Relevant Posts to refer to for Final Presentation

As time runs out, below are links to some of the final strategies and inspirations for putting together a presentation and using graphics to work with the text!

http://springtechnique.blogspot.com/2009/05/powerpoint-presentations.html

http://springtechnique.blogspot.com/2009/06/integrating-text-and-graphics.html

http://springtechnique.blogspot.com/2009/06/poster-example.html

http://springtechnique.blogspot.com/2009/06/food-for-restaurant-sexy.html

http://springtechnique.blogspot.com/2009/06/entrepreneurial-help.html

Travel brochure for Chicago, using at least two of the pictures from the blog (or downloaded by searching for other images)

1. One Title for the piece that serves as “thesis” for a vision of Chicago that you sell in brochure (i.e. A Drive Down Lakeshore). Some ideas for titles:

• Imperative that includes reference to city
• Famous Chicago phrases
• Famous landmark
• Famous Facts that define city in one way

2. Three Headings that each serve as dividers for focused sections that expand on highlights of coming to Chicago (that relate to Title)

• Each should be concise and specific
• Places that one should visit

3. Under each Heading should be the appropriate text

• A definition or explanation of the place / historical relevance
• Where in city the place is, and any other vital information (special exhibit examples, famous visitors, etc.)

4. At Least Three Graphics, counting two pictures:

• A centerpiece photograph placed appropriately in text
• At least one picture that has text wrapped around
• At least one “Design Feature” (276-278)

Use of Design Principles and Considerations Covered in Chapter 11, including:

• Columns
• Margins expanded
• Typography (study of fonts) choices– color, size variances, cases, family
• Headers
• Page Grid – plotting out where everything goes
• Use of White Space
• Other Design Features (276-278), including: Rules, Boxes, Screens, Marginal Glosses, Pulled Quotes

pics for Chicago Brochure (in-class work)

Reading Quiz 4

Due: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 12pm

Worth: 4 points

Guidelines:

Very simply, answer the four questions that go along with the Interactive Sample Document: Analyzing a Page Design, on page 283 of our textbook. The document and questions can also be found on the textbook’s website: www.bedfordstmartins.com/techcomm.

You will want to open up the document on your computer screen to get the best view of the document, as it is hard to read in the book.

Remember, the more specific your answers and references to ideas presented in the chapter, the higher the grade. Make sure to re-read and use key concepts and ideas presented in the chapter in answering the four questions.

Typed quizzes are preferred. I must be able to read to assess your answers.

Document Design

Here are some key considerations for document design, outlined, that we have generically discussed up until this point, but that are key to all document design (page 255):

1) To help readers understand the structure and hierarchy of information.
2) To help readers understand information.
3) To help readers remember the information.

Below is an outline of design principles. Along with the reiteration of our textbook, I have connected the three goals above to those design principles below. Your job is to take apply these goals and principles into the design of your documents.


Understanding Design Principles

Proximity - providing enough space between headers and text, between sections and sections. The human eye and mind need text broken up into related ideas, so you will want to make sure you give proper spacing between each of your three main parts of BTS 1.

• Consider the distance between each section, even when use use section headings.
• Consider the distance between a section heading and the text within that section.
• Related material should always be closer together, but still readable.

Alignment - use indention, columns, etc. to help also clarify #1, showing the different levels of importance of information. Section headings, headings, graphics, and the text itself; how do you structure so that the reader can understand?

Repetition - Your purpose is much clearer in your documents if there is some repetition in the specific content within each section. For example, instead of inventing and using different examples to clarify each part you look at one example in different ways in each section (as you were to do with BTS 1's example ethical dilemma!).

Contrast - Bold, italics, COLOR, because using an appropriate amount of COLOR can really help your readers remember specific content. As our text states, readers generally cannot handle more than three colors at a time in effectively reading charts and graphs and other graphics.

Setting Up Your Page

All Word Processing programs give you the ability to change the layout of a page, including the following:

Orientation - Portrait (vertical length) or landscape (horizontal/panoramic)? Portrait is not the best choice for all documents, depending on the purpose of your document. For example, if you intend to fold the paper into a brochure then landscape is spatially a more effective choice if you have a lot of text. You can look for templates of specialized documents, or you can manually set up your own page layout (see Tech Tip, p. 259).

• How many columns do I want?
• What will be the best way to fill up the white space effectively with text and image?
• How many images do I have to incorporate?

