Exam 14: Developing Presentation Skills
How can you, as a speaker, be prepared for questions from your audience?
Student answers will vary.
You, as a speaker should cultivate a positive attitude about questions from your audience. Good questions can help clarify important concepts, identify misunderstandings from audience members, and recognize specific areas that should be pursued. When someone asks you a question, acknowledge the person and listen closely to the question. Following are some guidelines for fielding questions:
a) At the beginning of your presentation, tell your audience your preference for handling questions-at the end or as they occur throughout the presentation. An inexperienced speaker may prefer handling questions at the end.
b) If you like handling questions throughout the presentation, you may want to stop at convenient points and ask for questions.
c) Repeat the questions for the audience members who may not have heard them. Restating the question gives you time to formulate your response.
d) Ask for clarification if a question is unclear to you.
e) Give brief, direct answers to questions.
f) Try to anticipate possible questions by the audience, and think of answers in advance.
g) If you don't know the answer to a question, offer to find the answer and forward it to the person who asked the question if he or she will leave a business card with the question on the reverse side.
h) Stay calm and polite if you receive antagonistic questions. Avoid displaying negative emotions.
i) Never permit an antagonistic audience member to take control of your presentation or to speak from the microphone. Always maintain control of your temper and control of the presentation.
j) If the audience member continues to be confrontational, offer to talk with the person after the session ends.
List the guidelines for using humor and stories in your presentations and speeches.
The guidelines for using humor and stories in presentations and speeches are:
a) Use humor only if you are comfortable with it. Omit telling jokes if you know that you always forget the punch line or that no one ever laughs at your jokes.
b) Remember that starting with a joke is risky. If the joke bombs, recovering is almost impossible.
c) Use humor only if it pertains to your topic.
d) Do not make fun of an individual or group of individuals. If you are questioning whether to use a specific joke, the rule of thumb is not to use it.
e) Always prepare an extra joke, because the person who speaks before you may use the joke that you intended to use.
f) If there are humorous aspects to your subject, make reference to them. Humor can be a True story that has a humorous side.
g) Stories that are related to your topic can stimulate interest and help your audience stay mentally engaged.
_____ refers to the level of a sound on a musical scale.
Pitch
Which of the following is an ineffective practice when delivering a speech?
Interactive webinars enable real-time conversational exchange between the lecturer and the audience. In contrast, a conference _____ is an Internet broadcast that involves one-way transmission of information.
A speaker's stiff, statuelike posture while he or she is speaking conveys confidence.
Jeremy is making a presentation to his department of 35 members. Which of the following is most likely to reduce the effectiveness of his presentation?
Meetings become boring and unproductive mainly because participants insist on relating personal preferences, experiences, and opinions that have little or no bearing on the discussion at hand.
A rise in pitch usually signals finality or determination and is, therefore, used at the end of a declarative sentence.
The _____ of your voice often reveals your attitudes and feelings.
Which of the following practices is best avoided when making a speech?
Nonverbal communication contributes significantly to the effectiveness of oral communication.
Discuss some of the techniques that can be used to evaluate your presentation.
The _____, provided with your presentation software, is a collection of simple drawings that can be used to illustrate your slides.
_____ refers to the distinctness or clarity with which you articulate or sound each part of a word.
You have been given the responsibility of introducing a guest speaker, Professor Wilson Gray, at one of your college events. Which of the following is the most appropriate way to begin the introduction?
When delivering a presentation, a speaker who recites from memory or reads a presentation seems insincere, apprehensive, and unprepared.
_____ refers either to the sound that a speaker gives to the letters or letter combinations that make up a word or to the way in which the speaker accents the word.
The tone of your voice refers to the level of a sound on a musical scale while the pitch of your voice often reveals your attitudes and feelings.
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