Discussion board | Applied Sciences homework help

1. Proofread your final version. Maintain your credibility by ensuring that there are no typographical, grammatical, or spelling errors in your infographic.

Diagrams Diagrams are abstract, two-dimensional drawings that show the important properties of objects without being completely representational. These graphics are excellent choices for conveying information about size, shape, and structure. Types of diagrams you may use in presentations include drawings (see Figure 10.2) and maps (see Figure 10.3). When designing a diagram, label the components you will be referencing in your presentation. FIGURE 10.2 Diagram FIGURE 10.3 Map 605 Lists and Tables Lists and tables are effective means of highlighting key facts and figures. Lists are especially effective to illustrate steps, highlight features, or reinforce main points. Tables are useful when you would like to compare related facts, such as advantages and disadvantages, current and past performance, and your product versus a competitor’s product. For example, the table in Figure 10.4 shows how the cost of a 308 college education has increased over time. A sales manager might use a similar table to compare this year’s sales performance and last year’s sales performance in several regions. FIGURE 10.4 Table 606 Unpolished speakers often assume they just need to enlarge tables from a written report to include them in an oral presentation. In practice, this simple approach rarely works as intended. Most written tables are far too detailed and difficult to understand to be useful to a group of listeners. 309

As you design lists and tables for presentation, remember the following points:

Keep the visual aid simple. Use only keywords or phrases, never full sentences. Use numbered and/or bulleted lists to emphasize key points. Numbered lists suggest ranking or steps in a process, while bulleted lists work best for items that are equally important. Use text sparingly. If you need more than seven lines of text, create two or more lists or tables. Lines of text should never show more than seven words across the page. Use large type. Make sure the words and numbers are large enough to be read by everyone in the audience. Enhance the list’s or table’s readability. Careful layout and generous use of whitespace will make it easy to read. Pie Charts Pie charts, like the one in Figure 10.5, illustrate component percentages of a single item. They are often used to show how money is spent, but they can also illustrate the allocation of resources. For example, a personnel director might use a pie chart to show the percentage of employees who work in each division of the company. FIGURE 10.5 Pie Chart 607

Follow these guidelines when constructing pie charts:

Place the segment you want to emphasize at the top center (12 o’clock) position on the circle. When you are not emphasizing any segments, organize the wedges from largest to smallest, beginning at 12 o’clock with the largest one. Label each segment, either inside or outside the figure. List the percentage for each segment along with its label. Bar and Column Charts Bar charts, like the one shown in Figure 10.6, compare the value of several items: the productivity of several employees, the relative amounts of advertising money spent on different media, and so on. Simple column charts reflect changes in a single item over time. Multiple-column charts, like the one in Figure 10.7, compare several items over time. FIGURE 10.6 Bar Chart 608 FIGURE 10.7 Multiple-Column Chart

Follow these tips to design effective bar and column charts:

Always represent time on the horizontal axis of your chart, running from left to right. Arrange the bars in the sequence that best suits your purpose. You might choose to order them from high to low, from low to high, in alphabetical order, or in order of importance. 310 609 Make sure the numerical values represented are clear. This may mean putting the numbers next to bars or columns, as illustrated in Figure 10.6. In other cases, the figures may fit inside the bars. In a few instances, such as in the chart in Figure 10.7, the scale on the axes will make numbering each bar unnecessary. Pictograms Pictograms are artistic variations of bar, column, or pie charts. As Figure 10.8 shows, pictograms are more interesting than ordinary bar charts. Their attention-getting properties make them especially useful in presentations aimed at lay audiences, such as the general public. Pictograms are often not mathematically exact, however, which makes them less suited for reports that require precise data. FIGURE 10.8 Pictogram ©McGraw-Hill Education 311 Graphs Graphs show the correlation between two quantities. They are ideally suited for showing trends, such as growth or decline in sales over time. They can also represent a large amount of data without becoming cluttered. Graphs can chart a single trend, or they can show relationships 610 among two or more trends, as in the graph in Figure 10.9. Notice in Figure 10.10 how identical data can be manipulated by adjusting the horizontal and vertical axes. FIGURE 10.9 Multiple-Line Graph FIGURE 10.10 Graphs with Identical Data The same data can be distorted by varying the horizontal and vertical size and axes of a graph. These graphs were created using Microsoft PowerPoint. Video Some presentations may benefit from video support. If you are illustrating some sort of action—the performance of an athletic team or the gestures of a speaker, for example—video may do the job better than any 611 other medium. Despite the benefits of video, including clips you pull off websites like YouTube or footage you create yourself in a presentation can be risky. Notable problems with amateur work include segments that last too long and segments that lack continuity; these shortcomings may then cause the audience to see the rest of your message as equally unprofessional. Media for Presenting Visual Aids Choosing the most advantageous way to present your visual aids is just as important as picking the right type of visuals. Even the best photograph, chart, or diagram will flop if it isn’t displayed effectively. 