L06: Graphics and PowerPoint with a Leadership Edge

 

 

Leaders need to know how and when to use graphics. Graphics improve presentations and documents, particularly if the material is primarily quantitative, structural, pictorial, or so complicated that it can be illustrated more efficiently and effectively with a visual aid than with words alone. Graphics will contribute to the success of your oral and written communication.

Recognizing when to use graphics: Graphics should not be gratuitous; they should always be purposeful. They are not meant to replace the speaker in any way. Leaders carefully focus on the content and design principles that when creating data or text chart for leadership presentation: Conveying messages clearly, and selecting the most effective colors and fonts.

Graphic should always be purposeful. They should add to the content of the presentation or the document. Specially, graphics should serve the following purpose:
            - Reinforce the message.

- Provide a road map to the structure of a presentation.

- Illustrate relationships and concepts visually.

- Support assertions.

- Emphasize important ideas.

- Maintain and enhance interest.

            For data charts to add to your presentation or document you first need to clarify your message and then you can determine the type and content of the graph that will add to, support, or explain that message best.

 

Question

1. What is the Graphics?

Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings, or other images.

Graphics can be functional or artistic. The latter can be a recorded version, such as a photograph, or an interpretation by a scientist to highlight essential features, or an artist, in which case the distinction with imaginary graphics may become blurred.

2. How to do when using Graphics and PowerPoint?

Follow these guidelines: Decide on your message, determine what information or data best supports it, and then decide how best to show that data graphically. Use graphics for the right reasons, such as to reinforce your message, to provide a road map of your presentations, and to support assertions. Select the right kind of graph to illustrate your message. Use integrity in selecting and designing all graphics, making sure any graphs do not distort the data. Keep your graphics simple. Use a title that captures the “so what?” of your slides so that your audience see immediately the message the graph is communicating.

Create your PowerPoint template or modify the standard ones so that the presentation reflects your personality or that of your company. Make the font size and any graphic images large enough for the audience to see even from the back of the room. Be careful with your color selections; go for contrast but be conservative.
Avoid overusing or misusing animation.

3. How to make an effective PowerPoint presentation?

1. Plan your content first: The first thing that presenters need to do is to ask these important questions before creating their presentation. What’s the purpose of your presentation? What do you want you audience to do because of your presentation? What message do you want to deliver that will help you achieve that purpose?

2. Use a plain background and remove any unnecessary detail: Delete that PowerPoint template. PowerPoint templates come from the mindset that PowerPoint slides are like documents and so should be branded. Templates add clutter and distract from the visual impact of a slide.

3. One idea per slide: Presenters must assure that slides follow good cognitive design principles. Something as simple as having only one main idea per slide makes a huge difference.

4. Support the headline with graphic evidence: Instead of bullets, support your points with graphic evidence. This can include photos, images, charts and diagrams.

5. You don’t always need a slide Not every point in your presentation needs a slide: You only need a visual aid in a presentation if you would need one in conversation.

6. Put detail in the handouts: This was the item that was recommended the most times! If you want to follow best practice, simply printing out your PowerPoint slides to create a handout is no longer an option.

L05: Leadership Presentations

 

 

In this chapter show about one of main skills of leader is public speaking. To do it effectively, there is a process called “Three P’s” that can help: Plan, Prepare and Present.

 

The first stage is Planning your Presentation: In the planning phase of developing your presentation, you need to:

(1) Determine your strategy;

(2) Analyze your audience;

(3) Select the medium and delivery method;

(4) Organize and establish your logical structure and;

(5) Round-Table Presentations. You should select the round-table approach any time you want to achieve one of the following: Encourage an informal, Interactive discussion and Receive input from audience members.

 

The medium and delivery method has many advantages and disadvantages. Some different mediums are Stand-up (no visuals), Roundtable, Stand-up (with presentation) and Impromptu presentations. The first section deals with developing the introduction, body and conclusion. Adding Graphics can add to presentation value. Next you should test the flow and logic flow smoothly. Editing and Proofing helps make sure the presentation to check the message is clear, concise, correct especially visual aids. Also practice the presentation out loud helps preparation.

 

The third stage is Present. When presenting, make sure you keep your nerves under control which can have a lot of fear for people. Keep eye contact with audience and look around to different people but not too quick. Our stance and gestures reflect attitude. It should be comfortable, relaxed stance and use hands but not too much. For voice and speech, try not to use “umm” or “uh” and speak loudly. Use Visual aids can deliver message better. To appear confident and project a positive ethos when presenting, you need to do the following:      

1. Focus your energy on your audience.

2. Create and maintain rapport.

3. Adopt a secure stance.

4. Establish and maintain eye contact.

5. Project and vary your voice.

6. Demonstrate your message with gestures.

7. Adjust pace of delivery based on the audience response.

 

Question

1. What the Steps to Planning an Effective Presentation?

1. Outline Your Objectives: The objective of your presentation will determine most of your substance; the simple act of writing down your objectives will make it that much easier to organize what you’re going to say and when you’re going to say it.

