Sell yourself! - Presentation Techniques

Data

Official data in SubjectManager for the following academic year: 2023-2024

Topic

Improving students' presentation skills.
The aim of the course: theoretical and practical development of students' verbal, non-verbal and visual presentation abilities.
The course provides aids through following key aspects for effective communication:
- Structure of presentation
- Dynamics of presentation
- Basic presentation techniques
- Methods of effective persuasion
- Audience survey
- Questions, handling objections
- Verbal content
- Non-verbal communication / body language
- Raising awareness, maintaining the feedback rating
- The use of visual aids
- Slideshow planning and preparation
- Guidelines for charts, graphics preparation

Lectures

• 1. What is Public Speaking? Aristotle's Guidelines. Ethos-Pathos-Logos. What makes a lecture effective? Preparing the audience. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 2. Why are we afraid of public speaking? Historical overview, classification. Evolutionary background. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 3. The significance, stages and evolutionary background of the first impression. - Dr. Budán Ferenc Csaba
• 4. The catching title. Effective communication and aids: Avoiding foreign words, simple sentences, intense words, thinking, asking questions. - Dr. Budán Ferenc Csaba
• 5. The first sentence. The first 30 seconds. Effective Starting Strategies: Interesting / Bizarre Fact, Personal Story, Question, Accessories. Surveying and controlling the audience. - Dr. Sik Attila Gábor
• 6. Introduction Packaging the Content. Means of raising awareness and effect. Defining the main message of the lecture. - Dr. Sik Attila Gábor
• 7. Attention skill. The challenges of the audience and the possibilities to adapt to them. - Dr. Szabó Éva
• 8. Eye contact. Means of engaging the audience and radiating confidence. - Dr. Szabó Éva
• 9. Tonality. Applying appropriate and systematic emphasis, intonation, emotionality. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 10. Speech speed. Applying the right speech rate. Methodology for consciously changing the pace of speech. Methodology of applying rhetoric pause. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 11. The Smile. Humor, irony, irony. 1-3-5-7 - A little numerology … - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 12. Using Visual Devices. How can PSE (Picture Superiority Effect) help to increase the effectiveness of the performance? Use of visual tools II.: Designing and making a slideshow - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 13. Composition Guidelines. Obtaining and using images correctly and lawfully. Using animations. Using Flipchart, Tablet, Laser Pointer. Guidelines for making charts and graphics. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 14. Get off the podium! - Movement in space, distance from the audience. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 15. The rules and regularities of personal space in the light of the given artist situation and cultural influences. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• 16. Body language. Toolkit for nonverbal communication. Appropriate artist gestures. Recognizing audience reactions. - Dr. Szentpéteri József László

Practices

• 1. Awareness Tools. Using the first 30 seconds in different performer genres
• 2. Means of raising awareness. Apply enhancement to different artist genres
• 3. Use effective volume, articulation and mimicry
• 4. Artist gestures supporting effective communication
• 5. Recognize nonverbal cues from the audience
• 6. Lecture analysis I.: commercials, movie trailers
• 7. Lecture Analysis II: TED Lectures
• 8. Lecture Analysis III.: Steve Jobs, Toastmasters presentations

Seminars

Reading material

Obligatory literature

Literature is not compulsory, but all books in recommended literature list (see below) contain very useful information to provide a more effective implementation of the objectives of the course.

Literature developed by the Department

Course material will be available in Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt) format after course registration.

Notes

Recommended literature

Stephen R. Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon & Schuster UK Ltd., 1999
Carmine Gallo: The presentation secrets of Steve Jobs, McGraw-Hill, 2010
Edward T. Hall: The Hidden Dimension. Anchor Books, Doubleday, New York, 1966
Barbara Pease & Allan Pease: The Definitive Book of Body Language, Bantam Books, New York, 2006
Garr Reynolds: The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With or Without Slides (Voices That Matter), New Riders Publishing, 2010.

Conditions for acceptance of the semester

Maximum of 15 % absence allowed

Mid-term exams

All students must fill a questionnaire at the end of each class.

Making up for missed classes

There is no possibility to substitute a missing course. Catalog proving the presence should be filled and signed at each lecture.

Exam topics/questions

All students will present in front of the instructor and fellow students for up to 5 minutes duration. Everyone is free to choose their own topic.
Both the instructor and the audience evaluating the presentation on pre-built scorecards up to 3 minutes duration.
Evaluation sheet contains general and topic-specific questions.
General questions are practically certain criteria, which should be evaluated from 1 to 10, where rate "1" is the worst and "10" is the best. General issues are as follows:
1. Welcoming audience
2. Link building and maintaining relationship with the audience
3. Arousing the interest (the first 30 seconds). In other words, has the presenter attracted your attention so much, that you would follow the complete presentation? (Themes, raising questions, humor, etc.).
4. Was the presentation interesting enough, that you want to know more about the topic?
5. The verbal performance of the speaker (Speech, volume, avoiding foreign words, etc.).
6. Nonverbal performance of the speaker (clothing, gestures, "theatrical" behavior)
7. Using Technical Aids - if any (did they fit and whether they helped the understanding).
8. Use of visual aids - if any (did they fit and whether they helped the understanding).
9. Overall, how would you rate the show?
The subject-specific issues are not public; they will be completed by the instructor based on the submitted text and will be available on the day of the exam only.

Examiners

Instructor / tutor of practices and seminars

• Dr. Budán Ferenc Csaba
• Dr. Sik Attila Gábor
• Dr. Szabó Éva
• Dr. Szentpéteri József László
• Graff Andreas Bergheim