A question to think about for this week:
After reviewing visuals and full PowerPoints last week, what plans do you have for constructing powerful visuals (including PowerPoint). What are some ideas you have (or things you might avoid) in your PowerPoint? How can you use visuals to your advantage for your particular topic?
It was interesting to see all of the comments about the attendance on Thursday. I don't require attendance, but for those of you who were gone (about half of the class), realize how it affects other students in your learning environment. We (for the most part) stick to the schedule, and the more you miss, the less you will get out the class. Though we circle back to the same topics, you do miss activities and discussions that add to your learning experience. Please realize that you get out what you put into this environment. The people who show up deserve a great environment where our ENTIRE class is participating. Remember, attendance is ALWAYS required, but it's not figured into your grade. Though I can't enforce attendance, I am hopeful that everyone will take this class seriously by coming to class prepared each and every day. I am aware that certain individuals have been coming only one day of the week for several weeks now. This is not appropriate; each and every person in our class adds to the overall atmosphere and comfortability for giving presentations. When one individual is gone consistently, it disturbs the feel and dynamics of our classroom. Please attend.
Thanks,
Charlotte
Interesting assessment of PowerPoint's "bads" by Edward Tufte, a design guru:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html
A page where you can access basic directions--Click on "Create" to get directions for the basic features of PowerPoint. Also, pay special attention to the various kinds of PowerPoint, if you'd like a creative approach:
http://catalyst.washington.edu/quick/ppt.html
If you have more questions, please let me know.
I am looking forward to giving my speech and getting it over with before springbreak. I started to put my powerpoints together and I think it will make my speech much better. Has anyone thought of any new visual aids, or is everyone using powerpoint?
I was looking forward, at the sylabus, and was reading about the group presentation. i am very excited to start work on that project! It will a good change of pace for the class i think!
I really agree that deciding what to put on each slide has been really the tough part! I feel like a teacher when practicing for my speech. Because i am refering to powerpoint it feels so basic! I dont want to forget certain parts that are not on the slides.
In regard to the second speech, i just have to say that i am very excited to present. The main concerns i have are first that my speech will be to similar to the first one. Secondly that i will have trouble keeping focus on both the power point and my audience!
I thought it would be easier to make my slides for the speech but its challenging to only do a little bit on each slide. I had a ton more information so I guess I will have to put empty slides in between.
I was also disappointed with class on Thursday. Because it was such a small class we should have had a work day for our speeches. However we did live thru it:):):)
I have found that putting the powerpoint together for the second speech has been a little challenging. It's hard to narrow down what should be put on the slides and what shouldn't. As you start making the slides I find that you fall into a state of trying to put everything on slides instead of main points.
Class on Thursday was a waste of time for me. Only a few students showed up and I felt like why should I be here if no one else is going to take the time to be here. I was really disappointed in everyone that did not show.
Hi Everybody. So I found that going over the types of visual aids that we should use really help clear a lot of stuff up. I also found that going over the good power points and bad power points was also a lot of help. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
I was surprised by how few people were in class today. I hope more people show up on presentation days. Public speaking without an audience seems somewhat pointless.
I would just like to thank Charlotte for compiling all the results from the surveys. It must have taken quite a while to do. The information is really useful though, and I feel like I have a better idea of where to go with my presentation.
I liked having students review the outlines we did for presentation #1. They gave me some ideas for visuals for my next speech and helped a lot to restructure outline.
It would be nice to get a little refresher on powerpoint. I have used it a few times before but could always use the extra knowledge. I want some creative ideas for doing a powerpoint.
I was able to browse for some visuals for my speech and I found some great pictures and graphs. I think I can get my speech put together with the visuals I found.
I missed class on the Tueday that we worked with our outlines, if anyone else missed class that day and wants to exchange outlines, let me know.
Since my questions didn't make the list, I will have copies for everyone tomorrow. I hope that this will assist me in making a spectacular presentation.
Hey everybody. Does anyone know when we are going to talk about those articles we had to read?
Wow, I am so "turned on" by the visuals we saw today in class. As a long-term Power Point hater I was glad to see that not everybody follows its yellow brick road. Why do I hate PowerPoint? I hate it because is displays your ideas in
the manner that Microsoft wants them to be seen. PowerPoint makes speeches sound and look a lot alike
I have noticed from sitting through many classes that teachers/professors tend to just speak from their personal knowledge when lecturing, rather than using notes. Is this where we should be trying to head with our speeches or will we be able to use notes all semester?
I was wondering if there would be some way for there to be a brief overview of Power Point in class, for those of us who have never used it. Otherwise I was wondering what other kinds of visuals you would suggest we could use.
