Your Proposal, Visual, and Annotated Bibliography is due on Wednesday, 4/26, 11:00pm on Canvas.
Plan for the Week
This will be the only webpage for the week, and it’ll cover your Final Presentations.
I always try to give students the opportunity to do some kind of public speaking in every class I teach. Although this isn’t a public speaking class, presenting information to an audience orally is germane to the spirit of the field of technical/professional communication. Most of you will have to do some kind of public presenting in the future, so it’s a good idea to get all the practice you can. You’re welcome.
Because we aren’t face to face, you’ll make a 4-5 minute video based on your Final Project. You will speak and have visuals. It shouldn’t be a video of just you talking for 4-5 min; instead, consider this a “voice over” that narrates your presentation.
Visuals
Your oral presentations must have appropriate, effective visuals. We’ve already discussed that appropriate visuals, such as tables, charts, graphs, pictures, etc., enhance the message you’re communicating. Incorporate a few visuals into your presentation. Narrating over a PowerPoint (in a video you upload to Canvas) counts as a visual. Your visuals and their incorporation will be ranked on the following criteria:
- Visuals Exist–do you have a visual component to your presentation
- Relevance–do the visuals match your research topic
- Enhancement–did the visuals add to the presentation or were they simply outlines you read
- Aesthetics–did you incorporate a decent visual or one of poor quality
- Citation(s)–did you properly cite your visuals if you “borrowed” them from other sources
Remember, the visuals and this oral presentation are your way of showing that you highlighted appropriate areas of your topic to give me a glimpse at what you researched. You can’t possibly show us everything in 4-5 min–be selective.
Oral Presentations
Although your presentations for this class aren’t the exact format you can expect throughout your careers, it’s important to practice public speaking whenever you can.
If we were in class face to face, I’d ask the following questions about oral presentations for a class discussion, but please read Tebeaux and Dragga’s Ch. 11 for more information:
- What are some common presentation pitfalls?
- Why is understanding your purpose so important?
- What are some questions you should ask about your audience?
- What type of delivery method will work best for you or you and your group—memorized, reading (scripted), notes, or impromptu?
- What are some advantages and disadvantages of the above delivery methods?
- What’s important to keep in mind about visuals (which you must use?
- How should you manage your presentation style?
Finally, what should you include in your presentations? Obviously, you can’t discuss every detail of your project, and some parts of a project lend themselves better to oral presentations than others, depending on the following:
- Background information
- The need of the project
- The steps in the project
- What your project explains
- General information about costs and timeframes–if applicable
Instead of being overly precise about your project’s budget, “We will need $20,000 for materials, $10,000 for labor, $50,000 for overhead…” Simply be general in your budget discussion, “We need a budget of $500,000, most of which will go to hiring contractors.”
Please have an overview. Spend 15-20 secs telling the audience what you’re going to discuss in your presentation. Introduce the topic and give a roadmap of what you’ll be covering.
Technology Issues
PowerPoint is fairly easy to use, so that might be the best option for your presentation. There are lots of ways to have a PowerPoint that you capture along with your voice, but you may use another program if you’re more comfortable.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Presentation Issues
Each of you must have an oral presentation that is between 4 and 5 minutes—don’t go under and don’t go over. You’ll be graded on the following:
I will score your 4-5 minute presentation on a scale of 1 to 10 based of the following criteria:
- Appearance of preparation
- Eye contact
- Voice Projection
- Relevance
- Time—don’t go over five minutes and don’t go under four minutes (practice so you get it just right)
Remember, you can’t possibly convey your entire project in the time you have. Therefore, you must choose your points wisely. You’ll actually be amazed at how quickly time goes.
Next Week
Again, we won’t have a new webpage for Wednesday, 4/26, but you must upload your Proposal, Visual, and Annotated Bibliography by Wednesday, 4/26, 11:00pm on Canvas. Besides the Presentation discussed here, you should also look ahead to May 1st’s webpage on the Final Portfolio.
I should be able to open up the Final Exam on Friday, 5/05, but you must complete it by Thursday, 5/11, 11:00pm. There will be no makeup exams. I’ll send an email once the exam goes live.