Presenting in English (1) Spring 2019
2019.05.21 & 28
These weeks in class, we devoured the final sections on presentation techniques in the text, going over techniques like emphasis, focusing, softening, and repetition in Section 4 and rhetorical questions, dramatic contrasts, and creating rapport in Section 5.
Please remember, next week (June 2nd-8th) is your chance to present and upload to YouTube a final project that shines like a diamond. Please read the instructions carefully, present your talk to an audience of at least three people, and upload your presentation link to Canvas before midnight June 8th. Please remember to turn your camera to show the audience before recording your presentation to prove there are at least two audience members (plus the camera operator). Also, please email a script for your presentation to me.
Then, be sure to give helpful, thoughtful feedback to two classmates in Canvas before we meet again June 11th. We will watch a few presentation videos that day and give some feedback in person to a few lucky students.
Have fun!
JBH
2019.05.14
Presentation Thoughts:
I realize that using other people’s words is kind of a gray area. I used to work for newspapers, and they often print words sent in to them by others without being crystal clear where those words came from. But most readers know that not everything in the newspaper is signed by a writer and some of the advertising, columns, and other sections are unsigned and borrowed from elsewhere, or not original, for good reasons.
But at this point in your university education, you should know that if you turn in work copied straight from the Internet and pass it off as your own, you risk not get a passing grade for an assignment. It is possible that some of you came to this class still thinking that kind of work was acceptable. If so, this is your first lesson that it’s not. Please learn it now. It will hurt more if you learn it later.
When you turn in writing or speaking work, it should be your own work. You can use information from other sources; in fact research makes a presentation stronger, but you need to give credit to the source of the information, idea, or words, and never present someone else's entire presentation as your own creation.
Some people bombed this assignment, either because they were too busy to write their own presentation or because they didn’t fully understand that copied and pasted presentations are not acceptable. Either way, it’s a 0 for this assignment. Learn from it. Now.
I will require all students to write a statement as the last reply to your own posting of Major Assignment 2 (which we completed during mid-term week) in Canvas. The statement should tell readers about the source of all the information in your presentation. If you copied it online partly, mostly or completely, please explain where it is copied from and approximately how much of it was copied (e.g. 10%, 30%, 50%, 90%, etc.).
If you got information for your presentation from outside resources (which is a good thing), please tell us where the info came from. Your continuing grade for this course will wait until I see thorough, honest responses under your posts about where your info came from. I am not trying to shame anyone. I am trying to make this a learning experience for us all, and that includes me.
I need to remember not to assume everyone understands and is ready to follow the standard rules of the road in terms of plagiarism. And these are not Bahk-Halberg’s rules or Western rules. It has been official policy in this department for more than a decade: Plagiarism is grounds for dismissal.
Along similar lines, I would like to see more research and more citations in your presentations. I saw lots of things stated as facts that I had doubts about and wondered "says who?" Please be sure to cite sources for at least two facts that might not be generally understood as a fact by your listeners in your next presentation. You don't need to read a detailed citation, but say something simple, such as, "Americans smoke toomuch, according to the American Medical Association."
Also for your next presentation, please turn in a script. It does not have to be exactly the words you say, but you should have a clear plan in writing of what you are going to talk about, and I want to see it. I will run this and all future assignments through Turnitin plagiarism detection service.
And please make an effort to tell us something we don’t already know, and avoid repeating a topic we’ve already heard about several times. If you use a familiar topic, do something new with it. And use at least two sources of information in your presentation, cited both in the presentation (briefly) and on the script (more fully in APA or other similar citation style).
After presenting the above information to students and giving them their feedback and scores on the Mid-term Presentaton, we talked about emphasis in the text and wrapped things up on page 53. Continue pre-reading and answer all individual questions in Section 4 for next week and remember to get started on the next Major Presentation which you will be presenting to an audience of at least three people, video recording, uploading to YouTube, and pasting the link into the Canvas discussion area Week 14, as well as providing helpful, thorough feedback to two classmates before we meet to review a few presentations during class time Week 15.
See you in class!
JBH
2019.05.07
This week we looked over Section 3 in the text, working together to practice using chunking, pacing, stress, pausing and intonation and other vocal strategies to improve our presenting technique.