2. Gauge Your Audience’s Expertise: The next step is to determine how much your audience already understands about the subject you’re going to present.

3. Make an Outline: make an outline of all of the concepts that you’re going to cover in your present (use a mind map to organize).

4. Sequence Your Presentation: A good way to do that is to use a simple flowchart which lays out the order of the ideas that you’re going to present.

5. Determine What Visuals You Will Need: You probably won’t need a complicated visual for every single point of your presentation, but when it comes down to explaining something complicated, like how a business process works, then you’re going to want to support yourself with a good visual. Figure out which concepts are going to require a visual typically it’s the most complicated or important concepts which really need it. Go ahead and make a list of what sort of visuals you’re going to need.

 

2. How much time do you have to state your Presentation?

The number of arguments you present should be determined by the length of your presentation. It's better to cover a few, important, points in detail than present so many points that nothing is remembered. Always try to end a little ahead of time. This leaves you room to fully answer audience questions and concerns.Never, never, run longer than your allotted time. This is unfair to other presenters and quickly leads to audience discontent.

 

3. How to do when you getting nerves?

When it comes to presenting, nerves are inevitable. Letting them get the better of you is not. You need to develop a strategy for taking the focus off your nervousness and putting that energy to positive use. By controlling as much of the uncertainly as you can, you increase your confidence in your ability to deliver an excellent presentation. This confidence then counteracts your nerves and you create a positive cycle for yourself.

Nerves are not your enemy and you don't have to fear public speaking. For your next presentation, be knowledgeable, be well practiced and prepared, try out some physical relaxation techniques. Amaze yourself and impress your audience with your calm and cool delivery of a great presentation.

L04: Creating Written Leadership Communication

 

 

 

This is chapter is saying when business people creative a documents, make sure that you organized your content your documents, for a professional audience they expects order and logic in a documents.

When you are writing a letter, starting by starting your purpose, so your reader knows your reason for writing. In business world today, people are still using like letters, memos, E-mail, text message to communicate with. Author mentions people do make a mistake for business E-mail. For example: unclear subject line, sloppy grammar, spelling and punctuation, unfriendly tone.

Connecting with social network is a good way for us to consider carefully how we want to approach social media and how we wish to present ourselves in these public situations such as writing on a blog. Organizing the content coherently, A professional audience expects order and logic in a document; they expect it to make sense to them, to be coherent, which is what we want our communication to do.

By conforming to content and formatting expectations in correspondence, we will determine the actual content of our letters, memos, e-mails, and text messages based on our purpose, strategy, and audience but these types carry some expectations such as including expected content in reports, Professional audiences also have expectations for longer documents and reports.

Formatting written communication effectively is a very important method in writing your message. Formatting is used in creating a professional appearance for all of our written communication. The frequent using of headings and lists to break up the text, separate main ideas, and avoid long blocks of text will make our documents more attractive to others people.

A great way to make your writing clear is to make it concise. The clear writing should be direct to the point, and free of jargon, pomposity and wordy constructions. . A concise and confident style with an appropriate tone contributes to a positive ethos. In order to use the business language correctly you must avoid errors, errors affect a person’s creditability and may cause unwanted confusion and conflict later on in the process. This is highly unprofessional and must be avoided at all cost. To avoid these errors you must use traditional business grammar. This includes proper punctuation, proper business terms, correct spelling and avoiding improper or sexist language.

Question

1. How to practical Leadership Actions to Improve Communications?

1. Move “writing well” up the list of “important leadership skills. Leaders need to write is to help them develop and clarify their ideas. Much of what makes someone a good leader is his or her viewpoint and perspective.

2. Use writing privately to develop your way of looking at problems in a way that can most effectively be communicated to others. The writing process can help you understand your decision making methods in a deeper way. This makes it easier to teach your way of doing things to others. Often it will provide you with deeper insights into how you can make better decisions as well.

3. Help establish accountability with written communication. It gives people a specific reference and can help align everyone to the same goal.

2. How to Avoid Common Mistakes?

Because you write correspondence quickly, without the benefit of a professional editor or graphic designer to review it, you are more likely to make common mistakes that can discredit you, such as poor grammar, punctuation and spelling. Take time to proofread your own writing, and use the spelling and grammar check features of your software or e-mail programs.

Some common mistakes can have legal or ethical consequences as well. Mistakes of this kind might include omitting dates, names and necessary signatures; failing to use company letterhead or logo; and using inappropriate, exclusionary or gender-based language.

