Presentation Requirements
- Introduce a new networking topic to the other members of the class
- Practice learning and assimilating new topics on your own
- Practice your presentation and public speaking skills
- Network Security
- Wireless Networking
- Distributed Hash Tables
- Measurement Studies
- CDNs and Proxies
- Network Simulation Tools
- Net Neutrality
- Sensor Networks
- Social Networking
Presentation Guidelines
- Example 1: 10 minute overview of area and ideas presented in paper 1 and paper 2, 8 minute overview of the goals and design of the work presented in paper 1, 8 minute discussion of the results presented in paper 1, 4 minute conclusion.
- Example 2: 7 minute overview of area and ideas presented in paper 1 and paper 2, 10 minute discussion of the goals and results of paper 1, 10 minute discussion of the goals and results of paper2, 3 minute conclusion and comparison of the two papers.
- Example 3: 10 minute overview of area, 15 minute discussion of the implementation of a particular technology, 5 minute conclusion.
Requirements
- You must receive approval for your topic by April 16.
- You must provide a list of sources (papers, books, URLs) by April 23.
- You must attend a one-on-one meeting with the instructor by April 25. During the meeting we will discuss your sources and the outline of your presentation. Of course, you are more than welcome to schedule more than one such meeting and you are also welcome to schedule a practice talk with the instructor.
Laptop/PC Requirements
- You must have on hand at least one Laptop / Desktop computer is required
- A second screen can be extremely convenient, though it is not a must-have
- Advised web-browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari
- Your presentation to be in Microsoft PowerPoint format with 16:9 aspect ratio slides
- If you are a Mac user, you should consult the following document to ensure necessary sharing allowances are setup for a smooth live presentation: Mac Screen Sharing
- Ensure your Wi-Fi connection is strong enough to support your live presentation
- You will need at least 3mb/second. You can test your speed here: https://www.speedtest.net/
- We recommend taking any additional devices, such as your mobile phone, off the same network for the duration of your presentation
- If your Wi-Fi connection is weak, we strongly recommend you consider pre-recording your session
Audio & Video
- Your laptop’s built-in camera will suffice
- If your laptop does not have a built-in camera or you are presenting from a desktop computer, please use an external camera
- Position your camera face on with the main source of light in front of you so that the audience has a clear view of your face when presenting
- A headset with microphone allows you to hear any instructions or questions whilst providing clear sound from you to the digital audience
- Alternatively, you can use an external microphone or the built-in microphone of your laptop. Please ensure this is positioned close enough to you to pick up your voice clearly
- Please position yourself in an area with minimal distractions and no background noise
Presentation Requirements
We recommend all presentation slides follow the below formatting guidelines
- 16:9 Ratio (widescreen)
- Font size 20+ (Font smaller than this may appear blurry)
- 1 graph/table per slide
- Clear and concise background
- Visual aids to capture the attention of the audience
- If including videos with sound in your presentation, please advise our team as this may require additional pre-event tech testing
Pre-Recording & Polling
If you have advised us that you would like to pre-record your talk rather than presenting live on the day, please use the instructions to pre-record your presentation:
Pre Record Instructions
* Please note, if pre-recording your talk, you may still need to be present on the day to take part in a live Q&A after your talk.
If you would like to submit a poll for the attendees to answer during your presentation, please send the details of this to your Event Manager, up to 1 week prior to the event, including the questions and any multiple choice answers if applicable.
All polls will be shown in the digital platform beside your presentation and display live results from the audience. Poll results can be exported and sent to you after the event.
Virtual Platform Technology Test
Some speakers will need to attend a technology test of the virtual platform. A team member will be in touch to set up a 15-minute technology test with you, taking place up to 2 weeks prior to the event.
For this technology test, you will need:
- A Chrome or Firefox web browser
- A blank PowerPoint presentation
- All items listed on our Technology Requirements
During the session we will test your technology as well as rehearsing joining the stage and presenting your first few slides.
Student Presentation Requirements
HESTEMP 2 nd Annual May Conference Saturday, May 5 th , 2018 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
Presentation Requirements
- Your presentation should be 6 minutes in duration.
- Expect to lead a 2-minute question and answer session.