It seemed like most people today had decent newspapers, but mine was 2 years old, was covered in all kinds of junk, and was mildly soggy as well. Kinda gross, but I'll live. It did, however, have many good graphs.
It was funny to me that when we signed up for new times today, I ended up with the same time as before. Odd how those things work out sometimes.
I wonder where Charollete got all those newspapers from. The papers today had to be a whole months worth. I thought it was nice that we did not have to go out of our way to find one.
I hope some of us will still be able to give our speech on our original planned day. I may have some conflicts with a different day, and was planning on the day I signed up for.
I thought the outline review was pretty helpful to prepare us for our second speech. Hopefully we get our speech grade back today, as it will help us prepare more for the next speech.
I think the second speeches will go a lot better than the first as well! It is nice that everyone is so supportive of each other. This makes giving speeches a lot easier!
I am excited about getting the audience analysis questions back. It will help me focus in on the specifics of cloning pets and or humans without offending anyone.
Hopefully everyone will be well on Tuesday!
I think this speech should be a lot better. The props will help out a lot. I think it will also be easier to see what people are talking about and make everyones speeches a lot more interesting
I feedback I got from my outline was very helpful. It will help me a lot on my second speech. Which i think should flow a lot easier.
since we didnt have any class on thursday does that mean our speeches are pushed back a day or is it still the same
I think speech two fwill flow much better than speech one. Also I think that the visual aids will help take the preesure off some what, and make the speech more interesting for the audience.
I hope Charollete is feeling better. I know that it sucks being sick. I took the day though to start planing for my presentation. I hope all is going well for everyone else.
I really appreciated the feedback I got during the outline review. It was nice to see what topics listeners found interesting, boring, etc. It should help to guide my next presentation.
i thought the group reviews of our first outline was only moderately helpful, because it's hard to break down someones speech when their outline has very little information on it. it is also hard to help when you dont know anything about the topic.
I hope everyone is looking forward to their new speech. I think it should be fairly easy. I just hope the visual part of it doesn't screw me up.
I am having trouble deciding which type of visual aid to use in our next speech. Is everyone else using poweroint, or are you bring models?
I don't know about everyone else, but it kinda sucks for some people because all you will have is power-point, but some people will have visual aids you could touch or pass around. I think that this will help those people to have a better crowd involvement. I just hope in comparsion that my power-point can compete with that sort of speech.
I think that the girl who did the hybrid cars speech did a great job. She was composed and delivered knowledgable sound information. She had what sounded like a lot of sources and she just hit her speech perfect, in my opinion.
I think doing this next speech with visuals will be relieving. Not so much pressure right on you, audience is engaged in what they're looking at.
Im also really excited for the next speech! I love using power point and visuals in my speechs. It seems to add creativity, and visual interest. It also alot more interesting for the listeners and audience!
I was very impressed with the diversity of speech topics. Going in to the speechs i felt like i would be bored with the speechs. I ended up learning alot, and being pretty interested in alot of the topics. great job everyone!
I completely agree, i also felt that the reading for this week was pretty much common knowlegde. It must be hard to write a book to teach how to speak. It seems like becoming a good speaker mainly comes through experience, and no matter how many book you read you still may feel uncomfortable.
I found the reading for Tuesday was mostly review. It seems like the book stresses the same points in every chapter and does offer much help in actually giving a speech. Let me know if anyone found anything interesting.
I am glad the first assignment is behind us, every one did a fine gob on their speeches. I wonder how the next speech will go.
Whew, am I ever glad that the first speech assignment is behind us. Now I'm becoming wound up over the idea of pulling together visuals for the next one. I suppose PowerPoint is the best way to go but I'm leery of making one of those boooooring PowerPoints like so many of my instructors have used. Is that one of the PowerPoint ground rules, that everything must be self-importantly cheesy and educationally mind-numbing?
I think the second speech will be a lot easier to reach the time limit. I feel more comfortable being able to props and stuff. It gives you more to work with and draw more off of incase you would have to all more info so your speech is long enough.
I felt that the first speech all went well. I like the broad range of topics that were covered. I think that it makes it a little more interesting. With a broad range topics there were defitnily some real eye openers.
I thought everyone's presentations were very well done. I am looking forward to the longer presentations though...where the speeches will be given in a more relaxed and less formal atmosphere.
i think that everyone for the most part did an excellent job on their first presentations. it feels good to have the first one out of the way
I think that this was a good way to practice for our next speech where we get to use visual aids. Hopefully this is true and they go just as well.
