PRESENTATION IN PROFESSIONAL EXAMS

Hi Friends,

Thanks for your responses on my first blog. As promised, I am writing the second blog on the Presentation Skills required for Professional exams.

First we must understand what is that everybody talking about PRESENTATION? Why this has got so much importance in Professional Exams. Now let me give you an example: when you go for any functions, what is that everybody concentrates? Of course the Dressing, Makeup, Perfumes etc. As you know all these things are done for looking attractive and making an Impression on all the friends and relatives!!!

That’s the key word – an Impression!! It really counts when it comes to Professional Exams. As you all are aware Professionals are always a class apart. Not only in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of presentation and approach! So when you budding professionals want to prove yourself, definitely you need to demonstrate your professional skills!!

Now that you have understood presentation let me tell you what it means in Professional Exams. As you might have read in many books, suggested answers, Exam Tips etc. it is the way you have to attempt the exams and present the answers. I would like to go one step ahead and thereby define Presentation as the method of communicating your knowledge to the Examiner in the most pleasing manner. Don’t think that I am copying some texts from the dictionary etc. This is a definition based on the requirements and purpose of presentation. Now we need to see the two important aspects:

a)      Communicating your knowledge: It means that what you know is exactly conveyed to the examiner. So there should not be any ambiguity while writing the answers. You must ensure Crisp words and lines for making the meaning exact and precise. You must not try to increase the length of answers by writing same sentences twice or thrice in different way. This will reduce the impression. So practice writing crisp answers and in situation when you are not fully aware of the answers try to write only the major point and use some examples etc to present that point. Instead do not try for beating around the bush!!

b)      In most pleasing manner: Now this part is tricky! How to make it pleasing? Here we must think like an examiner and then understand that the Examiner will feel better when the Answers are written step by step in a systematic way. In fact we must assume that examiner doesn’t know the method of working and hence feed him with our calculations. This is why the Working Notes are also an integral part of the answers. Only when you show the examiner that you have attempted the question in a systematic manner with all rough workings, it will be conveyed and the IMPRESSION will be maintained.

Hence every Practical problem must have Working Notes, Assumptions made if any, Relevant AS or AAS etc and then the MAIN Answer. When I say Main Answer it is the exact requirement of the question. For example if the question asks for preparing Balance sheet only, the trial balance and P&L should be shown only in working note and not in main answer. This will show that you have understood the question properly. In theory questions, the answer should start with general idea or definitions etc and then continue in Point by Point answering. One more point while answering if the part of the word extends beyond the line, then skip the word and write in the next line. For example don’t write “withstanding” like this “with –“and then “-standing” in the next line. This will create bad impression.

      Use as many paragraphs as possible. Don’t make the Para too big and cumbersome. When you are supporting the answers with Case Laws and Standards, try to mention the same in ITALICS or BOLD to make it important. However do not write anything in BOLD or Italics or in CAPITAL unless it is very important. In case of Objective questions, you must use Boxes or Underlines to highlight the answer.

Ensure that the Question Numbers and Sub- Question numbers are legibly written on the margins and are correctly carried forward to next page. It is always recommended to write the question number on the continued page too. Also ensure that when you have chosen a Main question, you have to complete all sub-questions in that before going to next Main Question. But you can write the sub-questions in any order based on your comfort. It is advisable to write the well known questions first.

On completion of the paper, please ensure that questions are closed with an underline and are correctly carried forward. Also ensure that if there are pages used for Rough work not related to specific question, you must strike out the page with two lines across the page. Ensure that any corrections made are properly visible and legible.

Finally check whether all the questions are attempted and marked in the front page of the Answer Sheet.