LC-0550 - Communication Skills D, Lecture, 26.10.2023-30.11.2023

Assignments for the extra study point, DL 15.12. Send everything to Rinna: rinna.toikka@aalto.fi

Please do both assignments!

Ask for more time if you need it.

1. Presentation analysis, 2-5 pages, write freely (in English, Finnish or Swedish), these are just some ideas:

Choose a presentation video to watch: a ted talk, a video presentation, what ever seems interesting to you. You could analyze these elements:

Speaker: Who´s the speaker? What´s their background? What´s the aim of the presentation / speech? What do you think of the speaker´s self-expression? (verbal and nonverbal)

Content: What´s the main point of the presentation / speech?

Audience: What´s the audience like? What kind of a target audience? How do they act in the situation? (If it´s possible to observe the audience.)

Context: Describe the physical environment and also the cultural context.

Analyze also the relations of these elements:

Speaker-substance: Does the speaker seem interested in the substance? An expert on the substance?

Speaker-audience: Is the speaker in contact with the audience? How? Does the speaker´s self-expression work for this audience?

Content-audience: Does the content work for this audience? Or to whom is the content meant for?

Speaker (&content) -context: Is the presentation / speech suitable for the context?

Send to: rinna.toikka@aalto.fi

2. Video presentation

Record a video presentation, 10-20min, in English, Finnish or Swedish. (You could also try pecha kucha if you´re interested.) 

A topic from your own field of studies. 

- Choose the topic and your point of view: what´s the main point and what do you need to leave out.

- Think about your audience: what does the audience know already? How specific do you have to be? You can focus on the audience on this course or you can think of some other audience. What´s their point of view? What´s interesting / relevant / exciting from their point of view?

- Try to be clear: if possible try to find a link to everyday life, use concrete examples and simple language. Use power points / prezi / something else: lose the text and use pictures if possible. Power points are for the audience and they should make the presentation easier to understand. 

- Plan a logical structure: how do you motivate the audience in the beginning? Be clear with your topic: what are we talking about and why? Plan also the end: what do you want the audience to remember?

- Watch your video and give yourself some feedback: a couple of positive observations and maybe something critical..? 

Send link + your own comments to: rinna.toikka@aalto.fi 

You could use for example panopto: panopto.aalto.fi