Module Homepage www comp dit ie dgordon courses communications index html Lectures

Module Homepage: www. comp. dit. ie/dgordon/courses/communications/index. html Lectures Excercises Assignment

The journey so far. . .

Journey so far. . . n Epistemology ¨ Science and philosophy of knowledge n Visualisation n Mind Maps

Journey so far. . . n Bloom’s Taxonomy n Learning Theories ¨ Behavourism, Cognitivism, Social Constructivism n Learning Styles n Communications Theory

Journey so far. . . n Business & Technical Communications ¨ Useful Information ¨ Time & Money n Ethics n Persuasian n Develop a vision of the final product n Document prototypes

Business and Technical Communications Based on: Franklin Covey “Style Guide” for Business and Technical Communications Tools for Highly Effective Communication

Agenda 1. Meeting Mangement 2. Information Organisation 3. Presentations 4. Intellectual Property

Meeting Management

Introduction n Meetings are one of the most expensive methods of gathering or disseminating information. n If you can achieve the same purpose by another less costly and time-consuming means, e. g. telephone call, e-mail message, IM, informal chats in the hall, etc. , then don't hold a meeting. n Meeting leaders and all participants should answer such questions as: ¨ What do I want to accomplish with this meeting? ¨ Whom should I invite and what will be their contributions? ¨ What methods will we use to accomplish the purpose(s) of the meeting? ¨ What preparations are necessary to ensure that the meeting will run smoothly and effectively? ¨ How much is the meeting going to cost? (Is it worth it? )

Planning n Define the purpose of your meeting. ¨ ¨ A written purpose - a tool for sharing with participants ¨ A means of keeping the meeting on track ¨ n Write down your purpose to focus your thinking Your purpose(s) should be made clear at (or before) the outset of the meeting Invite only those people who: ¨ ¨ n Need to be there (avoid inefficiency and frustration) Who have something to contribute (agree what and for how long) Logistics ¨ Time, location, etc.

Running n Start and end your meetings on time. ¨ ¨ n If you begin on time, even though not everyone has arrived - and if you continue that pattern - your chances for prompt arrivals in the future will be greatly improved Build a reputation as one who starts (and ends) meetings on time Keep the meeting on track ¨ n Move toward the achievement of the purpose. Conduct your meeting with appropriate "people skills" ¨ Courtesy, kindness, and tact, etc. ¨ Deal tactfully, calmly & forcefully with "meeting wreckers" or "meeting robbers" 1. good pre-planning should eliminate this 2. refer back to the purpose of the meeting

After-action n Identify and follow up on action items ¨ ¨ n Without follow-up, your meeting may be just a waste of time Communicate progress with participants Evaluate the effectiveness of your meetings (from time to time) ¨ Have the meeting participants rate the meeting and your performance as meeting leader ¨ Conduct a review as a group activity

"GAP" Meeting Planner n Goal ¨ n Agenda ¨ n Detailed goal(s) of what the proposed meeting is intended to achieve Detailed item list for discussion and action Preparation ¨ Items leader and participants must do prior for the proposed meeting n Company culture n Some companies empower employees to reject meeting invitations if a GAP is not complete and published, regardless of who (or how senior) the proposer is! n Equally, if participants do not complete any preparation prior to attending the meeting the organiser can hold them to account.

Organising Information for Maximum Effect

Introduction n Organisation is the key writing principle ¨ ¨ n Good organisation will almost guarantee successful documents If your documents are poorly organised, nothing can save them. A well-organised document must have certain features: ¨ The document should conform to the readers' sense of what the most important points are n arrange accordingly ¨ The document should announce its organisational scheme and then stick to it ¨ The ideas in the document must be clear and sensible, and comprehensible

1 - “Scientific” Format n Scientific method, one presents the facts, observations, and data that lead to and support a conclusion. n The strength of this method is that it presents a series of steps that culminates in an inevitable conclusion. Therefore, the steps are as important as the conclusion. n This format is acceptable only if readers will be as interested in the process of arriving at the conclusions as they are in the conclusions themselves. n When readers are more interested in the conclusions, follow the “managerial” format. Abstract Summary Introduction Materials and Methods Results and Discussion Fact 1 Fact 2 Fact 3 Fact 4 (therefore) Conclusions Recommendations (optional) Summary (optional)

