Chapter 13—Business Presentations

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Choose the most accurate statement about business presentations.

a. At some point nearly half of businesspeople have to inform others or sell an idea.
b. Good speakers are born, not made.
c. If you are like most people, you may be apprehensive about making informational or
persuasive oral presentations.
d. Information and persuasion are seldom conveyed in person because e-mail, memos, and
letters are more effective.
2. Which of the following statements about business presentations and speaking skills is most accurate?
a. Speaking skills are useful only for individuals in upper-level positions.
b. Effective speaking skills and career success go hand in hand.
c. For many positions only technical skills, not communication skills, are needed.
d. Oral presentations in the workplace are necessary only when you must motivate action.
3. Which of the following statements about preparing for an oral presentation is not accurate?
a. Many people feel a great deal of anxiety when getting ready for an oral presentation.
b. You can lay the foundation for a professional performance by focusing on preparation,
organization, audience rapport, visual aids, and delivery.
c. The key element in successful preparation for an oral presentation is assessing your
knowledge and related technical skills.
d. For many people fear of speaking before a group is even greater than fear of dying.
4. Anxiety about a presentation is normal. You can reduce your anxiety and set the groundwork for a
professional performance by focusing on five areas:
a. audience clothing, your clothing, seating arrangement or pattern, sight lines, and lighting.
b. volume, pace, pitch, tone, and pattern.
c. adequate rest, driving time (or commuting time), parking arrangements, building
identification, and name tags.
d. preparation, organization, audience rapport, visual aids, and delivery.
5. The most important part of preparing for an oral presentation is
a. analyzing the audience.
b. determining the purpose.
c. gathering research.
d. creating a professional appearance.
6. Choose the best example of a statement of purpose for an oral presentation.
a. To persuade the management team to offer flexible work schedules to all executive-level
employees.
b. To persuade my listeners in a brief, interesting, and effective speech.
c. This effective presentation will be both entertaining and informative for my audience
about my chosen subject.
d. We made fiscal mistakes that we can't afford to repeat that caused the economic downturn
and created widespread business closures and the collapse of the housing market in
several major metropolitan areas.
7. After determining your purpose for the presentation, what is your next important step?

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 a. Conducting research
b. Examining the room where the presentation will be made
c. Preparing your PowerPoint slides
d. Analyzing the audience
8. Your task in audience analysis is to
a. select a presentation topic and a purpose best suited to your audience.
b. anticipate the audience's reactions and adjust to its needs, if necessary.
c. determine your needs and develop your visual aids.
d. begin information research and organization.
9. Audience analysis issues you should consider when preparing your presentation include size, age,
gender, and which of the following?
a. Height and weight
b. Race, religion, and culture
c. Stereotypes, biases, and prejudices
d. Experience, attitude, and expectations
10. Presentations are given to many types of audiences. According to your text, what are the four
categories of audiences?
a. Informed, uninformed, intelligent, and stupid
b. Hostile, friendly, neutral, and uninterested
c. Workplace, education or school-related, community, and political
d. Manuscript, extemporaneous, impromptu, and memorized
11. Your audience analysis reveals that audience members will be friendly and interested in your topic.
You should be
a. warm, pleasant, and open; and you should use a lot of eye contact and smiles.
b. be calm and controlled, and you should speak evenly and slowly.
c. controlled and do nothing showy; you should use confident, small gestures.
d. dynamic and entertaining; you should also use large gestures and move around.
12. If you have agreed to speak to an audience with which you are unfamiliar, you should
a. obtain the names of several audience members, and contact them to ask questions about
their backgrounds, attitudes, and expectations.
b. imagine for yourself what an average audience in this part of the country might be like.
c. use a search engine to collect as much information about the region and its people as
possible and then base your audience analysis on this.
d. ask the person sponsoring the event to complete your audience analysis worksheet for you.
13. Cindy will make her presentation to a large audience of members whose negative attitudes range from
displeased to outraged. What advice should Irina follow in preparing her presentation for this
audience?
a. Include plenty of personal stories, several anecdotes, and lots of jokes or humor.
b. Use facts, statistics, and expert opinions along with an energizing, upbeat delivery style.
c. Be humorous, add colorful visuals and startling statistics, and keep the presentation brief.
d. Present objective data and expert opinion in a calm, controlled delivery style.
14. After you determine your purpose and analyze your audience, your next step is to
a. practice your delivery.
b. collect information.
c. organize the ideas.
d. choose your topic.

