CMNS2290 week 10 readings

I believe they key messages from this weeks readings were about:

The main message I got from The Three Commandments of Presenting reading was the need to engage and connect with an audience. This reading was good because it talked through the dos and don’ts of presenting and gave some useful and practical tips. The author’s discussion of his own experiences allowed me to see how important it is to be engaging – if you can’t manage this then you seem to be wasting both your time and your audiences. The second reading (Oral Presentation from the Students Skills Guide) gave a very methodic approach to preparing a presentation. Doing this should ensure that you get the most out of what your discussing. The third reading (Speaking as Part of a Group) covered the advantages of presenting in a group and the outlined how a presentation should be structured. I got some really useful information out of this reading, such as the need to start positively. I’m not sure if agree with the part about not using humour though – from my experience, humour helps to engage the audience and create a connection between presenter and class.

The readings could be applied to my groups work:

The readings will be extremely useful because of the group presentations coming up in a few weeks. I’m one of the people presenting and the readings are definitely things which I will continually refer back to when creating the presentation.

The reading made me think more about PR theory and practice in that it:

Presenting and public speaking is a pretty large part of PR and the readings demonstrated how important it is be engaging and clear when presenting an idea. PR practitioners can be seen as the ‘face’ of a company and are meant to ensure that the best possible image is put forward to all stakeholders. Being able to present and speak to large groups of people in an effective manner will further bolster peoples confidence in your company – if you can’t effectively communicate an idea, then it is likely that your organisation will suffer.

The readings related to the other readings I’ve done in previous weeks:

This week’s readings looked at the need for successful verbal communication, something which is absolutely necessary in all parts of PR (e.g. media and community relations). The reading on crisis management emphasised the need for an organisation to take control of a situation – clear, confident information needs to be given, which is where good presentation and public speaking skills become handy.