Module 25

This module focused primarily on using visuals in a presentation. Its important to be aware of where you're standing during a presentation when you're using visuals and to be careful to not block the audience from seeing anything important. It would probably be best if you stand to your audiences left. Usin pointers are a very bad idea because they're only distractions. They don't help the audience understand anything more clearly. Also, with technology like it is today pointers aren't really necessary, because there are many other ways. What I found to be interesting in this module is that it's very important for the presenter to only show a visual when they're speaking about it. If they put it up too soon the audience wi try to figure out what it means and will probably end up missing the message the presenter is given. If you show the visual only when you're ready to talk about it's more likely to keep the audiences attention. Also, something ulemas that I found to be very important and interesting in this module was to keep in mind that when you show a visual make sure you don't start talking to it. In another words make sure you're still aware that the audience is still whom you're speaking to. This module also states that practicing with your visual is extremely important.

Module 20

Module 20
This module focused primarily on giving oral presentations. There are many different kinds of oral presentations that you can give which include informative, persuasive, and goodwill presentations. It’s important that a oral presentation is more simple when compared to a written message. Also, you should identify only one idea that you want the audience to take from your presentation. There are three basic kinds of presentations which are monologue, guided discussion, or sales. A monologue presentation is the kind that I am most familiar with and what we have practiced in class. It’s important to keep in mind what your audience already knows and what they don’t know when you’re giving a oral presentation. If you have visuals in your presentation it’s important that you don’t overload it with information. For example if you have a powerpoint only list the most important items, not everything you want to say. What I found to be most interesting and informative in this module was how to create a strong opener and closer. The module gave various examples of starting statements and closing statements, and I found these to be very helpful. I also thought that the sections on how to organize a presentation was interesting, because it gave a overview of what you should cover first and what you should end with. I also thought that the section about keys to delivering a good speech was very interesting and helpful as well. Most of them we already know, but sometimes we worry about the presentation itself and forget about our body language. Also, you should always be prepared for questions from the audience.

Module 3

This module focuses on communicating across cultures. It’s important to understand that there is diversity in the global marketplace. We can categorize cultures in a high context or low context. High context cultures mean that little is spelled out. In low context cultures the context is less important and most information is explicitly spelled out. Values, beliefs, and practices are often unconscious and affect our response to people and situations. Non verbal communication doesn’t use words and takes place all the times. Body language, personal space, and time are all ways to non verbally communicate with someone. Other non verbal symbols include clothing, colors, age, and height. What I thought was interesting in this module was the section about writing to international audiences. Most cultures are more formal than the United States and when you write to international audiences it’s important to remember to use titles, not first names. Avoid contractions, slang, and sports metaphors. Also, be flexible and open to change when writing to other cultures. Making your documents bias free so that it does not discriminate against others is also a section that I thought was important in this module. Bias free language is friendly and fair. Nonsexist language is also important and treats both sexes neutrally. It’s also important to be nonracist and nonagist, which means treating all races and ages equally.

Module 24

Module 24
This module covers long reports and gives you an overview of how to write a long report.
One of the first things mentioned in this module is how to manage your time when writing a long report, which is very important especially if you’ve never written one before. It would be a good decision to spend most of your time working on sections of the report that support your recommendation or whatever it is that you’re arguing. Setting up a long report is also a bit more complicated and this module gives many examples of how to do this properly. What I found interesting is in this module there are about fourteen pages that give examples of how you should set up each section in a long report. I found this to be very helpful, since we are currently working on a long report for our class. It’s important to know how to write a title page for your paper and there is also a example of this included. This tells the reader what the report is about, who its for, who prepared it, and the date. A letter or memo of transmittal is important because this orients the reader to the report and can create a good image of the report. Including background and history is also something that is important because later audiences who may read the report years down the road won’t be familiar with what you’re talking about.

Module 23

Module 23
This module focusses on the different kinds of reports and different patterns of organization that there are. Informative and closure reports both summarize completed work or research and doesn’t result in a action of recommendation. Feasibility reports explore alternative results and in the end recommends one. Justification reports recommend or justify a purchase, investment, hiring, or change in policy. The book also gave a great example of a justification report. There are seven basic patterns for organizing information. First compare/contrast, problem-solution, elimination of alternatives, general to particular or particular to general, geographic or spatial, functional, and chronological. These patterns can be used for the whole report or only certain parts, it doesn’t matter. What I found very interesting and informative in this module was the answer to the question of whether or not you should use the same style as other business documents. The answer to this question is, yes. However you should use a fairly formal style without slang, avoid the word you, and include all documents or definitions needed to understand the report. Also, something I found interesting was it’s very important to say what you mean in the report. The book gave some great examples of how to make your sentences more clear to the reader. Also, remember to tighten your writing and eliminate unnecessary words that are taking up extra space. It’s important that the reader doesn’t lose interest in your report, and having a bunch of unnecessary words could do that. Blueprints are overviews or forecasts that tell the reader what you will be discussing in your report, and these are very important as well. Making sure the blueprint is easy to read will help keep the readers attention as well. The book also gave many great examples of good and bad blueprints which I found very helpful.

Module 22

Module 22
This module focused on finding, analyzing, and documenting information. The importance of knowing how to find information online is very important. One way to do this is by searching for keywords. This will help narrow the search and give you the best possible results. This module discussed how to phrase your searches, for example leaving out one word such as and could affect the results that you get. Writing questions for surveys and interviews are very different. For surveys this includes a wide range of people called subjects and respondents, and for this you would create a questionnaire. Designing questions for a interview is completely different, because this should be more structured and designed specifically for the person whom you are interviewing. It’s also important to not used closed questions which can lock the subject into a response. Instead using open questions will allow them to answer the way that they want to. The population is the group you want to make statements about. Defining who your population will help you get the most helpful information. Doing things such as random sample, convenience sample, or a judgment sample can also come in handy. The sections that I found to be most interesting and important in this module was on how you analyze the information. First its very important to understand the source of the data. Analyzing numbers and words is also a important component. It’s important to be consistent with numbers throughout the assignment as well. If your data has words, make sure you understand what they mean to who said them. Checking your logic is also very important. Also, it’s okay to discuss the negative aspects or results of your project to the audience.

Module 21

Module 21
This module focused on proposals and progress reports. The chapter started off by explaining what a report is. There are many different types of reports such as informal reports, information reports, analytical reports, and recommendation reports. Also, this module addressed the question of what you should do before you write a proposal. Before writing your proposal it would be a good idea to complete at least one fourth of the research for your project. It’s always a good idea to narrow your problem or subject. What should go into a proposal is one of the most important things and to answer this question you need to have a clear understanding of the problem. A proposal must answer questions such as what problem are you going to solve, how are you going to solve it, what exactly are you going to provide for us, as well as many more. What I found to be the most important and interesting part of the chapter was the section about proposals for class projects, because this related most to our class. This section pretty much outlined what a research project for a class should have in it starting with a problem, feasibility, audience, topics to investigate, methods and procedures, qualifications, work schedule, and a call to action. I also found the examples of what a proposal for a student group report should like since we will have one due this week it was nice to see a example. Module 21 also addressed what you should include in a progress report. These can be used to enhance your image and help minimize potential problems. There are different types of progress reports such as chronological, task, and recommendation.