Effective Business Presentation.doc

Effective Business Presentation ContentsAcknowledgements.IAbstract.IIIntroduction.1Chapter One. General Concept of Business Presentations.31.1 Definition of Business Presentation.31.2 Classification of Business Presentation.41.3 Structure of Business Presentation.8Chapter Two Language Features of Business Presentations.132.1 Use of Words132.1.1 Familiar Words versus Unfamiliar Words.132.1.2 Concrete Words versus Abstract Words142.1.3 Use of Vivid Words.152.1.4 Careful Use of Jargon and Abbreviations.15 2.1.5 Use of Personal Nouns.172.2 Variety in Sentence Structure.172.2.1 Variety in Sentence Length.172.2.2 Active Voice versus Passive Voice182.3 Use of Repetition and Rhythm.192.4 Use of Frequent Signposts.192.5 Use of Rhetorical Questions.20Chapter Three Techniques in Effective Business Presentations.213.1 Features of Effective Presentation213.2 Before the Presentation233.2.1 Prepare Thoroughly.233.2.2 Rehearse Repeatedly.233.2.3 Consider Personal Aspects233.3 During the Presentation253.3.1 Maintain and Hold Audiences Interest.253.3.2 Overcome Nervousness.273.3.3 Use Visual Aids Effectively.293.3.4 Vocal Aspects303.3.5 Nonverbal Communication Skills.353.4 After the Presentation.383.4.1 Distribute Handouts.383.4.2 Reinforce the Main Points.393.4.3 End with a Summary and Appreciation39Chapter Four The Five-step Approach in Making Effective Business Presentations.404.1 Plan the Presentation404.1.1 Identify the Purpose.414.1.2 Analyze the Audience414.1.3 Decide on the Content .434.2 Organize the Presentation.434.2.1 Select the Material.444.2.2 Prepare an Outline.454.2.3 Prepare the Visual Aids.464.2.4 Decide on Style.484.3 Develop the Presentation.494.3.1 Develop the Body.494.3.2 Develop the Conclusion504.3.3 Develop the Introduction.524.4 Deliver the Presentation.544.5 Handle Questions.564.5.1 Admit Ignorance584.5.2 Maintain Control.594.5.3 Motivate Questions.594.6 An Example of How to Make a Business Presentation with the Five-stepApproach60Conclusion.67Bibliography.69AcknowledgementsIn writing this thesis I owe a host of debts to many people. Their devotion of time, effort and talent to every aspect of the paper is a model for me to learn from perpetually. So I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to express my thanks to them.First and foremost, I would like to extend my heart-felt thanks to my dear tutor, Professor Wu Yundi, for her enthusiastic support and sagacious suggestions during the process of my writing and revising this thesis. Also, she has offered a great deal of precious advice concerning my academic pursuit in the past two and a half years of my postgraduate study here. My acknowledgements also go to all the dedicated teachers of Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade who have spared no efforts to enrich my knowledge in the past years.In addition, I feel deeply grateful to my good friends, Miss Liu Qian, Lu Yao, Ma Yanyan, who generously provided many valuable reference materials and enlightening ideas.Finally, my sincere gratitude is reserved for my beloved family for their tender love, consistent encouragement and generous support over the years.AbstractEffective interpersonal communication has always been essential for business success, as we are judged by the way we interact every day. In the daily business activity, a business person may need to present a report about a program, introduce new products and solutions to the customers, or present training programs to his employees; all of these communications are called business presentations. With more complexity of business and greater vigor of communication, the business presentation is playing an increasingly important role in the business world. Unlike general speeches, business presentations are quite clear in their aims. They usually deal with a project, a solution, a product or a strategy. The purpose for making presentations is to explain ideas, state opinions, or put forward solutions, so they need not be expounded in a way which involves extensive examples with a variety of stylistic devices. In addition, because business presentations call for explicit and accurate statistics and facts to support the key points, there are not many emotional or exciting elements in the presentations. Since business presentations are becoming an integral part in the business world, it is a fact that good presentation skills are the single most common characteristic of successful business people. Therefore, this thesis mainly aims at discussing the techniques of effective business presentations and putting forward the five-step approach in business presentations.This thesis falls into four parts:Chapter One is devoted to the general concept of business presentations, which consists of definition, classification and structure of business presentations.Chapter Two offers a general view on the language features of business presentations. In Chapter Three, a set of techniques aimed at achieving a successful business presentation is analyzed.Chapter Four, which is the most important part of the thesis, puts forward a five-step approach in effective business presentations including preparing, organizing, developing and delivering presentations and handling questions, followed by a specific example on the application of the five-step approach.Key words: business presentation, techniques, five-step approach内 容 摘 要在商务活动中，出色的商务演讲能力对现代企业的各级管理人员都是十分重要的。向上级做项目汇报、向顾客介绍产品或者给员工进行业务培训，这些都称为商务演讲。商务演讲在内容上非常明确，可以是一个项目、一个方案、一个产品或是一个策略。演讲的内容只限于将事情说清楚，表明观点，提出问题和解决方法，不需要旁征博引，借古喻今，洋洋洒洒。