- Project Objective
- Methodology
- Conclusions
- Future Studies
- Optional: Suggestions or Feedback on improving project activities
- The number of students per presentation is one person (minimum) and four people (maximum).
Instructions: To participate at the conference, you must submit the google forms in the “Link to Form” column by the deadline.
Dress Code (for picture taking)
Top: Solid Color or Aloha Print, Button down or Polo
Bottom: Solid Color Dress Pants
Footwear: Dress shoes
Top: Solid Color or Aloha Print, Top or Dress
Bottom: Solid Color Slacks or Skirt (Knee High)
If you have any specific questions, please contact the HESTEMP Program Coordinator, Melissa Onishi at [email protected] .
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Tips for Presenting Requirements and Deliverables
Written by Maria Horrigan on January 12, 2010 . Posted in Articles .
My project was to develop a consolidated reporting tool that would bring together six different program data sets. So I took a user centered design approach to developing the business requirements and incorporated a lot of the information architecture tools and techniques I had learned on projects over the least three years.
I started with face-to-face consultations and workshopped the needs and wants of the service users who were required to supply reports. I also talked to internal users who would analyze and summarize the reports for the branch’s policy decision makers. We decided to use user stories and personas, want maps and process maps to present our findings about what the users really wanted and then used the site map and a prototype to show how the system would look and feel.
The presentation went extremely well as the directors were taken through the process and had the visual clues to show them what the user experience would be. So why was this presentation approach successful? I think it was because my BA documentation tends to be very visual, as I find that my audience likes to see how the design and the system will work, and need to be brought along the journey. In a recent presentation I told the story through the eyes of the users and found this was a very effective way to present my deliverables.
Here are my top five tips for presenting requirements and deliverables:
1. Establish and Communicate the Purpose. On my project, the service users clearly wanted a system that would help them manage and plan their day-to-day service business, not just a tool to use for reporting back to the funding branch. I presented our findings from the stakeholder consultations and then presented the six personas to demonstrate our understanding of these six key user groups. I told their story by presenting user scenarios and explained why they wanted what they wanted from the system. My key message was that the system users wanted a management tool, not a reporting tool. By clearly presenting this purpose and demonstrating through personas and user stories, the directors understood that this change would mean a win/win at implementation time as the burden of data entry for services would be lessened if there was something in it for them – namely useful management reports.
2. Use Visual Artifacts to Display Requirements and Design. The personas were a very powerful tool to show what the archetypal users of the system wanted and how the groups differed in what they required. We displayed the primary, secondary and tertiary user needs in a want map and this helped to show the key differences and commonalities of wants across the varied stakeholders. The process maps showed how the different groups would interact with the system and how we would help them through the process, streamline the process and reduce duplication of information. The prototype helped to show how automation and integration of data would decrease data entry burden and also capture information that could be used to aid their management and planning.
By presenting deliverables as user scenarios and showing the findings through use of personas and want maps, the directors were able to see the value in responding to the needs of the services as this would, in the long run, gain acceptance and quick wins for the system implementation. Walking this audience through use case after use case would have missed the mark with this group, as it would have been too detailed and technical and would not have given them the same feel for the concept of what the users wanted.
3. Understand your Audience. My presentation was aimed at the business users, and I needed to understand their needs so I could tailor my presentation to meet their needs. I needed to understand who the key players were? Who were the influencers and decision makers? What did they want from this system? What were the relationships between the different stakeholders? This was difficult as it was a short project (only 10 weeks) and I had little direct contact with some of the key players. Therefore, I worked closely with my business product owner to ensure he saw the deliverables in progress and had a chance to comment prior to their being presented to the directors and executives. I sought his guidance on how to handle the meeting; the dynamics of the stakeholders involved, and walked him through the key messages. This preparation meant that I could frame the deliverables in a way that would hit the mark for this audience.
4. Understand the Business Context. Presenting to an audience when you don’t understand their business does not end well for the presenter. In conveying understanding of requirements for the business and users, I believe it is important to know the business context. I did my research and preparation before the meeting and asked myself:
- What are the key drivers for this change?
- What processes are involved?
- What are the internal or external environmental constraints or opportunities out there for this group?
Once you know the context, demonstrate that you understand the business needs and vision. Then demonstrate how your solution will meet that need.