I am happy that we are done with presentations. I am looking forward to using visuals in our speeches. I think it will make it much easier for everyone.
I am very glad to finally be done with the first speech. I was actually a lot more nervous that I expected to be. I just had a speech class last semester and by the end of it I was feeling very natural in front of an audience, I guess I'll just have to get back into that groove. I think the next speech will go much better, and it will definitly help to use visuals.
By the way, thanks for saying my speech was interesting, and they are called Bonobos.
I have had alot of anxiety about this first speech......I hope it went okay. I did not think it was going to take that long, when Charlotte put up one finger I about flipped.....it went alot slower than I was expecting.
The speeches were well done today. The speech about the apes was interesting...what were they called again??
I am giving my speech today! I am a little nervous! I have to remember to breathe! I think I am prepared, so I should be fine. Right?
I enjoyed giving my speech on Tuesday, and I hope that everyone liked my topic. I didn't do a good job anazlying my audience since everyone was right handed and I was the only lefty, but I think people enjoyed it.
OK, cloning is a hot topic (and I don't mean the store)! Can we make it through another speech on cloning? I think we can! I have changed my speech now and will be talking about cloning our pets...
i think it will be a lot easier to give the speeches next time when we are able to use visual aids. i like to be able to give people something visual, because someone talking on and on is pretty easy to tune out.
Going off of the thought question I think you can clearly tell on how much speeking people have done. You tell how some people are just more comfortable up there and they have a tendency to use more hand motions. It is nice that we have a variety of levels in this class
I think that all of the speeches have gone very well so far but I have noticed many people looking at their outlines alot. I think everyone is a little vervous up there on their first speech.
I am glad i finally got my speech over with. I was a lot less nervous than I thought I would be. I think it is because the exercises we did in class.
I found that with this speech my practice really did pay off. I was able to change my speech according to how much time was left so I did not go over.
It felt good to give my speech today; I was surprised at how fast the time seemed to go by. Hopefully the rest go this well.
I gave my speech today and thought it went pretty well...I was alot more relaxed than I normally am while giving a speech in other classes. I think the class exercises help out with this.
I have not had time to work on my speech yet! I did, however, have a second interview with a company today! My unemployment ran out 2 weeks ago, so I am in desperate need of a good paying job. Does anyone have any leads?
Thanks,
Harold
I went in to this speech very nervous, knowing that we couldnt use note cards and had to be able to talk about our topic with out alot of help. But after doing loads of research i found that i knew so much about my topic i always would have something to say. It made me feel alot more confident.
I gave my speech on Tuesday, Feb. 1st. And i have to say it was a big relief. I am so glad i went on the first day and got it done. It prevented me from procrastinating, and gave me alot of confidence for my next speech. I feel really excited going into my next speech.
Well, I think I have a topic for my speech on Thursday. Some friends of mine were teasing about being anorexic and I think one of them might actually have an eating disorder. It is amazing what people will tell you, when they are drunk. I am very concerned about my friend, so I thought I would educate myself on the disease and share it with all of you!
See ya Tuesday!
Harold
I am relieved that my speech is all over. I did not think that it went to bad. I guess I will find out how it went when I get my grade
I have had a very hard time remebering to this 3-4 times a week. I am lucky that I had internet at home. It will be very diffcult I think throughout the semster to always rember. I thought I would just get use to it but I have been having a hard time doing it.
What were the different kinds of organization you noticed in the first presentation? How did the speakers change their organization, based on the topic they were covering? Also, what were some differences in speaking styles? What did some people do more than others?
Hey Everyone!
Thanks for posting up until this point. Just some quick comments on blogging. First of all, this is the second semester for doing this, so it's still a bit of an experiment. The UI (user interface, what you interact with when you try to post)is in one of its first stages, but it seems that once you get the hang of things, it's okay. Second, this seems to be a more interactive option than WebCT. Besides, it is less effort to simply go to the blog site (especially if you're posting) than log into WebCT (which sometimes isn't up and running), click on Discussion, then click on individual posts. I've tried that option before, and while it's a great option, I decided to try this instead. The blog offers us the opportunity to write shorter posts in a more informal way. All of this is better than static journal entries, as I can keep more tabs on what you're thinking/doing and gear our discussions and lectures to that.
As for the blog entries themselves, you can really write about anything you want (comments on weather or weekends, whatever), but the entries that will be counted towards participation will be restricted to lecture/discussion, your reading, speeches or your own preparation, answers to the thought question, discussion about the scientific/technical controversy URLs in your syllabus, or descriptions/analysis of other speeches you've seen (presidential, professor lectures/presentations--no names, please). The entries can be as little as three sentences or more, if you are feeling inspired. Remember that this is a public blog, and individuals outside of the class will be reading.
