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Using
Modules to Structure Your Talks
Keep in mind what you feel is your
primary objective. Are you there to teach, to inform, or to entertain?
When giving your presentation aim to communicate with the audience
on their level. Your choice of words, as well as the ideas you
discuss will vary depending on whether you are talking to a class
of fourth graders, or a roomful of senior citizens.
Aim for a unique experience
The majority of your presentations may run forty minutes to 1
hour, but you may have some groups that only have time for you
to talk for 15 or 20 minutes. There is no way you can give the
same show to every audience. Keep in mind that every audience
is different, so aim to make each of your presentations a unique
experience. Don't try to cover everything as the audience members
will only remember a few of your points. Try instead to simplify
your information and hit them with the highlights.
Just the facts?
Make sure to double-check your facts and strive to make them easily
understood by simplifying, and rounding off statistics. For example,
say, "over three quarters of the population is literate;" rather
than "75% of the population is literate." When I gave talks about
my travels in India, I described the vastness by stating that,
"India has approximately three times the population of the
U.S.A. living in a country one third the size of the continental
United States."
Consider using Modules
One way to tailor your talks
to audiences of different ages as well as accommodate different
lengths of presentations is by grouping subjects into modules.
Visualize each cluster of slides, facts, and anecdotes of any
related subject as a single module. Like structuring paragraphs
within a story, your modules can be rearranged. For example when
I talked about India some of my modules included
- Food
- Agriculture
- Education
- Religion
- Politics
- Home life
For any single talk I could only
cover a couple of these "modules", but I was able to
tailor them to fit the interests of the audience. For instance,
I might talk about agriculture and politics to a farmers group,
but the modules on home life and religion might be a better fit
for a group of homemakers.
You may wish to use the same introductory
module for each talk, and perhaps a consistent closing module.
As part of the closing, don’t forget to give a plug for the IFYE
program, and encourage students to consider the program when they
get older.
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