Bottom pie charts perception affair
THE DO’S AND DONT’S WHEN PRESENTING YOUSELF IN PUBLIC
Part 2
Remember, the public sitting in the room will have a perception of who and what you are. So, if we would draw a line of (1)_____ from 0 to 100%, most speakers are around the 50% mark. Professionals go much further. They are between 70 and 100%, because they use these techniques. So let’s have a look at the (2)_____ of words here to bear in (3)_____.
Attitude Knowledge Skills
Attitude is the top of the pyramid. They will perceive your attitude and obviously you must have the knowledge or the skills – the competence – before you talk about your particular subject. The technique can’t help you here. This is completely, entirely your (4)______ .
Where the technique can help you is on the (5)_____ line. You should be your natural self. And a lot of people say: “Well, I am naturally bad in front of the public”. So, you will get some (6)_____ to help you. You should say things in a simple way. A good (7)_____ of words, for example, is 130 words per minute. If you are speaking for an hour, 130 times 60 is 7800 words, plus the words on the slide, plus the graphs and the (8)_____ . How much do you think people can (9)_____ ? So, remember, less is more. The less you say, the more they will remember. The less you show, the more they will be able to retain.
13.16. Read Part 3 of The Do’s and Dont’s When Presenting Yourself in Public and answer the questions:
1. What do the letters O and A in OASIS mean? Can you guess what do the rest mean?
2. What is a “hook” in the context of a presentation?
THE DO’S AND DONT’S WHEN PRESENTING YOUSELF IN PUBLIC
Part 3
Let’s have a look at the acronym – each letter stands for a word. OASIS is a great word for presentation skills, because that’s like being in the desert – your mouth is dry; you are starting to get hot. If you want people to remember the things better, use images, acronyms, analogies, and metaphors.
Remember, in the public you will have visual and auditive people, some people can remember images very vividly. What do the first two words mean? Open and advanced. Remember our 60-20 rule: you meet and greet, the people are sitting there, you are starting your meeting, you are walking into the public speaking space with an open gesture.
Your first words are the key, we call this hook. By telling the public they don’t know, you grab their interest right in the start. Don’t tell them things that are nice to know, tell them things they need to know. Usually the hook is the essence of your presentation to grab their interest right in the start. It’s been statistically proved that when you come toward the public with an open gesture, they like it.
13.17. Some presenters don’t know what to do with their hands. Here is the list of positions they often take. Can you demonstrate them?
1. zero position
2. “ready-to-be-fired”
3. waist-level position
4. “hands-to-the heaven”
5. rubbing hands
6. hands in the pockets
7. barrier position
Which of these positions can be considered negative? Positive? Which one can be recommended for a presentation? Read Part 4 of The Do’s and Dont’s When Presenting Yourself in Public and check.
THE DO’S AND DONT’S WHEN PRESENTING YOUSELF IN PUBLIC
Part 4
The difficulty for a lot of speakers is “What shall I do with my hands?!” So, let’s look at gestures. Low gestures are considered to be negative. We call this the zero position because there is nothing happening. If low gestures are negative, high gestures are considered to be positive. You can see politicians with high gestures in large meetings. It is too high for your presentation. So, your hands should be around waist level, a nice open position. Try and avoid closing in the front – this is perceived very negatively, a barrier position. You put a barrier between yourself and the public. And we have to avoid rubbing our hands. If you’re rubbing your hands and walking backwards at the same time, this can have a very negative effect.
Remember, nevermore backwards when you are saying something important. It’s perfect to stand your ground when you are saying something important. And it is not a good idea to put your hands in the pockets. The research tells us that the body never lies. When people are uncomfortable, they will do things like these with their hands.
13.18. Read Part 5 of The Do’s and Dont’s When Presenting Yourself in Public and answer the questions:
1. The first S in OASIS means see. Should a presenter keep an eye contact with the public? Why /Why not?
2. I in OASIS means inhale. Do you think correct breathing is important for a presenter? Why /Why not?
3. Can you guess what the second S in OASIS mean?
THE DO’S AND DONT’S WHEN PRESENTING YOUSELF IN PUBLIC
Part 5
Now OASIS: open, advanced… The next on the list concerns eye contact – see. Eye contact is extremely important and it should start as soon as you are walking out. At the same time, people feel involved, you are getting feedback by looking at the people, and attracting people that are sitting there in the room. You can see them chatting to one another, somebody is checking their SMS, somebody is writing something down. So, it’s giving you important information.
Another thing is about feet. Try and have both feet facing the public. If one foot is turning away, the perception can be negative because you are half with the public and half so as running away.
So, open, advanced and see… Next on the list concerns breathing – inhale. Take a paragraph from the book and read each word with the same power breathing out at the same time. By the end of the paragraph you would be completely out of breath. But if you practice this kind of the exercise many times during a month, at the end of the month you will be able to do this exercise three times that paragraph on one breath. If you have breath actors and singers talk about, you will be able to modulate your voice and it will be more interesting to listen to you, because the intonation is going to change. Modulating the voice is very important. Practice tongue-twisters to improve your articulation – your comprehension from the public’s point of view.
So, now the last word… As we are feeling a little bit tense, a little bit nervous, we forget to do this. The last S means smile. If you smile, you look happy to be there, you look comfortable.
