Select one of the scenarios below:
- Select a current technological innovation for business use and report it to company’s top administrators (you select the company). You will describe the innovation and point out how it will benefit the company. If appropriate, you may recommend its purchase.
- A national chain of (your choice) is opening an outlet in your city. You have been assigned the task of reviewing site possibilities. Gather the pertinent information and make an oral recommendation to the board of directors.
- As a buyer of women and/ or men clothing, report to the sales personnel of your store on the fashions for the coming season. You may get the necessary information from publications in the field.
- The top administrators of your company have asked you to look into the matter of whether the company should own automobiles, lease automobiles, or pay mileage costs on employee-owned automobiles. (Automobiles are used by sales personnel). Gather the best available information on the matter and report it to the top administrators. You may make up any company facts you need, but make them realistic.
- Survey the major business publications for information about the outlook for the national or world economy for the coming year. Then present a report to your entrepreneurship class.
- You’re one of a group of students who have been selected to go to China (or pick another country) to represent your school at a conference. Prepare a report to give to the group that will prepare them to behave appropriately in this culture.
- Look through current newspapers, magazines, and the Web to find the best available information on the job outlook for this year’s college graduates. You will want to look at each major field separately. You also may want to show variations by geographic area, degree, and schools. Present your findings in a well-organized and illustrated oral report.
Carefully plan your report to be between 15 to 20 slides long. Support your presentation with PowerPoint slides that have the following:
An introductory slide to identify your company.
An overview slide, listing the topics your talk is going to cover.
A slide for each main section of your talk.
A closing slide with the main point you want to leave with people.
The following kinds of information might be appropriate to include in your presentation:
Company’s outputs (products/services); the industry to which it belongs.
Company’s size (dollars in sales/revenue; number of employees), ownership, financial health.
Company’s plants/facilities/location.
Company’s history (how founded? When? By whom? Main achievements and/or crises in the company’s history?).
Company’s structure (if possible, include an organizational chart at the end of the report and refer to it in your report).
Company’s employees (labor force, unionized or not, kinds of expertise, values).
Company’s position in its industry or main competitors; company’s market/customers.
Company’s culture/missions/policies/management style/work environment.
Current problems/challenges facing this company.
Checklist #1: Preparing Presentation Slides
Questions about the presentation as a whole:
Is there an attractive, clearly worded, readable title slide?
Does the writer make good use of an outline slide?
Is it titled effectively, and are the items in the list of topics grammatically parallel?
Do the slides seem to cover all the important information?
Do the slides seem to be in the most logical order?
Is there a final slide that sums things up or leaves people with a significant thought or finding?
Does the whole presentation have a consistent look?
Questions about every slide:
Is there a strong contrast between the background and the text color?
Is there any type that is too small to be read? (Remember, no typeface should be smaller than 24 points.)
Conversely, is any type too big (yelling)?
Is any typeface hard to read (as with italics or too fancy a font)?
Is there too much or too little information on any slide?
Should any slides be combined or divided up?
If a topic is covered in more than one slide, the title on the subsequent slides should include “(cont’d).” Is every slide accurately/informatively titled?
Has the writer managed the hierarchy of the information well (not using more than two levels of information and making clear which is on the top level and which is on the secondary level)?
Are all headings on the same level grammatically parallel?
Are items in all lists grammatically parallel? Is the wording on each slide clear and grammatically correct?
If there are borrowed facts or quotes, are the sources named clearly on the slides? Is each slide visually clean and attractive?
Should/could the writer add visuals anywhere?
Are all visuals appropriately used and clearly labeled?
Are the dynamic elements (e.g., slide transitions) appropriate for the topic and audience?
Should you use more or less animation at any point?