Candidates will be expected to follow the rules of speaking in front of a group. These include introducing yourself, explaining the reason for the meeting, motivating the audience as to why it is important for them to embrace what you have to say, delivering the sustenance of your presentation, summarizing your presentation, and leaving time at the end for questions. Most oral presentation exercises are timed. It is up to the candidate to manage his or her time. The candidate should note the time the exercise culminates so he can allow enough time to complete it. Once the time has expired, the candidates will be asked to stop speaking regardless of where they is in their presentation.
The most common mistake in an oral presentation is trying to write everything in paragraph form. It’s painful to watch a candidate try to read the entire presentation to the raters. Candidates who are able to speak to bullet points will fare much better than those who try to read what they have written. Teachers and people who have previous experience speaking in public usually excel in this area. The best way to prepare for this exercise is to practice with a topic, have a set amount of time to prepare a lecture, and present the topic to an audience. Using a video camera is the best way to critique oneself.
You will be amazed at what you see.
One of the most challenging parts of any supervisor’s job is dealing with employees. In the fire service we are particularly poor at imposing discipline on our members. Since we live, eat, sleep and work together for long periods of time, supervisors are reluctant to address poor performance. It is important to remember that the fire department is held to the same city policies as gas, water and police departments. These departments are very thorough when it comes to addressing an employee who is lacking in his or her performance. We on the other hand are not.
It is important to know you audience (raters). Regardless where they are from, chief officers expect aspiring officers to coach, counsel, and document substandard performance. It is imperative that you use the 8-step process to handle a troubled employee.
