effective communication.docx

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

THROUGH POWER POINT

PRESENTATION

1

INDEX

1.0 INTRODUCTION 3

2.0 PRESENTATIONS 6

3.0 IMPORTANCE OF VISUALS IN A PRESENTATION 10

4.0 USE OF MS POWERPOINT FOR EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS 13

5.0 USING POWERPOINT FOR ENHANCING COMMUNICATION SKILLS 15

6.0 USE OF POWERPOINT IN ENHANCING COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF EMPLOYEES 16

7.0 CONCLUSION 22

8.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 23

9.0 APPENDIX - A 24

10.0 APPENDIX - B 25

*****

1.0 INTRODUCTION:

People in organizations typically spend over 75% of their time in an interpersonal situation; thus

it is no surprise to find that at the root of a large number of organizational problems is poor

2

communications. Effective communication is an essential component of organizational success

whether it is at the interpersonal, intergroup, intragroup, organizational, or external levels.

Business Communication is communication used to promote a product, service, or organization;

relay information within the business; or deal with legal and similar issues.

Business Communication encompasses a variety of topics, including Marketing, Branding,

Customer relations, Consumer behaviour, Advertising, Public relations, Media relations,

Corporate communication, Community engagement, Research & Measurement, Reputation

management, Interpersonal communication, Employee engagement, Online communication, and

Event management.

The Business Communication message is conveyed through various channels of communication,

including the Internet, Print (Publications), Radio, Television, Ambient, Outdoor, and Word of

mouth

There are several methods of business communication, including:

Web based communication - for better and improved communication, anytime

anywhere ...

e-mails, which provide an instantaneous medium of written communication

worldwide;

Reports - important in documenting the activities of any department;

Presentations - very popular method of communication in all types of organizations,

usually involving audiovisual material, like copies of reports, or material prepared in

Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe Flash;

telephoned meetings, which allow for long distance oral communication; forum

boards, which allow people to instantly post information at a centralized location; and

face to face meetings, which are personal and should be succeeded by a written

followup

What is effective business communication?

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Effective communication is the lifeblood of a successful organization. It reinforces the

organization’s vision, connects employees to the business, fosters process improvement,

facilitates change and drives business results by changing employee behavior. No matter how you

look at it, communication is an important part of the business landscape and cannot be taken for

granted.

Why Communications Skills are so important:

The purpose of communication is to get your message across to others clearly and

unambiguously.

Doing this involves effort from both the sender of the message and the receiver. And it's a

process that can be fraught with error, with messages often misinterpreted by the recipient. When

this isn't detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, wasted effort and missed opportunity.

In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the

same information as a result of the communication

By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively.

When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you send do not necessarily reflect your own,

causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals

– both personally and professionally.

Communications Skills - The Importance of Removing Barriers:

Problems with communication can pop-up at every stage of the communication process (which

consists of sender, encoding, channel, decoding, receiver, feedback and context - see the

diagram below) and have the potential to create misunderstanding and confusion.

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To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and

confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of these problems at each stage of this

process with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications

Key findings

Companies that communicate effectively have a 19.4 percent higher market premium

than companies that do not.

Shareholder returns for organizations with the most effective communication were over

57 percent higher over the last five years (2000-2004) than were returns for firms with

less effective communication.

The 2005/2006 study found evidence that communication effectiveness is a leading

indicator of financial performance.

Firms that communicate effectively are 4.5 times more likely to report high levels of

employee engagement versus firms that communicate less effectively.

Companies that are highly effective communicators are 20 percent more likely to report

lower turnover rates than their peers.

.

*****

5

2.0 PRESENTATIONS:

How is presentation useful in business communication?

Presentations are a fact of life in business - whether you like them or not. In fact we'd go so far

as to say that presentations are like taxes: unpopular but unavoidable - fortunately our training

means you'll be much better equipped make your business presentations. This page runs you

through some of the questions we get asked most often about our training.

Need for effective presentation

The central purpose of any presentation, written, oral or visual, is communication. To

communicate effectively, you must state your facts in a simple, concise and interesting

manner.

