Formal Presentations

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Formal Presentations

• Engl 3365

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Why do presentations in this class?

• Whatever the format, you WILL do this in the
  future
• Clients and Customers
• Managers and Colleagues
• either as presenter or as the audience
• recognize that EVALUATING presentations is also a
  skill
• Goal is to convince people to do or consider
  something
• Persuasion is pretty important to professional
  success

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Assignment Details

• TWO absolute requirements
• Must be 14min or less (including QA)
• Must provide a handout for everyone (READ
  DIRECTIONS)
• FIVE things to keep in mind
• Presentation will be entirely peer graded (review
  the form)
• It will describe the major document and project
  choices you made
• Everyone gets the same grade UNLESS someone does
  not fully complete all evaluations or does not
  take evaluating other groups seriously
• You wont have time to troubleshoot the day of
  presentations (make CERTAIN you can work
  equipment)
• You can perform any type of presentation you
  choose

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SIX Steps to a solid presentation

• Analyze the Situation
• Analyze the Audience and Purpose
• Budget your Time
• Outline the Talk
• Prepare Graphics
• Understand the Medium

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ONE the Situation

• How much info in __ minutes?
• Dont try to cram in too much
• Focus on the most helpful or most clear points
• Effective presentations are sometimes the
  shortest
• What are the physical technical constraints?
• Generally go with what works best for the space
  youre in
• EX this room is focused on computer presentations

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TWO Audience and Purpose

• How much does your audience know?
• Sets language, amount of background, level of
  detail
• Whats the audiences attitude?
• Generally either hostile, apathetic, neutral, or
  supportive
• What does the audience expect?
• Maybe shake them up in a calculated way
• What are you trying to accomplish?
• Generally inform, suggest, persuade, or convince

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THREE Budget Time

• Be REALISTIC about what you can do
• Rushed presentations are rarely clear
• Think about setup, Q A, evaluation time

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FOUR Outline the Talk

• This is a very important step
• You can easily convert an outline to
• Slides
• Notecards
• Acts in a puppet play
• You can easily slot in
• Details
• Visuals
• Speaking notes
• You can clearly see gaps or places to cut

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FIVE Graphics

• Includes things like
• Different colors and fonts
• Tables and Charts
• Pictures and Diagrams
• Layouts and Alignments
• These can all do double-duty in the presentation
  and the report

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SIX Understand the Medium

• Powerpoint
• PROS room setup, effective prompts, auto notes
  handouts
• CONS conventional, computers can crash and files
  can get lost
• Overhead Slides
• PROS low-tech, wont crash or get lost on a pin
  drive
• CONS slide transitions, hard to update
• Whiteboard
• PROS low-tech, active, easy to update
• CONS hard to see, difficult to access, no
  prompts
• Interpretive Dance
• PROS active, attention-getting
• CONS costume cost

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tips for Slide Presentations

• Use focused language
• Use advance organizers
• Use summary slides

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Focused Language

• Slides are notes, not full reports
• Slides should support the presentation, not
  replace it
• Dont simply read whats on the screen, enhance
  it
• Slides should be clear, but brief
• Dont use complete sentences
• Do use parallelism

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EXAMPLE Focused Language

• The current system has three main problems
• It is expensive to maintain.
• It requires nonstandard components.
• It is not compliant with new specifications.

• Major system problems
• Expensive maintenance
• Nonstandard components
• Noncompliance with new specs

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Advance Organizers

• Tells what youre going to say or do
• Outlines main points
• Keeps audience focused
• Signals important transitions

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EXAMPLE Advance Organizers
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Summary Slides

• Tells what youve just said or done
• Recaps main points
• Encourages audience questions

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What weve covered

• Why presentations are important
• Steps to producing great shows
• Tips for making great slides
• Any Questions?

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Resources Oliu, et al Ch15

• Rehearsing
• Using voice effectively
• Using body language
• Overcoming nervousness
• Dealing with questions

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What YOU SHOULD DO

• THINK about audience / purpose (evaluation sheet)
• DECIDE on your format
• OUTLINE your presentation
• EVALUATE your time constraints (13 min)
• CREATE your slides (or dance moves, whatever)
• CREATE your handouts (1-2 pages)
• EDIT and PRACTICE once AS A GROUP

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The Rest of Class Today

• Work in Recommendation Report Groups
• Ask questions, get feedback on drafts
• Plan future work
• Write, edit, or format report sections
• Plan the group presentation
• Work on the final individual assignment
• Get help with wordpress
• Look ahead at writing for the web advice
• Write, edit, or format assignment reflections