Effective Oral Communication

Welcome to Topic 4: Effective Oral Communication. This topic will enable you to understand the value of your voice, who your audience may be, and how to engage them in the most effective ways. Once you have written your reports, you may have to pitch your ideas or explain them further with a presentation. Your voice is your way of expressing your ideas to a different audience and is key to understanding who you are both as a student and as a professional.

In this topic, you will learn about:

• Having and using your voice with confidence
• Speaking skills, pronunciation and intonation
• Using presentation software
• Responding appropriately to constructive feedback.

These relate to the Subject Learning Outcomes:

1. Discuss the written, verbal, listening and non-verbal communication skills in academic, professional and intercultural settings.
2. Outline the critical thinking and academic research skills required to make informed decisions.
3. Define the principles and practice of effective presentations and public speaking.

Welcome to your pre-seminar learning tasks for this week. Please ensure you complete these prior to attending your scheduled seminar with your lecturer.

Click on each of the following headings to read more about what is required for each of your pre-seminar learning tasks.

Having and using your voice with confidence

What is my voice?

When we talk about our ‘voice’ we do not necessarily mean the sound that comes from our mouths, but rather the opinions, knowledge and facts that we can share, and which informs our audience about us. In a world of fast online interaction and social media that can traverse the planet in seconds, professionally and personally, we need to understand the impact our voice can have, the people we can reach, and the responses generated.

This does not mean that we should censor ourselves, but we should carefully consider what message we want to share, who we want to share it with and how we would like them to respond as a result. Our message can inform, highlight, confirm, persuade, soothe and comfort but can also irritate, anger, exacerbate and deny. This wide array of possible outcomes means we must reflect carefully on our own motivations, especially if we intend to move successfully and effectively into the professional space.

Why is my voice important?

Your voice is important. As a human, you have the right to your opinions, to speak, and to be heard. As an educated person, you have knowledge to share and, as you move through your personal and work life, you will have experience and lessons to give other people. Your voice is informed by the culture you are surrounded by and the people you live with. It is shaped by your education, teachers, interests, family, friends and even the people you disagree with! You have every right to use these experiences in what you have to say.

What is important is to have confidence in yourself and your voice and use your voice responsibly to avoid causing harm or offence or spreading false information. In the professional world, what you say has a lasting impact and it is crucial to ensure that a mistake does not come back years later to affect your work-relationships.

Who needs to hear my voice?

There is a wide variety of people who will listen to you at different points in your personal and professional lives. These people will be your family, friends, classmates, educators, teammates, and perhaps your direct reports or employees. Your voice will change as your knowledge and experience develop, and you will find different ways to share your ideas, whether verbally or in writing. Your use of language will also change as you work in other environments and locations. Perhaps you will speak in different languages too.

What remains true is that you will use different words and levels of formality according to whom you address. You will adjust your intonation, expression, volume, and tone according to your reason for speaking. Are you trying to encourage someone? To sell something? To teach? Depending on your reason for speaking, and the people who are in your audience, you will automatically moderate your voice for maximum impact.

For example, in a classroom environment, you may be discussing something with your peers and trying to get your ideas across while also learning from them. In a work situation, you may be managing employees and trying to inform them of new information. There will be many different reasons for you to deliver information and in this topic, you will be looking at the why and the how of doing this in the most effective way for you and your particular situation.

Speaking skills, pronunciation and intonation

How can I share my voice?

The method you choose to share your voice depends on the situation and the topic. The following table provides some examples of situations in the study and work environments in which you need to use your voice effectively. You will use these examples as a starting point for developing your own examples during the in-seminar, Learning task 1.

What techniques will help my voice be heard?

From the previous examples, you will be starting to consider how best to share your ideas and your message.

A verbal message can work effectively in an informal situation, but you may have some nerves about speaking up. Before you start, make sure you have the facts and can support them in case of discussion. Depending on what you are talking about, you may need some notes, so have these close by, on your phone, a notebook, some cue cards, or even a computer – whatever makes you most comfortable.