It is proven that the people learn more readily and retain more information when learning

is reinforced by visualization. You can entertain, inform, excite and even shock an

audience by the proper integration of visual images into virtually any exchange of

information.

Meetings which might normally be considered dull, or a chore to be avoided, can be

transformed into exciting productions that grab the attention of the viewers.

This kind of presentation maximizes the audience retention of the subject matter. The

phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" has existed since the New York Post

discovered the value of visuals in the news business. This remains true to this day.

Simple, clear, concise visual images, briskly paced and sprinkled with attention-grabbing

graphics will lend support to your spoken words. This leaves your audience with a

positive attitude toward you and your product, service or proposal.

Visuals in business should be used in support of the spoken or written word, and not in

lieu of it. A well-developed concept and effective script are the essential elements of any

presentation. Regardless of their form, they should be the first and most important phase

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of its development. When the concept begins to take final form, the visuals are developed

around it.

This is not to imply that A-V design should be placed near the end of the project. You

must begin mentally planning your visuals at the beginning of the design process. Hastily

designed and produced visuals can doom a presentation (and a presenter,) where well

planned and executed images add tremendous strength. Concepts that are difficult to

grasp can be communicated quickly and easily through the intelligent use of

professionally produced visuals. This allows you the freedom to communicate more

complex subject matter in a more efficient manner, adding support and impact to your

script.

Finally, your presentation should be entertaining. Leave the audience feeling better and

more relaxed when they leave and that impression will carry over to both your subject

matter and yourself. There is no logical reason that the presentation of routine sales

figures and financial reports should not be as exciting as the unveiling of a new product

or a first rate service proposal.

How to make an effective presentation

1. KNOW YOUR SUBJECT MATTER

While this first point may seem obvious, it is very important that you research every

nuance of your subject. Read reports and look up information about the subject with the

specific purpose of writing a presentation script. When examined in this light, new ideas

and alternative ways of thinking often develop. The ability to present a subject with

confidence directly affects your audience's impressions and will help keep their attention.

2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

A small amount of research into the makeup of your audience will reap large benefits on

presentation day.

If you were traveling about speaking on behalf of a new construction project you would

tailor vastly different presentations to an audience of engineers and a city council. You'd

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should also have a couple of other versions for local community activist groups.

(depending on whether they're for or against the project)

3. KNOW YOURSELF (and your limits)

We all must push our limits and willingly bite off more than we may be comfortable

swallowing on occasion -- this is how we learn and grow. Knowing a few of your limits,

however, might avert disaster, or at least embarrassment.

Intimately related to Know Your Audience above, your 'limits' are just where you may or

may not tread, depending on the makeup of your audience and your relationship with

them.

4. DEVELOP A THEME

All presentations, regardless of their complexity, are designed with a single purpose.

Whether that purpose is to sell, educate, or for pure entertainment, state that purpose to

yourself at the beginning of the development process. Keep this purpose in mind always.

5. PREPARE YOUR SCRIPT

Any presentation script, regardless of complexity is like any other business

correspondence. It should consist of the same four basic parts, an opening, body,

summary and closing.

o THE OPENING

The opening of the presentation sets the stage for what is to follow. Participants

are introduced and the purpose of the presentation is stated. You should also

present a VERY BRIEF summary or outline of the points to be covered. This

helps keep your audience oriented properly within the framework of your script.

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o BODY

This is the part of the script in which the bulk of the subject matter is presented.

The body of a long presentation should be separated into smaller, easily

assimilated modules. Each module or sub-section should make a single point or

convey one idea. These sub-sections should each have their own simple opening,

body and summary.

o SUMMARY

This portion should be very brief and simple. Here is your chance to reinforce the

central theme and purpose of your presentation. Briefly emphasize the key points

and main ideas of your script in this section.