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15. Two of the most effective techniques to improve your audience's ability to understand and remember
your speech are
a. good organization and intentional repetition.
b. eliminating repetition and removing obvious signposting.
c. startling statistics and colorful visuals.
d. striking quotations and well-placed gestures.
16. Some repetition in oral presentations
a. is necessary because speaking speed is much greater than listening speed.
b. is helpful because it increases audience comprehension and retention.
c. bores listeners and should be avoided.
d. encourages daydreaming and makes the speaker sound unprepared.
17. You should do all of the following in the introduction of a presentation except
a. preview the main points of your presentation.
b. capture your listeners' attention and get them involved.
c. develop the main points with adequate explanation and details.
d. introduce yourself and establish your credibility.
18. The best techniques to establish your credibility in a business presentation include
a. describing your knowledge, position, or experience.
b. telling the audience your salary, age, and hometown.
c. revealing your ethnicity, cultural heritage, and religious background.
d. discussing your love for public speaking.
19. Jessica tells her audience about her five years' experience as a social networking professional helping
over 100 local businesses learn to use social networking as an effective marketing tool. Jessica is
attempting to
a. capture her listeners' attention and get them involved.
b. preview the main points of her presentation.
c. present the main goals of her presentation.
d. identify herself and establish credibility.
20. Paul opened his presentation to an audience of business owners with this statement: If you want to
reduce employee benefit costs by at least 15 percent without hurting employee morale or impacting
your work environment, please stand up right now. By asking them to stand, Paul is
a. identifying himself and establishing credibility.
b. previewing the main points of his presentation.
c. capturing listeners' attention and getting them involved.
d. misleading his audience.
21. What is the biggest problem with most oral presentations?
a. Failure to focus on a few principal ideas
b. Use of too many visuals
c. Poor eye contact
d. Unprofessional attire
22. The body of a short, 20-minute presentation should focus on
a. at least five to eight main points.
b. up to ten main points.
c. approximately two to four main points.
d. as many points as necessary to convey your message.

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23. Paul is explaining to upper-level management how converting to a four-day workweek can solve their
budget woes by decreasing expenses. How will he most likely organize his presentation?
a. Geography/space
b. Chronological
c. Problem/solution
d. Value/size

24. When preparing your speech, you should

a. aim for 20 percent past the time limit when rehearsing because most speakers speed up
during actual delivery
b. eliminate one third of the body to prevent speed talking, a common hazard among novice
public speakers.
c. remove about 10 percent of your content because most speakers exceed their time limits.
d. prepare a little more material than you think you will actually need.
25. In an effective presentation conclusion, you will strive to accomplish three goals:
a. state your recommendation, prove your persuasion, and reinforce the purpose.
b. remind the audience of your credibility, review the attention getter, and restate the
purpose.
c. summarize the main themes, give the audience a memorable take-away, and include a
statement that allows for a graceful exit.
d. promote your primary claim, advance your supporting claims, and elevate the most viable
evidence.
26. In the conclusion of your speech, you say, I recommend developing and posting high-quality video
podcasts on our Web site to recruit new employees. You are using the conclusion to
a. introduce one additional main point of interest to the audience.
b. review the main themes of the presentation.
c. include a statement that allows you to depart gracefully.
d. provide a final action-oriented focus.
27. Your speech will be more effective if you have audience rapport. Rapport can be defined as
a. a bond connecting the speaker with the audience.
b. the awareness of topic importance.
c. an understanding of key points.
d. the ability to hear clearly.
28. Speakers build audience rapport by
a. researching thoroughly and organizing the speech effectively.
b. establishing credibility and demonstrating authority.
c. forming a bond with the audience by entertaining as well as informing.
d. speaking loudly, clearly, and rapidly.
29. Dan has just told his audience that engineering a hostile business takeover is similar to conducting
guerilla warfare. He is using what technique?
a. Personal anecdote
b. Metaphor
c. Personalized statistic
d. Analogy
30. To help his listeners keep track of where he is in the presentation, Neil has just said, Next I will discuss
three plans for reducing waste. What verbal signpost is Neil using?
a. Summarizing

