Communicating Content: A Presentation Given to the Michigan Chapter of Academic and Research Librarians on April 19, 2002

Deborah Armstrong, Wayne State University Office for Teaching and Learning
Program Coordinator, aa7943@wayne.edu

Introduction

Delivering a successful presentation takes careful thought and planning. A confident and effective presenter is one who is comfortable with the content and has mapped out the presentation in advance. The two most critical elements to keep in mind when planning a presentation are the message and presentation behavior. The message includes the content, how it is organized, and the media selected. Effective presentation behavior includes strong eye contact, appropriate body language, interaction with the audience, and use of media. A useful tool to guide planning the presentation is the ADDIE model: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.

The ADDIE Model

Analysis, the first phase of the ADDIE model, helps establish a focus for the presentation. During the analysis phase, information is first gathered about the audience. Typical questions asked and answered about the audience include:

Who are they?
How familiar are they with the topic?
What specialized interests will they bring?

Answers to these questions help establish the goal of the presentation. Consider this question: “What should this particular audience know and be able to do at the conclusion of the presentation?” The answer to this question becomes the goal statement of the presenter.

Once the goal has been established, preliminary topics are selected. A general topic list is created and preliminary consideration is given to scope and sequence. Questions asked when writing the preliminary topic list include:

What are the most important points that the audience should retain?
How detailed does the presentation need to be?
How should the topics be sequenced?
How will arguments be constructed?

One additional area to consider during the analysis phase is the impact the presentation setting will have on the message. Issues to consider include audience size as well as whether the presentation room is large or small, formal or informal. Analysis of the environment should also include information about available media. Details about the presentation environment will guide media selection decisions and provide insight into the types of interactions that will work in that setting.

Information gathered on the audience, presentation purpose, topics, and setting feeds directly into the next phase in the planning process: Design. During the design phase, decisions are made about how to most effectively communicate the content. The preliminary topics list is turned into the presentation content outline. Strategies to gain and maintain attention are formed, and tactics to support memory are devised.

The process used to transform the preliminary topic list into the content outline is straightforward: main ideas are identified from the preliminary topic list and minor topics are clustered around main ideas, gaps in the content are identified and research continues until the gaps are appropriately filled. Finally, the outline is written and revised as necessary. As a general rule of thumb, four to five main topics can be addressed in a 60-minute presentation.

The question about how long to present before audience attention begins to waver is important to ask as the content outline is formed. In general, adults can attend to verbal presentation for 15 to 20 minutes before attention begins to wander. To combat this, a question might be inserted into the presentation or an activity introduced. The information gathered during the analysis phase will give insight on how best to gain and maintain the audience’s attention. Other attention-getting devices include stimulating curiosity through storytelling, using relevant examples, and employing humor.

Consideration should be given to helping the audience remember important points covered in the presentation. Before discussing strategies to support memory, a brief overview of how cognitive information is processed is in order. A prevalent theory on cognitive processing is information processing theory. This theory states that humans gather and process data in three stages: information from the environment enters the very fragile sensory register where it is either attended to and further processed or ignored and discarded. Information from the sensory register that has been attended to then proceeds into short-term memory. Though a bit more stable than the sensory register, short-term memory is also fragile and has limited holding capacity, with the ability to retain between five and nine pieces of information before reaching capacity. Information that is not appropriately processed or encoded is simply discarded from short-term memory. Information that is appropriately encoded is sent to long-term memory where it is permanently stored and available for retrieval. The information retrieved from long-term memory constitutes what we “remember.” The important point here is that in order to effectively retrieve information, it must be properly encoded in short-term memory and thus retrievable from long-term memory.

During the design phase, decisions are made about how to support encoding and retrieval processes. Since short-term memory can hold only five to nine pieces of information, grouping or chunking pieces of information will support encoding. So for example rather than list all nineteen Library of Congress categories, presenting the categories in four groups of four and one group of three will better support encoding, resulting in better processing and retrieval. Memory aids are another important tool for supporting memory. Simple acrostics such as HOMES to represent the Great Lakes or ADDIE to represent presentation design phases will make encoding and retrieval more efficient.

