The main purposes of a technical presentation has already been discussed to either inform or persuade. Other purposes of presentations include to inspire or to teach.
Two other common forms of oral presentations which all students have been exposed to are marketing pitches and lectures. These forms of presentations differ greatly from technical presentations and consequently it is necessary to understand these forms of presentations.
It is suggested that one can summarize product marketing through four Ps: product, pricing, place, and promotion. A presentation in the form of a marketing pitch falls under the last category.
In selling a product, it is necessary to convince the audience of the benefits of the item in focus. Consequently, common features of such a presentation (or pitch) include:
A lecture is usually a 50-minute presentation which is meant to convey to the audience information related to a specific topic which is of interest to the audience. The goal of a lecture is to provide detailed information on a specific topic in such a way that the audience has the opportunity to gain a mastery of the information. In a lecture, unlike a technical presentation, there is not a single objective on which all other points must focus. A lecture on, for example, queues requires an understanding of the overall concept, however, without understanding the cyclic nature of an array-based implementation, the usefulness of the material taught is of little value.
A student coming out of a lecture should, with some study, be able to answer questions on any portion of a lecture. A speaker giving a technical presentation would not expect most members of the audience to delve deeper into the material unless it directly affects them.