Assess Your Own Presentation Skills

Here is a list of skills that you should have to be a competent business presenter.

Rate your own comfort level with each of these presentation skills:

	very easy	somewhat easy	not easy or hard	somewhat difficult	very difficult	have never attempted
Basic Presentation Skills
creating a single, clear thesis for my presentation
creating a clear, concise organizational structure
preparing the introduction and conclusion of a presentation
taking the time to practice adequately
projecting a professional appearance
overcoming stagefright

A new major in the CBA should find this first set of skills pretty easy. These are all things you should have learned in your General Education course in oral communication. If you feel that you need to brush up on these skills, you might want to join the UNI Toastmasters organization. Contact the Business Communication Program for more information.

If you’re a junior or senior business major, rate yourself on these skills:

	very easy	somewhat easy	not easy or hard	somewhat difficult	very difficult	have never attempted
Presenting Material in a Management Situation
understanding the management purpose of the material I am presenting
clearly stating the relationship between my material and the decision to be made
positioning the material I am presenting into an organizational context
systematically stating the relationship of each point to the decision to be made
becoming thoroughly and professionally prepared to talk about my material
assertively stating my position with regard to the action step I advocate

These are skills that you should be developing in your CBA courses as you make presentations for your classes. You’ll be expected to demonstrate them when you start interviewing for jobs at graduation! If you don’t think you understand what any of these skills involve, or feel you need help in developing them, contact the Business Communication Program for more information.