Week Six
Reading Assignments:
For example, if you plan to inform a general audience about the
Ford Mustang, a good thesis statement might be, “Ford produced five
‘generations’ of the Mustang, each with a distinctive body style that audience
members can learn to recognize.” If you plan to persuade a group of investors
that a beachfront property could be threatened by rising sea levels, a good
thesis statement might be, “Sea levels are predicted to rise because of global
warming, and if these predictions are correct, the beachfront property my
audience is considering investing in may be threatened.”
1. Find a
video of a company CEO or president speaking about his/her company. The video
could be about any topic relative to the company, positive or negative. The
links below will give you some ideas. You can use any of these presentations,
if you like. Or, you can select a company of interest to you and find a video
on their site, on YouTube, or other site.
http://irwebreport.com/20110210/ceos-and-cfos-rocking-youtube-10-examples/
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=executives+speaking+about+companies
2. Review
the following as applicable to your presentation and analysis of the video you
select.
a. Chapter
12: Presentations to Inform
b. Chapter
13: Presentations to Persuade
c. Chapter
15: Negative News and Crisis Communication
d. Chapter
16: Intercultural and International Business Communication
Week 6
Written Assignment:
Be sure to
complete ALL of the reading assignments and then please fully address each of
the following:
1. Create
a PowerPoint (PPT) presentation in which you analyze the effectiveness of the
business video you viewed for this assignment.
a. Use
what you’ve learned in your text and supplemental course materials, as well as knowledge
from your LA 300 course to analyze the speech focusing on:
i. The
presenter’s speaking skills overall
ii. The
presenter’s ability to effectively relay the message in a professional manner
iii. The
content of the presentation in relation to the topic
iv. As
applicable, identify and analyze any fallacies in the presentation.
b. Follow
the PowerPoint Presentation Requirements near the end of this syllabus.
c. Do not
show the video in your presentation, but do provide a link to it for your
professor and peers.
PowerPoint
Presentation Requirements
Overview: While
this presentation is about “business”, it is NOT a business presentation and so
you need to follow these requirements, which are different than those you might
see in a business setting.
Be sure to
read the Myths about PPT in the Course Documents area of the course.
1. The PPT
should be able to stand alone—meaning someone should be able to read it and
acquire the information whether or not you are presenting it. So, DO NOT LIMIT
YOUR NUMBER OF SLIDES!
a. The
presentation must be the epitome of professionalism and higher-level learning.
b. There’s
no specific limit on the slides in this presentation. So use whatever number of
slides necessary to be thorough and to get the job done well!
c. Not
only do you want to inform and educate your peers, you want to keep their attention
by making the presentation visually appealing and the content of the slides
informative and interesting.
i.
Use your texts and at least one other source of information.
ii.
Correctly cite sources in the presentation using APA format for appropriately paraphrased
citations and/or direct quotes.
iii.
Incorporate clip-art and/or photos professionally to add visual interest to
your presentation.
iv.
Do NOT use animation and do NOT employ automatic slide transitions.
v.
Check spelling and grammar carefully.
vi.
Check the order of your slides so that the presentation flows smoothly and the information
is effectively presented.
2. Slide
Layout:
a.
Number your slides.
b.
The first slide must be a title slide with the name of the presentation, your
name, and the date.
c.
The second slide must be an introduction slide.
d.
The final slide of the content portion of the presentation must be a conclusion
slide.
e.
After the conclusion slides, the final slide(s) provide the references for any
sources cited in the presentation. These references should be properly
formatted per APA.
3. Slide
Appearance:
a. In the
body of each slide, use font sizes of 20-32 pts only—too large or too small
font makes slides hard to read.
b. Use
only one type (style) of font in a presentation.
c. Use
consistent and effective font sizes and colors throughout your presentation.
d. Use
color, bold, italics, and capitalized letters sparingly, but effectively.
e. Dark
font on a light background works best—especially if you are printing the
presentation.
Otherwise,
light font on a dark background is fine. Avoid light font on a light background
as it makes your slides hard to read.
f. Each
slide should have its own title using standard capitalization rules for words
in the title.
g. Slide
titles must be on one line, if at all possible, but if two lines are necessary,
do not hyphenate words between lines.
h. Use
bullet or numbered points to make your slides easier to read. Do not write in
long sentences or in paragraphs.
i. Don’t
overcrowd your slides. The rule of thumb for each slide is no more than 30-40
words each—or no more than about 6 lines of 6 words each. Be thorough in your
presentation, but use additional slides rather than crowd one slide with too
much information.
j. Break
up information between slides appropriately and effectively.
