I wanted to break up my talk from a constant flow of one person talking. Therefore I decided to use an activity presented on a handout. This enabled the audience to read the paper personally, and discuss the case study.
The room was set up with tables and chairs in a square shape. I separated the audience around the square to minimise interruptions and distractions. I made sure members of the audience were not sitting in front of each other, so they could all view my body language and therefore communication wasn’t blocked. This design decision worked successfully.
I tried to add effective humour during my presentation to build a rapport with the audience. I did this to make my talk appear more interesting and hopefully make the audience more attentive.
I was conscious of my body language and made sure I used gestures to illustrate key points. When planning my talk I thought it would be a good idea to ask the audiences opinions and questions throughout the talk to allow them a chance to speak, and voice their opinions.
Communication Skills
I think that on a whole my communications skills were good. I planned and structured my talk effectively so that it was clear what I was verbally communicating to my audience. On average the audience rated my plan and structure an 8.4 which is fairly good. By separating the audience around the room, minimised disruptions and prevented communication from being blocked.
Throughout my presentation the audience stated that I used no inappropriate jargon or slang which I think created more of a professional atmosphere. By using grammatical skills, ambiguity was avoided. I clearly explained the terminology which enabled the audience to understand, learn
and benefit from my talk. A member of the audience stated on their feedback that they “didn’t know what ADHD was, and it really helped me as I want to be a teacher.” I was pleased with the audience’s response when I added jokes in my presentation, and placed funny pictures at the end of my PowerPoint presentation. The feedback indicated that I used fairly effective humour, which also built a rapport with the audience.
I was surprised at how the audience rated the fluency of my talk. I felt that because of nerves, I was speaking a bit to fast which may have blocked what I was saying to the audience. This could have also caused the audience to miss key points in the talk. However the audience rated on average a 9.6 on a scale (10 being the highest, 1 being the lowest score). Although a member of the audience did state on the feedback that I should “talk a bit slower.”
On the other hand I felt that I used a good voice variation of pitch and tone to illustrate points. Furthermore using an effective tone and pitch meant that my presentation was more interesting. A member of the audience stated that they “found it interesting and educational at the same time.”
Once I settled down I immediately felt confident within myself, which helped me deliver a good presentation. 100% of the audience thought that I presented a confident talk. I was pleased that I never hesitated or stuttered, which sometimes may become a problem when I’m slightly nervous. I think this also promoted confidence within myself. On a whole I think that I communicated good verbal communication.
In addition think that I used effective non verbal communication in the duration of my talk. I made sure that I used eye contact with the audience of an appropriate duration, not staring or directing at certain members. I didn’t refer to any notes or cue cards, but rather kept eye contact with the audience while presenting. 100% of the audience thought that I used effective eye contact.
I communicated confidence, and responsiveness by means of good facial expressions. I smiled when necessary to show friendliness. Using good facial expressions helped support effective Oral communication skills when interacting with the audience.
At first I felt uncomfortable in the way I held my stance. However as I soon felt confident, I thought I held a good posture and moved confidently. 100% of the audience thought that I used an effective posture during my talk.
Being comfortable in my stance aided my verbal communication. I used PowerPoint as a visual aid to help me, and also to support those in the audience who learn visually.
Most people in the audience didn’t fully understand about the condition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder beforehand. However due to fairly good communication skills, I achieved my aim which was to teach, and to raise awareness on how to ‘effectively communicate with teenagers who suffer with ADHD. A respondent stated they have now “learnt what ADHD is and how to communicate with them.”
Possible Improvements
I feel that during my talk I spoke too fast in parts, which could have caused the audience to switch off. If I could re-do my talk I would take into account what one respondent mentioned about “talking a bit slower” and try to apply the counsel. Hopefully this would improve my talk.
Three people from the feedback questionnaire mentioned that I should add a few more pictures /images. One of those people specified that the pictures should be of people with ADHD being aggressive. If I got the chance to re-do the talk, I would have added a small video clip of a teenager with ADHD being abusive or aggressive, and then maybe discuss how to overcome that scenario through effective communication. Adding a short video clip would also meet the needs of one person who thought I should have looked at a few more people with ADHD.