Sample Power Point Presentation - Writing Tools

Here is a sample Power Point presentaion that I've done up, and which you may use as a guide for the quantity of words to put on a slide. Also, please be sure to check to make sure that the images you choose to include on your slides correspond to the written content. Be careful of overcrowding the slide.

Two final tips:   

1. Check the word order of your sentences: Subject + Verb + Object; these three elements always go together, except for one context (adding emphasis: Only if my sister comes, will I go to the cinema, too).  Most of the time:  The light will go inside the lamp shade.  

2. Please, check your spelling. There is a spelling check on all computers, be it in the power point app, or Word. Just be sure to 'impostare' your langauge to English. Use Google, the Longman Dictionary (www.ldoceonline.com ) , or an Italian-English dictionary, also because they will tell you if you need a preposition or not  (e.g. ask someone a question.... not...  ask to someone a question. )

Design Thinking: TED Talk & Creative Challenge for December 12, 2018

Today, (Dec. 5, 2018) we watched a TED Talk about the Design Thinking Approach to life by a speaker who's named Elise Roy.

Ms. Roy is deaf and she used to be a lawyer for disability rights. Then, she discovered that she really loved design and could help not only deaf people, but all people with her unique perspective on the world. 

Listen to the 13 minute talk here, and use the subtitles if you need to.

Elise Roy's TED Talk "When we design for disabilities, we all benefit."

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2m97gPI70I 

CREATIVE CHALLENGE FOR DECEMBER 12, 2018

IN PAIRS, OR SMALL GROUPS OF 3-4 STUDENTS:

Use the DESIGN THINKING APPROACH to understand another way to use the BAULI Pandoro cylindrical box.  You are free to decide what to do. If you do not want to/ whish to buy a BAULI Pandoro, you may draw out your ideas.  BE PREPARED TO ORALLY PRESENT YOUR RESULTS IN CLASS ON DEC. 12.

1. Define the problem.  You may decide which kind of problem needs attention.
    This may be something local -neighborhood, city, country-, ultra local (your university, home, car), or global (refugees' & migrants' needs, victims of natural disasters, pollution, traffic congestion, etc.).
       It may be a problem that is connected to your daily life (charging phones, a need for a solar panel base for electronic device charging, or something similar). You are free to decide which 'need' could be fulfilled by your re-purposing of the Bauli Pandoro box. 

2.  Empathize. 
   Know your end users and in which context(s) they would be using your repurposed design. Ask yourself: How will this design make it easier for them?

3.  Ideation.
Generate as many ideas as possible. Bring this 'list' or the 'sketches' of your ideas to class. Remember also Tina Seelig's advice to brainstorm and framestorm. 

4. Prototype & Test.
Try your idea(s) out on family and friends. Any kind of feedback can help you decide in which direction to take your prototype(s).

5.  Implementation & Sustainability. 
Use the new design yourself. Is it durable? Will it last?  Offer it to someone else (family members or friends) to try out. Get feedback. That will prove if your design can be sustainable in both senses of the word: long lasting & good for the environment.         

Article & vocabulary to study for the QUIZ 12 December

We read this article today, titled "How to Write the Perfect Email According to Experts" by Rachel E. Greenspan, as published on Time Magazine's website on Nov. 1, 2018:

http://time.com/5419425/how-to-write-perfect-email-experts/?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-share-article&utm_content=20181119 

 Based on the article, we shared experiences and stories about email writing, as well as the difference between Miss (for young girls), Ms (a neutral label good for all women in the professional world), and Mrs. (usually used for your friends' moms who are married). 

As we read through the article, we discovered 11 (eleven) vocabulary words that were new, or confusing for us. I will list them below, and WE WILL HAVE A QUIZ ON THEM NEXT WEEK, IN ADDITION TO A FILL IN THE GAP EMAIL. 

If you are unsure of what a word means and in which context to use them, please refer to our favorite dictionary, The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online at this website:  www.ldoceonline.com 

WORDS TO STUDY FOR THE QUIZ ON DECEMBER 12, 2018

1.  a feat

2.  to amp up something

3.  a tried-and-true way (of doing something)

4.  to sign off

5.  to err on the side of...(something )

6.  peer-like

7.  succinct

8.  to leverage

9.  to build rapport / to build a rapport

10.  to pledge  to do something

11.  to scold someone for doing something

Writing Project Pitches: What NOT to do and What TO DO

Here are some excerpts from the "Starbucks" pitch that we analyzed in class, with comments on what not to do.