Take a deep breath, own your space and say what you need to say. If you’re standing to speak, it can help to take a physical step into a space. Try this in a private place such as your room. Take a step forward, relax your shoulders, take a breath and survey the people in front of you. Eye contact, especially with people you know or feel comfortable with, can bring the empathy of your audience to you, so use that.

Take some time to watch other speakers in action. Look at the body language used by your teachers and lecturers. How do they use the space in the room? How do they use eye contact? Do they appear nervous? Maybe not, but they will have used some techniques to control their voice, their message and the information they are sharing. Watch some people presenting on TEDTalks. While they are polished speakers, they all have some common techniques to draw their audiences in.

The following table gives some examples of public speaking techniques and how you can apply them. During the in-seminar, Learning task 1, you will use the following table as a starting point to make notes of speakers you encounter, the techniques you notice they use, and how you could try to apply them yourself.

Using presentation software

When making a more formal presentation, you may have information that you want to present. You may be sharing the results of research or project work and you need some kind of software or application to show this. There are many different products on the market, but you will likely be most familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint. While this can be useful, there are also some points worth remembering:

• Software should be used to support, not direct your presentation.
• Even if the presentation looks good, it’s the content that is most important.
• Many slides do not make a better presentation.
• Technology can go wrong – do not rely on your software to be available. Make sure you know the content.
• Do not read from your presentation. Your audience can do that – they want to hear your explanations of the information.
• Sources must be acknowledged in a presentation – both in-text and as a reference list at the end. 
• Proofread and edit your presentation. If you are not good at this, get someone else to do it. Mistakes reduce validity.
• Avoid transitions and animations unless you are trying to showcase them.
• Death by PowerPoint is a thing – do not bore your audience to tears with too many slides, too many transitions and too many mistakes.

Prezi and Sway are also presentation tools, and you may know of others. Don’t be afraid to use them. Adding variety will make your presentation stand out from the crowd.

Prezi is visually appealing and more interactive but can be more effective if you are to use an interactive whiteboard. Sway can be used in a newsletter format, but can also be more visually interesting than PowerPoint. Follow the links above to see how these tools can be used.

Responding appropriately to constructive feedback

How can I measure my success?

Your speaking skills can be measured in different ways. Ideally, you should be reflecting on your own performance and thinking of how you felt, and what you thought while you were speaking. Using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (1988) will help you get accustomed to evaluating your performance in many areas. Speaking and presentations can be one of these.

Gibbs can also help you plan for future improvements. Suppose you are presenting at college, as part of an assignment. In that case, you will be graded against a rubric that will measure both the content of your presentation and your ability in presenting the information. Your tutor will provide feedback in writing, but there may also be chances for the tutor and the audience to ask questions, so you should be able to reflect on your skills by the questions they ask, and the responses you give.

If you are in a work situation, you can ask your colleagues for feedback on your skills, particularly peers and supervisors. If you are making a pitch, you will be able to evaluate your success based on whether your ideas have been accepted or you can not answer the questions correctly.

How can I improve?

It is entirely up to you to decide how and what you want to improve in your presentation and speaking skills. For self-development to be effective, it is dependent on your personal level of motivation and commitment. If your motivation is extrinsic, from an external source such as teachers telling you how to improve, your development is likely to be less enjoyable or interesting. However, if you engage well with reflective practice, and link this to where you want to be in study, or professionally, you are more likely to find the intrinsic motivation to truly evaluate your steps towards improvement.

To develop your presentation skills, there are many opportunities in the community and online, and this can also help you grow your network of contacts. During your in-seminar, Learning task 1, you will be asked to do some research around you and start listing some ideas and how these can help you. By building a list, you may start to find this motivating in itself. It could also give you some new ideas of the ways in which you want to develop. However, remember to use feedback from both studies and work to give you some good ideas, as often an external source can see areas you are missing.

