Department of Information Studies

University at Albany

PowerPoint Speaker Notes

Writing intensive courses like IST 499w encourage "writing as a means of sharpening thinking in and understanding of the subject" (Undergraduate Bulletin). It is increasingly clear, however, that the writing "tool of the trade" is no longer exclusively the traditional essay.

Professionals are also expected to be familiar with presentation software too. Today this generally means Microsoft PowerPoint.

In your software / web site review, you are encouraged to use PowerPoint for delivering your presentation and to use the PowerPoint Handouts feature to provide a handout that helps your audience follow your presentation.

In addition to this standard feature of Power Point, you can use PowerPoint's Speaker Notes feature to "publish" your presentation.

Prepare a Speaker Notes "essay" that combines slides and a companion text into a single "stylized" text.

Using the material you developed for your software or web site review, transform your presentation into a formal text using Speaker Notes. Each stylized page should include a "headline" of some sort (perhaps bullets, graphics, or both) as well as formal text in standard written English (that is, not abbreviated notes) that amplifies and the "headline." You must also include a footer that labels your topic and paginates too. You can also use a header if useful.

Examples of the Spealer Notes "essay" have been discussed in class, including the "text" fouund here.

You can, of course, use equivalent software to complete this assignment, keeping the deliverables the same.

Remember, you must also include one or more graphics in your "essay." This can be an illustration copied from another source (a photograph, a screen shot, a logo, whatever; however, avoid PowerPoint clip art unless it really fits your topic). It can also be an original illustration that you designed to fit the context.

Refer to the class schedule to determine the date that this assignment is due.

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Last updated: 10/1/07