13.19. Fill in the table. The first line is already done for you.
OASIS Technique
| O | open | Use open gestures. |
| A | ||
| S | ||
| I | ||
| S |
13.20. Make your presentation according to the model.
| Steps of the Presentation | Useful phrases | |
| HOOK (optional) | Did you know that … Suppose … According to the latest study, … Statistics show that … Have you ever wondered why … Have you ever been in the situation where … Well, imagine … Do you think that’s possible? When I think about … I’m reminded of … | |
| GREETING | Perhaps we should begin. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! My name’s … | |
| INTRODUCING YOURSELF | My name’s … Let me introduce myself. I’m … from … | |
| STATING THE PURPOSE OF YOUR PRESENTATION | This morning I’d like to … | - discuss … - tell you … - report on … - take a look at … - and present … |
| So, I’ll start by | - giving you an overview of … - make a few observations about … - outlining … | |
| And then I’ll go on to | - highlight what I see as the main … - put the situation into some kind of perspective … - make detailed recommendations regarding … | |
| MAIN POINTS 1) 2) 3) … | On the one hand, …. On the other hand, …. As a matter of case, …. Traditionally, … . However, … It’s true that … In theory … . In practice … . Firstly, … Secondly, … Thirdly, … And finally … | |
| CONCLUSION | So, that concludes my talk about… To sum up … To conclude this talk I’d just like to emphasize … | |
| QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION | If you have any questions you’d like to ask, I’ll be happy to answer them. Feel free to ask any questions you like. |
APPENDIX
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
1. Read the text Environment and fill in the tables below.
ENVIRONMENT
Smog and air pollution
For years London was synonymous with smog, the word coined at the turn of the 20th century to describe the city’s characteristic blend of fog and smoke. The capital’s “pea-soupers” were caused by suspended pollution of smoke and sulfur dioxide from coal fires. The most severely affected area was the 19th-century residential and industrial belt of inner London – particularly the East End, which had the highest density of factory smokestacks and domestic chimney pots and the lowest-lying land, inhibiting dispersal. As recently as the early 1960s, the smokier districts of east Inner London experienced a 30 percent reduction in winter sunshine hours. That problem was alleviated by parliamentary legislation (the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968) outlawing the burning of coal, combined with the clearance of older housing and the loss of manufacturing.
The less visible but equally toxic pollutants of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, benzines, and aldehydes continue to spoil London’s air. Traffic fumes and other exhausts are liable to become trapped between the surrounding hills and below a stagnant capping mass of warm urban air at an altitude of about 3,000 feet (900 metres), causing immediate increases in eye irritation, asthma, and bronchial complaints. But London’s weather is too fickle for the development of a full-scale photochemical smog of the kind that can build up under the more stable weather conditions of cities such as Los Angeles.
Water pollution
Until the 1960s the waters of London’s rivers were as polluted as its air. Deoxygenated and black with scum, they showed the effects of sewage pollution and uncontrolled industrial effluents. Tighter environmental standards, combined with the closure of factories, produced an improvement in water quality. Salmon, sea trout, roach, and flounder returned to the tidal Thames, together with shrimps, prawns, sea horses, and (at the other end of the size range) giant conger eels. Large-scale fishing of eels, a traditional Cockney delicacy, was restarted after a hiatus of 150 years. In addition, herons, cormorants, gannets, grebes, shelducks, pochards, and terns recolonized the river environs.
| What caused pollution? | Consequences | Protective measures |
| smog |
Flood control
The greatest concern in the management of the Thames has been the risk of flooding. Its waters have been rising at the rate of 2.8 feet (0.9 metre) per century. The record floods of 1791 reached a height of 14 feet (4.3 metres) above the fixed measuring point, Ordnance Datum at London Bridge; those of 1953 rose to 17.7 feet (5.4 metres). At high tide on a spring day, when the river is swollen with runoff, it is striking to see ships moored along the Victoria Embankment riding high above the roadway, and it is sobering to reflect on the damage that would result if the waters overtopped the walls. A serious flood would threaten 45 square miles (117 square km) of London’s low-lying land, affecting some 1,250,000 people and 250,000 buildings and paralyzing the capital’s dense infrastructure of underground railways, sewers, telephone cabling, service tunnels, and gas, water, and electricity mains.
The flood risk results from a combination of factors. All of southeastern Britain is slowly being tilted down into the sea (and the Hebrides tilted up) by tectonic movements resulting from the melting of Pleistocene ice sheets. London is sinking faster than the remainder of the region because water is extracted from the chalk aquifer, thus gradually drying up the underlying beds of clay. In addition, the tidal rhythm of the Thames has been amplified by dredging for navigation and by the embankment of its estuary marshes for cultivation.
The traditional method of protection was to build up the river walls and embankments. Long stretches were raised after passage of the Thames Flood Act of 1879; further protective measures were taken after serious flooding in 1928, when 14 people drowned in basements in Westminster, and again after the still more serious inundations in 1953. The official inquiry into the 1953 floods recommended that “apart from erecting further walls and banks, an investigation should be made into the building of a flood barrier across the Thames.” Some 20 years of debate about the best design and location for a barrier produced an unusual form of flood protection that leaves the tidal Thames intact. At Silvertown, 8 miles (13km) downstream of London Bridge, a line of piers was erected; from the piers were suspended 10 enormous steel gates and counterweights, the 4 main ones weighing 3,000 tons each. Normally positioned face-downward on the bed of the river, at a time of flood risk they can be swung up by electrohydraulic machinery to form a continuous barrier sealing off London from the sea. Downstream of the Thames Barrier, to protect against the backsurge caused by its closure, elaborate walls were built along the estuary marshes with guillotine-style floodgates at the mouths of tributary rivers.
| Flood reasons | Consequences | Protective measures |
2. Read the text Human Impact on the Natural Environment and complete the table after it.