COMMUNICATION SKILLS Emmanuel Jouglar, DCEM4, Toulouse Purpan medical school 25/09/2008 1 How to prepare a presentation? General questions to help you out

Why do you do this presentation? What for? What is my objective? Who is the audience? Is it homogenous? What are they waiting for? What do they know? How long do I have? What room and what equipment can I get?

Prepare your notes Only key words!!

Few notes help you to look more spontaneous and to mind your body language. Repeat your presentation Alone or with audience

Be ready and be fluent. Stick to the timing, it shows that you worked on the

presentation and show the respect you have for the audience.

Mental preparation right before your presentation

Take 10 minutes to concentrate on it. Shake up your ideas and give yourself confidence.

Be positive: The audience is here to listen to you; the participants are interested in what you are going to present.

You will do it well; you know your subject; you prepared enough. 2 How to prepare good slides and how to use them? Structure

1 minute per slide, 10 minutes’ presentation => 10 slides 1 idea per slide, 1 title per slide

o Overview, 8 slides, Take home message, Bibliography 7x7: 7 words per line, 7 lines per slide

Make them readable

Colour Light/Dark If they can not read, the participants do not read so your visual presentation is useless. If they try,

they do not listen to you.

Text Key word, (not lots of words) If there is too much to read, the participants do not read. If they try, they don’t listen to you.

Animation, cartoon… Just enough and not too many If there are too many, the participants focus on them and not on what you are saying.

Guide the audience

Point out on the screen what you are talking about. Talk about what is on the slide. If your presentation is disorganised, the participants get lost and they do not listen to you.

Avoid novice lecturer’s mistakes

Being slave to his/her notes => Only key words Staring at the slides => Keep eye contact with the audience Hiding the screen => Test your position before beginning

3 How to catch attention? A catchy introduction

5 things to think of at the beginning o Move forward, Welcome, Look, Breathe, Smile

They will help you to relax and create a link with the group.

Explain the objective of the presentation The participant knows what he/she can expect from your presentation.

Announce the outline It structures participants’ minds and facilitates understanding and remembering.

Generate interest along your presentation - Avoid being boring:

Beating around the bush Talking too much about 1 point of your

presentation Too much text Repeating yourself without variation Being cold and not making the link

between your presentation and the audience

Sticking to concepts and general ideas - Be on stage!

Content

Words: short, simple, common, precise

Sentence: short, simply structured, active

Easier to understand, follow and remember

Outer appearance: Your outfit: Has to be in harmony with the one of the audience. Must not be shocking. Has to show the

respect you have for the audience. Has to be comfortable.

If you don’t know the audience, choose a classical and sober outfit. Check your outfit before you enter the room.

The way the words are said - Strength: adapted to the number of participants and the size of the room. Every participant should be able to hear you.

Too loud a voice means will of dominating and imposing yourself. Too weak a voice means fatigue and bores the audience.

- Tone

To speak deep, bend your head. To speak high-pitched, raise your head. Too deep a voice means lack of confidence and fear of the audience. Too high-pitched a voice means anxiety and aggressiveness.

Objective(s) I want them to be aware of… I want them to understand… I want them to focus their attention on… I want them to know how to…

Use precise verb. Having clear objectives helps you to

define priorities and to light out the results you can expect from your presentation.

Communication vectors

Non verbal communication:

The way the words are said

38%

Verbal communication:

words7%Non verbal

communication: Body language

andOuter

appearance55%

- We remember… …What is repeated

…What is underlined by a visual image Use punchy image.

…What provokes image in mind Use metaphors, imaging comparisons,

anecdotes.

…What is linked to positive emotion Express your feelings and have the

audience react with their feelings.

- Tempo

The more participants you are facing the slower delivery should be. Speaking fast doesn’t make you seem smarter.

- Rhythm

Play with silences to underline what you want to say, to create an expectation, to leave the audience time to think about what you have said.

Vary your speech to give some relief to what you are saying. It creates possibilities to get back

the attention of the participants you lost. Body language - Body

Turn to the audience Move

o Don’t stay behind the desk o Go toward a part of the room, then toward another part o Try to be with the audience

o But avoid to speak while moving, they won’t listen to what you are saying, focusing on your

move. Stand erect

o Don’t bend, stand erect to show your confidence and seriousness. - Gestures

They come with the words. They need to be in line with them. E.g.: Open your hands towards the audience with open arms to give Rise up your gesture to fill with enthusiasm

- Eyes

Keep eye contact, in order to: Keep contact with the participants Make each participant feel you are really talking to him/her

Everything makes impact. The body can interfere, contradict with the content, so the message

becomes confused. Make a good conclusion - Avoid following mistakes

The speaker does not manage to conclude, and the presentation never ends The speaker realises he/she is out of time but keeps going on at all costs The speaker realises he/she is out of time, ends the presentation which fizzles out Prepare your conclusion, practice to know the length of your presentation and adapt it to the

allotted time. - Advice

Your conclusion has to be short, catchy and nervous. Think about it as the ‘take home message’. e.g.

Synthesis: 3 key ideas Announce project or follow up Encourage the audience to go for action Quote a sentence that makes sense in your presentation => everyone will leave with this idea.

Take home message

Prepare Be (or look) spontaneous Be (or look) enthusiastic Be( or look) serious

CONVINCING SKILLS

1 Be convinced yourself => Enthusiasm 2 Be credible From what we know about you. From how you are introduced or how you introduce yourself. From how much your body language shows your confidence. From how much you know your subject 3 Use well known and easy to check facts

People are more easily convinced by facts than by general concepts or feelings 4 Adapt your speech

Distinguish between: One-way communication and two-way communication Convincing process is based on two-way communication: EXCHANGE between sender and receiver.

To convince you have to know the receiver. Ask questions!

Be useful You have to think about what your

proposition can bring to the receiver. If he/she can not get anything in return, he/she will not accept.

Create a link with the receiver

Add a personal touch to your speech. The receiver has to think he/she is necessary to achieve your goal. Mind body language.

Take time to listen to receiver. Tell him/her you understand him/her. And use what he/she said. Take home message

Be enthusiastic Exchange with the receiver

Know the receiver Bibliography Préparer et animer une formation, centre de formation de la FAGE Accrocher votre auditoire, Didier Noyé, INSEP CONSULTING Editions

Two-way communication = Communication process It gives an opportunity for interaction.

One-way communication = Information process

The sender delivers his/her message to a passive receiver.