Week 12-Handling Questions

Handling Questions

Dear students, your individual presentation is expected to run for 20 minutes, 15 minutes on speech delivery and another 5 minutes is allocated for Question and Answer Session (Q&A). Marks are allocated for Q&A therefore audiences have a role to play during each presentation, that is to actively listen to the speech and to formulate questions that will later be addressed during the Q&A session.

What if there are no Questions?????????????

To all future presenters, get ready with at least ONE anticipated question in case there are no questions from the audience. Address the question to the audience, you can either get responses from them, or provide your audience the answer.

For more details and handy tips on Handling Questions, check out the URLs below:

http://cdev.concordia.ca/CnD/studentlearn/Help/handouts/Oral%20Presentations/questions.html

http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/Preparing_talks/180.html

Good luck and see you in class tomorrow! Please post your topics and issue questions in the previous post ASAP!

Topics for Persuasive Speech

Hello again Group 3!

A gentle reminder here to all that your Persuasive Speech Presentation Assessment will commence in Week 13! So during the break, why don't you brainstorm (in groups, pairs or individual) possible topics that you are interested in and later come up with a finalised topic? I wish to see your finalised topics when we meet in Week 12, on Wednesday. Remember that the key purpose of your speech is to persuade audience to agree with you, to move them into actions, or at least to convince them that your ideas/speech are worth considering (in the case of hostile audience!) Alternatively, in order to save time, you can also use the same topic that you are working on for your WRS Research Essay Proposal assignment. Below are few examples of topics and issue questions for illustrations:

1. Smoking: Should smoking be entirely banned on campus?

2. Blogging: Should blogging be incorporated in teaching and learning process?

3. Dress code: Should there be certain dress code imposed on university students when attending lectures/tutorials on campus?

I appreciate it if all of you could share with me your topics and issue questions by writing them down in the "leave comment" section. Remember that no one student can share the same issue question. This indicates that you can share the same topics, but issue questions should never be identical with one another!

Happy holiday people!

Oct 19 Group Presentations

Hi Group 3!

Today's session was a bit dull, most of you were fretting about your Business Management exams... I was a bit down when I entered the class the first 10 minutes and no sign of enthusiasm from any of you! But as we went along today, dull moments were cheered up a bit, dim lights turned brighter with the presence of a handful of you, namely Johnny, Fiona, Gerald, Lik, Kiet and Tong! I hope you do not take every session of practice we have for granted as every presentation delivery skill we unravel every week is the essence of a required post graduate quality that you will count on when it is time for you to compete with your counterparts in the working industry in the future.

Well, anyway, good job that every group presented today and please take comments positively and constructively!

Fiona's Group

Fiona and Lee Ling did satisfactory job in maintaining eye contact with the audience as well as using appropriate gestures. Li Ai, however was a bit dull.... and did a lot of reading from the note... I noticed she was unwell... take good care of yourself girl and cheer up!

The Couple

They came up with a new topic on video and computer games addiction, WELL DONE!! Tong, whose last week's presentation was robotic, managed to project minimal emotions to his speech! Still Tong had a shy appearance, and did not really put a confident front.

Kiet is lively, audience friendly, bubbly and confident. She however looked at the floor a number of times and turned her back to audience when explaining charts on the white screen.

Jolene's Group

Ting Ting did tremendously well today! Very well-prepared, with brave and confident front!
Jolene used too excessive finger and hand gestures.... control them please....
Nana, who is normally a bubbly presenter, turned out to be giggly today! Also, too much of hand gestures!

Kimberly & Co.

Both Kimberly and Siaw Chin showed tremendous improvements today! They were confident, and familiar with the speech content. Not only that, both managed to maintain good eye contact with audience and audience were well addressed!

Ee Ting, please work more on eliminating the boring element? I know you can do better if you work on a topic that you are really interested in! Look forward to your individual presentation in Week 13-15!

Johnny'sssssssss

1st presenter failed to address the audience, audiences were not engaged with his presentation bit. Gestures were inappropriate as he kept putting his right hand on his neck while reading away the notes!

2nd presenter showed some improvements.... He tried hard not to rely on the notes and maintained minimal eye contact with the audience,

Johnny is of course, a presenter with a brave and confident front... who always keeps good eye contact with the audience and managed to keep the right gestures....

Please work on your pronunciation guys!! :-)

Suk Bing and Partner

GOOD! Head up, did not rely on notes, familiar with the speech content, but eye contact was only focused on me! Both should have taken the front middle position and the presentation could have been more effective! :-)

Gerald and Lik

Interesting topic-a continuation from last week's presentation-WELL DONE GUYS! Both presenters maintained good eye contact with all audiences! Both put confident and brave front! Plus, they managed to engage audience with their captivating topic! The speech ended properly with a proper conclusion! I observe that both Gerald and Lik have been working pretty hard for ECS recently! 2 thumbs up for both! But Gerald, do not scratch your head if it's not itchy! :-)

Thanks FIONA for addressing an interesting issue about the different interpretations of colours of roses that posed as a challenge to both Gerald and Lik! Gerald, with unaltered confidence, impressed everyone with the most reasonable answer. Keep up the good work Gerald!