What is the client's business objective?  (If this is a business document that you are preparing to give to the client, who will read it, you should not label it with an anonymous 'client.'  Use the client's brand name, business name, or organization name. Be professional. You may also simply label this section as "Objective")

Starbucks asked for help from our agency to make the decision to open a chain of stores in Italy, as in other European city centre, like Parigi, Madrid, Berlino o Londra, already present.  To achieve this goal, we will carry out a survey in Italy. 

    1.  "asking for help" sounds a bit immature.  Instead, say "Starbucks contacted us to investigate the possibility of opening a chain of stores in Italy. "

     2. Check for singular-plural forms:  "other....city....CENTRES"     
     3.  Check to make sure your Word formatting program is set in English, so it doesn't autocorrect words like "Berlino" or "Londra" which should be in English.   Clearly, the students who produced this document did not take the time to REREAD IT. Would you give a project pitch in Italian to clients if it had spelling errors?
     4. This project pitch begins by saying they will do a survey to discover if the market conditions exist for a successful Starbucks opening. BUT THE REST OF THE DOCUMENT DOES NOT DISCUSS HOW, WHEN, WHERE THE SURVEY WILL TAKE PLACE. It talks about many other marketing strategies, but it doesn't really mention surveys again.  BE SURE TO READ YOUR PROJECT PITCH TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT YOU SAY AT THE BEGINNING MATCHES WITH WHAT YOU SAY IN THE MIDDLE AND AT THE END. 

When you write a project pitch, remember to DO these things, so you may avoid what not to do:

1. Use a professional format and tone throughout the document. Remember this is a document you will be giving to clients. They will keep it and use it as a way to decide if they should work with your agency.  (some word processing programs have 'modules' already formatted)

2.  Set your word processing program to English (imposta lingua) to avoid any typographical, or autocorrect errors. Use the spell check, but check that the right word is used in the right context because computers cannot tell if the word is correct for that context (e.g. they're, their, there).

3.  Be consistent. Make sure your introduction content matches with the explanation in the other sections. Sometimes, it's easier to write the introduction and background AFTER you've explained your idea(s) and targets. So, leave the introduction and background for the last thing you write. 

4. BACKGROUND TO THE ISSUE does not mean instruct someone about the brand history. Remember, you'll be giving this document, hypothetically, to a representative from the brand - your client. They will already know about the brand history. 

Use the guidelines I posted here on November 20, 2018.  If you follow the Question & Answer method in your written project pitch, you may find it easier to be consistent with your information. 

5. If you've worked with the client before, be sure to explain on what project and IF ANYTHING FROM THAT EXPERIENCE IS USEFUL TO KNOW FOR THIS ONE. For example, maybe based on a previous experience with the client  and a communications project you did for them, you discovered that most of your target prefers Instagram to Snapchat. So, for this project, Snapchat will be excluded from any kind of social media campaign.  

6. It's OK to add prototypes of web/social media pages, or to include links. We all live a digital lifestyle nowadays, so it's likely your client will be reading the project pitch on a phone, or other electronic device. 

7.  Use a dictionary to check for how to use certain words. Any kind of dictionary will work: Italian-English, or an English one. Be careful of Google Translate. It's not always perfect, whereas a  dictionary is. 

• Longman:  www.ldoceonline.com
• Merriam- Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/
• Oxford Dictionaries: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ 
• Italian-English Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/it/dizionario/italiano-inglese/

 

Teamwork, One Marshmallow, and Report Writing

https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower?language=it 

After you participate in the Marshmallow Challenge, write a report about it. Reflect on teamwork, and your role in the process. Make recommendations and suggestions for improving the collaborative/teamwork process. 
 ---------------------------------------------

Report Writing. When writing a formal report about a project, proposal, progress, or research findings for work, use formal language (avoid contractions and slang; introduce terminology in full form first, then with abbreviations later: Augmented Reality…AR), and check your punctuation, and spelling. Follow these organizational guidelines to help you.

Report Writing: Organization & Content

1. Title  (not too short, not too long).  Remember to ensure it communicates your topic and purpose. 2. Introduction & Purpose:  In the introduction, give a little background about why the study/project was requested, who is/ was on your team, team roles/responsibilities, and the purpose or objective that was requested. 3.  Main Results:  Explain the principle outcomes of what you learned based on your project or research, marketing focus group, or survey. 4.  Secondary Results:  This category of results may not always apply. In the case they do, they may include surprising, or unexpected information. 5. Recommendations  & Conclusion:  How can you interpret the results? How might they be applied to the company’s purposes, or business objectives? Add suggestions and examples of how to enact those suggestions where possible and relevant. 6.  Appendix with list of research results (graphs, statistics, etc.), if necessary.  Use a graph to visually represent your information. It is a strategic way to help readers remember.