Question and answer sessions often follow a final summary and are very

productive if managed properly. You should encourage questions from the

audience if time or format permits, but be prepared to answer them. If you do not

know the correct answer to a question, don't try to fake it.

o CLOSING

In a well structured closing, points raised during the question and answer session

(if any) are summarized and any handout material that was not required during

the presentation is distributed. Handout material which emphasizes each key

point or idea permits your audience to review the subject and assures that your

words will remain fresh in their minds. Handout material should not be

distributed before a presentation unless it is critical to the theme since it

invariably leads to audience distraction.

6. SELECT THE PROPER VISUAL AIDS

Good presentation visuals, however, do not have to be expensive. When properly planned

and produced, simple, well designed graphics add professionalism and impact to virtually

any show. The proper use of text images, charts and graphs as well as the correct type of

chart or graph to use in various circumstances is the subject of another article in this

series. I will, however, touch on a few of the deadly design sins of presentation visuals a

bit later.

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*****

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3.0 IMPORTANCE OF VISUALS IN A PRESENTATION

You've got to see it to believe it.

--Anonymous

Did you know that most humans absorb more than 80 percent of what they learn through the

sense of sight? That means if you show something to people, they are far more likely to

remember it, at least for a while, than if you tell something to them. Show and tell at the same

time and your audience will remember even more.

Geri E. H. McArdle, Ph.D., who wrote Delivering Effective Training Sessions and has been a

consultant to Fortune 500 companies, says that adding visuals like graphs, charts, maps, or photos

to a presentation increases the amount of retained information by as much as 55 percent. For

example, people who have attended a show and tell presentation will retain about 65 percent of

the information after three days, compared to about 10 percent retention for audiences who have

simply heard the information.

A study done by the Wharton School of Business showed that the use of visuals reduced meeting

times by as much as 28 percent. Another study found that audiences believe presenters who use

visuals are more professional and credible than presenters who merely speak. And still other

research indicates that meetings and presentations reinforced with visuals help participants reach

decisions and consensus in less time. That's a pretty good case for using visuals!

When To Use Visuals

A picture is worth a thousand words.

--Chinese Proverb

Nearly any kind of presentation will benefit from some form of visual aid. Shareholders will have

a better grasp of earnings or losses when presented with pie charts or bar graphs to show them

where the money went. Clients of an advertising agency will have a better understanding of what

a new advertising campaign will look and sound like when they are presented with story boards

for TV commercials and slides of magazine ads. New hires will catch on to customer relations

policies through role-model performances on video. Gardeners will learn how to propagate plants

from cuttings when they actually have the plant material in their hands. A prospective customer is

more likely to understand your product, and feel the need to buy it, if he or she can see it or touch

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it. And a message like "sell" or "service" or "quality" takes on greater meaning when it's projected

on a screen or printed on a flip chart.

Sometimes visuals are essential components of a presentation. Examples of times when visuals

are a "must" include the following:

Your message is abstract, complex, or difficult to understand.

Your key message or subject is visual in nature.

It is essential that your audience retain your message.

There is controversy or the chance your message could be misinterpreted.

You have more than two or three key points.

You want to add emphasis to a key point.

The presentation includes words or language unfamiliar to the audience.

The presentation is a how-to session involving several steps.

You need to "dress up" a subject that may not be of great interest to the audience.

The presentation includes numbers or mathematical calculations.

You are dealing with children.

Types of Visuals

Visual aids take many forms, for example:

Flip charts on easels

Note-book flip charts

Blackboards with chalk

Whiteboards with markers

Overhead transparencies

Slides

Videos

Multimedia productions

CD ROM

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Computers

Props

Three-dimensional models

Posters

Banners

Handouts

*****

13

4.0 USE OF MS POWERPOINT FOR MAKING EFFECTIVE

PRESENTATIONS

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the

Microsoft Office system. Microsoft PowerPoint runs on Microsoft Windows and the Mac OS

computer operating systems.

It is widely used by business people, educators, students, and trainers and is among the most

prevalent forms of persuasion technology. Beginning with Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft

revised branding to emphasize PowerPoint's identity as a component within the Office suite:

Microsoft began calling it Microsoft Office PowerPoint instead of merely Microsoft PowerPoint.

