Presentations and Audiences

When giving a presentation, as the speaker, you need to analyze your audience. Giving an in-depth presentation on the company’s new marketing programs to marketing specialists is different than giving that same presentation to the company’s top executives. Marketing specialists know the technicalities behind marketing and want to hear the step by step implementation. They know the terminology and the processes so having a detailed speech will help them understand best.

 When presenting to company executives, you need to modify your presentation by analyzing the new audience you will be speaking to. According to Business Communications Essentials, you should “analyze why audience members are attending” and “analyze whether everybody has the same background and level of understanding”. Top executives are interested in how they can improve the company overall, so you should emphasize the main ways the new marketing program will improve the company as a whole. They don’t want the detailed and technical information because they are not as familiar with that area as the marketing specialists are. Business Communications Essentials also says that you should “analyze what the audience expects from you” and to “anticipate possible objections or questions”. Top executives typically are not going to spend their time listening to a presentation unless they believe it will be beneficial for them to hear and will result in possible knowledge that will improve the company. In order to fulfill their expectations, be sure to focus on how this new program will benefit the company. Also, you need to be sure that you are prepared for questions. Top executives will always be asking questions because they are constantly trying to find new ways to improve the company. Preparation comes from knowing your topic and knowing the audience and their level of knowledge of the subject being presented.

Public Speaking

When speaking publicly, it is very easy to get nervous and forget what you were wanting to say. There are many different ways to give a speech, but the best method usually involves writing notes and basing the speech off of them.

When writing notes for a speech you should use notecards or index cards. These cards should be numbered sequentially so that you know which cards to look at first. According to Business Communications Essentials, the main goal of having notes for a speech is to provide you with a que or a reminder of your next point in the speech. It is easy to forget certain points when people are staring at you in anticipation of your speech. If you have just a quick sentence or a few words of the next topic you plan to talk about, then it’s much easier to branch out in more detail. Notecards can also be a type of security if you’re nervous for a speech. Knowing that they are there to help you can give you more confidence that the speech will go according to your plan. Notes should not however, be your entire speech written down. Speeches should not be read but should be spoken. If you don’t know your topic enough to be able to talk about it freely, then it’s probably not the right topic for you to speak about.

My experience in public speaking is pretty minimal outside of my public speaking class I took as a sophomore in college. I remember being nervous and anxious each time I had to give a speech. Things that helped me were being interested in my topic, knowing my topic to the best of my knowledge, and adding a little humor in my speech to loosen things up a bit. As much as I disliked my public speaking class, it truly did help me feel more confident when speaking in front of other people.

Emotional Appeal

When writing persuasive messages, the writer must have a strategy to get his or her point across in a clear and efficient way. One strategy is to use emotional appeal. Emotional appeal is when a writer uses certain words to call on the sympathies and feelings of the readers. According to Business Communications Essentials, words such as freedom, success, prestige, compassion, free, and comfort are emotion inspired.

 

In order for a persuasive argument to be effective, I think there must be both emotional appeal and logic. The writer should not have too much of either. Emotional appeal, in my opinion becomes unethical when the writer attacks the character of the opponent rather than the opposing point of view. You cannot tell a person that he or she is bad just because you differ in ideas. Business Communications Essentials also states that a writer should not make hasty generalizations. A writer should have clear evidence of any point he or she is trying to prove, or all credibility is lost.

When using emotional appeal in order to prove a point, the writer must be aware of the boundaries that should not be crossed. In my opinion, the main priority should be to remain professional while expressing ideas in an emotional manner. Avoid attacking the opponent and making assumptions. Emotional appeal is ethical when used correctly and when it is balanced out with logic. It becomes unethical when all logic is forgone and the attacking of character begins. Using emotional appeal as a strategy for persuasive messages can be a great tool if used properly.

Deemphasizing Bad News

In today’s business world, there is always going to positive news and bad news no matter how successful or unsuccessful a company is. It is important to convey this information appropriately and concisely. If bad news is not conveyed properly, then the purpose of the news may not be fully received by the company.

When conveying bad news to your company, it is important to deemphasize it to a point. You do not want to dwell on it and leave people with negative feelings, but you also do not want to deemphasize it so much that the negative message is hidden in the middle of a sentence. According to Business Communications Essentials, you should state the negative news clearly and from that transition smoothly into positive news. The main goal is to balance the message so that it isn’t conveyed as a negative message or as a positive message, it should be neutral.

I do not think that deemphasizing bad news is the same as distorting graphs and charts. Graphs and charts are visual objects and you can only make inferences from those pictures. If it is distorted, then there is no way that a person would be able to tell whether or not the information portrayed is accurate. In a message, deemphasizing is trying to hide the bad news, but the news is still conveyed and people are able to grasp that.

In business, it is important to be concise in any type of message you are trying to convey. With negative news, it is especially important that the recipients understand the bad news but that they don’t feel the need to dwell on it. Deemphasizing is important, but in business it cannot be abused.