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Activity 1

Reflect on a memorable presentation you have attended – this may be face-to-face or virtual. What contributed to the effectiveness of the presentation?

Feedback:

The characteristics of an effective presentation include the following:

• Meeting the requirements of the presentation’s purpose
• Tailoring the content to meet the needs of the audience
• Creating clear and coherent structure
• Aligning the language usage and vocabulary with the context
• Using professional slides and animation

Activity 2

Navigate back to the brief found at the beginning of this course and determing the purpose or goal of the presentation we are creating using the points listed.

Feedback:

From the brief provided, the purpose of the presentation can be summarised as:

• The goal of this presentation is to prepare the students for their first assignment.
• You will inform students of the guidelines they could follow to attempt their first assignment and persuade them to follow these guidelines.
• The students expect you to explain and give practical examples of how they can prepare for their first assignment.
• Using the rule of three as a guide, you would like to inform the students about the different types of writers, what they can do to understand the question better and then how to plan their writing.
• You would like to empower the students with an approach to their assignments so they will feel motivated and confident

Once you have established the purpose of the presentation, you can start focusing on your strategy to convey the information to your audience.

Activity 3

Navigate back to the brief found at the beginning of this course and answer the questions listed about the audience.

Feedback:

From the brief provided, the audience can be summarised as:

• The audience will be mainly undergraduate students of whom only a few have good computer skills. Some may be in their first year after school, but others may have worked for some time before starting their studies. The majority will be studying in their second or third language.
• Because they come from a variety of backgrounds not all students will know how to approach their first assignment at university. Some students may be familiar with study methods and some not.
• First year undergraduates would appreciate the information to be presented in a simple straight forward manner. Keep in mind that most of them are English second or third language speakers.
• Some students may connect from the local library, community centre or from their homes or place of work. They will use a variety of devices to connect to online presentations such as smartphones, tablets and laptops using headsets or earphones.
• Bear in mind that the application that you use to present (MS Teams, Skype or Zoom) may look different on a laptop or desktop monitor as well as on a smartphone or tablet. Therefore,
• Avoid text dense slides at all costs
• Choose a legible font
• The font size should be big enough so that keywords are easily read on a smaller screen

Activity 4

Let us again have a look at the brief provided earlier in the unit and answer the questions above about the online and physical environments.

Feedback:

Physical environment

• The venue is a classroom, so you will be able to move around and interact with students.
• You will need to visit the classroom to find out about the presenting equipment available and all the additional considerations.

Online environment

From the brief, you will present using Microsoft Teams and will therefore need:

• To be familiar with using Microsoft Teams.
• Know how to share your content on Microsoft Teams.
• Know how to switch your microphone and camera on and off.
• Have a device that is compatible with Microsoft Teams and have an adequate Microphone and Camera.
• Have a stable and fast internet connection.