2 - “Managerial” Format n Managers (and most other nonscientific readers) are far more interested in the conclusions than they are in the steps leading to them. n This do want to see the results and discussion, but after conclusions. n Having the conclusions early in the report facilitates reading. n The reader is given a perspective from which to understand the facts and data being presented. n When people are busy, they usually want to “cut to the chase”. n Rigour is not as paramount as the bottom line. Summary/Executive Summary Introduction Conclusions (and Recommendations) (because of) Fact 1 Fact 2 Fact 3 Fact 4 Results and Discussion

Successful writing strategies n Place your most important ideas FIRST ¨ The strongest part of a document is its beginning ¨ Many writers tend to lead to, rather than from, major ideas n They believe that they have to build their case, that skeptical readers will not agree with their conclusions unless they first demonstrate how they arrived at those conclusions ¨ ¨ n Readers typically pay more attention at the beginning because they are discovering what the document is about Because the beginning is so strong, you should start with the most important ideas then follow with your supporting evidence Organize information according to your readers' needs ¨ n think in terms of their solution, not your problem Group topics together ¨ separating similar ideas creates chaos

Emphasis “Sandwich” n Your most important ideas should appear at the beginning of your documents and individual sections. n n n The most important idea from most paragraphs should appear in the opening sentence. The most important words in a sentence typically come at the beginning of the sentence. Subordinate detail. n place it in the middle of sentences, paragraphs, sections, and documents. n n data, explanation, elaboration, description, analyses, results, etc. In lengthy documents, begin & end with important ideas.

Emphasis “Sandwich” 1. The longer a document, the more crucial this rule is. 2. Readers of long passages need to be: ¨ introduced to the subject ¨ learn early the most important points ¨ receive the supporting detail and explanation ¨ and then have it all wrapped up in a tidy closing statement that reiterates the important points

Tell 'em wha t you're gonna tell 'em. . . Then tell 'em what you tol d 'em!

Keep your “setups” short. n Sometimes you cannot begin by stating your most important idea because the reader either will not understand it or will not accept it. n Set up the most important idea by providing introductory information to inform or persuade readers ¨ ¨ n keep your setups short do not delay your major ideas Positive information ¨ ¨ they want to hear it ¨ n give it to reader right away it will make them more receptive Negative information ¨ will put them off ¨ will not be receptive to what follows ¨ give negative info only after the set-up (again keep it short)

Example - short setup n Tactful. . “I have been asked to reply to your request for additional compensation following approval of your Engineering Change Order dated March 3. As you know, a Health Department inspector ordered the design changes, and our contract states that all design changes required for safety reasons are warranted under the contractor's bond. Therefore, additional compensation would be inappropriate at this time. ” 1. The first sentence sets the stage. 2. The second provides brief rationale for the decision. 3. The third states the decision. n Blunt. . "We will not be providing the additional compensation you requested. "

Lists n Readers assume information in lists appears in descending order of importance: ¨ n most important first - least important item last Numbering and lettering systems reinforce this assumption: ¨ ¨ n #1 is better than being #6 an “A” is better than an “F” For items of equal importance: ¨ use bullets or dashes instead of numbers or letters

Lists Ranked Equal 1. Item A. Item v Item ü Item 2. Item B. Item v Item ü Item 3. Item C. Item v Item ü Item 4. Item D. Item v Item ü Item 5. Item E. Item v Item ü Item

Preview & summarise n Preview your most important ideas and your major content areas n Summarise major points at the end of sections n This helps readers grasp your major points. n Mechanisms: ¨ abstract ¨ table of contents ¨ opening paragraphs

Example - Preview and Review n Strong The Hamerling Study (March-October 1979) found that predators have played only a minor role in the recent population decline of the cutthroat trout. Far more serious impacts on this species are (1) a degraded watershed, (2) temperature increases, and (3) deforestation. Together, these environmental changes have reshaped the cutthroat trout's habitat, perhaps beyond the species' ability to adapt. n Weak This report discusses the results of the Hamerling Study (March-October 1979), which found that predators have played only a minor role in the recent population decline of the cutthroat trout. The first section concerns the quality of the watershed, which has declined significantly since 1965. Following that section is a discussion of the role of climate changes, particularly a 2 degree increase in temperature throughout the study area. In section 3, the report notes the effect of deforestation in one part of the study area. In its concluding section, the report discusses the combined impact of watershed degradation, climate changes, and deforestation. As the report notes, these changes have reshaped the cutthroat trout's habitat, perhaps beyond the species' ability to adapt.

