Suggested Activities

Discussion Questions for Researching Presentations

  1. What has been your favorite way of creating a brain dump and why? Do you use your computer, a piece of paper, a note card, a spiral notebook? Is there a more efficient way that you can create your brain dumps?

  1. What Boolean Search Operators would you use for your next presentation?

  2. Do you have a form of reluctant authority to share? What about your experience makes your being an expert on a topic a reluctant authority? Moreover, what about your story is compelling for a specific audience or a general audience?



Activities for Mastering Presentational Aids

  1. Create a pie chart, line graph, or bar graph using Google Sheets.

  • First, locate a written or video tutorial on Google Sheets.

Suggested Resources:

Google Sheets Chart Tutorial (Written Instructions)

Google Sheets Chart Tutorial (Video Instructions)

  • Second, open up Google Spreadsheet and create a fictitious data scenario for your spreadsheet.

  • Third, create your pie chart, line graph, or bar graph.


  1. For your speech topic, list three types of visual aids that you could use for your speech. Under each type, list three reasons why the visual aid would be effective.

Launching points include:

  • What information do I need to teach my audience, and which visual aid option would enhance their understanding?

  • What data needs explaining, and which visual aid would explain this data?

  • What visual aid captures my audience’s attention?

  • What would visual aid be most effective for a conclusion?