On a different note, I really enjoyed all of the speeches given thus far! As you probably noticed, a wide variety of topics fit into the scientific and technical realm. It is difficult delivering off of an outline, but it's SO important once you get into the professional world. Often, you have NO outline whatsoever and are expected to organize what you're saying in your head. It should be easier to get off the outline once we use visuals, but remember not to use your visuals as a crutch. You should be using them to enhance your speech, not carry it.
That's about it--I'm looking forward to the speeches coming up! :) See you next week.
I seemed to be forgetting about this assignment! In my last speech class we did not have to write any blogs...WOW, I did not realize that GMO's were such a hot topic. Someone last semester did a speech on GMOs, too. I am sure that in the next decade the FDA will make it mandatory to have genetically modified foods labeled.
Great job everyone! I learned much from your speeches.
Well, on thursday I did my speech. I was really nervous throughout the speech because of having to use an outline. I think with more practice I can get the hang of it a little more. Also, a more interesting topic would be better also for future speeches.
The speeches this week were very informative. Watching other people give speeches helps me feel more comfatable about give my speech.
Remembering to keep up with the blog entries is not as easy as it sounds, this may be a chronic problem, but hopefully within a couple of weeks it will become routine.
I'm finding it hard to keep up with the readings as I also work on preparing for my speech, I was wondering how important it is to stay up on this right now?
The speeches this week were really good! It was nice to learn about different things. Also, I really liked the vast area of topics covered, made each one unique and interesting.
I wish I would have signed up to give my speech earlier. I feel like I could have had it done this week and enjoyed my weekend. Instead I will be practicing my speech.
I was just curious how long people's outlines have been, for those who have already given speeches. I would like a general goal for outline length before i start so I can get close to 10 minutes without much rewriting or reorganizing. If anyone can say how long theirs was, it would be helpful. Thanks!
Dang, I surely did learn a lot of new stuff from the speeches in class today; from pig farming to cow cloning to cancer tratments to genetically modified foodstuffs, each was an interesting topic that I am glad to know more about. Thanks gang!
I have to give my speech today and I was wondering how people liked just using an outline. I have been up all night trying to basically memorize this speech so it sounds like it flows between the key works I use on my outline. But it is not working out too well. I am starting to get nervous since I can't seem to get it right. I have never had a professor who only let us use an outline. I have a feeling it is going to turn out bad today
I am excited to give my speech next week. I think it's great that we get to pick any topic that we want. It makes the speech easier if we get to talk about something that we actually like.
I agree with the others that the speeches so far have been good; I hope mine goes that well. Good luck to those that go tomorrow.
OMG. I didn't write down my speaking date and so I don't know if I'm tomorrow or Tuesday. Swell.
So i am trying to write my speech and I am having a hard time with it. I think that it will be hard to reaach the time light but i am going to try my best.
I thought that the speeches given on tuesday were really good. I thought they were all breif enough and supplied a good amount of detail. Good Job
I just finished up my speech for tomorrow morning. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to find the exact information that I wanted to portray for eight to ten minutes. We'll see how it goes tomorrow I guess.
To anyone that knows......can we put our outline on note cards? I like reading things off notecards rather than a peice of paper
the speeches that were given today i thought were great. everyone was prepared and had very interesting topics. they all seem to be good candidates for the next speech with visuals.
This is off of a earlier blog about the brain cancer man. I have to say that was a great idea. I used to have cancer and when i think back on it, there is a lot of info that people would want to know about.
it gets harder to remember about now because at the time i was pretty drugged up. I am surprised he was able to keep that up because the people i knew who had brain cancer or any cancer for that matter were so sick a lot of the time in the first year that they just tried to do basic stuff. It really matters on the social support you get though. I really didn't have any visitors after the first month, but some people had tons of people to visit them. A lot of people just felt awkward because they didn't know how to act. The best way i find it is to try not to act different at all, and avoid asking if they need help. That sets a lot of people off. I will write more in a different blog later.
I think that this speech should go better than some of the others. the ability to be general and than focus allows for enough filler info to provide the time which is what i was most concerned about.
Last week when the assignment said it was starting on the 25th i thought that meant that the speeches had to be ready and that it would just be some kind of volunteer order to it. So i ended up with the whole thing done a week in advance.
I was really impressed with everyones speech today. You all had so much information which was really nice. It gave me ideas of how in depth I should go for my speech to meet the time requirements.