Discuss ‘em as you deal ‘em. . . n When you introduce items, discuss them in the same order later. ¨ n For example, saying that you are going to talk about A, B, and C, but then beginning with B violates the readers' sense of order. A writer introduces three ideas: ¨ (1) cash flow, (2) taxes, (3) expenses. Orderly The acquisition improved our cash flow while providing significant tax advantages and allowing us to capitalize expenses. Prior to the takeover, we had negative cash flow on several. . . Disorderly The acquisition improved our cash flow while providing significant tax advantages and allowing us to capitalize expenses. Prior to the takeover, our expenses were not capitalized. .

Provide cues n Throughout documents, you should signal shifts or changes in direction by using headings, transitions, repeated key words, and opening or closing statements in paragraphs. n Headings are especially useful when you need to signal abrupt changes in direction, such as the transition from one topic to another (unrelated) topic. n Transitions and repeated key words provide for smoother changes in direction and are useful between sentences and paragraphs. n Example: bolded words indicate organisational patterns & shifts in direction: The coal seam trends northwesterly for approximately 9, 500 meters before pinching out on a fault line. However, seismic evidence suggests that another seam of coal extends from a point 75 meters downdip of the pinchout. This second seam appears to trend northerly for another 5, 000 meters. Together, these seams represent a sizeable reserve of recoverable coal, but initiating mining operations will still be extremely difficult. The biggest difficulty is landowner resistance to strip mining. .

Document planning n Can help to design a document quickly and efficiently n For documents of all types and lengths. n For longer documents, e. g. business plans, economic studies, technical reports, audit reports, etc. , you could potentially use a document plan more than once in different sections. 1 2 3 4 Purpose State the main point for the document. This written statement should focus on what you want readers to do and to know. Preview This helps readers know (and remember) what points you will be discussing Details Provide as much detail about your previewed points as necessary Review Even a one-page letter can profit from a review of major points

Presentations

Introduction n Presentations have much in common with written documents. n Both should have at least one specific purpose and an identified audience. n You must plan your presentation with care and deliver it with confidence if you want to accomplish the purpose of your presentation and get your audience to know, do, and feel what you want n Presentations consist of two equally important elements 1. design (organization) 2. delivery

Background planning n Know your purpose ¨ ¨ n Nothing is more important for an effective presentation than having a clear purpose - knowing specifically what you want your audience to do, to know, and to feel. You cannot expect your audience to know what you hope to achieve if you don’t Know your audience ¨ ¨ n To be truly effective as a presenter, you must know as much about your audience - their needs, desires, biases, etc. - as you can, even before you plan your presentation. In addition to general information about audiences (e. g. , that the attention span of the average adult is somewhere between 8 and 12 seconds), you would be wise to learn as much specific information as you can about your audience. Know your setting ¨ Time, location, and purpose of the presentation. ¨ If possible, go to the location beforehand ¨ Consider any possible changes (room setup, lighting, etc. ). ¨ The occasion will often dictate certain elements, e. g. dress, projector, etc. . .

Create your presentation n Determine the main points of your talk and purpose n Provide enough (but not too much) evidence to support those points, e. g. ¨ ¨ Explanation ¨ Examples ¨ Testimony ¨ n Definition Statistics Organise your message logically ¨ Unless you can lead your audience logically through your presentation, they may miss the points you are trying to make. ¨ Preview your main points when you present your message. ¨ The "Triple-S formula" n n Support your point n n State your point Summarize your point Use graphics to support & enliven your message ¨ Keep the visuals simple, clear, and uncluttered. ¨ Use no more than you need to convey your message.

Delivery n Delivery is just as important as good organization and design. ¨ Excellent delivery results to a great extent from practicing. Among the techniques that traditionally contribute to effective presentations are the following: n n Approach and leave the podium with confidence. n Begin your presentation with a relevant attention-getter (fact, statement, questions, etc. ). n Do not read your presentation (although you may refer to note cards for specific information). n Speak clearly, confidently, and with enthusiasm. n Vary your voice in pitch, volume, and rate of speed. n Use appropriate (and natural) gestures, facial expressions, and body movements. n Maintain good eye contact with your audience. n n Know your material. End with a powerful closing. If appropriate, invite your audience to participate. ¨ Tell your audience when and if you would welcome comments or questions. ¨ In formal situations, you might decide to reserve questions until after your presentation. This strategy allows you to finish all of your prepared content. ¨ In less formal situations, plan to stop to ask for an exchange of ideas. If you have just finished with an example of cost-saving techniques, you might turn to the audience with a question.

