301005 Professional Practice & Communication: Public Speaking

Introduction

Professional practice and communication is an essential part of corporate world where the colleagues at work and/or other company stakeholders communicate for day to day smooth running of the organization. It is important that this virtue is learned and practiced early on during school days before one joins the corporate world for work or any other assignment. To be fully equipped and prepared in the sense of professional practice and communication, one needs to train on various aspects of it such public speaking, business writing and tools of communication. In view of this, this paper will recap PPC materials covered our communication class.

Software tools for communication such as word processors and graphic software have various functionalities that enable processing information into various desired formations for proper and effective communication. Application software like Microsoft word has capabilities to edit information so add or remove as well as format it for presentation or communication purposes. Video editing is also one of the functionalities of the communication tools. These capabilities have benefits such as slide show creation, time management and screen capture in what is popularly known as “screen shot”.

There are various types of system information that exist; these include Email, internet and the web, social media and blogs among others. These systems help in disseminating content or information to the target group. Each system is appropriate for different purposes and nature of information being disseminated. For example communicating to employees should be done appropriately through Emails or letters and not through social media. It worth nothing also that email etiquette such as using correct format and being courteous should be observed while writing emails to the receivers of information.

Business writing is also a crucial component of professional practice and communication. Miscommunication in business world may lead to loses such as reputation damage and revenue leakage, it is therefore imperative that business writing is imparted before one joins the corporate world. And to be able to handle academic work in colleges and schools, it is important learn writing for academic purposes to allow answering questions and demonstrating understanding of a comprehension among other academic skills.

The learning materials also touched on project management which highlights various blueprints to delivering successful projects, such as PMBOK. Among the desirable skills of a project manager is the ability to communicate clearly and manage risks associated with the project implementation. A system of moral principles is what is referred to ethics. Professional code of ethics is what guides certain profession in the manner in which they carry out their functions. One of the key points under this topic of ethics is conflict of interest where someone has personal interests that collide with the organizational objective or professional code of ethics.

Another concept gained through the learning materials is public speaking and presentation. This skill set is paramount given that as a professional you might be required to face investors, clients or colleagues pitching for business or delivering certain message. It is therefore necessary that the concept of public speaking and presentation is gained and understood especially by persons in officers or business world. Finally, the last week of the course presented an opportunity to learn about email and business letter writing. This skill is crucial in the day to day running of activities in the corporate world.

In summary, professional practice and communication has a number of important facets such as project management skills and business writing that enhances the performance of a professional working in the corporate world. 

Q1.

• Preparing a speech without knowing your audiences would lead to communicating wrong message when you eventually present your speech. For example you could ne preparing a speech about democracy yet the audience is expecting a speech about the success or failures of a certain project undertaken. Consequently, your audience most likely will leave the venue of the meeting having not understood a single item you said.(Williams, 2013)
  
  
• When you do not consider the context and the setting of the presentation, you will likely make a speech which contains or repeats information the audiences already know about the subject matter. As a result the audience can become bored with your speech and you can see them dozing off or leaving the venue prematurely.(Sidell and Smiley, 2008)
  
  
• If the information delivered is not researched properly, you will likely deliver inaccurate information to the audiences, which may lead to some of them raising their hands and trying to get your attention to raise the matter with you.(Zemliansky and Kampf, 2011)

Q2, Justification

• When speech is prepared without knowing the audiences, the speaker will not know what kind of information the audience is expecting. Delivering a wrong message may results to the audiences unable to comprehend what the speaker is saying and thus leave the venue of speech empty handed.(Williams, 2013)
  
  
• Not considering the context of the presentation may lead to repetition because the speaker will not be aware of what the audience already knows regarding the topic and thus a section of them can become bored with the speech. (Sidell and Smiley, 2008)
  
  
• Inadequate research leads to wrong points and drawing wrong conclusions, thus the delivered speech will inaccurate prompting the audience to raise point of information or correction. (Zemliansky and Kampf, 2011)

Q3.