Columns - Think of newspapers and magazines. Think of brochures! Again, you want to maximize how much space you use and not have either large g a p s of text & image, or crunchedtext

*For now, due to class focus, we will move on to charts and graphs. However, for a more detailed explanation of page layout concerns and ideas, re-read pages 263-278. Next Tuesday we will return to these pages and practice page layout.

Designing Charts and Graphs

First, it might be helpful to look over this Charts and Graphs tutorial....

Practicing Chart

Below is the data that we will use to familiarize ourselves with making charts and graphs. Though the process can be intimidating (at least it is to me, the professor!), and involves using both Word and Excel, once you get the hang of making the graphics, you'll find them not as hard to really make.


1) Having your data handy is the very important first step. You need:

• The numerical values (money spent, intervals)
  
• The items whose values you are comparing (on Excel they call these "categories")
  
• How many times you plan to compare the items (one year, two year, etc.)

Example: 2010 Budget for Nike-Apple Integration for Apple

1. Project Management combined salary (executive personnel): 200,000
2. Software Design Team combinedsalary: 450, 000
3. Chicago Technology Lab (new division/area): 1 million
4. Ground transportation of product: 300, 000
5. Air Transportation of product/ team members: 150, 000

Okay, above are example budget concerns that may show up in a proposal. All of this numerical data can be better displayed using graphics. Below are steps outlined for using Word 2003.


Microsoft 2003 steps for making a chart:

1) On the Insert menu, click Object, and then click the Create New tab.
2) In the Object type box, click Microsoft Graph Chart, and then click OK.

Microsoft Graph displays a chart and its associated sample data in a table called a datasheet.

3) To replace the sample data, click a cell (cell: A box formed by the intersection of a row and column in a worksheet or a table, in which you enter information.) on the datasheet, and then type the new text or numbers.

Note: If you close the datasheet you can reopen it by double-clicking the chart and then clicking Datasheet on the View menu.

Writing Proposals

Chapter 16: Sample Business Research Proposal

• Joseph Levine's Guide to Writing a Funding Proposal

We have not had many outside links this term, but below is an example of smaller companies entering into competition with larger ones, a la BTS 2. Notice MetroPCS among the bigger names:

In the fall, Verizon Wireless will be firing up its 4G network in 25 to 30 cities, and probably will make a big deal of that. A smaller provider, MetroPCS Communications Inc., is scheduled to introduce its first 4G phone around the same time.

Upcoming Schedule

For those who miss class today, Tuesday, May 25, you must e-mail me for your group leader's e-mail so you know where to meet on Thursday with your group.

Thursday, May 27, 2010: Meet with your group and discuss your different proposals during regular class meeting time. The group leader will send me an e-mail discussing who showed up for the meeting, and what you discussed.


Tuesday, June 1, 2010: BTS 3 is due. Read Chapters 10 (effective sentences) and 16 (proposals)

Rough Draft Example

Below is the Rough Draft example written in class using the questions from Thursday's class, created by asking what is the purpose of the memo...

Business Tone

Today in class we want to focus on "tone" in our writing. Tone=attitude given off to reader. The tone of your writing is drastically affected by your syntax (sentence structure) and word choice, as well as the type (imperative, interrogative, declarative, exclamatory) of sentence you use.

As with last week's discussion on Active Voice and Conciseness, Purdue's OWL website is a great resource to support what we practice in class today.

Business Tone

Here are some things to consider, and work on, in writing your memo (BTS 2):

• Use the Active Voice sentence construction to set a clear subject for writing.

• Emphasize an important idea by repeating the idea, as a specific phrase or word. The more you use the phrase/word, the more it sits in the readers head. Warning: watch for overuse of the word/phrase.

• Another way is to use phrases that indicate importance of an idea, as simple as: most important, major concern, major factor, main, largest, smallest, weakest, additional, valuable, essential, effective, ...

• Use declarative sentences, those sentences that make clear statements. {Too many !!!!!!s and ?????s or commands can ruin your tone.}

• Do not use contractions like don't, can't, I'll, we'll. Part of a business tone is to spell out your words!

• Do not use one-syllable numbers: SPELL OUT eight, nine, one, two, three, four. You want "four million" and not "4 million" in a business letter.

• Use gender neutral nouns and pronouns. Ex.: The law students must know their state's constitution if they want to pass the bar exam.