Practice, practice. . . n Take every opportunity to present material or talk in public.

Intellectual Property

Introduction n Intellectual property includes both ideas and the expression of these ideas. A person's or an organization's intellectual property is potentially protected by the registration of a patent, a trademark, a service mark, or a copyright. n (We will not be covering patents, which have special and very detailed legal requirements. ) n If you have questions about copyrights, service marks, trademarks, or patents, you should obtain legal advice from an attorney who specializes in intellectual property. In this section: 1. Accurately quote and credit the sources for any information you use in your own writing or speaking. 2. Include in anything you produce a written notice of its copyright status and register any commercially valuable work with the Copyright Office. 3. Identify the source for any photographs or other graphics. Also, do not modify visual creations without considering the rights of the original creator of the visuals.

1. Quote and credit “. . . ” 1. Accurately quote and credit the sources for any information you use in your own writing or speaking. n Abiding by this guideline is both ethically and legally important. n Personal ethics require that you give others credit for their ideas, contributions, and originality. You expect no less when someone uses your ideas or words. n Legally, you must carefully quote and cite the source for any published information you choose to use. If you don't, you will violate copyright laws. 1. Copyrights 2. Fair Use 3. Public Domain 4. Trademarks

1. 1 Copyrights n Anyone's original work is protected by a copyright, even if the person who creates a work has not chosen to apply formally for copyright. n The copyright exists when the writer makes the first original version, even a mere handwritten copy. n Copyright covers the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. ¨ You must always credit actual words and phrases that you borrow. ¨ Ideas may not be legally copyrightable, but ethically you should still credit other people's ideas if they are distinctively theirs, not yours. n Copyright protection initially applied only to "writings, " but protection now covers videos, paintings, photographs, cartoons, recordings, songs, sculptures, computer software, or any other creative product when it is physically recorded. n Under copyright law, you must obtain permission from the author(s) (or the holder of the copyright, if an author has signed over her rights to someone else—for instance, her publisher). n If you obtain permission, you should retain the written permission (usually a brief form letter). In your own work, you should identify the author and the holder of copyright (usually a full bibliographic citation) and include a note like the following: ¨ Reprinted by permission of (the name of the author or the publisher). or ¨ Reproduced courtesy of the photographer's heirs. (List the heirs. )

1. 2 Fair Use n In some instances, especially in academic studies or in critical reviews, you may reproduce excerpts (written or visual) without permission from a copyrighted work. ¨ ¨ n You need not obtain written permission before you publish You must still identify the source Fair use applies if you are not using enough of the original to affect its value. ¨ ¨ n Aquotation of several hundred words from a book might fall under fair use, but a few key words from a short poem might violate fair use. A detail from a single painting might be fair use; the whole painting would likely not be. If you are in doubt write for permission and pay any necessary fees

1. 3 Public Domain Works n You can freely quote, without permission, from public domain works, but you should still include full citations for any materials you are borrowing. ¨ n Works produced by the government are in the public domain. ¨ n Your readers need to know which are your words (and ideas) and which words you are borrowing. These works include works produced by individuals working under government contracts. Some works also are in the public domain because their copyright has expired. ¨ The time limits for a copyright vary, based on different copyright laws. Under the 1976 law, which took effect on January 1, 1978, the general rule is that copyright lasts for the life of the author, plus 50 years.

1. 3 a Creative Commons http: //creativecommons. org n Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. n Until 1976, creative works were not protected by U. S. copyright law unless their authors took the trouble to publish a copyright notice along with them. Works not affixed with a notice passed into the public domain. Following legislative changes in 1976 and 1988, creative works are now automatically copyrighted. We believe that many people would not choose this “copyright by default” if they had an easy mechanism for turning their work over to the public or exercising some but not all of their legal rights. It is Creative Commons’ goal to help create such a mechanism. n CC works to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in “the commons” - the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing. n CC provides free, easy-to-use legal tools n CC’s tools give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant copyright permissions to their creative work. The Creative Commons licenses enable people to easily change their copyright terms from the default of “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved. ” n CC aspires to cultivate a commons in which people can feel free to reuse not only ideas, but also words, images, and music without asking permission - because permission has already been granted to everyone. n Licenses ¨ Design Science License ¨ Free Art License ¨ Free Music Public License ¨ Open Content License ¨ Open Music License ¨ Open Publication License ¨ GNU Free Documentation License

