Chapter Twenty-Eight

Business and Professional

Presentations

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Table of ContentsDifferences between Public

Versus Presentational SpeakingTypes of PresentationsDelivering the Presentation*

Business and Professional Presentations

Presentational Speaking Reports delivered

by individuals or groups within the business or professional setting*

Differences between Public versus Presentational Speaking

There are clear differences between a speech given to the public and a presentation delivered in a professional setting: The audience for a presentation can be

as small as three people. Presentational speaking is less formal

than public speaking.*

Differences between Public versus Presentational Speaking

Topic SelectionAudience CompositionAudience

ParticipationSpeaker Expertise*

Differences between Public versus Presentational Speaking:

Topic Selection

Topics for public speeches can be assigned but are often left to the speaker’s discretion, while topics for business presentations are either assigned or assumed as part of one’s role in a project.*

Differences between Public versus Presentational Speaking:

Audience Composition

Listeners who attend a business or professional presentation are more likely to be part of a “captive” audience.*

Differences between Public versus Presentational Speaking:

Audience Participation

Unlike public speaking, in business or professional presentations verbal interaction is generally the rule rather than the exception.*

Differences between Public versus Presentational Speaking:

Speaker Expertise

Rather than “experts,” presentational speakers are more properly thought of as “first among equals.”*

Types of Presentations

There are five common types of business and professional presentations, each with its own purpose, audience, and organization.*

Types of Presentations

Sales PresentationsTechnical ReportsStaff ReportsProgress ReportsInvestigative Reports*

Types of Presentations:

Sales Presentations

A sales presentation attempts to lead a potential buyer to purchase a service or a product described by the presenter. Usually an audience of one or many

Alan Monroe’s motivated sequence (sometimes called the basic sales technique) offers an excellent way to organize sales presentations.*

Types of Presentations:

Technical Reports

A technical report provides detailed information about a procedure or device to an organization to help it decide whether to adopt or purchase it. Audience varies from an individual to a

group. Length and formality of the report

depends on the subject and its scope.*

Types of Presentations:

Staff Reports

Staff reports inform managers and other employees of new developments that affect them and their work. Audience is usually a group. Organizing a staff report:

State the problem or question.Provide a description of procedures and

facts.Discuss the most pertinent facts.Provide a conclusion.Offer a recommendation.*

Types of Presentations:

Progress Reports

A progress report updates clients or principals on developments in an ongoing project. Audiences vary greatly. No set pattern of organization.*

Types of Presentations:

Investigative Reports

An investigative report studies a problem on behalf of an organization that can’t solve the problem on its own.*

Types of Presentations: Investigative Reports

Audiences for investigative reports are usually groups whose planning and decisions depend significantly on the results of the investigation.

Organization: Indirect method: presents conclusions

and recommendations last Direct method: begins with most

important conclusions and recommendations*

Delivering the Presentation

The range of delivery styles may be broader for presentations than for speeches.*

Delivering the Presentation

Informational DeliveryInstrumental DeliveryRelational DeliveryTransformational Delivery*

Delivering the Presentation:

Informational Delivery

The informational style of delivery is precise, disciplined, focused, clear, logical, and well organized. Best used when your presentation is

fact-based*

Delivering the Presentation:

Instructional Delivery

The instructional style of delivery is stimulating, engaging, consequential, decisive, and action-oriented. Involves audience interaction*

Delivering the Presentation:

Relational Delivery

The relational style of delivery is open, candid, honest, believable, plausible, and trustworthy. Hinges on presenter’s credibility*

Delivering the Presentation: Transformational Delivery

The transformational style of delivery is emphatic, powerful, insightful, expansive, and visionary. Used for audience motivation*