• Emphasize, in a business writing, how the reader (being the "customer") will benefit from the information you are providing them. For example, as you write declarations about the national company to your boss, Gale Sayers, make sure to include follow-up sentences that clarify how Sayers' company might benefit: Coca-cola spends about eight million a year in business deals with local Chicago companies. Gale Sayers Theater could propose a deal in which we sell exclusively Coca-cola beverages at our snack bar.

• Remember that you are part of a business, so you represent the business AND not yourself. If you notice the above example, the writer refers to "we" instead of "you." This subtle difference in word choice connects you to your job, rather than distancing yourself. {You should want to use language that makes you part of the company!}

Practicing Tone

Below are questions you will are to answer in your BTS 2 memo. They are questions that your boss expects to be addressed. In about three paragraphs, try to answer the following questions with a polite but excited tone. Use any material from the draft brought in today, only revise the information in the order presented below, in the required tone:

1. What is the national company and which of their products (or services) are you proposing your company pursue business with?

2. What are two or three important facts that you have found about the national company and/or their product that makes this an opportunity to pursue?

3. In what ways do you see these important facts connecting to your company? In answering this, you might find it helpful to develop some of your company's own values or relevant company fact.

4. How is your company going to use the other company's product or services? How will the use of this national company's product or service benefit your company? Declare two to three benefits, and why you think these benefits are inevitable.

5. In answering #4, are there business models that demonstrate how your integration can work? Identify and compare these examples.

Adding a Company Logo

Since this is not a graphic design class (and we don't have the proper programs to do so), we will not be spending much time in class designing logos. However, we can work on putting some basic logos into our memos to make them look more "real."

First, you can choose a logo through the Word Clipart, or you can Google "logo" and search through some of the non-text images to save to your computer desktop.

Click here to a link to an image that I found works for our project. Save this logo to your desktop by clicking on the image and dragging to your desktop, or by right-clicking on the image and then "save as" to your desktop.

After getting an image, open up your Memo document. Those who have trouble following along with the in-class demonstration for getting the "Header and footer" areas of a document to open can go here.

Below are some considerations for your logo:

• Edit the image size (demonstrated in class) to make sure the image does not overwhelm the logo text, or draw reader away from the memo's content.

• Edit the logo text size, shape and color using the Formatting Palette. Work to connect the logo text to the image, both in style and compatible size.

HOMEWORK for Tuesday, 5/25:

• Due: BTS 2: Memo Proposing Integration
• Read Chapters 8 and 9, and prepare for a Reading Quiz over material.

BTS 2: Memo, Integration Opportunity

Reading Quiz #3

Your job is to answer the four questions on page 571. You must e-mail me the answers once you are finished. This means, write your answers in Microsoft Word, and then e-mail them.

You have 10 minutes to answer the questions, knowing that it is open book and that you were assigned these pages to read for today.

Authoritative Language

Today in class, we will revise BTS 1 by practicing two different syntactical (dealing with sentence structure) considerations in our writing: 1. Use of Active Voice [over passive, shhh], and 2. Conciseness.

The most effective writing demands both clarity of the subject and avoidance of extra words, in which the above two consideration help.

ACTIVE VOICE v. passive voice

Clues that you need to revise INTO the Active Voice:

• Watch for use of the "to be" + second verb construction: is verb, was verb, has been verb, will be verb
• Watch for the preposition (by, at, on, in) that follows the double-verb construction: is verb by, will be verb on
• The missing or hidden subject -- also know as the object coming first. Not all nouns are subjects. The noun is the subject of a sentence when the noun is performing the verb (Jerry told..., The dog bit...). Objects are nouns in a sentence that are being performed upon by the subject-noun. Rule of thumb: if noun performing the action in your sentence comes AFTER the verb, then you are writing in passive voice and need to revise.
• To practice: click on this link and we will work on turning passive voice into active voice.

Conciseness

Make the most of your language. Here are some strategies to help your conciseness:

• Word choice: one word over a vague phrase, or look to replace longer phrases with one word that means the same thing (did not do well=failed; not at all good-looking=ugly)
• Redundancies: look for words or phrases that are saying the same thing in the same sentence, and stick with the more effective word/phrase (We were really strong and dominating=We dominated!)
• Look for sentences that you can combine information (The dog barked. The dog was blue. The dog heard footsteps= The blue dog barked when it heard footsteps.)
• Eliminate Words/Details that do not harm meaning, and that might be obvious or have little relevance to purpose of writing (see examples on OWL!)
• To Practice Conciseness, lets go to the OWL exercises and re-write the wordy sentences.

