Test Your Knowledge (p. 330)

1. What skills do oral presentations give you the opportunity to practice and demonstrate?
They allow you to practice research, planning, writing, visual design, and all forms of communication. They also help you practice dealing with unexpected situations and thinking off of the top of your head. Oral presentations especially help you practice talking in front of people and growing comfortable speaking to large audiences.

2. What three goals should you accomplish during the introduction of an oral presentation?
When presenting your introduction, you should gain the interest of your audience, establish your credibility, and give the audience a preview of your message.

3. What techniques can you use to get an audience's attention during your introduction?
To get your audience's attention, you can relate the audience to each other with something they have in common, tell a story, pass around an object dealing with your message, ask them a question, start with a shocking statistic, or use humor.

4. What three tasks should you accomplish in the close of your presentation?
In the close of a presentation, you should restate your main points in your message, explain the next steps or actions to take, and end on a note that will stick with the audience.

5. What steps can you take to ensure success with online presentations?
- Send materials to your audience to preview your message before you present.
- Try to keep your presentation as simple as possible.
- Ask for feedback or reactions throughout the presentation.
- Think about the viewing experience from the viewer's side when planning your presentation.
- Be sure that your audience will be able to receive all of the information you are sending.
- Allow you audience time to view and adapt to everything they need to.