978-0078036804 Appendix I Part 3

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Oral Research Report

The Assignment

Deliver a three- to five-minute presentation based on research that will be:

1. relevant to your career.

2. interesting to the class (the audience).

Choose a topic that we have discussed in this class. If you select a topic that we have not covered, obtain

my approval at least 10 days before the date of your presentation. In your presentation, you will expand

on what we have learned in class. Teach your classmates new and interesting information. You will

prepare a PowerPoint presentation to accompany your oral report. Follow the rules for effective software

presentations (see Chapter 11).

Sign-Up

Choose a speaking date by signing the sheet that will be circulated in the class with the dates listed for the

assignment. It is your responsibility to be ready to speak on the chosen date, or to arrange a trade of dates

with a classmate if it becomes necessary.

Hand-In

On the date of your presentation, submit the following materials:

1. A typed outline of your presentation that follows the format explained in the text and on the

outline evaluation sheet. For each of your supporting materials, label what type it is.

2. A one-page rendition of all your PowerPoint slides (similar to the Slide Sorter view).

3. An annotated bibliography of the sources you used to develop this presentation. At least three

references are required. One of those references must be a non-Internet reference.

• Sexual discrimination in the field of________________

• Employment prospects in the 21st century

• Comparisons of prospects for employment, advancement, and salary in the field in

several geographic areas

• Creating the best resumes on the Internet

• New ideas for creating graphics with new technology

• Groups versus teams

• Using Parliamentary Procedure in your club meetings

• A comparison of greeting rituals in three different cultures

• How to listen with empathy

• A case study illustrating win-win negotiation

• Speaking on camera

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Oral Briefing from Interview or Article

Objective: Students will develop and deliver a briefing based on an article or interview.

Procedure: Students should select a topic of interest to them and prepare a briefing to present to the

class.

If students have done a career research interview (see the Major Assignments section of this manual),

they can be instructed to use the information on communication skills emphasized by their

interviewee to prepare a short briefing for the class. If students have not done a career research

interview, you could assign a briefing topic and make library research part of the assignment.

Alternatively, you can assign particular articles and ask students to report on them.

Presented together, these briefings give the class current information on the specific communication

skills deemed necessary in a variety of careers by experts in those fields who were interviewed by the

students. Staggered throughout the term as students finish their interviews, these briefings create a

continuous reminder of the importance of communication skills in a variety of careers.

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Group Report

Instructors: This assignment exposes students to more material on business and professional

communication than a semester normally provides. Students will research and report on current topics in

business, prepare a handout for the class, and present an informative presentation to them. If you are

pressed for time, done in groups this assignment gives students experience in working in teams,

researching material, organizing and presenting a group presentation, and handling questions and

answers. In addition, all class members benefit from the content of each group’s presentation.

Plan A: Your work team has been assigned the topic checked below.

Plan B: Your work team must choose a topic from the list below to present to the class. You will be

asked to make a decision today. The first group to notify the instructor of their choice gets that

topic. Subsequently, a group that picks the same topic will have to make a second choice. The

topics include:

Constructing a Contemporary Resume: Current Trends & Resources.

Finding a Job Online: Using The Internet for Job Searches.

Creating Graphics for Presentations: Updating Your Presentation.

Emotional Intelligence: What Is It? Why Does It Matter?

Resumes Online

Balancing Work and Family

Privacy at Work: Laws and Legal Issues

Email Etiquette

Negotiation: Crafting a Win-Win Solution

Performance Appraisals: How to Prepare and Perform for Yours.

Conducting Virtual Team Meetings: Guidelines for Success

Parliamentary Procedure: How to Use It without Getting Bogged Down

Requirements: This assignment replicates an assignment that might be given to a work team. You are to

present a 15-minute group report to your department (in this case, your classmates) on the designated

topic, after which you will have 5 minutes to conduct a question-and-answer session. Your challenge is

to make your presentation informative, interesting, and applicable to your classmates. Follow the

instructions for group presentations located in the Appendix of your text.

You will first need to work together to research your topic. You will need to use a minimum of six

sources and to turn in an annotated bibliography (one per group). The bibliography may include books

authored by communication scholars or business professionals, newspaper articles, journal articles, ERIC

resources, Internet and Web resources, interviews, films, etc. You must use at least two sources that are

not from the Internet. Duplicate an outline of your presentation and your bibliography, and give

copies to each class member at the close of your presentation. Follow the text’s guidelines for developing

and presenting reports (see Chapter 14).

The presentations will be given to the class on (date); groups will do a dress rehearsal (with

video) and self-critique on (date).

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Student Samples:

Sample Interview Schedule

Sample Interview Analysis

Sample Letter of Thanks for Interview

Sample Cover Letter

Sample Resume

Sample Proposal for Improving the Group Process

Sample Informative Speech Outline

STUDENT SAMPLE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Background Information

I will be interviewing Jake Williams, who is the community sports editor for Globe News. He also works

with students for the student newspaper at our college. Our interview will be conducted in the college

library. We both found this location to be convenient because Jake frequently visits there.

