Homework for writing proposal, press release, and presentation

ENGL 2311

Purpose and Audience

You must create a presentation to accompany your proposal and press release documents. You can make this presentation using PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, or something similar. The purpose of the presentation is to visually summarize your project for the proposal audience. Imagine you can meet with your proposal audience and explain your project idea in a 10-minute presentation pitch.

To do this, you need to translate the written ideas of your proposal into a visually appealing presentation. Include pictures, data visuals, and other graphics applicable to your project.

Suggestions and Guidelines for the PowerPoint/Prezi/Google Slides

Consider the following general guidelines as you prepare the presentation.

· This presentation should be primarily visual. If someone wants to read every detail of your project, they can read the proposal. A presentation is meant to be viewed with minimal reading required. If the audience must read too much text on screen, they won’t be paying attention to you. When creating your presentation, consider these tips:

· DO include pictures/graphics/data visualizations that show what the project will do. Use bullet points and keywords.

· DON’T try to include every detail from the proposal.

· DO tell a story about who benefits from your project and why.

· DON’T include chunks of text more than a few sentences.

· DO make smart, thoughtful choices about color schemes, fonts, and overall presentation design.

· DON’T use excessive special effects (PowerPoint has a lot of options here, and many of them are unnecessarily distracting).

· The presentation does not need to address every detail of your project. Consider some combination of these talking points:

· Introduce the problem in question (i.e. what problem exists that this project is addressing?) Briefly state what inspired you to address this issue.

· Identify why the proposal audience should care about this issue.

· Identify the main way your project addresses the problem.

· Identify who benefits from the project and why.

· List threats and weaknesses to the project.

· If necessary, highlight the special needs of the project (budgets, timelines, personnel, etc.)

· Practice talking through your presentation multiple times. Time yourself to see how fast or slow you speak. Memorize the information on each slide so you can focus on eye contact with your audience. Anticipate questions your audience might pose at the conclusion.