Page 292 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

Presenting effective information in an oral format is a cornerstone of communication. Most practitioners will
be required to give an oral presentation to share their expertise multiple times during their careers. This
important professional skill is included in the Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional
Performance of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as well as practitioner competencies from Australia,
Canada, and other countries.1–5

The presentation skills discussed in this chapter apply to a wide variety of professional venues involving
students, clients, peers, and employees. Formats involve both small and large group settings. As is true for so
many of the other skills discussed in this book, the confidence needed to deliver a message orally and
articulately cannot be achieved by reading alone. Mastering the ability to communicate a message to an
audience is an acquired skill that begins by having the courage to apply the techniques in real situations. The
goal of delivering an effective message is to produce a desired outcome such as changing behavior,
understanding new information, appreciating new trends, or developing new skills.

There is a large body of literature on the general subject of oral communication, presentation planning, and
public speaking.6–9 The purpose of this chapter is to provide information on how to create and deliver effective
oral presentations. This process includes preparation, organization, delivery, and evaluation. Other chapters in
this book cover planning the learning process (Chapters 11 and 12) and creating audiovisuals (Chapter 14).
These are necessary complementary skills for effective oral communication.

CASE ANALYSIS 1

Write a brief abstract for Joan summarizing the work place presentation.

Preparation of an Effective Presentation

The key to an effective oral presentation is preparation. The speaker must assess the needs of the planned
presentation through a series of audience, program, and content analysis activities. This philosophy
incorporates both an inside and an outside viewpoint of audience and speaker goals. The program planner can
often provide input supplemented by the presenter’s own preparation analysis.6–10

Audience Analysis

The first step is an audience analysis. This step is necessary if the speaker is to maintain the delicate balance
between what the audience expects to learn and what the presenter wants them to learn. Collect information
about the planned audience. This may include data such as age, gender, educational level or occupation, years
of experience, and present knowledge of the topic. What is the audience’s goal in attending the presentation?
Are individuals volunteering to attend or is this a mandatory training session? What is their perceived value of
the sessions? Did they pay to come and listen or is this a free event? The presentation will be more successful
and focused if many of the audience’s goals and expectations are incorporated in the program.7,10

Program Analysis

The second step is program analysis. The speaker needs to know the setting and overall structure of the

292