Interview Schedule

Opening

Hi! I’m Jessica Smith. Thank you so much for coming to meet me. As I mentioned in our e-mails, I am

doing this interview for my communication class. The assignment is to interview someone in a career

field we’re interested in. It’s not easy to get in touch with people in this field, so I sure appreciate this! I

want to ask you about a couple of topics today, specifically, your background and education, and your

thoughts on the journalism profession. Is there anything you would like to know before we begin?

Body

Background and Education

1. How did you get started in your profession? (primary, open)

a. What steps would you suggest others to take? (secondary, open)

2. Have you ever done any freelance writing? (primary, bipolar)

a. What would you suggest to someone who wants to explore that option? (secondary, open)

Thoughts on Journalism

1. What are some essential skills needed to succeed in your field? (primary, open)

2. Does the information in your articles come primarily from observation or interviews? (primary,

closed)

a. What makes a good interviewer? (secondary, open)

b. What are some techniques you use while interviewing or researching? (secondary, open)

c. What happens when things don’t go as planned? (secondary, open)

3. How do you create a connection with your audience in your articles? (primary, open)

4. What makes your job interesting? (primary, open)

5. Describe a typical work day. (primary, open)

6. What’s the most difficult thing about your job? (primary, open)

7. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned through your experience? (primary, open)

8. What type of hours do you work? (primary, closed)

9. How do you define personal time from work time, given that news is always happening?

(primary, open)

Clearinghouse Question

1. What other advice do you have for someone pursuing journalism? (primary, open)

Closing

Thank you again for coming to meet with me. I appreciate your taking time out of your schedule for this.

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STUDENT SAMPLE INTERVIEW ANALYSIS

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

TO: Instructor’s Name

FROM: Jessica Smith

SUBJECT: Interview Project

I interviewed Jake Warner, who has been a writer at the Globe for the past seven years. I chose to

interview Jake to get more information about journalism reporting. Our interview took place in the

library, which was convenient for the both of us. I arrived early to arrange the room for our interview. We

discussed his background and education as well as his thoughts on journalism.

Background and education

“Read everything you can get your hands on!” This was some advice Jake had for me during our

interview. When I read, I will learn how different people tell a story. This will allow me to develop my

writing style. Once I develop that style, I should do my best to get my work published. Where it is

published is not the main concern, as long as I am getting experience. Formal education is a plus, but if

I’m a talented writer, I could do fine without it.

Journalism hours

Jake told me that as long as he’s been employed in the news industry, his job is always happening. His

hours are pretty much “all the time”, and deadlines are tight. He is the first to inform people of events

around them, so he must be ready to report at a moment’s notice. There are few 9–5 jobs in this industry.

Interview analysis

I actually had fun doing this interview. Jake was easy to talk to. I learned so much about journalism. I

learned even more about how to conduct an information-gathering interview.

About the career

Jake knows his work, and he is willing to share his information with anyone interested. Unfortunately, I

discovered that reporting full time is not the job for me, because I am a stay–at-home mom, and plan to

continue in that role. However, Jake and I discussed different options of freelance writing that I may like

to explore.

Jake taught me aspects of journalism that I couldn’t have found anywhere else. He informed me that

reporters have a serious ethical responsibility because your audience gives you practically instant

credibility when they “read it in the paper.” He also asserted that reporters are today’s historians- what a

key role that is in society.

About the interviewing process

What surprised me most was the time and planning it requires to conduct an interview that flows well. It’s

harder than most people think. I had written my questions ahead of time, but I hadn’t really practiced

saying them out loud. It seemed easy ahead of time to think about what I wanted to say and to envision

how the interview would go. But once we sat down and I started asking the questions, I realized it was

harder than I originally had thought.

Sometimes Jake would answer part of one of my later questions while I was asking him one of my

original questions. This interrupted my logical organization of the interview. It was all really good

information, but it didn’t seem very organized. I ended up losing track and skipping a few of my

questions.

Hardest of all was to multitask. I tried to maintain eye contact with him, actively listen to what he was

saying, remember his points, get ready to ask my next questions, and take notes all at the same time. Most

of the time I found myself just listening to his stories. When I did write something, it would distract him a

little. He thought he needed to stop or slow down so I could keep up. This made the overall interview

jolty at times. I also ended up just reading my questions off the paper. It sounded kind of stiff. The ending

was awkward, too. On the feedback form, Jake mentioned that he never was quite sure when the interview

was over.

Next time I conduct an interview I will become very, very familiar with all my questions so I can

orchestrate the interview better. I’ll practice them ahead of time with my husband, and I’ll say the

questions in shorter sentences, so it doesn’t sound as though I’m reading them from the paper. I will also

plan a definite closing statement like, “I think we’ve already run over time, so I had better end this now.

You have given me such useful information! Thank you.”

I enjoyed this assignment, and I appreciate the information I received from conducting this interview. I

think everyone should do this when choosing a career path, whether they are assigned to or not.