for Tuesday, 5/11

Below are the exercises we worked on during class this past Thursday, except for the final one, "Conflict Resolution," which will also help you with the draft of BTS 1 due Tuesday:

1. Defining the Ethical Dilemma using an Example Definition (p. 544)

Step 1:Make a pre-writing list answering each of the following:

• Identify the specific behavior / language that was inappropriate
• Discuss the ways the behavior/language was inappropriate. In doing so, reflect on things like ethics/morals/violation of civil rights/ etc. What exactly makes this particular scenario inappropriate, in the most detailed, thinking sense?
• In your defining of an action/behavior as an ethical dilemma, what’s an example of appropriateness? (Sometimes it’s good to give a counter-example to help clarify your views.)
• Another thing to consider, if the above didn’t help you do so, is to look up common definitions of your ethical issue, and make connections between parts of the definition and the action being labeled with the definition.

Step 2: Draft the definition: Why is this unethical?

• In your definition, use the specific names of the people involved in your hypothetical ethical dilemma scenario
• Break down the scenario using the above list of answers.
• Consider how you will communicate across cultures (p. 90-95)
• Remember, what one person is okay with, another person may see as culturally insensitive
• Consider what kind of dilemma you have (religious, political, educational, etc.), as that can guide what you discuss on subject, where you go for references to proper behavior…
• At work, how should one’s behavior be different – and why?
• Your language has to be clear, and you can’t assume what is obvious to you will be obvious to everyone. SPELL OUT THE ISSUE! Use simple language.

2. Conflict Resolution: What are some steps (the “process”) to take to resolve the issue?

• What did you find as far as normal steps taken by Human Resources? What web site or companies helped you the most?

• How can you make these steps your own? Work on renaming the steps, shortening any longer phrases into something more memorable.

1. Is there an acronym that you’ve thought of (or might still think of) that will help employees remember the steps in process of dealing with the ethical dilemma?

• What are the key actions involved within each step?

1. For each step, I’d like you to spend one paragraph explaining the key action the step is asking, with who should speaking to whom, etc.
2. For each step, I’d also like you to have one paragraph that re-uses your example characters from first two parts of the BTS 1 to help clarify in each step what will happen to each character!
3. Within each step, be thorough with examples that support each key action. …for example: If one of the key actions was for “the Human Resources employee will provide [the offender] with options to apologize,” then further that key action by providing what those options might be!

Homework: A draft with all three sections of the BTS 1 brought Tuesday at 12pm:

1. Ethical Dilemma Scenario fictional example (brought in on 5/6 as homework)
2. Definition of Ethical Dilemma using Example Definition (done in class, 5/6)
3. Process: the Steps of Conflict Resolution, each with an detailed-explanation of each step (researched for class, worked on during class, 5/6)

***this will allow us to focus mostly on formatting considerations on Tuesday!!!***

Building Technical Strategies

Resume Models & Rhetorical Considerations

What goes on the darn thing, how long should it be, what kind of paper should I use? What is the purpose of this thing? God, gods, goddesses, please make sure there are no grammatical errors that kill my chances!

Where should I go for examples, for advice, besides this class? Once I am outside these walls?

1. Microsoft Word 2008 has serviceable templates. All versions of Word have templates. (If nothing else, search for templates in the help screen of your home word-processing program.)

2. Academic Institution websites! If you're like me and are a bit independent and like to figure things out simply by looking at examples, or don't have time to make multiple visits to your school Career Services office, look at their website.

I suggest, though, consulting a few school websites, simply because each Institution has their own thought process and might give extra insights not seen on another. Also, you'll be able to get a sense of what things are most valuable by seeing repeated formats, etc. Click on these links, read and imitate!

• Miami University's Resume Resources Website

• Northwestern University's Resume and Cover Letter Helper

• Columbia College's PDF link to Strong Action Verbs for different kinds of skills you are trying to portray

____________________________

Here's is an oddly well-timed Top Article on Yahoo (click for link to)

Pre-writing & Resumes, cont.

Plan Your Writing Out || (GOSH!)

Generate Ideas

- Figure 3.1

- Read up on subject à go to Internet (periodicals (news)/ lib. database (relevant topics))

Organize a Rough, Rough Draft

- Workable thesis (revisable, but focus on the main point you’re trying to get across)

- 2-3 other goals / points of discussion that develop thesis

Select a Design

- templates

- program (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

- best audience response

Hash Out Your Time (Budget)

- give yourself set amounts of time to work on various parts, schedule manageable parts in chunks of time

- Set deadlines à in business careers, you might have those set for you, so figure them out, ask questions to bosses, etc.

