Presentation Project

This presentation project turned out to be a rewarding subject.  My career is in the information security field.  Part of my job is educating others about information security and how to protect yourself and the company's data.  I am leveraging this project with the presentation that I will give while together with our Corporate Security Group in a few weeks.  The previous presentation that I made for this summit two years ago belongs in the PowerPoint "hall of shame".  This class has already proven valuable to my career.  After evaluating my submitted presentation tonight, against the evaluation rubric, my presentation lines up well, but lacked at least in one area.

I created a logical flow from the start with the "Top 5 ideas" flow.  I began with a question and ended asking for any questions from the audience.  I grabbed the attention within the first 30 seconds by starting out with a question to the audience rather than introducing myself first. I asked questions and brought up issues to the audience to spark interest.  The illustrations that were used related to the subject of the awareness tip.  More information could have been given, but time restraints only kept his list to five (5) tips and little explanation. I did not clutter my presentation slides.  As a learning reflection, before I took this class, my presentation slides were created with too much clutter.  Although, I did not give any websites to reference to find more information. 

URL of my presentation:  http://my.brainshark.com/ISM3004-presentation-project-BRADSHAW-Security-Awareness-636682325

As I watched another student's presentation, they had background music during the presentation.  Background music should be at a very low volume to ensure the speaker is clearly heard.  I leaned on the safe side for my recording and did not have any background music playing.  The peer presentation that I watched gave a well presented Credits ending.  After I viewed theirs, I realized that mine lacked in detail.  I should have credited websites on where to validate claims.  

Week 5: Clear - Presentation Challenges

Giving a presentation to any size crowd can be a daunting task.  To make it a success and a great experience for both the audience and the presenter, there are several challenges the presenter must overcome.    All or most of the challenges can be aided by more preparation and learning.

One challenge is getting your point across without writing everything you are saying on the presentation slides.  While we want the audience to remember our words and message, it is best to not write it all out on your presentation slides.  Some outcomes of this are lost attention of the audience and difficulty reading because of small font size and high signal-to-noise ratio. The audience will stop focusing on your presentation and start losing your support.  It is critical to retain the audience's attention, so avoid the clutter and treat your audience as if you are watching your own presentation.

Another challenge, for a large majority, is presenting without showing your nervousness or anxiety.  This can be aided by relaxation breathing and most importantly preparation. Make sure you study the subject, plan, and practice. Ask for feedback and prepare in front of family or friends to practice.

I will actually be doing a presentation in front of my co-workers and colleagues during the second week of March , in three weeks.  There will be about 60-75 people in the audience.  I will be doing my presentation on security awareness, both physical and information security.  Taking this course is helping me prepare for and do well on the presentation.  There are several presentation "don'ts" that I have done in the past.  After watching this week's lectures and reading the related content, I have learned how to overcome some presentation challenges.

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