Chapter Nineteen

            Chapter nineteen looked at designing documents and presentations. It reviewed many of the possibilities. The first it examined were academic essays. Academic essays normally have wide margins, a standard easily readable font such as 12-point Times New Roman, and double spacing. The second that was examined were multimodal essays, which are essays that contain various types of illustrations and media in a linear fashion to support the author’s points. These are expected to be viewed on some kind of digital devise. The third focus of this chapter was the designing of articles. The uses of articles can vary widely, and can include charts and photographs. The specific aim of the article and its publication can vary its design. The forth aim of this chapter is how to design a web site. Web sites should be well organized with menus, lists and titles. Information should be presented in small easy to understand portions. A good font for screens should be selected. Evidence supporting the point can be shown as illustrations and videos. How to design oral presentations was fifth in this chapter. This form of communication involves having a clear outline, along with a strong opener and some key points, wrapped up with a strong conclusion. Notes can be made to keep the speaker on track and from forgetting important information. When giving such a presentation, some of the important actions to take are speaking clearly, speaking slowly and understandably, speaking loudly, and maintaining some eye contact with the audience. The sixth examination of the chapter was designing multimedia presentations. These are generally supplementary to an oral presentation. They can contain videos and illustrations, and main points of the presentation. Whatever the case, they should not be so complex that they distract from the point trying to be made. Sticking with just a few points per slide, and minimal text within them, is a good way to go. The seventh and last focus of the chapter is on poster presentations. Similar to a multimedia presentation, a poster presentation can have illustrations and limited text. It should be created so that it can be observed from about four feet away and, also similar to the multimedia and oral presentations, talking with the audience will likely be a key facet of its presentation.