1. Introduction
In the today’s fast moving and dynamic information age, Managers in organizations have a unique role to play with multiple and continuously evolving responsibilities. Managers must instill a high-performance mindset while creating a culture whose foundation promotes teamwork. In this context among many other important things communication skills of a manager has become increasingly more important than ever.
Nitin Nohria, dean of Harvard Business School states that “Communication is the real work of leadership” To be a good communicator and an effective manager, a manager must sharpen his listening and presentation skills. By doing so will help the manager reach his goals and the company goals. Manager must realize and accept that clear communication is always a two-way process. It’s not enough to speak clearly; you have to make sure you’re being heard and understood. To facilitate this, use the following two-way communication primer.
This document explains the importance of effective listing and presenting for a manager. Also the author sets an action plan to for improving his listening and presenting skills 2. Listening
According to Daft (2012), Managers perform a wide variety of activities that fall within four primary management functions. One of the most important tools of manager communication is listening, both to employees and customer. Most managers should now recognize that important information flows from bottom up, not top down.
Listening is an activity that most of us take very lightly. Generally as human beings we are more concerned about our outputs than inputs in terms of communication. Hence listening is an activity that most managers in organizational circles take very lightly even though it is as important, maybe even more important, than some of the other skills a manager should sharpen. Without effective listening skills it will be difficult for manager communicate effectively with coworkers.
The SIER (Sense, Interpretation, Evaluation and Reaction) model shown in Figure 2.1 was developed by Lyman K, Watson & Barker in 1980. This model can be utilized by the listener to maximize their communication need.
Figure 2.1: SIER Model - Hierarchy of Active Listening

Source: Lyman K. Steil & Dr. Richard K. (2005).
By sharpening his or her listening skills a manger can successfully grasp both facts and feelings to interpret a message’s underlying genuine meaning. According to Daft (2012) 75 percent of effective communication is listening, but most of the people spend only 30 to 40 listening. A manager can reap many benefits by polishing his effective listening skills, which are; * Influencing other * Expand capacity and knowledge * Detect and Solve problem quickly and effectively * Make a conversation successful * Save time and money * To build relationships * Get respect and trust from co-workers * Enhances employee motivation and encouragement
Keys to Effective listening
Listening gives a leader the power and ability to encourage and motivate employees. Most of us will agree that listening is one of the most important key to a manager’s success. Also to grow as a leader and manager, individual must learn how to be an effective listener. Focusing on the following important key points will help for greater success and to take advantages
Raman, M. & Singh, P (2006) & www.bbc.com * Decide on the goals for the conversation
On a day to day basis a manager gets involved in many types of conversations. It is extremely important that you question yourself on the purpose of the conversation beforehand. Also where possible the listener needs to set some goals and objectives to achieve; a. Exchange information
You could get involved in a conversation about a business deal where exchange of information is happening. It is extremely important to listen to and understand every word very clearly (example Goal: Strike a deal on the new product line with a discount. Objective: get the deal signed within 2 days). b. Educational purposes
As a manager you might need to attend external and internal trainings organized by the employer or you might be studying for a MBA. Set a clear goals and objectives and stick to it. c. Pleasure
In this case we don’t always need to hear and understand every word to get the joke. d. Build relationships
To work efficiently and effectively it is important to work together and build relationships. e. Get Instructions
This could be regarding how to carry out a task or new process introduced to the company. f. Hear complains;
Depending on the purpose listener should use different abilities of listening. * Look at the speaker and make eye contact
As you may feel irritated while talking to someone if they scan the room, study a computer screen, or gaze out the window is like trying to hit a moving target same will apply to you. Hence when listening to someone you should pay every attention to that person and make eye contact. In some cultures making eye contact is considered a basic ingredient of effective communication. Making eye contact will make the speaker feel important and will help in a healthy relationship.

* Be Aware of options, be attentive and keep an open mind
As humans we think much faster than we speak. Use this ability to make a decision on what, why, how to talk then choose the right moment; don’t be impulsive in expressing your thoughts on hearing something words or sentences. Don’t judging the other person or mentally criticizing the talk while listening, pay attention to detail. Some time show your dissatisfaction using facial expressions don’t interrupt the conversation suddenly. The effectiveness of listening will be lost when judgments are made before the conversation ends.

* Don’t interrupt – Know when to speak and when to listen
As a manger don’t interrupt when a member of your teams expresses his or her idea or speak on expressing him or herself. Wait till the speaker finishes the conversation or indicates that he want to listen to you now. Sudden interruption might give wrong messages to the speaker such as “I’m more important than you are.”, “You don’t know what you talking”, “I don’t care about what you think”, “I don’t have time for you” and “you’re a looser” etc… but chose carefully when to talk, Raman, M. & Singh, P (2006) give the following rules of thumb on deciding when to talk * Never assume that you should talk * If you’re not sure whether to talk or listen ask the question * Make a effort to share the floor and listen attentively when other speak * When the conversation lags, refocus

* Concentrate, put aside Distractions and Clarify
During an important conversation or a meeting put aside laptops, books, the phone and other distractions and concentrate on the message. Clarify any doubts so that the conversation is fruitful and to best serve the purpose.