For next week, please follow the instructions for the sound scripting tasks (1, 2, 3) on pages 43 through 46, along with Task 2 on page 46. Bring a hard copy of these tasks to class with you next week to discuss in class. For Task 2, please copy a chunk from one of your own speeches you have already presented (~120-200 words) and mark it up with pauses, stress, pacing, and intonation marked up as instructed on pages 43-46.
Also, get started thinking about your topic for the next major assignment, which we will again be recording and uploading week 14, the week of June 2-8. Instructions for that assignment are linked below. We will talk about it more in class.
Major Assignment 3
See you then!
JBH
2019.04.23 & 04.30
During these sessions, we presented and uploaded our mid-term assignment and reviewed a few on the big screen in class. We also moved on in Section 3 of the text, which goes over "Using Your Voice." To prepare for our session May 7th, please pre-read the remainder of Section 3, along with listening to the audio files and completing any questions that are possible to do on your own before class.
See you then!
JBH
2019.04.16
In class today we wrapped up Section 2 and talked about visuals.
We looked at a few areas of the Six Minutes public speaking and presentation website that the instructor suggested were very valuable resources for using visual aids in presentations. Some of the mini-lessons we reviewed covered the rule of thirds, presenting data, using visuals instead of text, and the 10-20-30 Rule.
We finished off the session by getting a few students to make impromptu speeches.
Remember, next week is your chance to present and upload your Second Major Assignment (Organize Your Speech). This one is for points.
Please present your speech to an audience of at least three people (including camera person) during Mid-term week. Upload the recording to YouTube and post the link the the class Canvas discussion area before midnight Friday, April 26th (see details below). Give feedback to two classmates before class meets Week 9. Your feedback should be based on the evaluation suggestions on the Ice Breaker assignment instructions.
When we meet again as a class Week 9 (April 30th), we will view a few student presentation videos and move on in the book.Please pre-read and pre-answer questions in Section 3 before that session.
Thanks!
JBH
2019.04.16
In class today we wrapped up Section 2 and talked about visuals.
We looked at a few areas of the Six Minutes public speaking and presentation website that the instructor suggested were very valuable resources for using visual aids in presentations. Some of the mini-lessons we reviewed covered the rule of thirds, presenting data, using visuals instead of text, and the 10-20-30 Rule.
We finished off the session by getting a few students to make impromptu speeches.
Remember, next week is your chance to present and upload your Second Major Assignment (Organize Your Speech). This one is for points.
Please present your speech to an audience of at least three people (including camera person) during Mid-term week. Upload the recording to YouTube and post the link the the class Canvas discussion area before midnight Friday, April 26th (see details below). Give feedback to two classmates before class meets Week 9. Your feedback should be based on the evaluation suggestions on the Ice Breaker assignment instructions.
When we meet again as a class Week 9 (April 30th), we will view a few student presentation videos and move on in the book.Please pre-read and pre-answer questions in Section 3 before that session.
Thanks!
JBH
2019.04.09
We went over Section 2 in class and talked about visuals Do’s and Don’ts. (Grammar Girl explanation)
We talked about graphs, charts, and diagrams in class
We also did a few impromptus. Watch for more of them in coming weeks.
Announcing our Second Major Assignment!
Organize Your Speech- record and upload week 8 (review week 9)
Info about this speech from Six Minutes presentation website
Start getting your presentation ideas together, post your proposed topic and ideas for the speech to Canvas by midnight Sunday, April 14th. Do not duplicate someone else's topic that has already been posted. Please bring me a hard copy of your proposal to class next week to turn in to me (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font -- maximum length is one page).
See you in class!
JBH
2019.04.02
We began this week's class session by looking at a few of our classmates' Icebreaker presentations on video. After that, we moved on to Section 1 in the text, so we know everything we need to know about getting our presentations started.
Then, because the topic is a good fit for this part of the semester, AND because it's an excellent example of an organized speech, we watched a TED talk on "How to Make Stress Your Friend."
Please be ready to move on to Section 2 next week by pre-reading and pre-answering ALL QUESTIONS in the section, including listening to the CD on page 26. That way we can quickly go over the material and any questions in class.
Next week we will talk about our second major assignment, which we’ll be working on during mid-term week.
See you next week!