312 Dry-Erase Boards When dry-erase boards are available in a presentation room, they can be useful for recording information that comes up on the spot, such as brainstorming ideas or a tally of audience responses to your questions. When you are presenting preplanned visuals, though, it is generally best to use a medium that does not require you to turn your back on the audience and write or draw freehand. Instead of using a whiteboard, consider using a Post-it self-stick wall pad. This large version of a Post-it note makes it easy for you (or other participants) to recategorize ideas without having to erase and rewrite them. Also, you can take the sticky notes with you at the end of your talk as a record of the points made. Flip Charts and Poster Boards Flip charts consist of a large pad of paper attached to an easel. You reveal visuals on a flip chart one at a time by turning the pages. You can also place visuals on rigid poster board, which you can display on the same sort of easel. A major advantage of flip charts and poster displays is that they are relatively simple to prepare and easy to use. Their low-tech nature eliminates the risk of equipment problems. You can create them with familiar materials—pens, rulers, and so on—and most copy shops can turn 612 computer-generated files into high-quality posters. Flip charts and poster boards are also relatively portable (most easels collapse into a carrying case) and easy to set up. Despite these advantages, the size of flip charts and poster boards is a problem: They may be too small for easy viewing and too large to transport easily. Computer Displays With a computer and data projector, you can present a wealth of material during your presentation—for example, text, photos, charts, graphs, and video. With the right setup, you can even use a computer to create visuals during your presentation: a website demonstration, for example, or an audience poll. It is easy to transport the data you want to project on a flash drive or other portable storage device. 313 With all computer-supported presentations, you must keep Murphy’s law in mind: Whatever can go wrong with the system probably will. Do not count on having a fast, stable Internet connection. Beware of compatibility problems. Test all parts of the system together, just as you plan to use it, ideally in the place where you will speak. A sophisticated display is useless if it does not work when you are standing in front of an expectant audience. Handouts Handouts provide a permanent record of your ideas. Intricate features of a product, names and phone numbers, and “do’s and don’ts” are all easier to recall when your listeners have a printed record of them. Handouts also enable you to give your audience more details than you want to discuss in your presentation. You might, for instance, mention the highlights of a sales period or briefly outline a new product’s technical features during your talk, and then refer your listeners to a handout for further information.27 Handouts may also reduce or eliminate your listeners’ need to take notes. If you include key ideas and figures in a handout, listeners’ attention will stay focused on you during your talk, instead of on their notebooks— and you will be sure their notes are accurate. 613 Some speakers use an “electronic blackboard”—a plastic write-and- wipe board that can produce handout-sized copies of what the speaker writes on the board. Environmentally astute presenters may save paper and boost portability by e-mailing handouts after the presentation or posting them online. The biggest problem with handouts is that they can be distracting. The act of passing around these papers may interrupt the flow of your presentation. Once the handout is distributed, you will have to compete with it for your audience’s attention; distributing a handout may turn listeners into readers. For this reason, it is best to distribute handouts after you have finished speaking. If you must introduce printed material during your presentation, tell your listeners when to begin referring to it and when to stop: “Let’s take a look at the budget on the pink sheet in your folders…. Now that we’ve examined the budget, let me direct your attention to the chart up here.” Presentation Software Presentation software, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and Prezi, allows anyone with a computer to create and deliver a professional-looking presentation with text and visuals. Advantages of Presentation Software Presentation software helps speakers in many ways by enabling them to generate customized materials on an as-needed basis. Among the things you can do with a good software program are the following tasks: Deliver an onscreen show with special effects such as smooth transitions between screens, animation, and synchronized timing that reveals each point as you raise it. Organize a set of speaker’s notes for yourself. Prepare a variety of handouts for your audience, based on your speaking notes or displays. Create “run-time” versions of your displays so you can distribute copies of your presentation to people who may not have seen you speak. 