Next CIS/207 University of Phoenix

Started my 4th class. First class dealing with computers. Reading the other profiles, I am somewhat intimidated but I am 64 years old.. I better get over it. Just hope I can do OK.

Finished Public Speaking class

Wow, actually finished- and did well - in my Public Speaking class
at University of  Phoenix. It was less nerve wracking being online.
If I had to do it in front of a real class would have been harder.  We had to make videos of  our speeches and upload them to a site called YouSeeU.  I learned some good things just in case I really do have to
speak sometime.  I really think it  was valuable class.  I had a good teacher for
this class named Lee Melancon.

Post # 3 for COMM/218 Week 5

YouTube or other video sites can offer a wonderful way to supplement your PowerPoint
presentation.   In this course on "Public Speaking for the IT Professional" at Univ. of Phoenix,
we discussed "death by PowerPoint" which is how dreadfully boring some PowerPoint presentations
can become.  Not PowerPoints fault but the presenters.  If the speaker finds a video on YouTube
or another video site, they may use it to make the presentation MUCH more engaging and
less boring.  One thing to keep in mind is getting permission from the creator of the video.
Most people will be happy to give you permission but may ask about: 1) Whether you are
using the video as a "good" or "bad" example; if you are showing their video as an example
of "what NOT to do", getting permission may be more difficult.  2) Will you be charging
money for the video?  If so, they may want compensation. 3) What permission text showing
citations about their video will be displayed and if they have a certain way they want
their citation shown.  Most people will be happy to co-operate and videos in my opinion are
one of the absolute best ways to make a presentation more interesting and educational.

Post # 2 for Week 5 COMM/218

I liked one of our readings on social media and presentations. The one by Chris Brogan in Entrepreneur on January 24, 2011.  He gave a before, during and after technique.  Before: do research on organization and any audience members you know will be there.
During: have a blog posting set to post during the speech.  Also, he uses his twitter account and sets up a "sandbox" (that is a term I  like to use with the hashtag procedure) with a hashtag.  The whole audience can be in the "sandbox" that way.  I should give credit to where I heard that term. It was on Jimmy Church's radio show dealing with UFO's and paranormal.  Anyway it is good way for  everyone to share the topic and be interactive.  I myself would take the advice of another person (By Pamela DeLoatch on March 31, 2015  from Edudemic journal) and set up a separate account for the audience because my account has some risqué items at times.
After: Brogan recommends  following up by seeing who posted or tweeted at his sites.  That way he can make new contacts for networking or new ideas that the contacts may have.

Post # 1 for Week 5 COMM/218

In the future a speaker may be able to send an avatar out to speak.
The "real" speaker could be home or back stage broadcasting through the avatar.  If subject dealt with women's issues a man could come out in a female avatar or vice versa.  If a speaker was
not feeling well, this would be awesome way to give the speech without standing up in front of audience. 

A speaker could give speech in person and use avatars or maybe holograms to demonstrate something, perhaps a difficult yoga pose.
The use of avatars for this purpose would never replace a person actually being there themselves.  If a speaker never showed up in person, people may lose trust in the speaker as authenticity -- literally.

Beyond avatars, would be actual lifelike robots or androids with advanced AI capabilities.  A synthetic of this complexity could probably actually pass the Turing Test.  A speaker could send a synthetic on stage to give the speech for one reason or another.
Also, like the avatars, synthetics would be great for demonstrations.

I believe the demonstration function would be better than sending
such a replacement out to give the actual speech.  We humans need to be more authentic then that as well as facing our fears of public speaking head on.

Media and Public Speaking

Forms of  media used to support a speech: Of course we have the ubiquitous PowerPoint which comes with Office 2013 and costs around 50-80 dollars.  Some free media aids can be found at:
280slides.com, ajaxpresents.com, prezentit.com, and show.zoho.com.  There is an interactive media out there that are often called "clickers."  Each member of the audience has a hand-
held device with buttons for the member to choose options.  The devices are connected to a monitor on stage near the speaker and facing the audience.  This is a cool way to see consensus on different points.  The TV show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" uses these for the "Ask the Audience" lifeline.  Professors use them
to see how many students get a question he asks correct.  Also suppose one is giving a speech on Mozart.  He could use MP3's
to great advantage.  Even smells could be used as a presentation aid.  Or samples of food to pass out.  Handouts are a great way
to enhance the presentation too.

3 ways of engaging an audience in Public Speaking

Taking a course at University of Phoenix online on public speaking.  I will tell you 3 ways I would engage an audience.
1) Start speech with a question for the audience. I know that when
I hear a question, I peak my ears. 2) Use pauses.  I saw Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu give a speech before the UN
a couple weeks ago and he used pauses in a masterful way. I can't hope to be such a great speaker but I see that pauses can be good way to keep audience mesmerized.  3) Quiz the audience. I learned this from my instructor in this class, Lee Melancon.