Procedures and Instructions (30 min)
–Procedures. I’ve noticed at Pitt that procedures are sometimes embedded right in the same policy document. But, one important thing to distinguish procedures from instructions is that procedures are often a bit more broad and are about more bureaucratic tasks. Instructions, by contrast, are for more concrete and material tasks, typically, without the same bureaucratic or legalistic aspect to it.
–Instructions: usually for smaller, more material, and simpler/less legalistic tasks.
Activity: Pick something that you do everyday or nearly everyday that can also be done in class today (and is appropriate!). Write out instructions to do it. Partner will then follow your instructions exactly and see if they were successful.
What are some design features of good instructions?
What are some stylistic (e.g., sentences, words) of good instructions?
What else should you consider when writing instructions?
Unit 2 In-Class Revision Work (30 min)
Break (10 min)
Presentations (20 min)
On Tuesday (7/30), your group will present on some of the deliverables you will submit to me a few days prior (Sunday, 7/28). The aim here will be to inform the company on your progress and to solicit feedback for ways to revise or improve your written material.
Right now, I want to spend some time going over some important aspects of presentations in workplace settings and how they might be different from ones you give in class.
The BWE chapter groups workplace presentations under the following:
- Informational
- Persuasive
- Instructional
WW adds the following:
- Goodwill/Ceremonial (Think: gala, awards, company party). The product release party will probably be a combination of this genre of presentation and the “persuasive”–since the PR team will be trying to frame our product as something worth buying.
We will be doing more of the “informational” version on Tuesday, but for all versions, many important elements are key:
- organized format of presentation
- engage with audience (since these presentations are about getting feedback)
- Much like good document design, presentations can work in the same way: use verbal and visual cues to let your audience know the different “parts” of the presentation.
- use clear transitions for next point next speaker (e.g., “…and that is why this is relevant to Cheryl’s presentation that follows, so I’ll let her take over from here”)
- hook at beginning to display exigence
- clear agenda for presentation
- not reading off of slides and looking at audience at least periodically,
- stay within time limit
- purposeful visuals (if using visuals)
- visual materials are easy to follow / accessible. Less is often more here!
- speaks clearly and audibly
- clear “next steps” or questions for audience
- It is okay to have notes, but do not read off of your notes. Use them as a tool for comfort and to reorient yourself if you lose your place. Which leads us to…
Being confident and clear is much better than being perfect. Especially for professional presentation (may different across industries!) being a bit conversational can be a good thing. Conversations involve speaking mistakes and powering through it, even acknowledging it briefly, rather than harping on it.
People want to be engaged rather than talked at, especially if you are in a setting where you are presenting to 5-10 people, which will probably be more common for you than speaking to 20, 50, or 100 people.
For group presentations, you’ll either have something integrated or something divided (which is often more of a spectrum than two discrete categories).
WPC Project Work (45-60 min)
Let’s start with quick updates to the larger group. Then, let’s get into our teams. Start planning next steps, organizing presentation, have a specific plan and person to submit deliverables by Sunday.