614 Create charts, graphs, and tables. 314 Although computer-assisted design can be effective, it is not foolproof. Even basic presentation software programs—such as word processing and spreadsheet programs—take time to learn. If you are using such a program for the first time, prepare to invest an hour or two of study and practice before you will be able to turn out a finished product. An even better idea is to get help from a friend or coworker who is already skilled with a design program. Their guidance can save you a great deal of time and frustration that you might otherwise experience during trial-and-error experiments or while leafing through an instruction book. Once you have mastered a program, it is important to resist the temptation to overuse it. In most presentations, simplicity is a virtue. Just because it is possible to produce an elaborate visual full of detail, that does not mean this sort of display will always communicate your message effectively. For example, the three-dimensional chart in Figure 10.11 is probably as complex as a visual display should be—at least in an oral presentation. If it were any more complex, the figure would be difficult for the audience to understand in the limited time available for viewing. Detailed visuals may be appropriate for written reports, but in oral talks simplicity is usually the best approach. FIGURE 10.11 Displaying Data Most presentational software programs can display data in a variety of formats. The best exhibits illustrate a point clearly without becoming too complex. 615 Dangers of Presentation Software Every competent speaker should be able to use presentation software when the need arises. But, like any form of technology, presentation software programs can cause new problems at the same time as they solve old ones.28 You should take care to avoid several pitfalls of computerized design programs, which can inadvertently diminish the effectiveness of your presentation. Poorly conceived messages Presentation software makes it relatively easy to create charts and graphs, import images, integrate animation, and wrap all of these elements up in a handsome design. Even so, if the structure of your presentation is not clear, listeners will not understand your message or believe what you say. For this reason, it is essential that you organize your points clearly and back up your claims before you begin inputting your message in a software program. Resist the temptation to format your ideas with presentation software before you have a structure for your talk that follows one of the organizational plans in Chapter 9, and make sure your points are backed up with the kinds of supporting material described earlier in this chapter. 315 616 Design over content An all-too-common mistake is to spend more time on the design of a presentation than on its content. Even the most sophisticated designs will not make up for weak ideas. Design expert Edward Tufte says: If your numbers are boring, then you’ve got the wrong numbers. If your words or images are not on point, making them dance in color won’t make them relevant. Audience boredom is usually a content failure, not a decoration failure.29 There is something seductive about the ease with which you can tinker with fonts, backgrounds, and transitions. Before you know it, you may have devoted far too much time to prettifying your graphics without much additional return. As one expert put it: We’ve got highly paid people sitting there formatting slides—spending hours formatting slides—because it’s more fun to do that than concentrate on what you’re going to say…. Millions of executives around the world are sitting there going “Arial? Times Roman? Twenty- four point? Eighteen point?”30 Again, the best way to avoid the seduction of favoring form over content is to create at least a rough outline of your material before you start using presentation software to construct your visual aids. Overly complex presentations Just because you can use presentation software to create elaborate computer productions, that does not mean you always should use it. A digital display may dazzle your audience, but the spectacle might actually draw their attention away from you and your message. A presentation is hardly a success if listeners remember your terrific graphics and elaborate animation but cannot recall the points you made. Another danger of overly elaborate presentations is the possibility they will make material more confusing than it would have been if presented in a simpler way. This has been a problem in the U.S. armed forces, where overzealous presenters are known as “PowerPoint Rangers.” Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera acknowledged that some military brass have 617 alienated lawmakers by staging overly elaborate presentations. “People are not listening to us because they are spending so much time trying to understand these incredibly complex slides,” he says.31 Figure 10.12 shows an example of an overly complex visual aid. FIGURE 10.12 An Overly Complex Visual Aid 316 TECHNOLOGY tip Avoiding Computer Catastrophes in Presentations When you use computers as presentation aids, you can count on an equipment failure happening sooner or later. Following these tips will minimize the chances that hardware or software glitches will scuttle your performance: Set up in advance. Give yourself lots of time to set up and test your equipment before the presentation is scheduled to begin. The last thing you want your audience to see is you frantically rebooting the computer, swapping cables, and trying to troubleshoot software. 618 Always bring two of everything. Assume your equipment will fail— because it certainly will at some point. Borrow backups for laptop computers, display panels or projectors, modems, and any other hardware you plan to use. Back up your programs. Having your work saved on a CD, flash drive, or some other storage medium can salvage a catastrophe. You might also want to e-mail a copy of your files to yourself as another form of backup. Have backup technical support available. Line up an expert you can call if something does not work. Beware of the Web. Real-time use of the Internet is an invitation to disaster. Connections can be slow, and websites can go down without notice. Whenever possible, it is best to store images of sites you will use on your hard drive and/or on a backup medium: CD, DVD, or flash drive. Have a contingency plan. Be prepared for the possibility that your equipment might fail. Have copies of key exhibits prepared as handouts. Printed copies may not be as glamorous as high-tech displays, but they are far better than nothing. Guidelines for Using Visual Aids Whether you are using handouts, poster boards, flip charts, slides, chalkboards, or computer displays, be sure to follow the basic rules discussed in this section.32 Selection Like any part of your presentation, visual exhibits must be chosen carefully. Use a visual only when it makes a point better than you could with words alone. Be sure you have a reason for using a visual aid If your image doesn’t explain a point better than words alone, do not use it. One professional described the common mistake of using too many visuals: 619 The biggest mistake people make is in expecting the visuals to be the presentation when, in reality, you should be the presentation. If the audience is too involved in looking at the screen, they’re not looking at you, so your words have less of an impact. The goal of any visual presentation should be to enhance what the speaker says, not distract from it.33 Visuals used for their own sake will distract your audience from the point you’re trying to make. Douglas Vogel, a professor of management information systems at the University of Arizona, cites an example of how using animation without any purpose can backfire: “If the animation is improperly focused or too clever, people may only remember ‘dancing cows’ and not ‘how milk may be good for you.’”34 Keep your slide shows brief Keep in mind the “less is more” rule. The chances of listeners recalling your points is inversely proportional to the number of slides you show. 317 CULTURE at work Universal Design When making a business presentation, one of your goals should be to make your presentation welcoming and accessible to everyone in your audience. The term “universal design,” coined by architect Ronald L. Mace, refers to designing environments that are accessible to everyone, regardless of their language, race, age, sexual orientation, learning style, and ability. The following are some ideas for how you might use universal design to make your presentations welcoming to a diverse audience: Arrange chairs so that a wheelchair-user has multiple options for seating locations. 620 Use background and text colors that avoid combinations that are difficult to read for people who are color-blind. Avoid using language like “as you can see,” which may single out members of the audience with vision challenges. Make sure that any videos used in your presentation are captioned or have a text transcription available. If you distribute handouts, have a few available in large print. Use a microphone. Avoid speaking too rapidly. If appropriate, incorporate a variety of methods (e.g., visual, hands- on, auditory, text) to appeal to individuals with multiple learning styles. If appropriate, provide materials ahead of time for sign language interpreters so they can prepare. Source: Adapted from Bugstahler, S., “Equal Access: Universal Design of Your Presentation,” Washington University, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.washington.edu/doit/equal-access-universal-design-your-presentation Match the sophistication of your visuals to the audience Presentations to important audiences—top management, bosses, key customers, and so on —usually require polished graphics. There are exceptions, however. For example, financial and scientific professionals are usually receptive to a no-frills approach. Amy Ofsthun, product manager of Polaroid’s Digital Palette film recorder, explains: “If they see color and exciting visuals, people feel the data is being massaged somehow. They don’t trust the