210
Part 4 • Leading
will be undermined. One test of your persuasive skills is your ability to present a logical argument. 8. Use emotional appeals. Presenting clear, rational, and objective evidence in support of your view is often not enough. You also should appeal to a person’s emotions. Try to reach inside the subjects and understand their loves, hates, fears, and frustrations. Then use that information to mold what you say and how you say it. The persuasiveness of most television evangelists lies in their ability to understand their audience and to structure their oral presentation’s appeal to their audience’s emotions. Applying Persuasive Skills in Formal Presentations People in organizations often find themselves making formal oral presentations to others. Some examples are sales presentations, requests for project funding, running for office, and supporting a proposal. A study conducted by AT&T and Stanford University revealed that the ability to make effective presentations is the top predictor of success and upward mobility in organizations.15 Given their importance for your interpersonal effectiveness, personal satisfaction, and career progression, the question is, “How can I make effective formal presentations?” The success of your public speaking is determined primarily by the time you spend preparing before you step in front of your audience. You want to avoid speeches that are too long, detailed, confusing, vague, boring, or veer off-track. The first step is to determine the purpose of your presentation and the outcomes you want to achieve. Next, you need to mold your message to clarify how what you want will match the needs of your audience. Finally, you want to ensure that the audience will act on your suggestions. Figure 13.2 provides some tips for making formal presentations.
PLANNING AND PREPARING • Identify your purpose. What is the outcome you want to achieve? Why are you giving this presentation: to persuade, explain, instruct, or report? What do you want the audience to know or do? • Analyze your audience. Mold your presentation to fit their specific characteristics. Find out their needs, concerns, and preferred format for presentations by talking to the audience or people who know them. • Organize the presentation. First, clarify your focus or main point. Second, develop an outline of the presentation’s three main parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion. Third, plan the visual aids you need for the audience to understand your points. Following are some guidelines for making each of these components effective. a. Introduction • Get the audience’s attention. Grab the audience with something vitally interesting to them and convince them to listen to you. Give them an interesting story, an example that ties into your focus, a meaningful quotation, a startling statistic, or appropriate humor that makes a relevant point. • Increase your credibility by relating something about your background and experience that makes you an expert on the topic you are speaking about. • Present your agenda, keeping in mind the familiar slogan: “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you just told them.” • Share what you expect of the audience. Tell listeners about the decision, commitment, or actions that they will be expected to perform at the end. FIGURE 13.2 Tips for Making Formal Presentations.