JBH
2019.03.19
-- W-Q-J
-- Bad and Vision Speeches
-- First Major Assignment -- The Ice Breaker (more info).
Present your Ice Breaker to an audience of at least three people (including camera person) before midnight Friday, March 29th. Upload it to YouTube and post the link the the class Canvas discussion area (see details below). Give feedback to two classmates before class meets April 2nd. Your feedback should be based on the evaluation suggestions on the Ice Breaker assignment instructions.
--Tips for your Videos
Here are a few things to keep in mind for your video assignments.
1) Feel free to practice the speeches as much as you want and watch yourself to find areas for improvement. For the one you submit, however, do it in one take. Don't start over if you mess up because in a real situation you would just have to keep going. If there is a major distraction, such as a child calling for you, then act accordingly. Also, don't edit your submission; this is speech class, not a video production class. There is no editing in real life presentations.
2) Ideally, we'd like to see you from the waist up, not just your face and shoulders. Stand for all speeches.
3) You might want to practice speaking to the camera a few times with the camera turned off. A lot of people, myself included, don't really like being recorded, so you might want to de-sensitize yourself to it.
4) Watch your video before you post it to make sure that the sound is acceptable. It doesn't have to be professional quality, but it should be understandable.
For the Canvas discussion title use “Your Name/Ice Breaker.”
Please use landscape orientation for the video: this means wide, not tall. It fits better into the YouTube frame.
Finally, please set your videos as Unlisted, not Private. If they are Unlisted, only those of us with the link can view them, not the whole world. But if they are private, no one can view them.
-- Have fun!
JBH
2019.03.12
We got to know each other a bit better this week using the "Getting Started" section in the book and going over the basics of introductions and openings.
We also got started talking in front of the whole group.
Next week:
1. W-Q-J
2. Present your Bad and Vision Speech. For your topic, use the ideas from the rest of the "Getting Ready" chapter and be creative. Have fun!
3. Pre-read and be ready to discuss the rest of Section 1 and possibly move into Section 2.
See you in class!
JBH
2019.03.05
Our first day got off to a good start with students and the instructor introducing themselves to each other.
The second item on the day's agenda was demonstrating our regular daily routine for starting class with a Word, Quote, and Joke of the Day. Don't forget, someone needs to present those at the beginning of class each week. Please write the Word and Quote of the Day on the board or have them ready to go on the classroom computer when class begins on the hour. If one of these is your job and you are going to be absent, please find a replacement. If there is no replacement the week after you have taken one of the roles, it will be your problem (or pleasure) again. Instructions for the Word, Quote, and Joke of the Day are included below.
Word, Quote, and Joke of the Day
Every session, we start with a Word, Quote and Joke of the Day.
It's not hard to find a word of the day. Ask Mr. Google for "Word of the Day." some good sites include Merriam-Webster's English Learner's Word of the Day, the New York Times Word of the Day, and many others. Go to the main site, then find a Word of the Day. But remember, I want you to be selective and find a Word of the Day that you think is useful and unusual.
For the Quote of the Day, you can google for a quotation you like or go to www.quotationspage.com. There, you will find quotations by authors from Einstein to Confucius (공자) on subjects from love and success to happiness and character. Please take a couple minutes to choose a quotation that is especially meaningful for you, and tell your classmates about the deeper meaning you see underneath the words. I suggest we use quotes that have a source connected, because in my experience, you can often learn a lot about what a message means when you also consider the source.
For the Joke of the day, I suggest you go to www.google.com and search for “ESL jokes” or “funny jokes” or “clean jokes” or something similar. I’m not a prude, but in a classroom setting I think we should keep the jokes publicy acceptable. It is also important to try to find jokes that are funny, but not too difficult for most of your classmates to understand.
Remember, if you did the Word, Quote, or Joke of the Day, you have total power to pick the WQJ victim for the following week. If you forget to choose a replacement, or the person you chose does not show up for class, you will get another chance to show the class your W-Q-J presentation skills.
FOR NEXT WEEK:
Please get the book Presenting in English, by Mark Powell, (Heinle CENGAGE Learning) at the HUFS bookstore or elsewhere; pre-read and be ready to discuss the first unit when we meet week 2.
Also, be ready to get started on our first speaking project and learning to upload presentation videos to the class discussion area.
See you in class!
JBH