B. Practice: read the following sentences from a report about color theory and new packaging for a brand. Which sections (1-6) from Exercise 6A do they correspond to?

__   Based on the survey results, we discovered that many of our customers under the age of 40 (male or female) enjoy using our social media pages.  The results also clearly show that there is a lot of interest in using augmented reality (AR), so our customers may interact with our products, and packaging in a virtual way. This may result in increased sales since customers may post, or repost online comments about their virtual experiences with our packaging and products. We highly recommend investigating how to implement AR, as well as estimating a timeline in which to deliver AR to our customers.

__  Our main objective was to contact our primary target audience, who has been active on our website and social media pages to gather reactions about our new packaging design and shape.

__  Fig. 1 Graph representing users between the ages of 16-24, Fig. 2 users aged 25-40.

__ Online Survey Results: Color Preference in Packaging.

__ One remarkable result from this survey is that all users between the ages of 16-40 are active online, and would prefer using some kind of AR to interact with our packaging.

__ Two months ago, at the monthly meeting, the executive committee requested that I (Sally Johns) set up a team to investigate reactions to our new packaging colors and shapes. Harold Jones created the survey, Jordi Frank collected and graphed results, and I interpreted them, as well as wrote this report.

C.   Sample Report:

Marshmallow Challenge

Introduction & Purpose: what is the marshmallow challenge?

The task of this challenge, theoretically, is simple: in twenty minutes, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one meter of tape, one meter of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow needs to be on top of the structure. This challenge was presented to us during the Business English course.

Main Results of our team

After having briefly consulted on how to proceed, we decided to take advantage of all the elements at our disposal, even outside of those we received. What is the highest thing in this room? The ceiling, of course.
So we began to hang the string on the roof and we tied the other end to a pile of spaghetti in a sort of a “Marshmallow Tower”. The most beautiful and most solid tower ever built. The idea was mine, but it would never have happened without the help of my team.

Secondary Results

As expected, our structure was the highest compared to others built by other groups. In particular, a team that has tried to copy us, failed.  They did not calculate their time well enough.

Recommendations & Conclusion

Despite the excellent result, improvement is always possible. For future similar situations, it would be a good idea to be more focused in the planning phase, without being overly guided by instinct. Here, we might do rapid prototypes to quickly check if a certain structure can hold the weight of the marshmallow. Finally, these types of team-buliding experiences are beneficial for coworkers to create trust and collaboration between them. I would highly recommend doing at least three such activities per year.

D. Write: Write a formal report that summarizes a case study, or a recent trend in your sector that you believe is positive.  Create a professional document and use these headings/subheadings:

Title (you chooose)

INTRODUCTION & PURPOSE

MAIN RESULTS

SECONDARY RESULTS

RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION

APPENDIX (if necessary)

Extension Activity:

1.  Listening:  Sonic Branding https://www.npr.org/2014/10/20/357576510/from-sizzling-fajitas-to-the-super-bowl-how-sounds-help-sell      Listen to the news report on how sounds help sell products and services. Take notes on the main ideas and examples. Compare your notes with other students in the next class. Did you all note the same things, more or less? If not, where are there differences?  Discuss any sonic branding of popular products, or services from your country.

Writing Project Pitches: Outline

Your final exam project includes a written project pitch. This is a formal, business document in which you explain your creative vision to the client. If you search online for such examples, you will find there are many elements they have in common. Usually, a written project pitch is 2-3 pages long and follows this outline:

1. Cover Page: Agency Name, Team Members & contact information, Title for the project pitch, Client's name.  You may invent an imaginary agency name for the purposes of this project.

2.  Objective:  What is the overall objective of your project pitch idea?

3.  Project History: Have you worked with the client before? If so, is there any information from past projects that could help in understanding the elements of this one? If not, say how the client came to you (trade fair, etc).

4. Background Information & Introduction to the Issue:  What is the client's motive and rationale for requiring your services (rebranding, launch of a new product or service, a special event,  press coverage, reinforcing strategic social media posts to get consumers to shop with them, etc?  Basically, answer the question: Why?

5. What is the (branding) objective?  Break this down into a primary and a secondary objective. 

6.  What is the key (communications) message?  Explain what consumers should understand based on this communications action. Include key words that may be used as hashtags on social media. If you are planning a series of social media posts, also include who to tag.