5. No Surprises. In the past I have been reluctant to show my work in progress, as I wanted it near completion before sharing it (as the “Virgo” perfectionist in me wanted to make sure it was right!). In working on Agile projects in recent times, I have embraced this skinny solution concept and am now comfortable starting with a skinny version, and fleshing it out as the work progresses. When I had finished a piece of thinking about users, processes or design, I would share these artifacts with the core project team, the key business product owner and then refine. This iterative approach helped my target audience to get a feel for what the deliverable would look like and meant that, when it was being presented, it was not a new concept, just a more refined and validated version of what they had seen earlier. Remember that you are presenting your requirements design solution, not telling a joke, so sending material out beforehand as pre reading will not “spoil the punch line”. If you feel people may miss the point of your deliverable without you there to narrate, then allow for their questions at the end rather than taking questions throughout the presentation.
Don’t forget to leave your comments below
Maria Horrigan is an experienced business manager, IT strategic planner and information and communications specialist. She has over 10 years senior management experience within the pharmaceutical industry, not-for-profit and Government. As a principal consultant, Maria is an experienced information architect, senior business analyst and IT strategic analyst and provides advice on developing system requirements with a focus on information architecture and user-centred design, to ensure appropriate IT systems are intuitive and usable. She is a senior practitioner and a well-known Australian speaker on communication, user-centred design, and business analysis. She has experience managing large federal government contracts and project management of large scale business system implementation, systems planning, and analysis and change management. She has a reputation for innovation, managing change, driving strategy implementation and successfully delivering programs. Maria is a Board member and Vice President of Women in Information and Communication (WIC).
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How can you make a good presentation even more effective?
This page draws on published advice from expert presenters around the world, which will help to take your presentations from merely ‘good’ to ‘great’.
By bringing together advice from a wide range of people, the aim is to cover a whole range of areas.
Whether you are an experienced presenter, or just starting out, there should be ideas here to help you to improve.
1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience
It’s hard to be relaxed and be yourself when you’re nervous.
But time and again, the great presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience, and the best way to do that is to let your passion for the subject shine through.
Be honest with the audience about what is important to you and why it matters.
Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.
2. Focus on your Audience’s Needs
Your presentation needs to be built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation.
As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not what you can tell them.
While you’re giving the presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that.
You need to make it easy for your audience to understand and respond.
3. Keep it Simple: Concentrate on your Core Message
When planning your presentation, you should always keep in mind the question:
What is the key message (or three key points) for my audience to take away?
You should be able to communicate that key message very briefly.
Some experts recommend a 30-second ‘elevator summary’, others that you can write it on the back of a business card, or say it in no more than 15 words.
Whichever rule you choose, the important thing is to keep your core message focused and brief.
And if what you are planning to say doesn’t contribute to that core message, don’t say it.
4. Smile and Make Eye Contact with your Audience
This sounds very easy, but a surprisingly large number of presenters fail to do it.
If you smile and make eye contact, you are building rapport , which helps the audience to connect with you and your subject. It also helps you to feel less nervous, because you are talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people.
To help you with this, make sure that you don’t turn down all the lights so that only the slide screen is visible. Your audience needs to see you as well as your slides.
5. Start Strongly
The beginning of your presentation is crucial. You need to grab your audience’s attention and hold it.
They will give you a few minutes’ grace in which to entertain them, before they start to switch off if you’re dull. So don’t waste that on explaining who you are. Start by entertaining them.
Try a story (see tip 7 below), or an attention-grabbing (but useful) image on a slide.
6. Remember the 10-20-30 Rule for Slideshows
This is a tip from Guy Kawasaki of Apple. He suggests that slideshows should:
- Contain no more than 10 slides;
- Last no more than 20 minutes; and
- Use a font size of no less than 30 point.
This last is particularly important as it stops you trying to put too much information on any one slide. This whole approach avoids the dreaded ‘Death by PowerPoint’.
As a general rule, slides should be the sideshow to you, the presenter. A good set of slides should be no use without the presenter, and they should definitely contain less, rather than more, information, expressed simply.
If you need to provide more information, create a bespoke handout and give it out after your presentation.
7. Tell Stories
Human beings are programmed to respond to stories.
Stories help us to pay attention, and also to remember things. If you can use stories in your presentation, your audience is more likely to engage and to remember your points afterwards. It is a good idea to start with a story, but there is a wider point too: you need your presentation to act like a story.
