Persuasive Presentation Design and Delivery
Due: Week 9 (Weight: 25%)
“The art of communication is the language of leadership.” — James Humes
For this assignment, you will apply the practices of planning, creating, and delivering an impactful professional presentation. Identify an important topic for your role, company, or industry. The topic should be something you care about and something you want to persuade your listeners to do something about.
For example, you may want to:
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• Address your company’s executive leadership team about relaxing your office dress code
• Persuade your department head to reconsider their remote work policy
• Convince your boss that you deserve a promotion to your company’s leadership team
Think carefully about how to define the major objectives of your presentation so that you can design and deliver your presentation with those objectives clearly in mind.
Note: Click the Zoom menu link in this course for information on using Zoom.
Instructions
Follow the steps below to prepare your slide deck and create your video presentation in Zoom:
1. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation slide deck for a topic of your choice related to your workplace or career interests. It should be designed to persuade your listeners to act on your words. It is recommended that your slide deck contain no more than 12 slides, including a Cover slide and a References slide if needed.
2. Apply slide design best practices: use brief slide headings and minimal text, include images and/or charts, and format your slides professionally.
3. Deliver a presentation with a time limit of 6 to 8 minutes, using Zoom. The video must include both you and your slides. The main focus is you, the speaker, with the slides providing support for your ideas and overall message.
4. Be sure to utilize and to exhibit all the presentation and video best practices listed below.
Presentation and Video Best Practices
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o Include a PowerPoint cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date.
o Slide deck is well structured, with informative slide titles, a logical order of topics, and effective opening and closing slides. It uses minimal text, includes illustrative images and/or charts, and employs consistent formatting.
o Speaker states clear objectives at the beginning and closes with an appropriate proposal, call to action, or other indication of next steps.
o Presentation delivery is targeted and succinct, with a clear flow of ideas and a persuasive impact.
o Speaker has a confident and engaging manner, strong executive presence, and a professional appearance. They exhibit energy and a passionate sense of purpose.
o The video is recorded in a neutral, quiet setting that does not distract the audience. Both the setting and the presenter’s appearance are businesslike and professional.
Assessment Criteria
Your video assignment will be assessed using the below criteria:
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• Slide deck is clear and well structured, using design best practices. It serves as an effective visual aid to support the presenter’s objectives. If research was completed, a References slide is included at the end, using the formatting in the Writing Standards Guide located in Course Documents.
• Presenter delivers an impactful opening statement that expresses clear objectives and uses a hook to engage the audience.
• Speaker communicates ideas in a targeted and succinct manner. They establish a strong connection with the audience and achieve a persuasive impact that supports the objectives.
• Speaker delivers an engaging presentation, exhibiting a strong executive presence, an authentic tone, energy, and a passionate sense of purpose.
• The video, recorded in Zoom, has a professional look and feel – i.e., appropriate business attire; effective distance to computer and angle; a setting with neutral, non-distracting surroundings.
• Video shows both the presenter and slide deck, and it adheres to the 6 to 8-minute time limit.