The following table provides some examples of sources of development.

Developing your voice and the way you present to an audience can take time. You might find that you are stepping out of your comfort zone as you build your confidence with these skills. Use any opportunities that arise to practice your verbal and presentation skills as there will be expectations to showcase these in numerous assessments and as you enter your chosen career path. Seek assistance early if you require additional support and continue to refer back to this topic for ideas and guidance.

Welcome to your seminar for this topic. Your lecturer will start a video stream during your scheduled class time, you can access your scheduled class by clicking on ‘Live Sessions’ found within your navigation bar and locating the relevant day/class or by clicking on the following link and then click 'Join' to enter the class.

Click here to access your seminar.

The learning tasks are listed below, these will be completed during the seminar with your lecturer. Should you be unable to attend, you will be able to watch the recording which can be found via the following link or by navigating to the class through ‘Live Sessions’ via your navigation bar.

Click here to access the recording. (Please note: this will be available shortly after the live session has ended.)

In-seminar learning task

The in-seminar learning task identified below will be completed during the scheduled seminar. Your lecturer will guide you through this task. Click on the following heading to read more about the requirements for your in-seminar learning task.

Welcome to your post-seminar learning tasks for this week. Please ensure you complete these after attending your scheduled seminar with your lecturer. Your lecturer will advise you if any of these are to be completed during your consultation session. Click on each of the following headings to read more about the requirements for each of your post-seminar learning tasks..

Each week you will have a consultation session which will be facilitated by your lecturer. You can join in and work with your peers on activities relating to this subject. These session times and activities will be communicated to you by your lecturer each week. Your lecturer will start a video stream during your scheduled class time, you can access your scheduled class by clicking on ‘Live Sessions’ found within your navigation bar and locating the relevant day/class or by clicking on the following link and then click 'Join' to enter the class.

Click here to access your seminar.

Should you be unable to attend, you will be able to watch the recording which can be found via the following link or by navigating to the class through ‘Live Sessions’ via your navigation bar.

Click here to access the recording. (Please note: this will be available shortly after the live session has ended.)

• pp. 5-12 Minnesota Libraries 2016, Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies, Minnesota Libraries Publishing. -about communication and use this to start adding notes to Worksheet 1
• Read the prescribed text, Dwyer, J 2019, Business and the professions: Strategies and skills, 7th edn, Pearson Education Australia p. 422 and Morgan (2020) ch. 10., pp. 5-7 to add more detail to your notes.
• Read the prescribed text, Dwyer, J 2019, Business and the professions: Strategies and skills, 7th edn, Pearson Education Australia pp. 441-443 on managing challenging audiences and handling difficult questions.
• Read the prescribed text, Dwyer, J 2019, Business and the professions: Strategies and skills, 7th edn, Pearson Education Australia p. 433 on the use of visual aids when speaking.

References

• Duarte, N 2011, The secret structure of great talks, https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks#t-1897
• Dwyer, J 2016, Communication for business and the professions: Strategies and skills, Pearson.
• Eber, K 2020, How your brain responds to stories – and why they’re crucial for leaders, https://www.ted.com/talks/karen_eber_how_your_brain_responds_to_stories_and_why_they_re_crucial_for_leaders#t-12012
• Entrepreneur Asia Pacific 2007, 10 tips for a powerful voice, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/183472
• Morgan, P 2020, The business student’s guide to study and employability, 2^nd edn., Sage.
• Neill, C 2018, The 4 types of audience for your speech, https://conorneill.com/2018/04/17/the-4-types-of-audience-for-your-speech/
• Stephen, W 2015, How to sound smart in your TEDx talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o
• University of Minnesota 2016, Communication in the real world, University of Minnesota.
• Yousafzai, M 2021, Malala Yousafzai: when the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful, Yahoo News, https://ca.news.yahoo.com/malala-yousafzai-whole-world-silent-035146095.html