results.”35 For routine talks, you can probably produce perfectly adequate exhibits on your own. Thanks to advanceas in computer graphics, you may even be spared the trouble of creating figures from scratch. In any case, you should not mix informal images with more formal ones, any more than you would wear tennis shoes with a business suit. Design Confusing or sloppy exhibits will be counterproductive. Following a few simple guidelines will help you create clear, neat images.36 621 Make sure the visual is large enough to see The visual that looks so clear on the desktop in front of you might appear almost microscopic from where your listeners are seated. Avoid using items, drawings, or photographs that are so small you have to describe them or pass them around. Remember, a distracting or unclear visual aid is worse than no support at all. Keep the design of your visuals simple Show only one idea per exhibit and avoid unnecessary details. Use simple typefaces.37 318 Use only a few words Most exhibits are visual images, so you should avoid excessive text. Captions should contain only keywords or phrases, not sentences. Omit subtitles. Follow the “Rule of Seven”: Each slide should contain no more than seven lines, and each line should have no more than seven words. If an exhibit needs further explanation, supply it verbally. Remember, you are giving an oral presentation, not showing your audience a written report. Use only horizontal printing Avoid vertical or diagonal wording. If necessary, place captions in the margins so that you can use a horizontal format. Label all items clearly Make sure each exhibit has a descriptive title. Label each axis of a chart, each part of a diagram, and so on to ensure its clear identification. Display a visual only while you are discussing it Both putting up a graphic before discussing it and leaving a graphic up after you have finished talking about it are confusing and distracting. In PowerPoint, for example, you can blank out the screen by pushing either the “B” or period (“.”) key. Pushing the key a second time makes the screen visible again. Make sure your visuals will work in the meeting room Double-check the availability of easels, screens, and other equipment you will need. Make sure electrical outlets are in the needed locations and extension cords are 622 available if you will need them. Check sight lines from all audience seats. Be sure you can easily control lighting levels as necessary. Practice using your visuals Rehearse setting up and removing visuals smoothly and quickly. Review the comments you will make with each one. Be sure exhibits are arranged in the correct order and lined up properly so you can avoid the embarrassment of mixed-up charts or upside-down slides. 319 MASTER the chapter review points Supporting materials are vital in any presentation and serve three purposes: to clarify ideas, to make content more interesting, and to offer proof. Definitions, examples, stories (fictional, hypothetical, and factual), statistics, comparisons (figurative and literal), and quotations all serve as verbal supports. Speakers can create ethical and credible presentations by knowing when and how to cite their sources. In business presentations, well-designed visual aids can make a point more quickly and clearly than words alone, add variety and interest, and boost a speaker’s professional image. Visuals serve several functions: They highlight important information and show how things look, how they work, or how they relate to one another. Speakers can use several types of visual aids: objects, models, photographs, diagrams, lists and tables, pie charts, bar and column charts, pictograms, graphs, and videos. 623 Visuals can be presented via a number of media: chalk and dry-erase marker boards, flip charts and poster boards, computer displays, and handouts. Presentation software allows presenters to develop professional- looking visual exhibits. Take care not to overuse features that result in cluttered and overstimulating, but unclear, visuals. Successful speakers plan their messages carefully, emphasize content over design, and strive for simplicity and clarity. Whatever the medium used, all visual aids should meet the same basic standards: easy to understand, purposeful, suited to the point they illustrate and to the audience, and workable in the presentation’s setting. Speakers need to be familiar with their visual aids to avoid unpleasant surprises during delivery of the presentation. key terms bar chart column chart comparison definition example flip chart graph handout pictogram pie chart presentation software quotation statistics stories supporting material 624 wireframe activities 1. Invitation to Insight Read a printed version of a speech. You can find sample speeches in your college library or at online sites such as Federal Observer (http://www.federalobserver.com) or Newsmax (http://archive.newsmax.com/hottopics/Great_Speeches.shtml). Find examples of at least three types of supporting materials. For each item, categorize which type of support it is. How well does it follow the guidelines in the text? For example, if it is a citation, does it follow the four-step method? Analyze whether the supporting material provides clarity, interest, and/or proof of the thesis. In your 320 analysis, consider the interests and knowledge level of the intended audience.