WRT 307: Professional Writing

Fall 2012, Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:45-2:05 p.m., Bowne Hall 110 Patrick W. Berry, pwberry@syr.edu, office: HBC 235 office phone: 315-443-1912 office hours: Mondays, 9:00-11:00 a.m. and by appointment http://patrickberry.com/wrt307fall12

Final Project Presentations Your final group presentation will be an opportunity for you to continue and extend some of the skills you have learned over the semester. This presentation is worth 50 points. As a general rule, you should not read a paper. Your presentation should be culled from your research and presented in an engaging way. Well go over some techniques to do this. Each member of your group should present for roughly 3-4 minutes. All presentations should be about 15 minutes (no less than 14, no more than 16). Think of your presentation as a Ted Talk of sorts. Below are the components that every presentation should have. 1) Incorporate an engaging introduction. Does your introduction pull the audience in? Does the introduction capture a central issue of your research? Presenting on Intertext is, of course, not the most exciting topic. You will need to find a way to set up your analysis so that audience members know that you take it seriously and have come up with recommendations that are important. Your introduction should take approximately 3 minutes. Take a look at the beginning of Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action and Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity. (Well watch these in class and Ive posted links on Blackboard). These speakers connect with the audience. They identify a common issue and set up a framework for their presentation. Occasionally, they use humor. Sometimes, they ask questions for rhetorical effect. 2) Remember that the presentation is about you and not about PowerPoint. Watch these tips from BBA Presentations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z4AlxVJI6A While all of you should have PowerPoint or Keynote slides (no minimum or maximum), I would like you to create your speech before, make sure that it works together, and then consider what slides are necessary. 3) Remember to have a strong close. Remind the audience what you have just covered.

4) Delivery is key. For this reason, you will need to meet with group members before your presentation to listen to how everything holds together. Group members should come to the meeting prepared to deliver their presentation. You should provide feedback to group members. Are they speaking clearly? Are they holding your interest? To help you find time, Ive reserved Thursdays class for you to workshop and practice your presentations with group members. I would like each of you to come to class with a hard copy of your script on Thursday and begin talking through strategies for presentation. 5) Your presentation is only as good as your ideas. Last but not least: In order to be successful with your presentation, you will need to have a strong final project. As you go through your drafts (and my comments), try to identify ways that you can repackage this material to the greatest effect.