In The Spotlight

     Building a successful career in EMS may initially appear to focus on prehospital training and emergency management capabilities, but a skill of equal importance is the ability to communicate effectively before an audience. Such communication goes beyond face-to-face conversations and entails the ability to publicly present information and ideas in a manner that conveys confidence.

Prepare to Deliver
      Whether presenting an educational course, discussing critical issues before senior leadership, performing community outreach or addressing a meeting of public officials, an effective public presentation is equally dependent on topic preparation and speech delivery.

     In preparing your topic, identify the theme of your talk and what you intend to accomplish, then develop your speech in the following order: conclusion, introduction, body. Toastmasters International, an organization that hones public speaking abilities, notes that the first thing to plan in any speech is the last thing you want to say. The theme should center on a specific idea, action or process. A common pitfall among public speakers is the tendency to veer off topic, particularly if the speaker is uncomfortable addressing a group; therefore, developing the conclusion before constructing the body of your presentation will maintain focus on the take-away message.

     The body should be logical and unambiguous. Most speaking opportunities in EMS focus on medical pathophysiology and treatment protocols. With these presentations, case studies are often recommended as "wake-up" exercises, particularly if the lecture is heavy-laden with information.

     Developing community outreach presentations requires that the speaker research the intended audience's level of understanding and craft the presentation accordingly. First-time presenters may be tempted to impress members of the public with graphics, terminology and detailed explanations. Such elaboration risks overloading the audience with information they cannot process. The best advice to heed when addressing the general public is to use plain, simple dialogue.

     Presentations outside the continuing education arena, such as those intended for conferences, elected officials or meetings with senior leadership, present a unique challenge, as complex issues must be boiled down to headlines, followed by one- or two-sentence explanations. Glynn Bedington, author of Who Do You Want to Be? The Art of Presenting Yourself With Ease, writes that the essence of such speeches should be developed with intention, action, main ideas and importance in mind.1 Forward (positive) momentum is critical in these professional forums, even if the reason for the presentation is to oppose a change initiative. Past president of Virginia Government Communicators Steven R. Skinner points out that negative, or "anti-," talk is unconstructive, fails to build consensus and risks making the tone of the message the day's headline, instead of the content. Therefore, have these presentations focus on facts, figures and solutions to make the audience aware of what you are for, not what you are against.

     Prepare all talks in outline format. Next, review the outline for logic and clarity. Do the subject and content match? Apply illustrations sparingly, as they are seldom recalled in detail and risk serving as a distraction.

     Once your presentation has been prepared, spend time practicing your speech. Use descriptive words that allow the listener to picture your meaning, but apply as few words as possible to make this happen. Lengthy explanations may prompt audience members to doubt your credibility, sincerity or grasp of the issues.