scottleduc

My Presentation – Example Blog Post

Transcendental Awesumitude by dospaz at Flickr.com

What makes a great presentation? Why are some presenters more engaging than others? We will begin to explore these questions with this project. Below you will find the steps and examples each component of the project. Your blog post should have each of these sections with the required images or links and text. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar!

Creating and Formatting The Blog Post Overview Video

Step 1 – Summary of Project

  1. Compose the overview or summary of the project.
  2. Write a few sentences describing what the blog post is about and why you did this project.
  3. EXAMPLE: I created a presentation about myself to demonstrate my understanding of presentation technique. I learned a lot about the creative process, especially what goes into project workflow. Workflow is the step-by-step process successful people follow to be both creative and productive. Who wants to spend any more time than they need to creating a presentation and who wants to create a presentation that bores people to death?!

Step 2 – What is Good Presentation?

  1. Organize your class notes
  2. Include your observation notes of the quality presentations
    • What did you learn from the sample presentations?
    • What is 2+2, not 4 – Andrew Stanton
  3. Include notes about creating storyboards
  4. Include notes about copyright and the Creative Commons
  5. Answer the questions: What makes a good presentation? Why do we want to be a good presenter?
  6. REMINDER: Create an outline so that each section of notes looks neat and organized. Be sure to check grammar and spelling. The personal pronoun “i” should always be capitalized. Remember copyright means that you cannot use other people’s creative material unless you get permission, first. Content in the Creative Commons can be used because the creators publishing to the Creative Commons already established how they want to share their work by selecting a Creative Commons license. Remember, you still need to cite them as the creator.

Step 3 – Brainwriting and Brainstorming Ideas

  1. Brainwrite material for your presentation on paper (right brain activity).
    • Do this by yourself (introverted activity).
    • Write the main topic in a circle in the middle of the paper and then write down ideas quickly around the circle.
  2. Brainstorm with a small team (extraverted activity).
    • Look for ways to add/refine your ideas  (right brain activity).
  3. Scan the piece of paper.
  4. Upload it to your Flickr.com account.
  5. Place it with the “from URL” linking process in your blog post.
  6. Write a paragraph explaining what brainwriting and brainstorming are and why we do these activities.
  7. REMINDER: Right brain creative idea generating is achieved best with little or no technology and distraction. Also having a visual reminder of what you are brainstorming helps keep you focused. People lose focus within 60 seconds, if they don’t have a visual reminder in front of them. Technology like cell phones and computers can distract us from idea generating task short-circuiting the process. Paper is helpful because it’s quick to use and allows you to write anywhere and anyway to get ideas recorded in a visible medium.
  8. EXAMPLE:cp_sample_brainstorm_natalie

Step 4 – Creating the Storyboard

  1. Create a storyboard on paper.
  2. Organize your brain writing into chronological order (left brain activity).
  3. Remember
  4. Pitch the idea to your teacher or anyone who will listen!
  5. Scan it.
  6. Upload it to your Flickr.com account.
  7. Place it with the “from URL” linking process in your blog post.
  8. Write a paragraph explaining what storyboarding is and why we do this activity.
  9. REMINDER: Storyboarding is great way to establish your story. Storytelling is a one of the best ways to present ideas and teach. All presentations should teach something to the audience, even in a job interview. By sharing information through a story you give the audience a way to understand the information (right brain context). By writing your storyboard on paper you create a rough draft you can share easily with others to find ways to improve your presentation without having to invest a lot of time by having to first create the presentation on the computer before sharing.
  10. EXAMPLE:cp_sample_storyboard_natalie

Step 5 – Gathering and Citing Images

  1. Watch the video tutorial: Searching The Creative Commons
  2. Download images through Search.CreativeCommons.org.
  3. Watch the video tutorial: MLA Citation Examples for PowerPoint and Google Slides
  4. Name each image with the four pieces of information needed for the citation. This will help you remember these four pieces of information later when you are creating your Work Cited slide.
    1. date
    2. site
    3. author
    4. file name
  5. Download the sample slide with proper MLA format.
  6. Create a citation slide titled: Work Cited.
  7. Cite each image with proper MLA citation format.
  8. Alphabetize the citation list by username or the photographer’s name.
  9. Write a paragraph explaining what copyright is, what the Creative Commons is, why you used the Creative Commons, and why citing your the image or media sources is important.
  10. REMINDER: You need to cite any material that is not yours, whether it is in the Creative Commons or copy written. The difference between the two is that you can NEVER use copy written material with FIRST getting permission FROM the creator.  So, always use Creative Commons images because the creators HAVE given you permission to use their material when they published it, AS LONG AS YOU CITE THEM.
  11. EXAMPLE – HOW TO SAVE THE FILE: 151016_flickr_scottl_fenderstrat.jpg
  12. EXAMPLE – HOW TO CITE THE FILE: scottl. fenderstrat. N.d. Flickr.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Step 6 – Creating the Master Slide

