As I was preparing for the upcoming oral presentation with my group-mates, I was struck by how much the presenter-audience relationship defines the style of the presentation. A teacher in a classroom is required to be energetic, inspiring, engaging, and somewhat larger than life. In this case however, as students presenting a case before faculty members, it seems that I may have to tone down my style somewhat, in deference to their authority.
I came to this realisation slowly, as my suggestions and ideas for the presentation were shot down one by one. My favorite teachers were the ones who spent the most energy interacting with the class, getting students to participate, teasing people light-heartedly, and generally capturing the classroom with their enthusiasm and personality. The classroom almost seemed like a stage, upon which they served as the host of the show, bringing forth the content which they needed to drill into our unwilling brains. I've heard of teachers who write rap songs about their subject, and perform them in class. The purpose of the oral presentation given by teachers is not merely to inform, but also to entertain and to motivate. How else do they sustain their students' attention?
I sincerely doubt that such presentation techniques will be much appreciated in a working environment, much less in Singapore's traditionally-minded society. In Singapore, much as in Asia as a whole, proper respect must be shown to those in positions of authority, and this respect is demonstrated through many verbal and non-verbal means. This includes being properly sombre when addressing them, adopting the tone which conveys the message that their understanding is undoubtedly superior to your own, and that your own presentation is merely a suggestion upon which you humbly hope they might bestow some consideration.
At the end of the day, the best way to tailor a presentation to an audience is to get to know them first. Prior interactions which took place through email and other means can give us an understanding of how much emphasis they place on the proper formalities. It would also be wise to seek out advice from those who have presented before that audience before.
All the best
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Thanks for your final post and kind comments to me.It has been wonderful
teaching you.See you around on campus.
13 years ago
Hello Ben,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you about your point on how the audience plays an important role in the way an oral presentation is to be presented. It can be easily seen that certain styles of presenting are more suitable for a particular type of audience while other methods are more appropriate for a different type of audience.
However, I feel that a more important factor would be the purpose of the presentation. You did touch on how the role of a teacher and how that method of presentation cannot be properly appreciated in the working environment. This is because the purpose is different and not just because the audience have changed.
Take our presentation for example, we are not there to teach and educate the audience, but rather the purpose is to request them to take a look at your proposal and maybe, just maybe accept the recommendations your put forward. Surely the appropriate method would be to act humble.
To know thy enemy is one thing, to know thy purpose of doing something should be just as important.
Regards, Ryan Lim
Hi Ben,
ReplyDeleteYour point on the types of presenter-audience relationship is quite interesting. After so many years of education, I realised I have never thought much about the different ways my teachers presented themselves in class.
Thinking back now, I realise I did not have many fun teachers who taught in fun ways. However, my JC Biology teacher left the deepest impression on me, not because she was fun and interesting. Instead, she was a very strict retired teacher who displayed authority once she entered the class. She never bothered to call out students to answer questions, instead, she stare and point at you, expecting an immediate answer. Perhaps her way of teaching instilled so much fear in the class such that all our attention will always be on her. However, if a primary school employs this method of teaching, the kids may end up crying out of pure fear. Hence, I agree that the types of audience define the style of presentation.
To get to know more about your audience before the presentation, it might be useful to find out the age groups of your audience and maybe information such as the kinds of occupation your audience hold etc. This may helps in tailoring out a presentation style that they can accept and engage in.
Regards,
Wanyee
Hey Ben,
ReplyDeleteI totlally agree with your point that you need to know your audience when doing a presentation. I have attended many presentations and realised that most just follow the standard protocol. At the end of the day i can barely remember any of the presentations. As most of us learn how to do good presentations we neeed to dare to do it out of the box. Yet apreciating the audience we have the same time.
cheerz
Jay
Hi Ben!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late comment. I find it the right post to comment after the oral presentation session.
The final style your group presented in front of the class may not be as exciting as your other abandoned ideas on presentation. But on my side, your group’s presentation was the most refreshing and left the deepest impression. Apart from the specially designed slides which grabbed much attention, the confidence your group displayed earned a lot credits.
Back to your topic, formality certainly set restrict on the freedom of ways you can carry out the presentation. But it also serves certain purposes. When all formal presentations come as no surprise, following more or less the same flow, the audience can always expect an introduction at the beginning, and know when to pay more attention etc.
Overall, an insightful post indeed!
Cheers,
June