其次，商务演讲要用详实客观的数据和事实作支撑，不需要有太多感情的色彩和煽情的成分。这是因为商务演讲的目的是传达信息，用事实和数据说服听众。有鉴于此，本文分析了商务演讲的语言特点， 研究了成功商务演讲的一系列技巧，并且提出了进行商务演讲的五个基本步骤。本论文共分为四章：第一章主要论述了商务演讲的基本概念， 包括其定义、分类和结构。第二章从词汇和句法结构等方面对商务演讲中的语言特点进行了分析。第三章研究了成功商务演讲中的一系列技巧，分别从演讲前、演讲中及演讲后三个方面进行了阐释，重点探讨了演讲中技巧的应用。第四章是本文的重点，提出了商务演讲的五个基本步骤，即：筹划、设计、组织、陈述演讲和回答问题。关键词：商务演讲，技巧，五个基本步骤IntroductionBusiness presentation is becoming a way of life for business people and it is an integral part of the business career. One extensive survey of scientific, technological and managerial presentations indicated that more than two thirds of professionals “frequently” or “very frequently” gave presentations. When further explaining the nature of these presentations, professionals noted that the majority of the presentations were intended to share information, instruct, or persuade. Therefore, the importance of oral presentation in the business world should not be underestimated. Presentations are good chances for business people to demonstrate their knowledge, competence, and composure. Hence, effective business presentations are vital to the success of the business career. Many books about business communication have expounded on the techniques and procedures in making successful business presentations. Moreover, there have appeared many training centers of business presentations because they are becoming increasingly important. Like many other things, business presentations have undergone changes in the content and form with the development of the times. Accordingly, its not surprising that new techniques should be devised in order to make the business presentations more successful and effective.Additionally, a business presentation is not only about the transfer of information, but about getting into the audiences shoes and making the speakers message so fascinating that his audience will want to get into his shoes! We might not all be born with the gift of the gab, however, each of us has the ability to be top notch communicators, selling ourselves, our concepts, products and services by mastering the art of effective business presentations.A business presentation refers to the oral communication in the business world and it is an important means of obtaining and exchanging information for decision-making and policy development. Yet making a good presentation is not just a good delivery: It also involves developing a strategy that fits the audience and purpose, having good content, and organizing material effectively. Giving a presentation is, in many ways, very similar to writing a message as a speaker makes plans for analyzing the audience, developing reader benefits, doing research, and analyzing data, etc. However, to give a presentation requires not only writing the speech but also considering what clothes a presenter wears or how he uses his body language, which visual aids should be used. The presentation is a challenging and tough communication task, the success of which lies with ones ability of using a set of techniques to offer a message to be understood, accepted and remembered. Based on these ideas, the general concept of business presentation is illustrated at the very beginning of the thesis, and the second part analyzes the language features of business presentations. This thesis is mainly devoted to the third and fourth parts. In the third part, a set of techniques is elaborated on how to achieve an effective business presentation. The fourth part puts forward a five-step approach in making an effective business presentation consisting of planning, organizing, developing, delivering the presentation and handling questions, followed with an example of how to make a business presentation with the five-step approach.Chapter One General Concept of Business Presentations1.1 Definition of Business PresentationPeople communicate every day. Communication is not a static phenomenon, but a dynamic, ongoing and continuous process. Gerald Miller, a noted communication scholar, has said that communication “refers to a way of perceiving and responding to the world in which we live. The universe is in constant flux.”1 G.R. Miller, An Introduction to Speech Communication, 2nd ed. (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1972), p.331 Business presentation, in its broadest sense, is any presentation of factual information and its interpretation using the spoken word. By this definition, business presentations include much of the information and analyses exchanged daily in the conduct of business. On the other hand, business presentations cover highly formal and proper presentations. Business presentations may be primarily informative, offering data without recommendations; or may be analytical, offering investigation and recommendations for solving a problem. No matter what kind of presentation it is, the presenter is responsible for showing relationships between his research findings and management objectives. Whenever a person plans, prepares, and creates a message to deliver to others, he makes a presentation. During these presentations, speakers may often need to convince the listeners that their findings are pertinent, valid, reliable, and useful to the organization and to the people they serve. Business presentations vary greatly according to the degree of formality, but all of them are purposeful communication aimed at achieving a specific aim in business. For instance, Alan gives presentation when he explains service department bills to his auto repair customers. He explains what work has done, why it was done, and how much it