Think about what story you are trying to tell your audience, and create your presentation to tell it.
Finding The Story Behind Your Presentation
To effectively tell a story, focus on using at least one of the two most basic storytelling mechanics in your presentation:
Focusing On Characters – People have stories; things, data, and objects do not. So ask yourself “who” is directly involved in your topic that you can use as the focal point of your story.
For example, instead of talking about cars (your company’s products), you could focus on specific characters like:
- The drivers the car is intended for – people looking for speed and adventure
- The engineers who went out of their way to design the most cost-effective car imaginable
A Changing Dynamic – A story needs something to change along the way. So ask yourself “What is not as it should be?” and answer with what you are going to do about it (or what you did about it).
For example…
- Did hazardous road conditions inspire you to build a rugged, all-terrain jeep that any family could afford?
- Did a complicated and confusing food labelling system lead you to establish a colour-coded nutritional index so that anybody could easily understand it?
To see 15 more actionable storytelling tips, see Nuts & Bolts Speed Training’s post on Storytelling Tips .
8. Use your Voice Effectively
The spoken word is actually a pretty inefficient means of communication, because it uses only one of your audience’s five senses. That’s why presenters tend to use visual aids, too. But you can help to make the spoken word better by using your voice effectively.
Varying the speed at which you talk, and emphasising changes in pitch and tone all help to make your voice more interesting and hold your audience’s attention.
For more about this, see our page on Effective Speaking .
9. Use your Body Too
It has been estimated that more than three quarters of communication is non-verbal.
That means that as well as your tone of voice, your body language is crucial to getting your message across. Make sure that you are giving the right messages: body language to avoid includes crossed arms, hands held behind your back or in your pockets, and pacing the stage.
Make your gestures open and confident, and move naturally around the stage, and among the audience too, if possible.
10. Relax, Breathe and Enjoy
If you find presenting difficult, it can be hard to be calm and relaxed about doing it.
One option is to start by concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down, and make sure that you’re breathing fully. Make sure that you continue to pause for breath occasionally during your presentation too.
For more ideas, see our page on Coping with Presentation Nerves .
If you can bring yourself to relax, you will almost certainly present better. If you can actually start to enjoy yourself, your audience will respond to that, and engage better. Your presentations will improve exponentially, and so will your confidence. It’s well worth a try.
Improve your Presentation Skills
Follow our guide to boost your presentation skills learning about preparation, delivery, questions and all other aspects of giving effective presentations.
Start with: What is a Presentation?
Continue to: How to Give a Speech Self Presentation
See also: Five Ways You Can Do Visual Marketing on a Budget Can Presentation Science Improve Your Presentation? Typography – It’s All About the Message in Your Slides
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Presentations on Requirements
We are often asked to present at local chapters of PMI, INCOSE and other professional organizations. If you missed those opportunities to attend in person, here is your chance to see the presentations!
The Formula for Project Success
Presentation at Alamo PMI on November 14, 2007. Download Presentation (PowerPoint Format) >>
Writing Defect-Free Requirements
During this presentation, Ivy addresses the common types of defects and avoidance and removal methods that can be put in place to rapidly improve the quality and timeliness of the requirements.
Presentation Ivy Hooks made at INCOSE 2005. Download Presentation (PDF Format) >>
What Happens with Good Requirements Practices
We’ve heard of the problems with bad requirements. We all have horror stories about the things that go wrong, the cost overruns, the schedule slips, the lost opportunities. What happens when you do it right. Some companies and government organizations are making requirement process changes and seeing some wonderful results. In this presentation, we look at what has been done and what has resulted from several real programs. We talk about the things that have worked best, things that did not get the expected results and things that have yet to be tried.
Presentation by Ivy Hooks at the RE01 conference held in Toronto, Canada 27 -31 August 2001. Download Presentation (PDF Format) >>
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Presentation tips.
"The mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working the minute you're born and never stops working until you get up to speak in public." (Unknown)
The quality of your presentation is most directly related to the quality of your preparation. Rarely will you have difficulties in your presentation due to being overprepared.
- If you are responsible for the promotion of your presentation, create an accurate, but inviting, description. Emphasize the relevance of the content to the audience.
