When invited (or ordered!) to give a presentation or a speech, most of us think that what comes out of our mouth during that 5, 10, or 45 minute delivery is the 'piece de resistence' when in fact, without proper preparation, it may be a disaster.
I liken good preparation to the 5 Ws of good investigative work, much like good journalism. Before you even prepare that speech or presentation, it is important to know who, what, where, when & why.
1. To Whom will you be speaking? The type of group you will be addressing will effect how you will speak to them. Talking to seniors in high school is different than talking to a group of insurance brokers. Your language will be slightly different as will your style of delivery. Knowing your audience means knowing their reason for attending your presentation.
2. About What will you be speaking? While this may seem obvious, such is not always the case. Let's say for example, you are a botanist and your mother at the retirement center wants you to give a talk to her gardening club. Giving a more generalized talk about perennials and annuals, for instance, is going to be of much greater interest to these retired senior citizens than discussing plant biochemistry.
3. Where are you speaking? Knowing exactly where you are to speak is vital if you want to arrive calm and confident. So, when you make your arrangements, be specific when it comes to the address or to the hotel. Do you know how many Marriott hotels are in Los Angeles alone? Arriving at the wrong one is definitely not a good idea!
4. When are you speaking? It may seem obvious to arrange the correct date when settling on a day and time; however, it would be a very good idea to say the day of the week in verifying your date. Mistakes have been made simply by looking at the wrong month when negotiating this information. You don't want to miss your engagement because of poor communication.
5. Why are you speaking? Again, this may seem like a 'no-brainer,' but it isn't. Is your presentation persuasive or informative? Are you there to sell something or just to inform or possibly even to entertain? Many of us in the business can switch gears at a moment's notice. But, if your audience was expecting to hear you talk about Topic A and you talk about Topic B, you will have a disappointed group of people.
There is enough to worry about in creating a good speech or presentation and then delivering it well. Arriving at the wrong place or at the wrong time or delivering a somewhat risqué after-dinner speech to a group of Baptist ministers, does not make for a likely career in public speaking.
Knowing as much as you can about your audience and all the minute details will help make your presentation that much more successful.
By anwar on Jun 14, 2008
aa
By Ilavendhan on Jun 17, 2008
it very useful to me, Its easy to understand and then interesting to study, I want to know how to prepare the presentation in few minutes before talking
By jatin gakhar on Jun 18, 2008
hello
i am jatin gakhar from india
so due to native langauge i am poor in english
and i want to improve my speaking power as well
as word power
please help me
regards
jatin gakhar
By Anbarasu.N on Jun 18, 2008
Good input to improve presentation skill
It will be applicable everywhere in day to day.
By Neelima on Jun 19, 2008
The guide lines you are providing are really very usefull. I think every person who is good at their communication skills might definitely practiced these guidelines at some or the other point.
By ranjan on Jun 19, 2008
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By vishwapathi Rao on Jun 19, 2008
i want to improve my word power and communication skills. i can speak but not fluently. please guide me to improve my fastness and fluency.also pronunciation tips.
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I rad the articles on blog about improve the effeciency of english speaking. this is very usefull to clear the dellima weather we can speak or not and help to improve our confident.
please send us more articles on to prepare effective sentance
By kavitha on Jul 1, 2008
i want to improve my word power and communication skills. i can speak but not fluently. please guide me to improve my fastness and fluency.also pronunciation tips.
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By sneha on Jul 10, 2008
i have problem in technical interview.guide me about that.if possible send me notes for preparation.i am computer engineer.
By Anureet Kaur on Jul 10, 2008
I am good at speaking English but sometimes words donot come to me if I have to speak continuously.Kindly help me.
By Joyce Adwubi on Jul 10, 2008
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By Jeffrey Quimson on Jul 13, 2008
i am frustrated speaking english and somehow hessitant to communicate with other people but since i’ve found ur site, i know you can help me deal with it. hope to send me more topics… tnx
By sachin on Jul 15, 2008
hello sir,
I WANT TO IMPROVE MY ENGLISH
By sachin on Jul 15, 2008
thank u
By Rajesh kuar on Jul 17, 2008
Hi sir I want improve my english , pleae help me
By Rajesh kuar on Jul 17, 2008
rajesh07_u@yahoo.com
By Rajesh kumar on Jul 17, 2008
hello sir i want improve my English
By jenni.rms on Jul 17, 2008
it is very usefull for our career,thanks.
By Maqsood ahmed on Jul 17, 2008
it is very useful for every person that week in English.
i am also week in english and i want to improve.
By Chandan Kr Sinha on Jul 20, 2008
it is very usefull for our career,thanks.
By Ghanindra Prasad Subedi on Jul 20, 2008
Thank you for guiedens.
By yashaswini on Jul 23, 2008
hi this is yashaswini 4m india.
the topic has been explained very intelligently..
and i am very happy that it would help me a lot in my career.. thnx 4 sharing ur knowledge….
expecting more useful stuffs 4m u..
By maha on Jul 23, 2008
ur effort is very useful to me.
By maha on Jul 23, 2008
hai sir
ur effort is useful to me.thanking u
By ashok verma on Jul 26, 2008
hi sir
i m a graduate n looking for a job in pvt. sector.but my communication skill in english is very poor.i can read it effectively but unable to speak it fluently plz give me gide line.and any course material if there is any.thanks
By BEN on Aug 2, 2008
Dear,
I would like to improve my communication skills, how can I get help please.
Thank you
By Amit kumar on Aug 26, 2008
hello, i am amit i want to improve my comunication skill,so please helpe me,for this i heartly oblized to you.
By Rajeev nayan on Aug 26, 2008
Dear sir
I am rajeev i want to improve my comunication skill,so please helpe me,for this i heartly oblized to you
By Anuj on Aug 27, 2008
good
By kuljeet kaur on Sep 4, 2008
i am engg student very soon i’ll ber facing all sort of interviews though my english is good but the real problem is pronuncaition
By ravi on Sep 8, 2008
hi, i am from bangalore, how to express our self and job experence in interview and communication
By ravi on Sep 8, 2008
pleze send me some tips to my e-id
By ataullah on Sep 15, 2008
I am good in english but i cannot present myself properly. Sometime i stutter and stammer.
Pls send me some tips,
Thank you
ata
By Manju on Sep 25, 2008
tat’s great to know these thing just before my presentation.
thanks to the author.
By Palanivel on Oct 17, 2008
Dear sir
I am Palanivel i want to improve my comunication skill,so please helpe me,for this i heartly oblized to you
REGARDS,
palanivel TAMILNADU CHENNAI
By sri on Nov 21, 2008
I want to improve my communication skills. i can speak but not fluently. please guide me to improve my fastness and fluency.also pronunciation tips.i have a fear to talk in english bec of shy. how can i eliminate it.give me suggestions
By Inayat Khan Khalil on Nov 22, 2008
I can speak english but not fluently. please guide me to improve fluency. I have to appear before a selection board in a university, please give me some tips also. Thank your.
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It is full of good useful stuff.Thank you so much to techpreparation team…all the best.