Thank you for all the response that I have received (plus 22 o-u-t o-f o-f-f-i-c-e messages ;-). I have posted this following: --------------------------------------------------------------------- There are several courses that requires the student to prepare a 10-15 minutes presentation. For example, to present an article from an MIS Journal. Unfortunately, the audience (also students) often neither pay attention nor having a difficult time to understand the presentation. Therefore, I would like to get opinions about how to write an interesting MIS presentation. Any clue is welcomed: Web URLs, tips, tricks, etc. I will also accept Power-Point files of presentation examples. I am going to write a summary of the responses to this list. *** PLEASE LET ME KNOW, IF YOU WOULD RATHER BE ANONYMOUS *** --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Metcalfe wrote: Poltak, I would suggest you provide formal guidelines to the students on how to critique an article. Seeking its argument and supporting evidence is an ancient and honourable way. I have put this in table form at http://business2.unisa.edu.au/cobar/researchgroups/irg/phd_examination_articles.htm under CritiquePhD (so it needs a bit of editing for an article critique). Perhaps also see a related page: http://business2.unisa.edu.au/cobar/researchgroups/irg/irg.htm This has some rough notes (.pdf) called "11 ways to critique an article" which provides other critique approaches. Else set up debate between the students... one student argues that the conclusion to the article was well justified (convincing) in the body of the article, while the other argues it was not well justified. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Carol Saunders wrote: Poltak, I'm not sure about the background of your students. Are they business students? Are they sophomores? seniors? grad students? One approach that worked for me is to have the students (seniorsin a B-School) prepare a presentation about an article to their boss who wants a summary of the article and its implications to the business (they had to give me background about the business). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Helen Richardson wrote: This is a presentation on research methodology, we used the metaphor of Lord of the Rings. We decided, as the message of part of the paper was to use alternative methods to present data, that we would only use images and a movie clip to emphasise the point, of course we also used humour too. Perhaps using a metaphor or having no words may have more impact for your students. (Attached is a 5 MB Powerpoint file which will be sent on demand). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Tingling wrote: I too have struggled with this. In the end I decided to take an cue from industry. I evaluate students on the extent to which their presentations are interesting and engage the audience (students) and then leave it up to them. I remember when I was in industry a friend telling me that "it doesn't matter what you are saying if no one is listening" and so I usually tell students the same thing. I advise students to carefully consider the topic and audience - in my classes students do two presentations a short informal one and a longer formal "consulting style" presentation. I also have other students evaluate each presentation and then provide feedback on their evaluation based upon how well their suggestions are specific, actionable, results oriented. measurable, feasible, practical, complete and applicable. If they have general comments - which are also good, they must have specific examples. This forms part of their grade and so they are motivated to do well. Here are the forms that I use. I have different standards for each course and type of presentation. In my strategy capstone course I have the students take the roles of board members and evaluate them on reasonableness and consistency of their answers. For example if they rate an average presentation as 95% (which has happened) or if the rate a presentation as very good but likelihood of using these consultants as low (which is a common occurrence in all classes - even my MBAs). I find that it helps provide insight on how important (and difficult) it is to provide good effective feedback. I type up all of the forms and then give them to the students so that the feedback is totally anonymous (except for mine). I hope this is useful and helps. I am also looking for new ideas and so will appreciate hearing how others tackle this difficult problem. URLs: http://www.geocities.com/lumbanbulus/group-evaluation.pdf http://www.geocities.com/lumbanbulus/presentation-evaluation.pdf --------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric Overby wrote: I have created a PowerPoint file available at my web page regarding my thoughts on the proper (and improper) use of PowerPoint. I think that one of the reasons that the student audience doesn't pay attention to presentations is ineffective use of PowerPoint, i.e., the presenter just summarizes his talk on a bunch of slides without considering how the presentation can enhance the talk. As a result, the presenter ends up reading the slides to the audience, which often leads to boredom. The file on my web site discusses that. It is not specific to MIS, but it applies to MIS topics. The link is http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~eoverby/files/overby_use_of_PPT.ppt --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Du wrote: One suggestion that I have found useful for increasing participation and peer appreciation, is to ask all students to provide feedback to the presenters both in written and oral format. You can prime this by specifying feedback categories such as: something I liked, something to improve, and something I learned. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mari W. Buche wrote: I have been moderately successful in getting away from the boring, canned presentations. For two weeks before presentations are scheduled, I remind students that they will be graded on creativity and how well they engage the audience. (I have about 15-20% of the points allocated to creativity.) I tell them that a boring "talking head/PowerPoint" presentation will receive no better than a B grade. I also give them some suggestions on how to make their presentations more interesting (avoid having more than 40 words per slide; use 20 point font or larger; use color and graphics appropriately; limit use of animation and sounds). For example, one group with "Technology use in Space" as their topic, came to class early and stuck glow-in-the-dark stars all over the classroom. During their presentation, they turned off all the lights and showed images from the Hubble space telescope. It was like we were in a planetarium. There were many "ohs" and "ahs" from their classmates. Sometimes the students choose to videotape interviews - like a documentary. From now on, I plan to limit their slides to ten. (Introduction/Cover Slide, Agenda/Overview, 7 (maximum) of Context, and Summary) That will force them to spend more time on the content than on preparing slides. I stress that PowerPoint is to be used to enhance the presentation's content. Hope you find something useful in my experiences. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dennis Viehland wrote: For a tutorial on how to write a business plan, I included a lesson on "How to Make an Effective Business Plan Presentation". Despite its title, much of the content applies to any presentation. The lesson is online at http://myphliputil.pearsoncmg.com/student/bp_turban_introec_1/PlanPres.html It includes Fundamentals (eg, know your target audience, timing counts), Content Suggestions, Presentation Suggestions, and Resources for further information. I look forward to seeing what others contribute in a reply to your request. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Someone else wrote: Suggest attending Toastmasters http://www.toastmasters.org/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kari Chopra wrote: I missed your original request, but a friend of mine at the Office of Naval Research said their new director "suggested" they all read the following book to punch up their presentations: Weissman, J. "Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story." Prentice Hall, 2003. Here's the book's page at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130464139/102-8463689-8354510 Hope that helps, --------------------------------------------------------------------- [BACK]