- Include a statement in promotional materials on how participants with disabilities can obtain disability-related accommodations for the presentation. This statement will provide an example that may be adapted by participants to use in their own publications.
- Believe in the importance of your message.
- Visualize yourself giving a great speech.
- Organize your material in a way that is most comfortable to you by using a script, outline, notes, or 3 x 5 cards. Number them.
- Proofread all printed materials.
- Practice, practice, practice—by yourself or with someone. During practice sessions you can work out the bugs and add polish to your presentation. (Note: a rehearsal usually will run about 20% shorter than a live presentation; adjust your content accordingly.)
- As participants enter, consider providing them with 3 x 5 cards and asking them to write at least one question they have about the topic of the presentation. Read them silently as people settle in. Address the questions throughout the presentation and/or at the closing.
- Have a backup plan for delivering the presentation if all of your audiovisual materials become unavailable. Do not rely on technology to work.
- Test all audiovisual equipment. Practice using your presentation slides and other visual displays. If you are using a video, make sure it is set to the correct beginning point, at the appropriate volume and with captions turned on.
- Check the lighting. If you need to adjust it during your presentation, practice the adjustments before you begin. Consider showing someone else how to make the adjustments for you.
- Have a glass of water available for yourself.
- Think about questions that might be asked and rehearse brief, clear answers to each.
- Memorize the first few minutes of your presentation.
- Review your main points.
- Dress for success.
Create a Comfortable Learning Environment
"More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given." (Bertrand Russell)
- It is important to create a learning environment that is comfortable and welcoming.
- Arrive early and get a feel for the room, including its temperature, size, and overall set-up. Re-arrange furniture as needed.
- Warmly welcome participants, use eye contact and a welcoming posture, and thank participants for coming.
- For smaller groups, ask them to introduce themselves and indicate what they hope to learn. For larger groups, poll the audience, asking them to respond to questions related to your topic. For example, ask the audience, "How many of you have had a student with a learning disability in your class?" and then ask one individual to elaborate.
- Create a safe and nonthreatening environment where participants are not afraid to ask questions. Encourage them to share experiences and ask questions of you or other participants.
- Emphasize that everyone can contribute to the learning process.
- Clearly identify the objectives at the beginning of the session.
- Keep to the time schedule, but show that you value participant input by not rushing.
- Frame questions so that they are easy to understand.
- Do not criticize or allow audience members to criticize other participants.
- Maintain confidentiality and ask the audience to respect the privacy of other participants.
Manage Your Anxiety
"There are two types of speakers. Those who get nervous and those who are liars." (Mark Twain)
Nervousness before a talk or workshop is healthy. It shows that your presentation is important to you and that you care about doing well. The best performers are nervous prior to stepping on stage. Below are suggestions for assuring that anxiety does not have a negative impact on your presentation.
- Use nervousness to your advantage—channel it into dynamic energy about the topic.
- Remind yourself that you and the audience have the same goal, and, therefore, they want you to succeed as much as you do.
- Speak about what you know. Keeping your presentation within the realm of your knowledge and experience will build confidence and minimize nervousness.
- Focus on delivering your message, not on how you feel.
- Smile. Be relaxed, poised, and at ease on the outside, regardless of how you feel internally. Acting relaxed can help make you relaxed.
- Keep presenting! Your anxieties decrease the more presentations you give.
Create a Strong Beginning
"The greatest talent is meaningless without one other vital component: passion." (Selwyn Lager)
Keep your opening simple and exciting to engage your audience in your content.
- Consider using a short icebreaker activity.
- A tasteful, humorous commentary can be effective if related to the topic.
- Explain the purpose of your presentation in one sentence that is free of professional jargon and emphasizes what participants will gain.
- Start off with a natural pace—not too fast and not too slow—to establish a strong, positive image. Make a strong ending statement that reinforces the objectives of the presentation.
Incorporate Universal Design Principles
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius, 451 BC)
Model accessible teaching methods that your participants can use. Incorporate universal design principles to address the needs of participants with a wide range of knowledge, abilities, disabilities, interests, and learning styles. Examples are listed below.
- Use large fonts in your visuals. Make copies of slides available for participants.
- Be prepared to provide your materials in an alternate format, which may include electronic text, audio recording, large print, or Braille.