Happy holiday people and see you in Week 12!

Enjoy the video clip by ColdPlay playing "Scientist" below for entertainment (Fiona, you sure one of the twins in class is the Asian version of Chris Martin? Don't think so....:

Oct 18's 2 minute presentation

Dear all,

First and foremost, my utmost gratitude to everyone in class (except the 3 absentees, unless they have got valid reasons for being absent uhum....) for the good work today. I can see progress in most of you... now that I see most of you have not failed to demonstrate the key elements of an effective speech, which are; using the right volume, tone, intonation, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions. Always remember to build rapport with you audience in order to keep them engaged with your presentation. Good to see Gerald standing tall on the chair when presententing his 2 minute speech today! Also good to see Ee Ting's smile and friendliness when sharing her speech in front of the class! 2 thumbs up for Nana for not failing to keep up the good work throughout our learning journey in ECS! Monie, ooopssssssss.... Ting Ting did exceptionally well today, good voice projection with a confident front! Look forward to enjoying your presentations tomorrow!

Today's learning outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
1.Deliver a speech in public with appropriate and effective non verbal communication
2.Deliver a speech with a brave and confident front


As requested, enjoy a video clip from Black eyed Peas below!

Week 10-Non verbal Communication

Hi all!

This week we will unravel a new topic on one of the key concepts in speech delivery, which is Non Verbal Communication. Now, if you can recall how your coursemates presented themselves in front of the class in their presentations, some just could not stand on two feet, some fidgeted, some kept giggling and laughing without any good reasons, some appeared nervous, and uncomfortable. Remember students, when it is your turn to take the floor, take time to make yourselves comfortable, find a comfortable spot in front of the class... do not start your presentation hastily! Never giggle or laugh whenever you present unless you have got jokes to laugh at. Stand up and two feet, head up facing the audience (spot a group of audience where you normally find comfort every time you look into their eyes) stand upright, don't slouch, control your hands movements, project a brave front, be confident! Sure confidence when making a public presentation is achievable, provided that you are well-prepared with thorough practice... always remember, practice makes PERFECT!

For more information on Non verbal communciation, please click at the URL below (don't just click but read it!)

http://ezinearticles.com/?Nonverbal-Communication-in-Business&id=5406#posture

Quite off topic now, but Fiona, the video clip by Coldplay below is specially for you! Enjoy the music piece people!



Any other requests for any particular music? I can probably embed the music clips here in our respective blogpage.. :-)

October 11's class (Feedback!!)

Hello Group 3!

Today I will only post my personal feedback on your groups' presentations. Do leave your comments and start contributing to our ECS blogpage. I look forward to reading your feedback on your groups members'/coursemates' speech presentation performance today. Below is my feedback and hope it helps in making all of you a better and a more effective presenter!

Chen Qian's Group

I'm quite happy with the latest presentation they did as there were improvements demonstrated in the use of voice. The visual aids were also effective and blended well with the content of the speech! I however, look forward to better presentations! Work more on your pronunciation for accuracy!

Ee Ting's Group

There were problems in both pronunciation and articulation. Perhaps with the help of thorough practice, mispronunciation of words won't happen again. Also, don't fidget when you are presenting. Stand on two feet, head up, face your audience and don't keep looking at the computer screen. Also, a speech should not end abruptly. Anyway, there are improvements in the use of voice, the tiny and soft voices are now well heard!

Dou's Group

This is the best group for the day! 2 thumbs up for them! All three presenters did not depend solely on notes when delivering their speech content. They talked to audience, made sufficient eye contact, built rapport with the audience.... the visual aids were effective, and the speech ended properly with a proper conclusion... for sure the speech content was also captivating!

The Couple

There were some mispronounced words during the presentation. Also, a lot of reading from slides went on! However, the presentation was lively as there were more varieties in tone and intonation!

Nana's Group

Please girls, no giggling during presentation, unless you incorporate jokes in your speech! There use of voice in the presentation was satisfactory, thee are more emotions and varieties in the tone. There are also interactions with the audience. Nana, especially, did a good job. Jolene has also made some remarkable improvements in her tone.

Johnny's Group

There were long timed pauses which indicated the first speaker of the group was not familiar with the speech content. However, his volume was loud and consistent. In the middle of the presentation, audience lost interests....probably topic was boring in nature! There were also noticeable pronunciation problems! Conclusion was rather abrupt!

Fiona's Group

The introduction done by Fiona was vibrant. She managed to make full use of her charms in getting audience's attention. Slides were also effective, as well as well organized. All 3 presenters maintained good eye contact with the audience, and the volume was loud enough for everyone to hear. The speech rate was also understandable.

See you next week in class!!!!

Please start looking, screening and selecting interesting topics for your persuasive speech assessment.