While designing the presentation, issues about appropriate materials will arise. These issues are addressed in the next phase of the ADDIE model: Development. During development, presentation materials are authored and produced. Most presenters will author and produce simple materials such as overhead transparencies and PowerPoint slides. When more complex multimedia materials are needed, a professional developer is often utilized. It is important to keep in mind that presentation materials should be developed to attract and hold the audience’s attention--an important first-step for information processing. Use of color, movement, font type, graphics and diagrams will attract and hold attention as well as provide a secondary communication mode to support the oral presentation. Copyright issues may become an important consideration during the development phase, and every effort should be made to secure appropriate copyright permissions.

The development phase is not complete until the presenter has done several “trial-runs.” The first few trial-runs may be done without the presentation media. Practicing the presentation aloud, and in front of a mirror, helps alleviate nervousness and reveals where transitions from one topic to the next are needed. At least one practice session should include the actual presentation media and if possible should be conducted in the presentation room. This will reveal any unanticipated logistical difficulties and further alleviate nervousness.

Careful planning done in the previous phases pays off during Implementation when the presentation is delivered. Presentation behavior and delivery skills can be learned, and even the most seasoned presenters admit there is always room for improvement.

The presentation should be structured so that the logical development of ideas is apparent to the audience. Begin with an introduction that not only arouses curiosity but also provides an overview of the most important points. Draw relationships between ideas and intersperse informative material with thought-provoking questions. Always conclude with a summation of the most important ideas and how they are interrelated. If appropriate for the audience, leave time for questions at the end.

A useful approach to delivery is to treat the presentation as a conversation. As in everyday conversation, strong eye contact should be maintained with the audience; the presenter should scan the audience from side-to-side and look at people in the back of the room as well as at those directly in front. Tone-of-voice and body language are potent communicators and can be used to the presenter’s advantage. If a microphone is not available, speak loudly enough that those in the back of the room can easily hear. Work hard to vary the intonation of words and phrases; consider asking a colleague to listen and critique your delivery style. Consider body language and use gestures to emphasize important points. Adopt an open stance and avoid the “hands-in-pockets” or folded arms syndrome. Such closed postures can send the message that the presenter is at best uncomfortable and at worst unapproachable.

It is important that the presenter always face the audience, a challenge to many who use overhead projectors or PowerPoint slides. Many presenters turn away from their audience to read text on a screen behind them. This can be avoided by simply reading directly from the overhead projector or – if using PowerPoint – reading from the computer screen.

The final phase in the ADDIE planning model is Evaluation and should be done as soon after the presentation concludes as possible. Three common sources of evaluation data are (1) directly from the audience, (2) from peers and (3) from a videotape. If appropriate to the audience, evaluation forms can be distributed prior to beginning the presentation and collected after the presentation concludes. If the audience is not likely to complete an evaluation form, a peer may be asked to evaluate the presentation This may be done either during a “run-through” or the peer may be a member of the audience and view the actual presentation. If peer evaluation is used, be certain to provide some guidelines on what to evaluate (ex. eye contact, content structure, interaction, body language, etc.). A videotape of the presentation provides the most accurate account of the presentation’s message and the presenter’s behavior. As with peer evaluation however, be certain to decide before-hand which aspects of the presentation to evaluate.

Independent of the data-gathering method used, the presentation should be evaluated with an eye toward its effectiveness. Was the message organized in a logical manner? Were the cognitive processes of attention and memory activated during the presentation? Did the presentation media support or hinder the message? Did the presenter’s behavior compliment the message or contradict it? Was the presentation media used effectively? Did interaction with the audience augment the presentation?

The purpose of is to improve the presentation. Take the data gathered during evaluation and fold it back into the planning process. Evaluation data can provide additional information for audience analysis, designing the presentation content, developing the visuals, and implementing or delivering the presentation itself.

Summary

The most successful presentations are those that have been carefully and systematically planned. Planning a presentation requires attention to both the message and presentation behavior. The ADDIE model is a useful tool that can guide the planning process and ultimately improve presentations.

Communicating Content: A Presentation Given to the Michigan Chapter of Academic and Research Librarians on April 19, 2002

Introduction

The ADDIE Model

Summary

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