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 b. Previewing
c. Switching directions
d. Enumeration
31. In her presentation on improving employee morale, Tanya makes this statement: So far, you've heard
only about the problems we have with morale; let's move to some solutions. Tanya has employed the
verbal signpost called
a. summarizing.
b. previewing.
c. switching directions.
d. revealing.
32. Like it or not, speakers are judged on their appearance. Which of these is the best advice on choosing
your attire for a business presentation?
a. Dress only as well as the best-dressed person in your audience, even if that means shorts
and a t-shirt.
b. For everything but small, in-house presentations, dress professionally.
c. Wear formal business attire for all presentations, both internal and external.
d. Clothing makes the man but not the woman; therefore, men must wear a suit and tie for all
presentations, but experts indicate women may dress casually for most presentations.
33. Effective speakers must be aware of their nonverbal messages. Nonverbal means
a. content delivered by visual aids.
b. information included on the outline, but not in the speech.
c. appearance, movements, and vocal qualities.
d. body language only.
34. All of these are good advice for nonverbal messages during a presentation except
a. avoid being planted behind the podium.
b. use a variety of gestures planned and rehearsed in advance.
c. punctuate your words by varying your tone, volume, pitch, and pace.
d. maintain appropriate eye contact to show you are confident and prepared.
35. When selecting and preparing your visual aids, keep in mind your goals as a speaker:
a. to make listeners understand, remember, and act on your ideas.
b. to observe your audience, adjust your delivery, and continue your presentation.
c. to inform, to entertain, and to persuade.
d. to plan and collect information, organize and rehearse, and deliver your presentation.
36. During a business presentation, an effective visual aid will
a. emphasize and clarify main points.
b. increase audience interest.
c. help to jog the memory of a speaker.
d. do all of these.
37. Which of these tips regarding the use of handouts as a visual aid is most accurate?
a. Handouts should be discussed during the presentation, but you should delay distribution of
the handouts until your presentation is finished.
b. Savvy speakers no longer distribute handouts because audiences view the lowly handout
as outdated and environmentally unfriendly.
c. If you choose to use a handout, the most appropriate information for a handout is the
speaker's biography only.

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 d. Handouts should be included in the registration packet, along with name tags, lunch
tickets, and other event materials distributed prior to the presentation.
38. Because the presenter can create dynamic, colorful presentations that incorporate Web links, music,
and video, one of the most popular visual aids is
a. overhead transparencies.
b. flipcharts.
c. multimedia slides.
d. handouts.
39. Alvin is designing a PowerPoint slide show that he will present in a darkened conference room. What
should Alvin do?
a. Place the greatest focus on the visual component of his slides because this will be his
audience's focus.
b. Use as many special effects (animation, sound effects, and so on) as possible to maintain
his audience's interest.
c. Use light text on a dark background.
d. Use at least five different font colors to provide visual impact.
40. For effective presentation slides, you should apply the 6-x-6 rule to most slides. The 6-x-6 rule means
that
a. the entire presentation has no more than six slides.
b. each slide has no more than six words per line and no more than six lines.
c. each main idea has no more than six bullet points.
d. each slide is discussed for six minutes.
41. What is the best advice for composing a PowerPoint slideshow?
a. Always design your own template to show your creativity and uniqueness.
b. Occasionally convert bullet points to diagrams, charts, and other images to make your
slideshow more interesting.
c. When including numbers, use lists rather than charts or graphs.
d. Make sure that every point has at least one bullet point and one visual.
42. Debbie wants to be certain that her audience remains engaged during her PowerPoint presentation at
today's business meeting. What should she do?
a. Keep a careful eye on the computer monitor or screen to make sure she doesn't miss
anything.
b. Read the bullet points word for word to make sure her audience understands the
information.
c. Use a laser pointer to highlight slide items to discuss.
d. Make the room as dark as she can to make her slides more visible.
43. Which of the following is the best recommendation for delivering an effective oral presentation?
a. Memorize the entire oral presentation so that you don't have to use notes.
b. Read the entire oral presentation to the audience so that nothing important will be
overlooked.
c. Use the notes method, using note cards or an outline containing key sentences and major
ideas.
d. Wing it!
44. Sam is nervous about his upcoming presentation. Which of these techniques will overcome his case of
nerves and allow Sam to deliver a good presentation?
a. Hold his breath as long as he can to clear his head.