3. What is the importance of Headers and Footers?

Headers are the information and graphics at the top of the page that are not part of the text. Footers are the information and graphics at the bottom of the page. Normally there are two different headers and footers one for left pages and one for right pages with different information or graphics. Except for page numbering, the headers and footers will be the same throughout a module.

Headers and footers contain important page control information, which tells readers where they are in the manual and provides other important information about the module they are reading. This is particularly important when manual holders are adding new modules to the manual, or if the manual pages ever get out of order.

L03: The Language of Leaders

          

The goal of this chapter is to help you create a positive ethos through the effective use of language the use of the right words in the right way to achieve the outcome you intend. You reveal your ethos through the language you use. If you are unsure and lack confidence in your writing or speaking abilities, your choice of words, your style, and your tone will reveal it. If, on the other hand, you are confident in your ability to use the language of leaders, that confidence will resonate in your words and enhance your influence with all your targeted audiences.

 

In this chapter you will learn to do the following:
1. Achieve a positive ethos through tone and style.
2. Communicate in a style that is clear and concise.
3. Use business language correctly.
4. Employ efficient editing techniques.

Achieving a positive ethos through tone and style. To project a confident tone when you speak and when you write, you need to posses confidence not only in your knowledge on the subject but also in your ability to capture the content in the right words used in the right way. You want to sound confident and speak with authority. You want to be clear and crisp in your language yet not sound too harsh or brusque. The words you select and how you decide to combine them in sentences create your style as your tone, and through that tone, they make assumptions about your ethos. The tone, or what your readers perceive as your attitude toward them or toward the subject, influences the success of your message to such a great extent that you must always be aware of its impact.

Creating your writing is an important skill that involves practice and discipline. The key method to creating is proofreading and using computer tools to spell check and make grammar corrections for you. This will make you look professional and well manage.

The employing efficient and effective editing techniques are a very important skill that requires discipline and practice. The more control we have over the use of language, the greater our influence and our ability to achieve the leadership communication.

 

Question

1. How to Communicate Concisely?

To communicate concisely, avoid being redundant and giving out too much information. Focus on what you want to communicate and try to eliminate any unnecessary language. When more is said than is needed, your message can become lost in translation and the receiver may have to make assumptions. Some people will tune you out if you start to ramble. Chose specific, targeted words that help you focus in on your message effectively.

2. What the Successful Writing in Social Media Tips?

There are too many companies out there that don’t know how to write for social media, and these companies don’t see much social networking success. If you want to learn how to write effectively for social media, you need to use the following tips.

Don’t over share. Only push out the content that is the most important for your following to know, and keep the other stuff to yourself.

Don’t under share. You need to generate content on your social networks on a regular basis. Make sure to post regularly so that your audience knows you exist. If you don’t post, you’re not going to have a successful social media strategy.

Don’t sell directly. You should be using social media to establish yourself as an expert and provide valuable information to your audience.

Don’t bore. Make sure you’re providing content that will interest them not just you. And make sure that everything you share via social media contains value. When you share knowledge about your industry that they can use in their own lives that’s interesting.

Don’t go at it blindly. When you plan out your social media efforts, you’ll be able to create the right posts for the right audience that will provide you with your intended results.

3. What about Editing and Proofreading?

Editing is what you begin doing as soon as you finish your first draft. You reread your draft to see, for example, whether the paper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smooth, and your evidence really backs up your argument. You can edit on several levels.

Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread only after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.

L02: Leadership Communication Purpose, Strategy, and Structure

 

 

This chapter basically focuses on how to establish a clear communication purpose, develop your communication strategy, analyze your audiences, and organize written and oral communication effectively.

Strategy composes of two main actions. Firstly, determining the purpose, goals, or vision of what we want to achieve. Secondly developing how is the best to complete the purpose, goals, or visions. Effective leadership communication depends on your thinking and how you can plan strategically, understanding your audience, and structuring your communication with others in many different situations.

Goals to meet of professional communication are to inform, to persuade, to instruct, and to engage. People usually generate ideas by brainstorming, Idea mapping, asking the basic journalistic questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? , and build from the decision tree.

The decision tree is a way to break topic into this part so that you can see how the subtopics relate. In the next section the author giving us some good communication strategy. The first one is using a strategy framework, 2.creating an action plan, 3.Analyzing your audience, 4.expertise, 5.decision making-style, organizational context.

The main point of this chapter focuses on clarifying messages and developing communication strategies, both essential skills for anyone wanting to be a good leadership communication. And the general rule for professional communication is finding our purpose for writing or speaking.

Question

1. Why is Clarify Purpose so important (imperative)?

Because once the employee understands the full purpose of the company, their unit, and then their work, they will have a better understanding of how they can contribute to it. They will have a better understanding of how everything they do impacts the organization as a whole. They will be able to pinpoint ideas that may come about while working on a project or something else and know that by presenting them they are working on the purpose of the organization as a whole. It allows them to have vision and scope beyond just a single project.

