The art of public speaking & presentation

By: Racheal Kiiza 

There is a common saying that, ‘the first impression lasts longer” and I totally agree with this statement. This week at Kyusa the participants were enlightened on presentation skills. The aim of the module was to enable the participants to articulate the communication process, understand and use the different listening styles, prepare speeches and presentations adequately and also confidently make public presentations.

How we present ourselves before people speaks volumes about who we are and more so when pitching and networking with people. As people pitch and network there is always need to make an impression in the way they present themselves; in the handshake, body language, tone used, posture, et cetera.

 We learnt that communication forms include small group discussion, public speaking, dyadic and mass communication but the main focus was on public speaking which goes hand in hand with presentation skills. Public speaking is where a speaker delivers a message with a specific purpose to an audience of people who are present at the delivery of the speech. Public speaking shares many characteristics with the other forms of communication; however in public speaking listeners expect a more systematic presentation.

Communication can be one –way or two-way depending on the context. If two –way communication is carried out then the sender of the message must ensure that the receiver understands the message; because how a message is perceived is very important. Feedback is vital just like the bible says iron sharpens iron. Through constructive criticism, the speaker is given an opportunity to change the weak areas and enhance the strong areas. It is also important to note that as constructive criticism is given, the positive message must come first before the negative feedback. People crave affirmation and hate negative criticism. As feedback is given, it is important that the speaker listens and does not interrupt, ask for clarification if needed, but do not defend yourself or argue and also evaluate feedback given for yourself.

Public speakers ought to be sensitive in spheres of culture, religion and beliefs just like the saying goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do.” The speakers must be culturally intelligent, skilled and flexible toward understanding a culture and learn to reshape their thinking so as to develop appropriate responses to different cultures.

Speech anxiety is a common occurrence and can be in form of lack of confidence, popularity, knowledge, preparation, fear of the public respectively; these hinder effective delivery of public speaking.  Speech anxiety can be overcome through boosting one’s confidence and this entails preparing, practice, adopting relaxation techniques, learning from criticism.

During the course of the training, participants were tasked to carry out group and personal presentation assignments. After this three days training, I can confidently say the participants at Kyusa can ably present themselves and also carry out critical thinking and evaluation.