______________________

Plan For Writing a Resume

Self-inventory: brainstorm answers to questions on page 390

- What are your strengths and weaknesses?

- What subjects do you like? Which subjects are you must successful in – and why?

- What kind of organization would you like to work for?

- What are your geographical preferences? (Willing to relocate, commute, etc.?)

Learn about the Employer

- Go to company website, look up their Goals / Objectives / Mission statement

- What are some of highlights or emphases?

- Scavenge the website (and any other literature) about the business that is from the business.

- Goal: To understand what they’re going to expect from someone coming into their company, doing your job…

- Much of your resume should mirror job posting/employer’s philosophy in where you match

Matching Language in Resume

- Verb-conscious à page 402 (What “actions” do I perform on this job?)

- Concise description with only professionally-necessary adjectives to modify action (it’s not “extremely hard worker,” but “Experienced with 60-hour work weeks.”

- De-emphasize the use of “I” in a resume. Start with the right verb for the skill.

Writing Practice: Grant Writer for Northeast Valley Health Center

1. Highlight/underline important parts of the job posting (http://jobview.monster.com/Grant-Writer-Job-San-Fernando-CA-US-85394584.aspx )

o Three to Four Main Skills Wanted (look for repetition/link between various skills)

o Minimum Education / Experience

2. Go to their website( http://www.nevhc.org/ )

o Main philosophy

o Where do company services meet your skills?

o What other programs do they have, or are they involved in? Partners

3. Make generic skills/experience match their specific wants:

- You spent three years as a research assistant to a professional Sci-fi writer, Issac Asimov. He had you research scientific theories for his novels. You learned to use LexisNexis, JSTOR and EBSCO databases to find relevant articles on topics discussed in his book. Fact-checking, etc.

- You spent one year as a grant writer for National Louis University. Most of the time you had about 15 to 20 different professors in the Science Department who you worked on proposals with. Sometimes you wrote the proposals. Sometimes you proofread. Sometimes you took notes and went over them with the professors, figuring out which grants they should pursue – because you learned to look at the US Govt.’s database (grants.gov) ahead of time and know what grants professors could go for.

- Revise the info above into THREE main skills, each starting with a Strong Action Verb.

o Again, take cues from job posting, but also from the notes brainstormed above

Now, on to your own job postings:

- Highlight Job posting skills wanted

- Go to their website and read for vital info

- Brainstorm some of the duties that you performed at other jobs / or within relevant courses.

- List three Strong Action Verbs that you perform (Supervised, Developed, etc.) that match what job wants

- For each SAV, expand on the duty performed with specific info.

_______________

Homework:

Thursday, by e-mail by 2pm: A list with five moist important facts you learned about the company that you will integrate/ reflect in your resume. For each fact, in one sentence explain in which section of resume (Skills, Education, etc.) you plan to integrate the fact.

Tuesday, 4/20: Résumé Draft for peer review (now due on Thursday!)

Resume Guidelines

Due: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Worth: 5 ponts = 5% of final course grade

Requirement: 1-page resume, for a particular job posting

Guidelines:

You will find a job posting on-line that you will use to write a mock resume for.

It is suggested that you find a job posting in a field related to your own major studies here at East West, as this will provide you good practice for when it comes time to write your real resume. We will spend some time in class searching job websites for postings, and discuss what to look for.

A key point to the project is to understand that you are being graded on your ability to understand and create a resume,and that some of the requirements might cause you to have to fictionalize work experience, education, etc., only for this project.

In the real world, outside this classroom, when applying for a job – you cannot falsify and exaggerate your qualifications, ethically. Such falsification could get you fired, or more.

But, for the purposes of having some fun, and to allow for your creativity, you may imagine credentials and experience in order to create a strong resume for this class.

However, the focus is still on your ability to apply the basic resume-writing To Dos discussed in class:


The Resume: brief outline that demonstrates your qualifications for a job/career field. The resume should tailor relevant material to a specific job, while including standard information such as your educational background, work experience, skills used, learned, and any honors/credits that show success within the field in which you’re applying.

You must have at least four (4) main categories, three (3) of which should include:

1. Objective
2. Education
3. Skills

The other category can be from these categories:

• Related Work experience
• Volunteer Experience
• Awards / Publications
• Relevant Courses (for those coming out of college with little on-the-job training)