iLEAP Academia

Personality types in the audience can be looked at from different spectrums. In the  context  of the  workplace,  we  will look at  task  oriented  versus people  oriented personalities and  personalities  from  high and  low  cultures. Understanding this  aspect  will  help when you have presentations  or  webinars  where you are addressing  people from  other  cultures across the  globe.

Task oriented communicators are direct and outgoing. They are impatient and want to make quick decisions. Such people  want  you  to  get  to the  point  immediately  and  do not have  time for the  frills. When  presenting  to  seniors  in the  organization  or stake holders, get a  sense  of their personality  types  so that  you  could  structure  your  presentation accordingly.

The people oriented personality is a socializer and likes to achieve results working with people. As  individuals,  we may have  a  stronger percentage  of  any  of these  personalities in us,  and that  becomes  obvious  in  our  communication  or interaction.

On the  other hand,  in today’s  workplace  when  working  across  different locations, cultural adaptability and  cultural  competence is an  absolute  must. This will help you approach communication in a more patient manner. People from high context cultures are direct and formal and combine verbal and nonverbal messages to convey their views. As a listener, you may have to read between the lines to grasp the full meaning of the message. Countries that have  a  high  context  culture are Asia, Middle East Africa and South America. Those  from low  context  cultures are direct and informal and  rely on the  literal meaning of the  words they use. They are more free in their style, individual oriented and solution  oriented. Germany and the US are countries with low context cultures.

Presentation Visuals

Visuals add an important dimension to your presentation. They include a large variety of communication products like flip charts slides video tapes etc.

When preparing visual aids a couple of pointers that you must remember are-

• a  single  message on a slide or page
• use  simple language local  photographs and examples
• use  charts and graphs  to support  statistical  information
• Be  conversant  with the order of the  slides

Flipcharts are quick to make, inexpensive and can be prepared in advance or used to record participant comments. They are suitable for small groups only. Words and diagrams must be drawn large enough for everyone in the room to see. Use block lettering as it is easier to read and vary color for purposes of highlighting differences.

Posters are pre-prepared devices and again work well with small groups. They are permanent and portable and can be simple or elaborate. Use large lettering and vary colors again.

White boards though common and perhaps part of every presentation, lose their edge as information has to be erased often. Though they are interactive and convenient, they don’t come across as a very professional tool.

Handouts are good  visual support aids  and should  preferably be  given at the  end  of the session more as reference material as otherwise  it  would tend  to distract during the  course  of the  presentation.

PowerPoint Slides are perhaps the most commonly used visual aid, beaten to death perhaps; however, you could use it effectively.
Listed are some tips that will help you use PowerPoint effectively.

• Keep the number  of slides to a minimum to keep your  audience interested
• Choose a font style like Helvetica or Ariel that is easy on the eye. The  font  size  should be such that it can be seen from the  distance - a one inch letter is readable from 20 feet
• Use  short points and bullet points  for your  sentences
• Use graphics  however don’t  overdo them
• Keep slide backgrounds subtle and consistent. Don’t add to much animation which can be distracting
• Use  high  contrast between your text  color and background  color
• Check the  presentation for any kind  of errors
• Verify that  the  projector’s  resolution is set  to the same resolution as that of  your  presentation
• Bulleted items should not be smaller than 22 points.
• The title should not be smaller than 28 points.
• Use images  sparingly
• Align text  to the left

Use color schemes in a manner that the slides appear pleasing and easy to read and are not hurtful to the eye. Light backgrounds, dark texts, lots of white space, all help give a professional look to the presentation.

If  you  were  designing a  PPT  and  feel  confused , wondering  what  information needs to  be  presented  on the  slides, think  over this:
In the introduction use the slides to display the name of your presentation, define particular terms, indicate a structure or highlight a question.
In the body of the presentation, slides could be used to highlight new main points, graphs or charts to support data or show sequence by linking points together.
In the conclusion, use a PPT to summarize the main points, a visual to encompass the presentation or to show key references. Planning in this manner helps you to limit the number of slides to just the bare essentials.

Summary:

• Is your audience from a high context culture or low context culture?
• Flip charts, posters, white board, handouts, Power point presentations - what will be your visuals of choice?

Reflection Time

You have to review a PPT made by Shailesh, the newest member of your team. These are some of the observations. Comment on them and explain to Shailesh why it is not appropriate to do so.

• The background  color is deep blue
• The  font used is Algerian size 20
• Text  color is  red
• Almost  10 lines of  information on each  slide
• Audio  animation  for  change  of frames

Copyright (c) Infosys BPO Limited and/or its licensors, 2014, all rights reserved