2. Why effective communication is important in an organization?

Because it creates mutual understanding environment between the management and employees. Directly, it also helps in increasing the employee's productivity. Clear speech is important so the other person/people can understand what you are saying. If it is written information I believe it should include facts as well as opinions so it is not biased. It should be formal and simple to read. Your audience is the people who will read this so think of how they would see it and work from there. It gives a sense of direction to the workers as they now understand what they are to achieve through good communication staff motivation especially a two way communication ideas from workers who are closer to action it reduces the rate at which workers react to changes.

 

3. How to Communicating Effectively In Conflict?

1. Place yourself on even ground: Do not stand or hover over the other person. This creates a power struggle and pushes the conflict to another level. If they are sitting, you should sit with them.

2. Listen to the other party: Let them say how they feel. Wait until they are completely finished talking before beginning to speak yourself.

3. Speak in a calm voice: Don't yell or make accusations at the other party. Let them know you have heard their point and understand their side.

4. Don't try to finish the argument at all costs: If the person walks out of the room, do not follow them. Allow them to do so and let them return when they are calmer and ready to talk.

5. Don't try to get the last word in: Again, this could lead to a power struggle that may not end. Sometimes, you have to agree to disagree and move on.

6. Use "I" messages: When you're phrasing your concerns, try to start your sentences with "I...". This will make the other person more receptive to your complaints. For instance, instead of saying "You're sloppy and it drives me crazy," try "I feel like messiness is a problem in our relationship."

 

 

L01: What is Leadership Communication?

This chapter talked about the leadership communication which emphasized on establishing a clear purpose developing a communication strategy, analyzing an audience, and ensuring we use the most effective organization structure. In business section, we set the purposes or objectives and find the best way to accomplish them. It's the same meaning to the leadership communication.

 

We have to know what we like to communicate to the audience and determine how best to achieve the successful communication. First, we should have the clear purpose, and then generate the ideas by brainstorming, idea mapping, journalist’s questions and decision tree. The next step is determining the communication strategy. There are many components in the communication strategy framework that we need to consider. Let's begin with the context-what is happening when the messages are received. Then, we focus on purpose, message, medium/forum-the best channel for message delivery, spokesperson-the proper person to deliver the message and timing matter, audience, and feedback. Analyzing the audience is significant to determine how we can approach and shape the messages.

 

            Whenever we've clarified our purpose, conducted the audience analysis, and created the strategy, we're getting ready to choose the best way containing good organization to present our ideas to the audience by both written and oral. Selecting organizational devices, using the pyramid Principle, and creating a storyboard are the techniques for working out the logical and structured communicate.

 

Question

1. Why Leadership depends on Communication?

Effective leadership is still largely a matter of communication. An effective leader thinks about what he/she says, carefully crafting each utterance of any significance “effective leadership depends on effective communication”.

 

2. How a Positive Ethos is integral to Leadership Communication?

- Is the controlled, purposeful transfer of meaning by which leaders influence a single person, a group, an organization, or a community.

- Uses the full range of communication skills and resources to overcome interferences and to create and deliver messages that guide, direct, motivate, or inspire others to action.

 

3. How differences between leadership and management?

            A very big difference between leadership and management, and often overlooked, is that leadership always involves (leading) a group of people, whereas management need only be concerned with responsibility for things, (for example IT, money, advertising, equipment, promises, etc). Of course many management roles have major people-management responsibilities, but the fact that management does not necessarily include responsibility for people, whereas leadership definitely always includes responsibility for people, is a big difference.

 

            The biggest most fundamental overlap between leadership and management - there are many individual points - is that good leadership always includes responsibility for managing. Lots of the managing duties may be delegated through others, but the leader is responsible for ensuring there is appropriate and effective management for the situation or group concerned.

Introduce Letter: Introduce my self

Dawprakai Punyong
523 Buena Vista ave. #306
Alameda, 94501

August 29, 2012

Dr. Sylvia
Lincoln University
401 15th ST
Oakland, 94712

Dear Dr. Sylvia:

The main of writing this letter is to introduce my self, my name is Dawprakai Punyong. I was born in Thailand. I am the only child of farmer family in the country side at the north of Thailand. I graduated from Rajamangala University Chaing Mai Thailand with bachelor degree with a major in Business Administration.This is my semester student at attending MBA Program at Lincoln University.My major is Human Resource Management.

I have been in Bay Area for four years. I am very love this city,that people are kindness and friendly. I have a goal to get more experience at in a new country and finish MBA. When I finish the master degree, I would like to have my own business that also related to my home town in agribusiness product. I would like to do everything by myself to get my dream come true.

 

Sincerely,

Dawprakai Punyong