Specifics about Your Presentation on Aug 7

In preparing your talk for Aug. 7, I asked you to consider a business problem of some kind, analyze its communication aspects, and suggest ways in which the companies and/or individuals involved could have achieved a more positive outcome by the application of some of the communication techniques/principles we have discussed and/or ideas of your own creation.

You may use notes but should not read your speech. You will be evaluated on the "10 Do's" of Management Speaking contained in the Oral Presentations chapter of the Management Communication textbook. Five of your classmates (you can pick which) will also fill out feedback sheets for you. After I have had a chance to review the DVD, you will have access to it for your own review.

Please plan on speaking for about 6 minutes, with 2 additional minutes for handling Q & A from the audience. Although you are welcome to use visual aids, please don't make PowerPoint the star of your show (in other words, with you in the corner of a darkened room simply reading PowerPoint lines on the screen.) Many "A" speeches will no doubt make little or no use of visual aids. It's entirely up to you. I am most interested in observing and responding to your presentation skills.

In our coaching session, you will receive a summary of the 10 Do's as well as a summary of the additional tips for professional presenting we have discussed in class.

For the coaching session, you DO NOT have to have your speech completed by any means. Please do come with some kind of topic you can talk about for a few minutes so that we can practice actual presentation behaviors rather than just theorizing about them. (These topics can be simple for the purposes of our coaching session: a favorite restaurant, a favorite movie, a favorite vacation spot, your "ultimate" car/place to live/etc., or any other easy-to-talk-about topic.)

Dress for the Aug. 7 speech should be "corporate casual" rather than something lower on the scale. You may want to use this video clip as part of your portfolio for an eventual job application--hence the request to "look professional" without going to too much trouble.