  1. Set the master slide and format the look and feel of your presentation.
  2. Set the background to black and the text to white
    • Do not use color for text unless you have a reason
    • Color in Motion fun color theory presentation
    • Use the same font for the whole presentation
    • Remember any change in font will trigger the viewer to wonder why
    • Remember fonts have character: psychology of fonts
  3. Write a paragraph explaining what the master slide is and why you used it to format your presentation.
  4. REMINDER: The master slide controls the look or formatting of the whole slide show. It is much more efficient to set the master slide first and then add content to each individual slide. Remember high contrast is best, white on black as an example. Also, remember that dark colors appear further away from your audience than light colors.
  5. EXAMPLE:cp_sample_slide_master

Step 7 – Building the Slide Show

  1. Create slides with the words on each slide, first.
  2. Place the actual words that will be in the slides.
  3. Place the words PICT OF … as placeholders for the pictures.
  4. Check the slide show for good story telling structure by reviewing the Made to Stick S.U.C.C.E.Ss Model.
  5. Place images on the slides that have the all uppercase PICT OF… placeholder text
  6. Write a paragraph explaining what you were doing by placing all the text first, then the images and why this is helpful.
  7. REMINDER: Focusing on one thing at a time is important, especially building something like a slide show. You can work faster if you do one task at a time. Creating all the slides with just the text, first, also gives you the structure of the presentation. Poor structure = poor slide show. We want to examine the structure to make sure it flows nicely before we add the media. After checking the structure for good storytelling, with the Made to Stick S.U.C.C.E.Ss Model by the Heath Brothers, we can add the pictures. 
  8. EXAMPLE: Slide Preview

Step 8 – Sharing the Slide Show

  1. Place your SlideShare.net link with a short sentence stating that the link is your presentation.
  2. Make the link active, so that the viewer can click on it to see your presentation.
  3. Write a sentence or two why you used this process.
  4. REMINDER: Hosting the presentation at a web site like SlideShare.net allows an audience to view your material on any computer, whether they have the presentation software or not. This increases your audience. Also, you can present from any Internet connected device in the world. This makes it convenient for you and your potential audience.

Step 9 – Preparing to Present/Pitch

  1. Watch How to Present with Power and Poise
  2. Compose a paragraph highlighting how you prepared for your presentation
  3. REMINDER: Preparation is going through the motions of the real presentation, over and over.  For every minute of presentation you need at least 20 minutes of preparation. Have an audience (mom, dad, friends, etc.) listen and give feedback.  Record a video of yourself, watch it, and improve your delivery. Lastly, AND MOST IMPORTANT, visit the place you will be presenting from WELL BEFORE your presentation time to get used to the environment.  Look for things that could interfere with your delivery; bad lighting on the screen, weird placement of the podium, having to hold a microphone while you present, etc.

Step 10 – What I Learned

  1. Compose a paragraph highlighting what you learned through this presentation creation process.
  2. REMINDER: People best remember visuals, good stories and emotional experiences. Furthermore, establishing efficient workflow is essential to success in the world of work. Nobody has enough time to create the presentation they really want. Good presentations take a lot of time. Some professionals state that for every minute of presentation time a person needs 20 minutes of preparation time! Lastly, remember Orson Welles stated, ‘Lack of limitation is the enemy of art.” Self-imposed limitations are the hallmark of efficient, quality creative process.

Grading Instructions

  1. Publish the completed blog post
  2. Print a copy
  3. Get a Feedback Form Checklist
  4. Have someone proofread your blog post and print their name on the Feedback Form Checklist
  5. The reviewer should label all the what and why’s in each section
    • Example: What_and_Why
  6. Staple the Feedback Form Checklist on top of the labeled blog post printout
  7. Hand in the stapled Feedback Form Checklist and printed blog post to the teacher for their feedback

Sample Posts

Resources

Feedback Form

Grading Process

How Mr. Le Duc Reads a Blog Post