihood of retention. The
importance of having the audience feel like an active participant cannot be
overstated. I actually watch business presentations every month at my job.
Every month they host a business presentation presenting the new loan rates,
flyers, and etc. for the month. It definitely is more effective because it keeps
us up to date and help us inform members when calling in about loans. It
helps the company gain more members and keeps us informed on what the
board discuss. Ways that a presenter can connect with the audience during a
presentation by sharing personal experiences and also engaging the audience. I
believe that doing a quick Q & A keeps the audience engaged but I believe
you shouldn't spend more than 1-2 minutes answering each question and make
sure you focus specifically on what the question is. I also believe a business
presentation shouldn't have too many words on a slide because you don't want
it to look cluttered and you don't want to distract the message of the slide.
Maintaining the audience attention is very important when presenting. I can say
my job does a great job at business presentations. One Tuesday of every
month the bank I work for has a business presentation/meeting. Today was
actually our day for this monthly presentation. During the presentation, our
senior vise president of the bank walks us through the changes that are
coming, what we need to work on as a company, and the things we have
accomplished for the previous month. I think our senior vise president does an
amazing job at staying on topic, keeping eye contact, and getting his point
across overall. I believe these business presentations are very effective for the
growth of our bank and company. I have noticed that our senior vise president
likes to include other bank officers that are not prepared for the spotlight.
When this happens, most officers either act like they have nothing to contribute
to the meeting and other officers like to crack jokes in the middle of the
meeting. I don't think the jokes affect the meetings in a negative way. I
actually think they give the meetings some light-heartedness or humor which
can bring more people to pay attention. I believe by adding more Q & A
sessions with the employees instead of just banking officers they could achieve
more employee interest in the business presentations. I actually just had to
watch a business presentation with work yesterday, while watching it I noticed
a few things. One of the things I noticed was while our manager was making
a speech about an upcoming change within our company she was very fidgety,
she fumbled her words a lot and repeated the information a lot. I found
myself getting lost and not really receiving the message. I had to go back and
review the recording and slides to obtain information needed to do my job.
She was very compassionate in her words however I feel if she would have
outlined a bit better and made the information more to the point then making
it an ongoing presentation the viewers would have stayed more in tuned. After
the third time of hearing the same thing my mind went into a complete
different direction. With that being said she did do well on putting the slides
together and having them designed to grab the attention of the audience, the
intro was warm and welcoming she gave appreciation for the job we are doing
and the direction the company is going. From my perspective, these are some
of the common problems I see
Error #1: The presenter does not do a good job presenting the information.
Perhaps they did not rehearse? But when the presenter fumbles his or her part,
it distracts from the content of the presentation, no matter how good the slides
are.
Error #2: The presenter did not review the presentation slides to ensure the
audience would be able to see all the words and figures on the charts. For
example, some of them might be so small that the audience literally cannot
read them.When these types of errors occur, it is almost impossible for the
presenter to get his or her main points across to the audience.