The current version of Microsoft Office PowerPoint is Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007. As a

part of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office PowerPoint has become the world's most widely used

presentation program.

Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

Hints for a successful presentation:

o Plan carefully

o Do your research

o Know your audience

o Time your presentation

o Practice your presentation

o Speak comfortably and clearly

Effective PowerPoint Slides

o Use design templates

o Standardize position, colors and styles

o Include only necessary information

o Limit the information to essentials

o Content should be self-evident

o Use colors that contrast

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o Be consistent with effects, transitions and animation

o Too many slides can lose your audience

Text guidelines

o Generally no more than 6 words a line

o Generally no more than 6 lines a slide

o Avoid long sentences

o Larger font indicates more important information

o Font size generally ranges from 18 to 48 point

o Be sure text contrasts with background

o Fancy fonts can be hard to read

o Words in all capital letters are hard to read

o Avoid abbreviations and acronyms

o Limit punctuation marks

Clip Art and Graphics

o Should balance the slide

o Should enhance and complement the text, not overwhelm

o No more than two graphics per slide

*****

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Solution

PowerPoint is a high-powered software tool used for presenting information in a dynamic

slide show format. Text, charts, graphs, sound effects and video are just some of the

elements PowerPoint can incorporate into your presentations with ease. Hence, the same is

very useful to enhance the communication effectiveness of the employees.

Benefits

Very substantial increases satisfaction in employees after getting knowledge and application of

Power point presentations. Surveys administered to gauge employees reaction to the PowerPoint

presentation show that they perceive increased retention, grasp of material, organization, and

enjoyment.

Microsoft Products Used: Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word

Learning with PowerPoint

The employees in various capacities are dealing with diverse kind of intra-organization and inter-

organization business dealings. Some of the activities are shown below:

i) Technical Issues

ii) Safety

iii) Financial Matters

iv) HR Matters

v) Commercial Issues

vi) Contract & Procurement Dealings etc.

The choice of using Power point for the presentation on the above subjects is due to the

following reasons :

i) Power point is ideally suited to a highly visual approach, particularly in demonstration of

technical details.

ii) Pie charts are used to express budgetary allocations and expenses details under various

heads.

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iii) Line and bar charts are used for line outage, line availability, nos of tripping etc.

iv) One additional advantage of using PowerPoint is the ability to easily produce handout

sheets with the bullet points clearly printed out.

The purpose of project to provide inputs to employees about Power Point to achieve

efficiency in Communication Skills.

The methodology:

A sample of 10 employees has been taken from the total strength of 40 employees in the

Division. While choosing employees the following criteria has been taken into consideration:

i) They are having adequate working knowledge of computers.

ii) These employees are using / may use presentation as a part of their jobs.

The project is divided in two phases:

Phase –I - Prior to training of MS Power Point (Questionnaire –A : Opinions of participants

before training).

Phase-II – After the training of MS Power Point (Questionnaire –B : Feedback of participants

after training).

The sample employees were given a Questionnaire-I (Appendix –A) to put their views about

presentation for effective communication and use of Power point presentation.

During pre-training survey i.e. phase –I, the point wise response from the participants as below:

A) Almost all participants have shown their agreed ness towards necessity of communication

skills for effective working in organization.

Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Number

7

3

0

0

0

Percentage

70%

30%

0%

0%

0%

B) Participants have rated their communication skills in good to average range.

17

Position

Excellent

Very good

Good

Average

Poor

Number

0

0

5

5

0

Percentage

0%

0%

50%

50%

0%

C) Participants agreed to the fact that Visual Aids are important for effective communication.

Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Number

3

6

1

0

0

Percentage

30%

60%

10%

0%

0%

D) Participants have rated their proficiency in MS Power point ranging from good to average.

Position

Excellent

Very good

Good

Average

Poor

Number

0

0

5

5

0

Percentage

0%

0%

50%

50%

0%

E) Some participants have agreed that Power point presentations are useful for effective business

communication. The remaining participants were neutral about the same.

Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Number

0

6

4

0

Percentage

0%

60%

40%

0%

18

Strongly disagree 0 0%

From the above opinion it is derived that the participants feel that Communication Skills are

necessary effective working in an organization, however, they are not very sure about the

importance of visual aids and Power Point in Communication. Accordingly, the training of visual

aids and Power point was given to the participants.

THE TRAINING FOR MS POWER POINT:

The participants were made aware of usefulness of presentations and making presentation in

Power point. The subject matter was covered in four lectures (of 1.5 Hrs each) as below:

Lecture-I – The importance of communication in a business organization.

Lecture-II How to make a good presentation : Use of visual aids in presentations.

Lecture-III Knowledge of Power Point. Use of menu, short cuts, slide background, slid transition,

sound effects etc.

Lecture-IV Preparing Power Point Presentation: Presenting to the audience.

Suitable personal training given & reading materials have also been distributed to the

participants. Participants have advised to prepare at least one presentation on the subject chosen

by them.

FEEDBACK FROM THE PARTICIPANTS:

During post-training survey i.e. phase –II, the point wise feedback of the participants obtained in

the format (Questionnaire –II – Appendix-B), which is as below:

A) Power point presentation is useful in effective communication

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Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Number

9

1

0

0

0

Percentage

90%

10%

0%

0%

0%

B) Presentations made Lectures Organized

Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Number

8

2

0

0

0

Percentage

80%

20%

0%

0%

0%

C) Presentations made Lectures Interesting

Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Number

7

3

0

0

0

Percentage

70%

30%

0%

0%

0%

D) Presentations helped understanding the matter you have presented

Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Number

6

4

0

0

0

Percentage

60%

40%

0%

0%

0%

20

E) Graphics, Photos and Clipart are helpful in making presentation effective

Position

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Number

7

3

0

0

0

Percentage

70%

30%

0%

0%

0%

Participant’s reactions to the use of PowerPoint have been overwhelmingly positive. Their

responses are as mentioned below:

Participants mentioned a number of aspects of the presentations that they found useful and

interesting.

One participant emphasized the appeal of the system to visual-style learners.

It is helpful to see a visual presentation that gives participant better understanding of subject.

The use of art, graphics, etc. is very helpful in presenting the information in an understandable

concept.

In summary, the participants found that Power Point is very useful tool in effective

business communication in an organization.

*****

7.0 CONCLUSION :

Effective communication is vital for any organization. In today’s complex and competitive

business world, lucid, effective communication is essential. It is the foundation on which

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companies and careers are built. Whether the audience is an entire organization or a single

individual, effective communication requires bringing together different points of view and

relaying that information without losing clarity or focus.

Success as a technical professional today means being able to design and deliver persuasive and

effective presentations. So whether it’s an impromptu discussion, a more structured technical

briefing, formal speech or conference presentation, effective presentation skills are vital.

PowerPoint is a powerful tool that is intended to support presenters for effective presentation.

This can enliven the experience of the audience by align verbal skills, content selection and

strong graphic design to achieve maximum effectiveness of the presentations.

*****

8.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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Websites:

http://technologysource.org/article/use_of_powerpoint_in_teaching_comparative_politics/

http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/CommunicatingInAnOrganization.htm

http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/keystep1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/

*****

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Appendix -A

Phase –I : Questionnaire –I

Opinion

Name of the employee:

Designation

Area of work

A) Communication skills are necessary for in effective working in organization

1.Strongly agree 2. Agree 3. Neutral 4. Disagree 5. Strongly disagree

B) How do you rate yourself communication skills

1. Excellent 2. Very good 3. Good 4. Average 5. Poor

C) Visual aids are important for effective communication skills


D) Your familiarity with Power Point Presentation:

1. Excellent 2. Very good 3. Good 4. Average 5. Poor

E) Power point presentation is useful for your effective business communication:

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Appendix-B

Phase –II : Questionnaire -II

Feedback

Name of the employee:

Designation

Area of work

A) Power point presentation is useful in effective communication


B) Presentations made Lectures Organized


C) Presentations made Lectures Interesting


D) Presentations helped understanding the matter presented


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E) Graphics, Photos and Clipart are helpful


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