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Archive for April, 2011

Posted by Quinn Warnick On April - 21 - 2011 Comments Off

The end of the semester is rapidly approaching, and you have just a few weeks to complete and deliver your oral presentations. I know how busy you’ll be with final projects in all of your classes, so I have eliminated all readings and homework assignments that aren’t part of Unit #4. I have also added several links to the Resources page that might be helpful as you look for images to illustrate your presentations. Here’s how we’ll spend our time during the last few weeks of the semester: On Tuesday, April 26, two Austin-based technical communicators from National Instruments will  [ Read More ]

Posted by Quinn Warnick On April - 15 - 2011 Comments Off

I really enjoyed our discussion about the best and worst PowerPoint presentations you’ve ever seen. Next week, we’re going to extend that discussion by focusing on some specific strategies you can employ to make sure that your oral presentation doesn’t become one of the Worst Presentations Of All Time. Before you come to class on Tuesday, please print out and read “The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint,” by Edward Tufte, and “In Defense of PowerPoint,” by Donald Norman. You can find PDF versions of both pieces on the Readings page. In class on Tuesday, we will look at a few more  [ Read More ]

Posted by Quinn Warnick On April - 1 - 2011 1 Comment

I was very happy to see how well our Green Team / Red Team review session went yesterday, and I hope that each team left class with a long list of suggestions for improving your reports/proposals. Next week I will be attending a professional conference, so we will not meet as a full class. You should, however, use our class time to meet with your teammates to put the finishing touches on all of your deliverables for Unit #3. As you work on your project, refer to three documents for guidance: (1) the original assignment sheet, (2) your team’s memorandum  [ Read More ]