Six main CC licenses Attribution This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered, in terms of what others can do with your works licensed under Attribution Share Alike This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. Attribution No Derivatives This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you. Attribution Non-Commercial This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms. Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute your work just like the by-nc-nd license, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on your work. All new work based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature. Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, allowing redistribution. This license is often called the “free advertising” license because it allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they mention you and link back to you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

1. 3 a Crative Commons licences

1. 4 Trademarks n Trademarks are names or symbols used by a company to identify a particular product or service. Examples are Coca-Cola®, Mustang®, and Chloraseptic®. In some instances, a trademark can be a graphic symbol and will be called a service mark. n Trademarks are registered with the government or international body, and their use is prohibited without the approval of the trademark's owner. n As in the preceding examples, trademarks usually have the symbol ® immediately following them. In text, the ® need only appear on the first use. Later references to Coca-Cola would be capitalized, but with no ®. n Before registration, a trademark will have had an attached ™ or SM, to signify the name or symbol as either a trademark or service mark. After registration, the ® replaces the ™. In some instances, both the ® and the ™ will appear next to a trademark. n Other common examples of trademarks include Jeep®, Hoover®, Google®, and. For these three examples, the generic terms would be SUV, vacuum cleaner, and internet search. n Writers should use the generic terms unless they actually mean, for example, the search engine brand known as Google® then the name will be capitalized and followed by the ®. ® ™ SM

2. Include a written notice of copyright status and register valuable work 2. Include in anything you produce a written notice of its copyright status and register any commercially valuable work with the Copyright Office. n Using a written notice applies equally to a few pages as to a full volume. The written notice includes: 1. the symbol © or the word copyright 2. the year it originated or was published 3. the name of the author (or copyright holder, if they are different people). This notice protects writing or other original works even if they have not been formally registered. n Consider registering any works of particular importance, especially any with commercial value, with a patent/trademark office, e. g. Irish Patents Office (www. patentsoffice. ie), European Patent Office (http: //www. epo. org/) n Your copyright exists even without registration, but registration does fix, for legal purposes, the nature of your work and the date of its publication. n Fixing the copyright date also starts the legal timing, which under the 1976 copyright law extends copyright protection for the life of the author, plus 50 years. n Works for Hire ¨ If you are an employee or a paid independent contractor, you will usually be unable to apply for or to claim a personal copyright on your work, if it is produced for your employer. Whatever you write or produce will be called work for hire. Your employer can and usually will register such work.

3. Identify the source for any photographs or other graphics and. . . n Identify the source for any photographs or other graphics. n Photos and computer graphics have copyright protection, just as any other publications do. ¨ n Sometimes writers borrow a photograph or computer graphic without remembering that a tangible, reproducible image merits the same copyright protection as words. This same guidance applies, for example, to your favorite newspaper cartoon. ¨ A one-time use of the cartoon for educational purposes would probably fall under fair use, but ongoing use would not. And even one-time commercial use would not be fair use. ¨ As with any copyrighted material, using a cartoon requires you to contact the cartoonist or a publisher (often a newspaper syndicate) for permission, which is usually granted after payment of a one-time fee or a royalty fee for each copy made.

. . . do not modify visual creations without considering the rights of the original creator of the visuals. n Modifying a graphic does not make it yours! ¨ n As with the cartoon example, some people provide their own captions or write in new balloon comments. Use of this modified cartoon is still a violation of the cartoonist's copyright. Similarly, you are not free to modify or adjust a copyrighted photograph or an illustration to suit your own purposes. Even if your have obtained permission, for example, to use a photograph, this permission can include requirements as to how and when you will reproduce the photograph. ¨ For example, printing a small black-and-white version of a large color photograph might damage the original intent or artistic value. n Be careful not to "borrow" images or text from the web that may be copyrighted. Unfortunately, your source may not mark an image with a copyright symbol. Your ignorance of the copyright status does not remove your legal liability. n When you have questions about intellectual property of any kind, consider obtaining legal advice from an attorney who specializes in copyrights, service marks, trademarks, and patents.

Business and Technical Communications Based on: Franklin Covey “Style Guide” for Business and Technical Communications Tools for Highly Effective Communication

Agenda 1. Meeting Mangement 2. Information Organisation 3. Presentations 4. Intellectual Property

Have a good weekend!!