7. Who are we addressing?  Describe your primary and secondary target audiences. Include ages, professions, genders, and geographical location if necessary.

8. What is the call to action?  What do you expect consumers to do after your communications action? For example, should they attend an exhibit, fair, festival, participate on social media in a poll, or contest, shop online, fill out a questionnaire, etc... This all depends on your idea(s). 

9.  How will we reach the audience?  Describe if different communications channels are needed to reach your primary and secondary audiences. 

10.  What is the reward?  How will consumers know that the product or service is satisfying? What will they gain from it?

11. Are there any mandatories that need to be included?  Consider if the following need to appear in your communications action/idea:  logo(s), brand names, gadgets, contact information (website, email, social media pages, phone numbers, QR code, etc.).

Verbs for Project Pitches: B2 review

English For Branding

Spelling & Verbs for Writing Briefs,

Word Order

Typical Verbs

        

Base Form

Simple Past

Past Participle

Gerund Form

1	Promote	Promoted	Promoted	Promoting
2	Ask	Asked	Asked	Asking
3	Organize	Organized	Organized	Organizing
4	Be (is, am, are)	Was, were	Been	Being
5	Hold	Held	Held	Holding
6	Help	Helped	Helped	Helping
7	Come	Came	Came	Coming
8	Modify	Modified	Modified	Modifying
9	Energize	Energized	Energized	Energizing
10	Propose	Proposed	Proposed	Proposing
11	Call	Called	Called	Calling
12	Represent	Represented	Represented	Representing
13	Write	Wrote	Written	Writing
14	Make up of (consist of)	Made up of	Made up of	Making up of
15	Explain	Explained	Explained	Explaining
16	Wait	Waited	Waited	Waiting
17	Increase	Increased	Increased	Increasing
18	See	Saw	Seen	Seeing
19	Work	Worked	Worked	Working
20	Know	Knew	Known	Knowing
21	Exist	Existed	Existed	Existing
22	Last (duration)	Lasted	Lasted	Lasting
23	Commit to	Committed to	Committed to	Committing to
24	Extract	Extracted	Extracted	Extracting
25	Convince	Convinced	Convinced	Convincing
26	Buy	Bought	Bought	Buying
27	Suffer	Suffered	Suffered	Suffering
28	Would like to…	Would have liked to	Would have liked to	Would like to…
29	Appear	Appeared	Appeared	Appearing
30	Expect	Expected	Expected	Expecting
31	Offer	Offered	Offered	Offering
32	Staff	Staffed	Staffed	Staffing
33	Vary (differ)	Varied Differed	Varied differed	Varying Differing
34	Clarify	Clarified	Clarified	Clarifying
35	Provide	Provided	Provided	Providing
36	Scout	Scouted	Scouted	Scouting
37	Locate	Located	Located	Locating
38	Track	Tracked	Tracked	Tracking
39	Handle	Handled	Handled	Handling
40	Manage	Managed	Managed	Managing
41	Source	Sourced	Sourced	Sourcing
42	Liaise with	Liaised with	Liaised with	Liaising with
43	Launch	Launched	Launched	launching

Here are some typical Collocations when using these verbs to talk about events.  Can you complete the list? Use the brief sample to help you.

1.     Promote a product, brand, service with an event

2.     Ask someone to do something (The client asked us to help promote their new brand image)

3.     Help someone do something (help promote a new book)

4.     Organize and coordinate teams

5.     The client’s new products are going to come on market next September.

6.     Our client would like to modify their annual event and make it more entertaining: they would like us to energize it.

7.     We propose to have online contests through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

8.     The creative team is currently investigating possible strategies.

9.     They will call the event: Energize your classroom.

10. Our agency is represented by Mr Johan Smith, Ms Kathleen Turner, and Ms Carla Harrington.

11. They are currently writing a brief to explain the situation.

12. Our agency is made up of three main departments: Public Relations, Accounts, and Creative.

13.  

           

Word Order:  Remember that in English there is usually a rigid word order:

1)  S   .      V.        O.         M.         P.       T.

[Subject,+ verb, + object ]  [Manner (how?), +Place (where?), + Time (when?)]

         For example:

 Our agency will organize a special event for Nike tennis shoes at the Olympic stadium next June. It will be great and a lot of fun.

It is ALSO POSSIBLE to place the Time phrase at the beginning of the sentence:

  Next June, our agency will organize a special event for Nike tennis shoes at the Olympic stadium.  It will be great and a lot of fun.

2)  How can I include ADJECTIVES (ADJ) AND ADVERBS (ADV)?     