* Give the speaker regular feedback
Reflecting the speaker’s feelings is also one of the key aspects of listening. You can reflect on saying something to support his emotions or just nod and show your understanding through appropriate facial expressions and occasional well-timed “yes”, “excellent”, “thank you” could also help. The idea is to indicate to the speaker that you are listening, and that you are following her train of thought. If you are listening to an important instruction, regardless of whether at work or home, always restate instructions and messages to be sure you understand correctly. Alternatively you could summaries the understanding at the end of the instruction and ask for a confirmation. .
Presenting
It is harsh but true, that the employees and customers judge an individual's competence on what they see of them when they are presenting, not on everything else they do. Hence Managers presentation skill is a disproportionately important skill in this Information Age. As stated by Locker K. (2007) the power to persuade people to care about something you believe in is crucial to business success. To be a extremely effective manager, the manager should be able to present his idea in a clear, simple and persuasive way others.
Presentation done effectively can give the following advantages to the presenter; * Get other others aligned to your vision and idea * Improve employee efficiency * Improve success of business deals * Better employee and client relationships * Benefits in climbing the corporate ladder * Helps in building the team spirit and coordination * Easy to lead teams * Helps in communicating ideas * Others will see you as a leader to follow
In summer becoming a great presenter will help in becoming a great leader further the self-satisfaction which the presenter gets the end result is very important.
Figure 3.1 depicts an extremely important set of step to address and ponder before presetting. The Author of this essay believes that by following these steps can lead to a effective well planned presentation.
Figure 3.1: Extreme PresentationTM Method – Ten Steps to Persuasive Presentation

Source: Abela, A. (2008)
Following statement made by the Greek philosopher Aristotle gives insight into importance of an effective speech. “Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.”
Keys to Effective Presenting
Some of the key elements of effecting presentation are described bellow * Know your Audience
Presentations are more about the audiences, not their speakers. Hence it is very important to make your presentation relevant to the audience by linking what needs to say to match their experience. The presentation should give the audience a impulse and also it should appeal to different preferences;
Ask yourself obvious questions like; what time of day am I speaking? How many people will be in the audience? What is their educational background? What caliber are they. By answer these questions should affect the length, style and content of your presentation. * Decide on Purpose and Objective
Clearly understand the purpose of the presentation and objectives which you are planning to achieve. Purpose could be due to; * Informative presentation : purpose is to inform or educate the audience * Persuasive presentation : motivate the audience to act or believe * Goodwill presentation : entertain and validate audience

* Plan a Strong Opening and Closing
First impressions matter! It is very important to give a extremely good first impression and hook the audience from the opening of the presentation. Make an immediate connection with the audience signaling that it’s worth investing their valuable time to hear what you have to say. Start with a provocative or counterintuitive statement that will increase the pulse of the audience. One example: “Quality doesn’t matter.”, once Imran Khan stated in one of his presentation that “Never Compromise on you Vision, Compromise for your Vision”. These kinds of statement will make the audience pause and think on what you have to say, it is a way of attracting their attention. Closing is also as important as the Opening. Summaries what you said and give something for the audience to think, something to remember even after the presentation.

* Identify and use the correct medium for the presentation
Using the correct and appropriate medium is a key factor deciding on the effectiveness of the presentation. Today there are many ways of carrying out a presentation, for example PowerPoint slides conferences calls, video conferences, flash presentation, multi touch white screens, etc…
According to Locker K. (2007) a study conducted found that in an informative presentation, multimedia produced 5 percent more learning than overheads made from the slides and 16 percent more learning than text alone. Hence select the medium wisely and appropriately.

* Organize the information and be more effective
Organize the information effectively. Have a patter, for example stat with the past move to the present and then the future.

* User of Technology
We are in a technological advance society where many technologies are available to for our use. If the presentation is for a limited set of audience and at the end of the presentation if you want to give them a 3D image of a product you are building, use iPad to present it in a better way so that user will have the wow factor.

* Other key factors for an effective presentation
The following factors also important for a effective presentation * Develop a good speaking voice * Story telling. Relate what you have to say via a story which will be easy to remember. * Provide solutions and evidence where appropriate. * Use of info graphic * Timing: don’t drag the presentation finish it with a allocated time frame. The timing shot not be too long or too short * Get feedback * Practice the presentation prior to build confidence * Body language is a very important when presenting. Standup for presentation. * Involve the audience * Make a joke and get the attention
Action plan for sharpening listening and presenting skills
Authors plan for the sharpening his ability to effectively listen and presenting as noted bellow.
Goal
* To sharpen the ability to listen and present affectively * Improve vocabulary * Make a change in self
Objectives
Achieve the set goals within 3 month and become more effective in managing
Reference
Dr. Lyman K. Steil & Dr. Richard K. Bommelje (2004, June). Listening Leaders, 1e, Minnesota: Beaver's Pond Press, Inc.

Raman, M. & Singh, P (2006, February). Business Communication, New Delhi: Oxford University Press

British Broadcasting Corporation (2011). Types of listening. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/factsheet/en34type-l1-f-what-is-listening [Retrieved Date: 2014, March]

Schilling, D (2012, September). Steps to Effective Listening. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2012/11/09/10-steps-to-effective-listening/ [Retrieved Date: 2014, March]

Locker, K (2007, October). Business and Administrative Communication, 7e, Irwin: McGraw-Hill

Abela, A (2008, April). Advanced Presentations by Design, 1e, California: Published by Pfeiffer

Morgan , N (2010, May). Two Rules for a Successful Presentation. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/05/two-rules-for-a-successful-pre/ [Retrieved Date: 2014, March]