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 b. Tell the audience that he's nervous to get them to empathize with him.
c. Ignore any stumbles and keep going.
d. Have a stiff drink right before presenting
45. Nearly every speaker must overcome stage fright; one of the most effective techniques to decrease
stage fright is
a. wearing comfortable, relaxed clothing to enhance self-confidence.
b. knowing the subject thoroughly.
c. displaying a fully animated PowerPoint presentation.
d. picturing the audience naked.
46. Which of these is the most accurate description regarding the use of pauses and silence in a
presentation?
a. Don't pause when you first approach the audience because you will appear unsure.
b. Fill awkward silences with short phrases such as "you know" or "basically."
c. Words always carry more impact than a silent pause.
d. Silence is preferable to meaningless fillers.
47. For a smooth start to your presentation, you should prepare thoroughly, rehearse repeatedly, dress
professionally, and
a. practice stress reduction.
b. avoid personal contact with audience members before the presentation.
c. remove barriers (lecterns, podiums, tables, etc.) between you and the audience.
d. pump yourself up to build some tension, pressure, power, and enthusiasm.
48. Follow all of these guidelines to deliver your presentation effectively except
a. present your first sentence from memory.
b. begin speaking immediately; that is, speak as soon as you are behind the lectern.
c. control your voice and your vocabulary.
d. show enthusiasm.
49. If you will take questions at the end of your presentation, which of these is the best advice?
a. Announce the question-and-answer period in the conclusion of your presentation.
b. If you don't know the answer to a question, you should offer your best guess or make up
an answer.
c. Begin each answer with a repetition of the question.
d. Direct your answers just to the person who asked the question.
TRUE/FALSE

1. Effective speaking skills and career success go hand in hand at every stage of a career.
2. Business studies indicate that the best predictor of career success is not only whether employees were
effective at public speaking but also if they enjoyed public speaking.
3. For any presentation you can reduce your fears and lay the foundation for a professional performance
by focusing on five items: your knowledge, your background/experience, your self-confidence, your
breathing, and your inner peace or Zen.
4. The most important part of preparation for an oral presentation is deciding the purpose.
5. To effectively adapt a presentation for an unfamiliar audience, you should contact five or six audience
members to interview before the presentation to determine typical audience attributes. You should then
thank these people in the opening of your presentation.
6. No matter what kind of audience you will have, you must plan your presentation to focus it on
audience benefits.

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 7. Good organization and conscious repetition are the two most powerful keys to audience
comprehension and retention.
8. It may be appropriate to begin a speech with a promise, a question, an anecdote, and even a joke.
9. You can avoid one of the biggest problems with most oral presentations if you focus your speech on a
few key ideas.
10. Natalia is presenting statistics about the diversity of college students in different parts of the country.
She will most likely organize by chronology.
11. A professional way to end a presentation is to warn the audience of the conclusion and wrap up the
speech with an expression like That's it.
12. Reserve the use of anecdotes and quotations to grab attention in introductions in business presentations
because using these devices in the conclusion will weaken their impact.
13. One of the goals of an effective conclusion in a presentation is to allow the speaker to leave the
podium gracefully.
14. Once you have announced your conclusion, you should proceed to the conclusion immediately.