·      S. + V (BE). + ADJ /ADV + COMPLEMENT =

o  I am always late on Monday mornings.  / She is serious in the office, but funny outside work.

·      S + V + ADV + COMPLEMENT =

o  He drives crazily, even on Sundays.

Practice with word order: 

A) Read these mixed up words (from the brief sample), and put them in order to make grammatically correct sentences.

Example:    event / three / there / venue / for / choices / this/ are =  

There are three venue choices for this event.

OR…

For this event, there are three venue choices.

1.     annual / asked / they / to / their / us / organize / party ___________________________________________________________________________________________

2.     day / usually / this / half / lasts / a / event __________________________________________________________________________________________

3.     annual / always / event / they / main / hold / train / the / station / the / near __________________________________________________________________________________________

4.     products  / is / purpose / promote / the / to / book / for / new / of / event / the / teachers  __________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.     writing / team / brief / creative / currently / the / is / separate / a _________________________________________________________________________________________________

B) Choose the best ending ( a or b) for the sentence beginnings.

1.     The client would like   a)  to modify the theme   b) modifying the theme.

2.     We propose  a) to call it ‘Energize Your Classroom’   b) to calling it ‘Energize Your Classroom.’

3.     The Account team is made up   a) in three people    b) of three people.

4.     At the moment,  a) there is        b) there are      a budget of 10,000 Euros.

5.     The client hopes   a) increased sales by 7%   b) to increase sales by 7%.

6.     Our client is known  a) for their innovation     b) to their innovation.

7.     With this event, our client’s objective is  a) to increase brand recognition  b) increasing brand recognition.

8.     Attendees   a) will came from surrounding areas   b) will come from surrounding areas.

9.     The venues   a) should to provide a list of menus    b) should provide a list of menus.

10.   We a) will negotiate to   b) negotiate with     the venues for the rental price.

C)  Use the verb list and create descriptions of what your role in a potential communications agency could be.  What is your future job in events?  Describe it in a minimum of three sentences:

1

2

3

Definite or Indefinite Article?

Indefinite = a / an (singular, speaking about someone or something IN GENERAL)

·      My mother is a high-school teacher. (not your or my high school teacher – her job is as a teacher, in a high school)

·      Could you please bring me an apple?  (just one out of the group of apples in our kitchen

·      Would you like to consider using a sponsor?  (no specific sponsor is identified)

·      I read a history book about Rome.  (You don’t know which one)

Definite = the (‘specific’)  Use the + singular or plural Noun when both you and the speaker (s)  know what you are talking about.

·      Could you please bring me the book in the kitchen? (we are at in the same house and you know which book I  am talking about).

·      What is the budget for the Nike event?  (I named the event specifically)

·      Later, I’m going to the bank, supermarket, cinema, post office, library. (luoghi comuni)

·      The students in the courtyard often smoke during breaks.

Definite = the ‘in a general sense’.  When you speak about things in general, we usually eliminate ‘the’ and put nouns into the plural form.

1.     I like the music = I like music.

2.     The nature is beautiful = Nature is beautiful.

3.     The books are expensive = Books are expensive.

Sometimes ‘the’ can be used in generalizations with singular countable nouns to talk about a whole class of things.

1.     The telescope is useful for looking at stars and planets.

2.     The tiger is in danger of becoming extinct.

3.     I can play the piano.

4.     I hate the telephone.  (BUT  I hate email.)

5.     The man who invented the ball point pen was Belgian.

Some expressions associated with geography use ‘the’:

1.     I’m going to the mountains at Christmas.

2.     Joann usually goes to the sea in August.

3.     Do you like living in the city or the country?

4.     The Grand Canyon is an incredible site to see.

5.     The Tiber is the river that runs through Rome; The Arno goes through Florence.

6.     The United States is a very big country, geographically. BUT….Italy is smaller.

7.     The Italians are famous for good cuisine, art, and opera.

8.     The Istituto Europeo di Design has functioned for 40 years.

There are places (luoghi) with NO article after a preposition:

1.    I take my son to school every morning.  We leave at 7:25 so we can arrive by 8:00 a.m.

2.    I went to university in Madison, Wisconsin, in the U.S.

3.    Joe goes to work at 7 p.m. He works in a bar.

4.    Most people in the city center travel by bus or underground.  BUT If you are in Manhattan, you should take the subway (NO preposition)

5.    I went by subway to get downtown.

SUGGESTION:  Keep a temporary notebook where you can write examples of the CONTEXTS where a / an / the are used, or not used.

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