1. Remember that you are the presenter, not Prezi or PowerPoint. Use your slides to emphasize a point, keep yourself on track, and illustrate a point with a graphic or photo. Don’t read the slides.

2. Don’t make your audience read the slides either. Keep text to a minimum (6 lines per slide, no more than 30 words per slide). The bullet points should be headlines, not news articles. Write in sentence fragments using key words, and keep your font size 24 or bigger.

a.    You may have heard of the “PowerPoint Rule of Six”’:

                                          i.    Have only one idea/message per slide

                                        ii.    Have, at most, six bullet points/objects per slide

                                       iii.    Maximum six words per bullet point

3.  Make sure your presentation is easy on the eyes. Use a dark background to help the audience focus.  Stay away from weird colors and busy backgrounds. Size can also be used to steer focus and be sure all material is easy to read.  Use easy-to-read fonts such as Arial and Times New Roman for the bulk of your text, and, if you have to use a funky font, use it sparingly.

a.    Reason to use a “funky font”:

                                          i.    Brand identity

                                        ii.    Important point that needs to stand out

4.  Stay clear of using sound effects and only use simple animation (no boomeranging words, please).  

5.  Proofread, proofread, proofread.

6.  Practice, practice, practice.

Procedure:

                Divide the class into groups of 4-5 students.  Give each group a copy of the scenario and explain the assignment.  Finally, designate a presentation audience for each group. 

 

                You are a sales representative for a mid-sized company.  You’ve borrowed your boss’s new car to take a potential client to dinner.  You have reservations for dinner at a fancy restaurant, and you think that you’ll likely finalize a large contract that is important to your company.  

                You are running late, so you decide to take a residential street with little traffic.  The borrowed car does not have great brakes, and you want to make up some time in an area with fewer cars.  It is almost dark and a light rain is falling.  In a 35 mph zone, you’re doing almost 50. 

                Approaching a stop sign, you don’t stop quickly enough to halt at the sign.  In fact, you travel about 10 feet into the intersection. You think about putting the car into reverse and backing out of the intersection, but after a quick look to the left, you think that all’s clear to proceed.  Just then, on your right, a car approaches rapidly and hits the borrowed car in the passenger side, ruining the door and denting your car.  

                Now you are REALLY late!

 

 

 

Student Presentations: Give them 10 minutes to prepare; ask the class to note variations b/t groups

 

1)      Client: Finalize or confirm sale, elicit sympathy through shared experience

2)      Jealous associate: Diffuse accusation; shift responsibility and blame

3)      Boss: Emphasize progress w/ clients, focus on benefits of contract, minimize car damage

4)      Agent: Minimize personal culpability; emphasize extenuating factors

5)      Lawyer: Provide detailed info, recite state of mind, performance pressures, extenuating circumstances while driving, etc.