Chapter 17 & 18 blog

Chapter 17 creating and delivering listener-centered oral presentations

This chapter describes how to create and deliver effective listener-centered oral presentations.
Creating oral presentations is very similar to creating reader-centered written communications. The main difference being that an oral presentation has the advantage of direct listener feedback. This allows you to adjust your speech to the reactions of the audience.

As in any communication you should first define your objectives. With your objectives in mind you can then work on the verbal and visual parts of your presentation. Your presentation will be more usable and persuasive if the verbal and visual components work well together. The visual components should be large enough so that your audience can understand their meaning without difficulty. Further, when using a program such as Microsoft PowerPoint try not to use long sentences or paragraphs. You want your listeners to focus on what you are saying and the visual aid should be just that, a visual aid. If the text you use is difficult to follow your listeners will be distracted.

When you are speaking you should make eye contact with your audience. This allows you to use a more conversational style of speech. This should help keep the interest of your audience. Also, while making eye contact you can often determine if your listeners are understanding you.

Chapter 18 creating reader-centered web pages and websites

I found this chapter very interesting. The book indicates that one of the most important features of a website should be the ability to get to the desired information quickly. I find it amazing that even with this information there are an untold number of websites that are nearly impossible to navigate. The book also states that you can accomplish this by creating a well organized website with navigational aides to help readers get what they need quickly. After creating the website you should test it before activating it. In the process of testing the site you should be willing to make any necessary revisions to make the site the best that it can be.