- Show captioned videos. If not available, provide a transcription of the content upon request.
- Arrange for a sign language interpreter if requested by a participant.
- Use a clear, audible voice. Use a microphone as needed. Face the audience at all times.
- Make sure the room is well-lit.
- Use multimedia in your presentation, such as videos, visual aids, props, and handouts.
- Demonstrate how to speak the content presented on slides and other visuals. For example, verbally describe graphs and cartoons.
Create a Dynamic Presentation
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." (Albert Einstein)
If your audience enjoys and remembers your presentation, it is because you presented it in a dynamic or compelling manner.
- Talk to your audience, not at them.
- Project enthusiasm for the topic without preaching. The majority of communication is nonverbal, so how you look and sound are vital.
- Present your material in a well-organized manner. However, be flexible to adjust to your audience. Let participants know if you wish to field questions during or after your presentation.
- Speak to the knowledge level of your audience. Define all terms they might not be familiar with.
- Choose your major points carefully and illustrate them with examples or stories.
- Incorporate real-life experiences into your presentations. Recruit students with disabilities or faculty to share their experiences. Ask audience members to share experiences and use these examples to illustrate key points or to answer questions.
- Role-play interactions between students and professors.
- Use natural gestures and voice inflection to add interest to your presentation.
- Address different learning styles by incorporating a variety of instructional methods that use a variety of senses (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic).
- Repeat questions participants pose to ensure that the entire audience hears and understands them.
- Redirect the discussion if it strays from the topic at hand.
- Postpone questions related to resolving specific or individual problems to private discussions later. Do not get locked into an extended dialogue with one person; move on to questions from other participants and offer more time to talk after the presentation.
- If people ask questions that you cannot answer, say that you will locate the answer and get back to them (and then do!), suggest appropriate resources that will provide the answer, or ask for suggestions from members of the audience.
- Give demonstrations.
- Never apologize for your credentials or your material.
- Tailor your topic to audience interests.
- Never read your presentation word for word.
- Talk clearly and in well-modulated tones. Avoid speaking too rapidly, softly, or loudly. Make sure that the ends of your sentences don't drop off.
- Maintain eye contact. It conveys confidence, openness, honesty, and interest. It also lets you know how the audience is responding to your presentation. In large groups, mentally divide up the room into sections, and then make eye contact with different people in each section on a rotational basis.
- Use hand gestures naturally, gracefully, and to emphasize points. When not gesturing, let your hands drop to your sides naturally. Keep them out of pockets, off your hips, or behind your back. Avoid fiddling with clothes, hair, or presentation materials.
- Maintain good posture, but do not be rigid.
- Occasionally move from one spot to another, stop, then continue to speak. Don't pace.
- Remember that adult learners have a wealth of experience; are goal oriented and appreciate outcomes more than process; have set habits, strong tastes, and little time to waste; have strong feelings about learning situations; are impatient in the pursuit of objectives, and appreciate getting to the point; find little use for isolated facts and prefer application of information; and have multiple responsibilities, all of which draw upon their time and energy.
Make Your Presentation Interactive
"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers." (James Thurber)
Avoid simply lecturing to your audience. Engage your audience in an active discussion.
- Listen attentively before responding to questions.
- Encourage interactions between audience members.
- Present an accommodation challenge and ask audience members how they would address the issue.
- Respectfully reflect back to people what you observe to be their attitudes, rationalizations, and habitual ways of thinking and acting.
- Allow plenty of time for questions. Address all questions within your presentation or direct participants to appropriate resources.
- Demonstrate or provide hands-on experiences with assistive technology.
- Give useful or entertaining prizes for responses from the audience or have a drawing for a larger prize at the end of the presentation.
- If your audience is small, ask members to identify themselves and their
- experiences and interests related to the topic.
- Involve the audience in a learning activity. People remember more of what you teach them if they are able to learn it via an activity.
- Ask audience members how they have used specific accommodations or worked with students with specific disabilities. Ask questions like, "Has anyone done this? How did it work for you?"
- Stimulate group interaction and problem-solving.
- Promote discussion to help participants integrate themes and key points.