Week 9- The Use of Voice (Feedback)

Dear all,

First and foremost I would like to thank everyone for your constructive cooperation for today's class. I'm impressed with the outcomes of the group work activity we had in class today. Amazingly, almost every group did almost a perfect job! I believe most of us in the class are potential actors/actresses! Believe me my dear students, if you can really keep up the good work throughout our learning process, I believe all of you can present an effective persuasive speech! A big, round applause to most outstanding groups, The Shrek Scene 2 Group, The Shrek Scene 1 Group, The Mulan Group and the Aladdin Group. I believe The Incredibles Group 1 & 2 made some progress in demonstrating the required effective presentation skills, but there are still more rooms for improvements! Keep the spirits up people and see you tomorrow! Please kindly leave comments for today's lesson....

regards,
Ms.Angel

Enjoy the video clip below taken from the scene "Shrek"!

Oct 5 session (The start of the English Please policy) Share your thoughts and reflections for today's lesson please?

Hello all!!

Today, on 5 October, I have just reinforced the use of English in class, in a gentle but stern way, of course. This simply means every student must only communicate in English! Should you hear your course mates speaking Mandarin or other languages, please remind them this; "English Please.."

6 groups did their presentations today, as an enforcement task to yesterday's session on Using Visual Aids. I noticed one group was missing!! No worries people, this group owes us a presentation next week. Fair enough? Or should they give each one of us a Hershey chocolate?

I would like to thank all 6 groups for your efforts and co-operation in running the whole (almost 2 hours) show today. The only 2 groups that survived without having instructed to stop and to redo their presentations were Jolene & Company, as well as The Couple (give them a round applause every one!!!). 2 thumbs up for their ppt slides, which were simple and well organised. However, Jolene could have done better if she maintained her eye contact with the audience. Not only that, she must work more on adding more varieties in her tone and intonation. I look forward to your progress Jolene!! The next surviving group was The Couple group. Bravo Lee Kiet! She might look fragile, demure and vulnerable to you, but hey guys, looks can be deceiving! Her voice was audible, loud enough to reach every one in the room!!! Lucky Tong to have such a dynamic girlfriend!

My apologies to Gerard & Company, Fiona & Company, The Bermuda Triangle Group, as well as the Mobile Phone Group. Sorry to have stopped your presentations.... but fair enough that I gave each group 10 minutes to make necessary changes in order to fine tune their presentations. No doubt the second round shows were done with more enthusiasm. I however, are still keen on anticipating more alive, vibrant, and exciting group presentations from each and every one of you.

Can't wait for the next lesson!!! We shall all work together in moulding every one to become a lively presenter. Be alive and lively!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Cheers everyone!!

Week 8 -Visual Aids

Hello!!!! I believe most of you participated quite well in last week's sessions on "Supporting Materials". I would like to express my gratitude to those who are really focused in building up your presentation skills in this unit and hopefully everyone will be able to do well in your Persuasive Speech Assessment, which will take place in Week 13-15. This week, we will embark on a new topic, "Using Visual Aids" as an echo of last week's topic. I advise every group to hold on to your last week's supporting materials as you will need them this week. This time around we will refine and fine-tune your previous supporting materials to transform them into effective visual aids. Please be more at ease with the open/constructive feedback session that we will have after every group has presented. Remember that presentation skills learning process involves making improvements and improvements are made feasible by taking into account contructive comments your audiences leave to your piece of work.

Need more fun clips to inspire you with Visual Aids? Enjoy the clips below!!!

Click at the play button below and watch Sesame Street characters demonstrating a short speech with the help of a "smashing" visual aid on Number 2!

The Use of Voice - Week 9

Tone and Intonation in Spoken Discourse

Week 9 of ECS lesson looks into the use of voice in presentation skills. Thus I have embedded a few movie clips from youtube.com as well as a few links to animated movies in my last 3 posts. With the help of some movies scenes, I do hope all of you (if not most) will get some ideas on how significant varieties of tone and intonation in spoken languages ( specifically English in our current learning context). Unlike written discourse, spoken discourse allows us as speakers to make full use of our voice in making our verbal messages eloquent and more effective. This week there will be some group work in class that involves short screening of movie clips in class, distributing of lines, choosing roles, and reading out lines with emotions using appropriate tone and intonation. Sure this task has nothing to do with talent hunting for the next movie making in Hollywood big screens, but I see it as an interesting as well as challenging group work that we can work on in class to practise using varieties of tone and intonation. I look forward to your keen engagement in our teaching and learning process!!!

Cheers people!!!!!!!!!

Sneak Previews on Mulan, Aladdin & The Incredibles!!!

Take a look at the sneak previews on Mulan, Aladdin and The Incredibles by simply clicking at the URLs below and study how varieties in tone and intonation add more meanings and attitudes to spoken discourse/verbal communication. Remember that intonation enables speakers to express their emotions as well as attitudes when they speak.

Please click at this URL http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/mulan/home.html
http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/mulan2/

or click at this URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH1D9VAyglE

or click at the player button below:



For Aladdin, please click the URL below: http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/aladdin/

For The Incredibles, please click at the URL below:
http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/incredibles/

A nerve wrecking scene from Collateral

Take a close look at this movie clip below and watch how important varieties in tone and intonation are!!