Reflection on Reading Assignment #7

Chapter 11

Visual aids are used in oral presentations to help deliver the presentation clearly and simply. When done correctly, visual aids make all the difference; when done incorrectly it can ruin a presentation and confuse the audience.  Visually rich presentations always contain three major elements on each page: (1) text, (2) graphics, and (3) space, and all three are very important.  In my opinion, the most important visual aid is color.  Correctly using color to portray the right mood is important.  For example, you would use bright attractive colors on a flier advertising for a carnival or circus, and darker colors for a funeral program.

Chapter 12

In business, professionals depend heavily on oral presentations to successfully do their work.  Oral presentations are used for many different business purposes, and must be prepared carefully.  The most important aspect in my opinion to an oral presentation is having an effective opening to hook the audience and get them engaged.  If you lose the audience at the beginning of your presentation, you are going to have a hard time getting your message across to your audience. Team presentations also take a lot of work and careful planning.  Team members must have successful flow and transitions in between speakers, and all members of the team need to remain attentive throughout the presentation.  In the business world, oral communication is a daily skill everyone needs, and is particularly important in giving oral presentations.  

This is my final blog entry for the semester.  Here is a survey I have created.  I am curious to see the classes overall view of the class.  It will only take a minute.  
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R7P6LVB

Reflection on Reading Assignment #6

Chapter 6
Writing Business Correspondence: This chapter explained how to properly exchange messages between business people, typically be emails, memos, and letters.  I was not aware that there was a proper way to address different audiences in the business world when writing a correspondence, however, this is why we read the book!  When planning your correspondence, there are three things you need to do.  First, identify the purpose of the message, second, analyze the audience, and third, develop a strategy for accomplishing the purpose.  When we are writing the message we need to be clear, complete, correct, and compelling.  In relation to the 4 C's, we need to determine whether the letter is a good-news message or a bad-news message.  If it is a good news message we should take a more direct approach, however, a more indirect agenda is better for bad-news messages and for messages that require strong persuasion.  The most important aspect to take into account when writing business correspondence is your audience.  As the writer, knowing how your audience understands the subject and how they feel about it will help you know how to persuade them and get them to do what you want.

Conveying the right message can often be a difficult thing to do, but understanding and applying the principles taught in chapter 6 are a great place to start.  Master these principles, and you will feel empowered as you persuade people to do exactly what you want!  My friends and I wanted to become youtube famous for our Harlem Shake video; however, I don't think we captured the attention of our audience wit this silly video.