15. Build the best connection with your audience members by providing them the hard, dry facts and by
avoiding personalized statistics or personal anecdotes that make you appear amateurish and
unpolished.
16. To enliven your presentation and enhance comprehension, try using some exaggeration or distortion in
your imagery.
17. You have just made the statement This financial bailout is a missed field goal as the clock runs out.
This is an example of a metaphor.
18. Next, therefore, on the contrary, moreover, and in conclusion are examples of transitional expressions.
19. You can create a stronger organization in your presentation through the use of verbal signposts that
will help your audience recognize your previews, summaries, or changes of direction.
20. If your audience will be dressed casually, experts recommend that you dress casually for your
presentation.
21. Lindsay plans to give her audience a handout with images of her PowerPoint slides. Lindsay should
distribute this handout after her presentation to maintain audience control.
22. Creating speaker's notes from your PowerPoint slides is helpful because these notes allow you to read
your presentation word for word.

23. Although Microsoft PowerPoint is the business standard for presenting, defending, and selling ideas,
overused and abused multimedia presentations have become a common complaint in business.
24. The most effective multimedia presentations rely heavily on text, use frequent bullet- pointed lists, and
employ few graphics or images.
25. Poorly designed PowerPoint presentations are the fault of the creator and not the software itself.
26. By preparing a visually appealing multimedia presentation and ensuring that each slide is great
looking, you can compensate for thin content.
27. Neil is preparing a PowerPoint multimedia presentation for a multicultural audience. He must choose
his background colors carefully.
28. It is acceptable for a speaker to break the 6 x 6 rule for multimedia slides when the users will be
reviewing the presentation on their own with no speaker assistance.
29. Rely on the spell check feature in PowerPoint to catch all spelling and grammar errors appearing on
your slides.
30. Create a slide in your multimedia presentation only if that slide will create interest, help the audience
follow your ideas, highlight points you want your audience to remember, introduce or review key
points, provide a transition from one idea to the next, or illustrate and simplify complex ideas.
31. To create a solid multimedia presentation, begin with the text, and then move on to the graphics,
animation, and other enhancements.

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 32. A blueprint slide is a drawing or visual depiction of an oral presentation that you reveal in the
introduction.
33. The simplest option for moving your multimedia presentation to the Web involves a Web conference
or broadcast.
34. Your best plan to create a convincing presentation is to read your entire presentation from a
manuscript so that your audience is confident you have not omitted anything.
35. It is normal to experience some degree of stage fright when speaking before a group.
36. The speakers who suffer the worst butterflies and who make the worst presentations are those who try
to memorize their speeches.
37. You should present your first sentence from memory to establish rapport with the audience through
eye contact.
38. If you make an error during your presentation, you will recover more rapidly and reconnect most
effectively with your audience if you immediately issue a sincere apology.

39. When answering audience questions, you should debate the questioner to show that you're right.

COMPLETION

1. ____________________
Audience analysis issues include size, age, gender, experience, and professional
background.

2. You should capture listeners' attention, introduce yourself, establish your credibility, and preview your
topic in the ____________________
introduction of your presentation.

3. Develop each of your main points in the ____________________

body of your presentation.

4. In the ____________________
conclusion of your presentation, you should summarize your main themes and
leave the audience with something memorable.

5. A comparison of similar traits between dissimilar items, such as Turning the course of this economic
downturn has been like stopping an avalanche; it's possible, but very, very difficult, is a(n)
____________________.
simile

6. Help your audience recognize the organization and main points in an oral message with
____________________
verbal signposts that keep listeners on track.

7. ____________________
Bullet points in a PowerPoint presentation consist of concise and parallel key
phrases.

8. To ensure professional results for your multimedia presentation, choose a professionally designed
____________________
template that will combine harmonious colors, borders, bullet styles, and fonts for
pleasing visual effects.

9. After delivering their presentations, businesspeople often post their multimedia shows online because
attendees appreciate these ____________________
electronic handouts.

10. ____________________
Extemporaneous delivery means speaking freely, generally without notes, after preparation
and rehearsing. This delivery method allows you to freely discuss the ideas you have prepared and
rehearsed several times.

Guffey, Du-Babcock, and Loewy | Essentials of Business Communication, 3rd Asia Edition
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Guffey, Du-Babcock, and Loewy | Essentials of Business Communication, 3rd Asia Edition
© 2016 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
10