Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for professional collaboration and presentations.

Introduction

The ability to deliver an effective presentation goes far beyond just being able to read a speech in front of a group of people.  I believe it takes preparation, a knowledge of the material, and the ability to communicate in a clear, confident voice.  I have seen many presentations where the presenter merely reads from slides on a screen to the audience, as if we could not read ourselves.  My extreme dislike of this presentation style, coupled with my background in art history and visual culture have led me to analyze and refine my communication style over the years in order to communicate with others most effectively.

It might seem strange at first that a background in art history could have an effect on the way I present and communicate, but in a field where the art is the star (as it should be), showing presentation slides with much more than an image and its title, artist, and production date is frowned upon.  During my undergraduate work in art history I gave a number of presentations, and there was one rule that was always strictly enforced: do not make your audience read.  As I gave (and watched) more and more presentations, I learned how valuable a rule this is.

If I read to my audience from slides, it negates the purpose of my being there in the first place.  I feel strongly that a presentation should not be a grown-up version of storytime.  I would feel as if I had wasted everyone’s time if I did for them what they could do for themselves.  When giving a presentation to a live audience, I much prefer to use text sparingly so that my audience is engaged with listening to me and not trying to read ahead.

This method does not work for every situation however, and this is where knowing my audience comes in.  If make presentation materials for a group who will be using them on their own, then I do like to offer information in an easy to understand and visually appealing format.  Knowing who I am preparing materials for influences how I make them, and I adjust my approach based on who my audience is and how they will be viewing my presentation.

 

Evidence

Tutorial for MailPoet, a WordPress Plugin

My first piece of evidence is a tutorial I made for the SLA Student Group’s executive committee.  It is meant to be a self-study guide that each member would read through in preparation for a live, online tutorial that I gave at a later date.  The tutorial was meant to give the executive committee an overview of the main features of MailPoet, a plugin that was entirely new to them.  Because I knew that I would not be there initially to answer questions, I made the slides as easy to read as possible and used methods for highlighting and pointing out important areas.

Presentation of Proposed Learning Packet

My second piece of evidence is a short presentation I gave on the status of a proposed project to make a learning packet for use by art history undergraduate students.  Since this was a live presentation, I used text as a way to guide the flow of my speaking and not to provide all of the information at once.  By doing this, I could keep my audience engaged while giving them a preview of my presentation topics.

 

Professional Development

As a librarian, I know that my presentation skills will be important for communicating with and presenting to a number of different groups: committees, patrons, and students from many different backgrounds, to name just a few.  I can maintain these skills and learn new ones by using them to present at conferences or giving talks within the community.  By keeping in practice, I can make sure that I will continue to be able to communicate effectively.