As a student in CSL, I practiced what we learned in ALES 204 class at Green Hectares, a non-profit organization. Green Hectares helps people partner with or expand agricultural business. In order to teach young businessmen and business women how to communicate their ideas and collaborate effectively with others, Green Hectares has to come up with a 5-point guideline on giving a presentation. My project is to create a tip sheet with the 5-point guidline and to research resources to support these guidelines.
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| Paglia, R. (2011). Social Media Related Events Icons [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ralphpaglia/5467778044/in/photostream/ |
The CSL experience allowed me to practice the social media tools I learnt in the class. I used several types of social media tools to find the online sources. These tools were BaseCamp, YouTube, TED, twitter and blogs. BaseCamp is an online project manager that I used to communicate with CSL partner and supervisor. Since BaseCamp allowed me to work on the tip sheet without having to meet in person with my partner and supervisor, I had more flexible working hours. The CSL experience also developed my critical literacy because searching online was more than just gathering relevant information, I had to compare and analyze which resources were the most relevant to my points. The first four points emphasized the traditional style of communication while the last one focused on modern style of communication.
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Lasica, J. (2009). Bronwyn [Phtotograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica/4003438246/ |
The first point on the tip sheet focused on how to be a confident presenter and how to guide the audience through the presentation. The various sources we found for this point included how to properly practice a presentation and how to calm one’s nerves. For the second point, we introduced how to persuade your audience and the power of repetition. The best way is to make audiences feel connected with current issues the presenter is addressing and then hook your audience by telling them you have the solution to their problems. Repetition of this part draws attention to your ideas. The third point is about how to appeal to the audiences' emotion. According to our resources, the most important thing is that you have to be passionate. Also, making eye contact with audiences conveys your emotions to them. The fourth point explained the importance of having a complete structure with a beginning, middle, and end. Steve Jobs always gave a clear theme and outline at the beginning of his presentations. This strategy is very important to hook people onto your topic. Always divide your presentation in several parts, each ending with an intermediate conclusion. In this way, people who get distracted can easily catch up with you. The final point stressed the need to use PowerPoints effectively. Posters and PowerPoint should be uncluttered with few words and mostly with pictures. PowerPoint and posters should be used as tools, not crutches in presentations.
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| Saunders, G. (2007). Welcome To Powerpoint [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/ photos/garethjmsaunders/748083829/ |
This project allowed me to learn new things. For example, I learnt to use social media like blogs,twitter, and YouTube for professional research. In terms of traditional communication, I learnt how to convey ideas effectively in presentations. A good presentation is not only about good content, but the strategies used to communicate that content. I am sure my CSL partner JenniferWheeler also has some good ideas to share.