• For explaining how the new booking system works, I will choose informative type of speech. This is because I will need to explain to the team how the new concept of the booking systems works from the basics to a more advanced level of operation of the new booking system. The team needs to understand every beat of it systematically in order to operate the new system and continue meeting the organizational goals. This speech will also make it easy for my team members to ask questions where they do not understand fully regarding the system. If the concepts are not laid down bit by bit the team may not even have questions to ask simply because they do not have an idea about the new system. (Thatcher, 2012)
  
  
• For a speech to my professional association, I will choose to use persuasive speech during my address. The reason for this is that I could be persuading them to adopt certain regulations into our professional body code of conduct or modus operandi. This could also be doing away with certain old ways of doings things in our profession due to technological advancement or new research findings. To be able to do this I will need to persuade them from explaining all angles of possible scenarios and what well/good or advantage our profession stands to benefit should we adopt or repeal certain way of doings things in our profession.(Ramachandran and Stach, 2013)
  
  
• For a thank you at my surprise birthday party, I will use special occasion speech to return votes of thanks at my party. The reason for this is that I would need to pay tribute to those who arranged the party and recognize them for coming up with something like what they did (surprise party). I may also need to crack some jokes about how I just discovered someone in attendance is quite good in dancing or singing, so that I can light up the occasion wit a bit of jokes and make people have fun. I will also need to mention something special I recently achieved on personal level to give the attendees more reason of why they attended the party. (Allen and Hundleby, 2010)
  
  
• For introducing a speaker a business function, I will use special occasion speech to prepare the stage for the main speaker of the function. This is because, I would need to inform the audiences about the attributes of the speaker, say he or she is a CEO of a certain blue-chip company has a wealth of experience in doing certain business of interest to the audience. This will make the audience to be alert and attentive keen to listen to the man or the women with such information they are looking out for. This also ensures that the speaker will not look like he or she is praising him/herself and will give credibility and moral standing to the speaker’s personal achievements. I may also need to lightly mention what the speaker will talk about so that the audience can be prepared or know what to expect from the speech that would be delivered by the speaker.(2015 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC), 2015)

Q4.

Powerful starts

“Ladies and gentlemen, they say blessed is the hand that giveth for it shall receive more!! We are gathered here tonight for a reason, a reason that has a human touch in it, a reason that doesn’t divide but unites and above all a reason that gives someone HOPE in life!! Aren’t you amazed at what you doing mates!!!!!!!........”

“Dj Dj pull uuupp!... Okay, guys I stand before you today proud of who you are. I though you were only beautifully people outside but you’ve proofed me wrong today with your inner beauty! You people got a big heart! And you have decided to put a smile on the face of the unprivileged in the society. What a gesture!...”

Powerful endings

“…,lastly people allow me to thank each one of you for tuning up tonight for this special occasion, each one of you have played an integral role towards this achievement we have just witnessed before us, and I say to you, you are our hero and heroine!! Thank you and good night! Cheeeeers!!”

“..last but not least great people, I want to thank each and every one of you for making it to this place today, we wouldn’t be where we are now were it not for you, this foundation is greatly indebted to you

Key points to be covered

• I will to mention to the attendants the total amount of money raised so that they get to know if we met the target or not.
• I will also need to reiterate the funds raised will be utilized and when can they expect reports on the same. This is very important for accountability issues
• I will also need to recognize various corporates represented at the event and some key individuals such as head of various organizations in attendances.

References

2015 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC). (2015). Piscataway: IEEE.

Allen, J. and Hundleby, M. (2010). Assessment in technical and professional communication. Amityville, N.Y.: Baywood Pub. Co.

Broersma, M. and Scharenborg, O. (2010). Native and non-native listeners’ perception of English consonants in different types of noise. Speech Communication, 52(11-12), pp.980-995.

Ramachandran, V. and Stach, B. (2013). Professional communication in audiology. 1st ed.

Sidell, N. and Smiley, D. (2008). Professional communication skills in social work. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson.

Thatcher, B. (2012). Intercultural rhetoric and professional communication. Hershey PA: Information Science Reference.

Williams, D. (2013). Writing skills in practice. 1st ed. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Zemliansky, P. and Kampf, C. (2011). New Landscapes in Professional Communication: The Practice and Theory of Our Field Outside the US. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 54(3), pp.221-224.