cost. Michelle Harker serves on a quality committee for her company. The committee needs her advice on purchasing cleaning suppliers. As a custodial crewmember, Michelle shares her expertise and recommends the best supplies for the companys needs. Michelle makes presentation. In fact, job interviews, meetings, conferences, and group discussions are all forms of business presentations. Many business people spend a lot of time offering information and ideas to others. So they make business presentations frequently. Because the more informal presentations are little more than routine conversations, this thesis lays emphasis on the more formal ones that demand most care and skill and are most deserving of study. Usually, the formal presentation is the quickest way to impart necessary information to the decision-makers.1.2 Classification of Business PresentationBusiness presentation can be classified according to different criteria. In terms of purpose, there are four kinds of business presentations, that is, informative presentation, persuasive presentation, motivational presentation and goodwill presentation. l l Informative PresentationsMany of the business presentations will be informative, and the purpose of this kind of presentation is to inform or teach the audience something they dont know, which includes announcement of new products, introduction of companys business, declaration of personnel transferences, etc. Training sessions in an organization or a company are mainly informative. It would be boring to just deliver messages or information; therefore, speakers should attach much importance to the arrangement of the content. Though it centers on the message delivered, this kind of presentations is still closely related to the audience. Secondary purposes may be to persuade new employees to follow organizational procedures and regulations, rather than doing something in their own ways, and to help them appreciate the organizational culture so as to build a strong and united team. l l Persuasive PresentationsPersuasive presentations are aimed at persuading the audience to act on certain rules or altering others viewpoints and attitudes so as to get the conformity of opinions. Providing information and evidence that talk the audience into making decisions or altering their previous opinions is an important way of persuasion. If one is involved in marketing or sales position, he will need to do persuasive presentations often. A typical persuasive presentation presents sound evidence and reasoning and adds information about how receivers should feel toward that evidence and reasoning. Meanwhile, the presenter must build goodwill by appearing to be credible and sympathetic to the audiences needs. The specific goal in a persuasive presentation is either to obtain a favorable vote or decision, change behavior or attitudes or to reinforce existing attitudes. For example, a speaker at a meeting with the audience of factory workers may stress the importance of following safety procedures. A speaker at a church meeting may talk about the problem of homelessness in the community and try to build support for community shelters for the homeless. Here is a typical presentation of this kind about Chinese and American management.“As many of you have undoubtedly noticed, our companys management philosophy is a little different from that most American firms. Let me go over some of the differences with you.First of all, we emphasize cooperation over competition. Where U.S. salesmen are usually paid by commission, ours are on a fixed salary. That way we make sure everyone works as a team.Another difference is that we like to promote managers from within the company rather than bringing them in from outside. We believe that most people prefer to work under someone whom they know and respect, someone who knows the company.Third, in our company, everyones opinion is valued, and no decision is made without consulting everyone involved. After all, people are our most important asset.”2 陈怡平，商务英语演说,第一版, 北京：中国国际广播出版社, 2001, p.1742l l Motivational PresentationsMotivational presentations tend to be more specialized. Many companies bring in outside speakers who specialize in motivational speaking. The purpose of motivational presentations is to encourage people to achieve a goal in a certain period of time. A goal is set first and the speaker provides reasons and measures to reach the goal, gives support to inspire and motivate the audience to act. For example, a sales manager may motivate the sales force to increase sales volume by 10 percent the next month.l l Goodwill PresentationsGoodwill presentations are to entertain and validate the audience. These are perhaps the rarest in the business world, and are usually limited to after-dinner speeches and to speeches at conventions. Presentations at sales meetings may be designed to stroke the audiences egos and to validate their commitment to organizational goals.According to the style of the presentations, business presentations can be divided into four kinds: ceremonial presentation, monologue presentation, guided presentation and sales presentation.l l Ceremonial PresentationsCeremonial presentations refer to various speeches presented on occasions of celebrations, ceremonies, parties or funerals. The purpose of such kind of presentations is to welcome, celebrate, encourage or mourn. The principal goal, of course, is to enhance the good relationship and get familiar with each other. As they are the kind of communication focusing on human relationship, special atte