Professional Communication Assignment: Forum Posts Based On Presentations
Question
Task:
Professional Communication Assignment Task
Several video links will be provided to you via a dedicated forum in Interact2 after topic 5 is concluded. These will be divided into two categories and each video will have its own forum thread. Each link will be an online recording of a presentation given by one person to an audience. Category 1 will include live presentations; category 2 will include recorded presentations. Students are required to make at least one post of each type as follows:
- One analysis and critique on one video from one category
- One analysis and critique on one video from the other category
- One detailed response to another student’s analysis in any category.
Students may make more than one post of each type if they wish, but students should then select ONLY ONE of their posts of each type above and copy these three into a single Word document to submit via EASTS. These chosen posts should be approximately 300-350 words each, but the word count compliance will only be considered based on the total of all three. There are no restrictions to the number of additional posts each student can make, and you are encouraged to engage in the discussion freely as a normal blog/forum.
Answer
Professional Communication Assignment Post 1
Throughout the entire presentation delivered by David JP Phillips related to avoidance of “death by PowerPoint”, it has been observed that he uses various methods to capture the audience. He specifically mentions“one" message throughout his entire presentation. The message being the fact that a presentation is not what people show on a screen, instead it is the person himself/herself. Hence, PowerPoint prominently acts as the essential visual aid that propagates the flow of the presentation and the message the person needs to convey. The audience is able to capture what David JP Phillips is saying is specifically due to the manner he speaks. He directly speaks with the audience and less to the screen, which is able to create a connection between the audience and speaker. Hence, allowing the audience to capture what he really wants to convey, ‘the effectiveness of communication’. Additionally, it is important to understand that the essentiality of effective communication and how the quality of the presentation could specifically ruin or make a business. Thus, it could be mentioned that the speaker uses his modulated voice and figurative speech that has been able to capture the audience.
The speaker, David JP Phillips, encapsulates the basic needs for a presentation to be productive rather than being an element that would propagate “death” for the audience. To ensure his ideas has been resonated with the participating audience, the speaker undertakes a simple yet indulging interactive session with the audience at the very end of the presentation. This would allow the speaker to understand the success of his presence and his presentation. Therefore, to compile all the data that has been provided, it could be mentioned that the speaker does nothing out of the ordinary to makes his presentation better than rest. He strictly follows the basic framework of a business presentation which would start by a topic or message and dive it into multiple slides s for visual aid and finally ending with an interactive session. However, what is the key point of success for the entire presentation would be the ability of the speaker to understand the needs of the audience.
While discussing the recorded presentation, it could be observed that David JP Phillips, the speaker, emphasizes on six primary points. This points would specifically help the presenter create an efficient or productive presentation. The speaker starts off the entire presentation with the piece of information that an average human brain is rarely able to remember cognitive information. Precisely he states that the bran is able to specifically eliminate around 90% of moving information. He further explains it with a practical example where a human checks for his train ticket numerous times before getting seated. Thus, deliberately showing how fragile could a human brain be and how easily could a human loose logical information within a span of a few seconds.
Post 2
The mentioned post has been observed to be devised on the video by Sir Ken Robinsonon ‘Changing education paradigms’. The speaker identified two fundamental reasons that has been identified as the primary change factor in education system around the entire world. The mentioned has been observed to be an essential prospect related to the current uncertainty in the entire economy stance. The parents are mostly worried related to how they would be able to place their children according to the changing tides of the economy and how the economy may turn out in the next day. Additionally, the next factor as identified by the speaker has been observed to be a cultural factor which is changing the entire education system. Knowing and learning about the global standards of culture and knowing the prospects has been observed to be essential feature among scholars for being able to sustain the market.
The speaker further argues with the fact that the current system of education had been specially derived at the early 17th century for education or “enlightening” the public with the industrial revolution. Thus, working hard and gaining a degree would absolutely mean the guarantee of a job. However, the current situation is not the same and simply being educated with a prestigious degree doesn’t guarantee a job. Hence, some kids are occasionally alienated with the concept of “Intellectual model of the mind’. Further the speaker evaluates the entire model for causing specific chaos in many people’s lived for being judged “smart” and “non-smart.” The entire prospect or rather the post has been able to change precise views that had been lingering being my mind and it would be an understatement I conclude that this would have stirred a section of thought. The fundamental, message as noted has been that a prominent change in the current education system would be desirable to breed educated individuals and not “intellectuals” or “economists.”
Post 3
While addressing the post of fellow individuals, it had been observed that individuals would often include the ineffectively of a presentation to be non-essential. One of the essential aspects of any organization would be the relay of information with the help of various preservations that pack-in a ton of data. However, the primary question remains if the speaker is specifically able to propagate the data into the audience. Hence, it would be specifically necessary for the presenter to think in the shoes of the receiving end to be able to specifically produce a presentation that would be attractive, crisp and gets the job done. Such aspects could be related to the basic concept of an individual who is able to get the basics of signalling colour and attractive and contrasting visuals. The presentation screen in a VUCA business environment is essentially large, and getting bigger with time. Hence, the size of the visual aids would not be a matter to think about. However, introducing the aspect of signalling colours. Though most organizations currently use white backgrounds as the primary theme of the presentations, these are unable to relay the contrasting effects to capture the attention of the audience. Hence, the need for implementing darker background and lighter text would be necessary, and else the presenter has to wear clothes composed of signalling colours. Though that would be technically correct, it does not work in a corporate setting. Hence the need for effective communication and skillfully crafting the entire presentation would be essential.
As mentioned by one of the leading neurologist, Dr John Medina, "If companies would have as little respect for business as they have for presentations the majority would go bankrupt”. Hence, summarizing the entire situation of why PowerPoint presentation could eventually cause “death”.
Bibliography
TEDx Talks (2014, April 14). How to avoid death By PowerPoint | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholmSalon[Video file]. Professional communication assignment Retrieved fromhttps://youtu.be/Iwpi1Lm6dFo
Ted.com (2020) Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms/up-next (Accessed: 30 May 2020).
