Public Speaking in the Workplace
Public Speaking in the Workplace
As mentioned several times throughout this text, learning the skills associated with public speaking will provide you with great benefits in your personal and professional life in the years to come. In terms of general benefits, public speaking helps you develop your confidence, presentation skills, and your influence on the world around you. More specifically, the skills associated with public speaking open up new professional and social opportunities. Public speaking helps you hone your organizational skills; critical thinking and listening capabilities; and the expression of your beliefs, opinions, and values; all of which are essential to success in most work environments. Whether it is in the small group, face-to-face, or large meeting context, you will be expected to express your ideas in an appropriate, effective, and clear way. Additionally, success with public speaking in the workplace means understanding the needs of your audiences and developing messages intended for them.
Workplace Report
Although most work environments and career tracks vary, most organizational settings require public speaking skills for the purpose of reports, all of which involve researching, organizing, and disseminating information. This information is often presented in the form of reports and public relations speeches. Regardless of the type of report, it is important that you make yourself understood and take responsibility for the information you are presenting (O’Hair et al., 2001). In particular, O’Hair et al. (2001) outline four types of reports commonly used in the workplace—technical, staff, progress, and investigative.
The technical report is one that provides information on a particular subject. More specifically, technical reports assist groups and organizations in decision-making (e.g., whether to approve a policy or product). These types of technical reports may be brief or more detailed. In either case, the technical report needs to be organized and provide an overview of the problem. In addition, brief technical reports should clearly state the recommendations as well as the facts motivating those recommendations. Lengthy technical reports should contain the elements of brief reports, as well as detailed explanations of data collected and interpretations of research findings. Along with a presentation, a written technical report should be prepared.
The staff report is intended to inform the company or department of issues affecting them, such as the completion of a project or task. O’Hair et al. (2001) suggest the following organizational format for a staff report: (a) state the issue, (b) describe the facts and/or procedures related to the issue, and (c) state conclusions and offer recommendations. Again, a written staff report is recommended as a supplement to any formal presentation.
The progress report is used to update key people, customers, and/or clients on the status of ongoing projects. It is helpful to provide progress reports at predetermined intervals to keep stakeholders and those involved up-to-date throughout the life of the project. The intervals may be daily, weekly, monthly, or at any length deemed appropriate. Most progress reports contain: (a) a review of the progress up to the previous report, (b) new advances since the last progress report, (c) a list of the people involved with the project and their developments, (d) time spent on each task, (e) supplies used and money spent, and (f) emergent problems and how they were solved.
Finally, the investigative report is focused on solving a client’s problem. This is especially the case if the client cannot solve the problem independently. Such problems may be improving the recruiting efforts of a volunteer organization or understanding the low morale currently experienced by a company. Some investigative reports employ an indirect method of organization, which means that the conclusions and recommendations are presented last, and follow (a) the background of the problem, (b) the problem as it is clearly stated, (c) how the investigation was conducted, and (d) the principle findings. Some clients may prefer a more direct method of organization as it is conducive to immediate decisions, and it is what some clients are most interested in hearing. In this format, the conclusions and recommendations are presented first.
