Effective Briefings
Length
25 hours; ten 2½-hour meetings, five 5-hour meetings, or three all-day meetings.
Description
The briefing is the most advanced form of oral presentation. Therefore, this course in Effective Briefings is not a basic course on how to prepare and deliver presentations. It is an advanced course for meeting the special demands of the formal briefing during which a presenter usually in a large office, conference room, or auditorium addresses a group of associates to give them detailed information about a problem, plan, research project, or other situation that calls for special attention. Naturally, these same skills are applicable to less formal briefings as well when, for example, an employee has to present information to a supervisor in an office while the two sit at a table or desk.
Briefings are different from ordinary oral presentations in at least three ways. They are objective, practical, and businesslike, avoiding the casual subjectivity frequently common in ordinary oral presentations. They rely extensively upon audiovisual aids, since they are largely concerned with presenting accurate information. And they permit the presenter to be interrupted frequently with questions, a distinction that means the presenter's ability to field questions often makes the difference between success and failure.
To handle this special type of oral presentation, students should be able to meet the following objectives by the end of the course:
- To know what is expected of a briefer during a briefing.
- To know how to select, design, and present audiovisual aids.
- To deal with questions effectively by knowing how to field questions in general, how to answer problem questions, and how to handle problem questioners (or disrupters).
- To improve skills in oral communications.
Method
Each student will be called upon to make at least three major briefings. Students will not only receive constructive criticism from the instructor, but also from their fellow students. In this way, all of them will learn from observing the strengths and weaknesses of others in the class. As a further aid in identifying strengths and weaknesses, students will have an opportunity to see themselves on closed-circuit television.
Materials
The Communications Skills Company will provide a 300-page text specifically written for professional adults who must make briefings in the real world of work. Students are provided with easy-to-use forms for preparing and organizing briefings. In addition to decreasing the time needed to organize and prepare a briefing, these forms increase the effectiveness of briefings.
Class Size
No more than 20 students a class.
Price
Call 256-883-6310 for pricing information.