General notes
As Prof. Alonso noted in class, the questions and comments that your group received today reflect the gaps in your presentation’s argument .
- Anticipate the types of questions raised by your group’s problem/concepts/solutions!
- Define your terms: kairos, public-private, gentrification, etc.
- Make sure that your reason for the choice of a case study is clear to your audience.
- When you offer a solution that includes, for example, government aid for small businesses, remember that the policy may be received as a political argument (i.e. opposed by those who believe that the government should not interfere in markets or favor certain types of businesses).
Some stylistic notes
All graphics and visual aids should include a caption with brief description and attribution. Make sure that you have the correct information for the type of visual aid included in your slide: photographs have captions, if showing a map with different colors then it should have a legend, and charts should define the x- and y-axis.
In general: long quotes from external sources deserve their own slide for maximum comprehension. Importantly: if you don’t refer to the visual(s) included in your presentation slide (quote, photo, graph) then don’t use that slide.
This is a serif font. This is a sans serif font. Serif font. Sans serif font. Why is this important, again?
Public speaking resource
“Average Speaking Rate and Words per Minute” explains the importance of (spoken) words per minute (wpm) to increase audience comprehension, ways to figure out your wpm, and examples of wpm for common formats so you can better understand the impact of speed, spacing, and comprehension. Did you know conversations range from 120-150 wpm but presentations should be about 100-150 wpm? I did not!
Finding archival images
Search tip: start with a broad search (“east village,” “bus service,” etc.) and use the results to gradually narrow your search (“protesters in east village,” “flatbush avenue”).
- New York Transit Museum Online Collections
- Village Preservation (GVSHP) Image Archive
- Museum of the City of New York – Online catalog
- NYC Parks Dept. Archives
- NYC.gov – Dept. of Records and Information Services
- New York Public Library Digital Collections
- Library of Congress
Don’t forget to add captions to your graphs, photographs, and visuals
In general, a brief caption should explain what is shown and source of the image. Check these sites to come up with some general principles for your presentation:
Universal Design Learning
“ITF Post: Make Your Presentation More Accessible” published just this morning! Includes documents with examples, tips, instructions, and checklists. You aren’t expected to follow all the guidelines for your Seminar 4 presentations but many of the tips, such as always using a font size of at least 20 pt, serve as solid principles for presentation design and using visual aids.