Include a Group Activity
"Real prosperity can only come when everybody prospers." (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt)
Include a short activity that makes an important point and encourages participation and discussion. Here's one to try. Announce that you're going to have a five-minute activity, then ask your participants to choose someone sitting nearby and share with each other two things:
- One thing you are very good at.
- One thing you are not very good at.
Have the instructions written on a presentation slide or write them on a flip chart. Read the instructions aloud. Give participants three to four minutes (there will be a lot of laughter and lighthearted talk), and then say you're not really interested in what they do well; ask people to share things that their partner does not do well. (This usually ends up funny—participants enjoy sharing that he can't do math, he hates public speaking, she's not good at fixing things around the house.)
After the fun, make the point that, "You have experienced, in a small way, what a person with an obvious disability experiences all the time—that people first notice something they are not particularly good at (e.g., walking, seeing, hearing) and don't take the time to learn his or her strengths. A disability may impact 10% of a person's life, yet is considered a defining characteristic by others. We need to pay attention to what everyone, including those with disabilities, can do, rather than accentuating what they can't do." To emphasize the point ask participants to reflect on how they felt when you said you weren't really interested in what they do well.
This activity is short, fun, and effective. It addresses the issue of attitudes, yet does not have some of the negative elements of traditional simulations that leave people feeling like having a disability is an impossible problem with no solution. This activity is also good to use when talking about internal and external barriers to success for students with disabilities, which can include lack of self-advocacy skills (internal barrier), and negative attitudes or low expectations on the part of individuals with whom they interact (external barrier).
Incorporate Case Studies
"Learning is an active process. We learn by doing . . . Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind." (Dale Carnegie)
Have participants discuss case studies in small groups. At the end of this section are sample case studies that can be used in your presentation. They are all based on real experiences at postsecondary institutions. Each case study is formatted as a handout that can be duplicated for small group discussion. On the back of each activity sheet is the full description, including the solution actually employed. This version can be used for your information only or can be distributed to the group after the initial brainstorming has occurred. Participants can compare their ideas with the resolution in the actual case.
Address Key Points
"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic, and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Be sure that your presentation covers the most important content for your audience.
- Explain the legal requirements regarding accommodating students with disabilities in clear, simple terms. Make it clear that legislation, such as the ADA, provides broad statements about accessibility, but our judicial system ultimately decides what is legal or illegal in a specific situation.
- Explain the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities, faculty, and the disabled student services office.
- Describe specific situations that have occurred on your campus, including what was successful and situations that could be improved, and how.
- Demonstrate low-tech and high-tech accommodations, including adaptive computer technology.
- Explain how accommodations that are useful to students with disabilities can also benefit all learners.
- Provide information on campus-specific resources and procedures.
Provide Resources for Participants to Keep
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it." (Karl Marx)
Make sure that you provide your audience with information on which they can follow up after your presentation.
- Provide written materials of key content for future reference.
- Provide contact information and invite participants to contact you with questions after the presentation. Distribute business cards.
- For further exploration refer participants to The Faculty Room and to the Center for Universal Design in Education .
Conclude with a Strong Ending
"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own." (Benjamin Disraeli)
The most important and remembered words you speak are the last ones.
- Summarize key points.
- Consider concluding with examples that show the importance of providing educational opportunities for students with disabilities. One idea is to have an alumnus with a disability discuss how they navigated your campus, worked with the disability services office, received the accommodations they needed, graduated with a degree, and went on to succeed in employment.
- Empower your audience to use information you presented to improve access for and education of all students with disabilities.
Improve Each Presentation
"I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best." (Oscar Wilde)
Take steps to gain feedback about your presentation that will lead to improvements.
- Practice your presentation with colleagues or friends and ask for their feedback.
- Record your presentation for self-analysis.
- Evaluate your presentation through an anonymous written survey. Two examples of evaluation instruments are included on pages 188-190.
- Incorporate suggestions into subsequent presentations.
"When you can do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." (George Washington Carver)
In summary, to give effective presentations where participants gain valuable information in a dynamic way, make sure to:
- prepare well in advance
- incorporate universal design principles
- facilitate interaction, sharing of experiences, and creative problem?solving within the session
- promote a welcoming and non?judgmental learning environment
- Case Studies
IMAGES
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COMMENTS
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Be sure that your presentation covers the most important content for your audience. Explain the legal requirements regarding accommodating students with