Writing and Oral Presentation Guide for Public Policy 10b (California Policy Issues)
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Transcript of Writing and Oral Presentation Guide for Public Policy 10b (California Policy Issues)
Roadmap for
Today’s Discussion
• Time management
• Writing guidelines
(getting started)
• Finding reliable sources
and presenting original
work
• More writing guidelines
(style)
• Making oral
presentations
Writing Guide
Use an outline style with
headings and subheadings
– Introduction
– Topic #1
• Subtopic A
• Subtopic B
– Topic #2
. . .
– Conclusion
Writing Guide
Use an outline style with
headings and subheadings
– Introduction
– Topic #1
• Subtopic A
• Subtopic B
– Topic #2
. . .
– Conclusion
What is turnitin.com?
• Electronic submission method (although we also request paper copies)
• Turnitin.com scans the web and all past papers ever submitted at all subscribing universities – not just UCLA - for similarities.
• It provides a color-coded summary of such similarities and an index number to the instructor, not the student. Students do not see what the instructor sees.
• Really bad things have happened to students found to have submitted unoriginal work through turnitin.com or other means.
Govt. agencies: Examples:
– Calif. Dept. of Finance:
www.dof.ca.gov
– Calif. Treasurer:
www.treasurer.ca.gov
– California Legislative Analyst’s
Office: www.lao.ca.gov
– City of Los Angeles:
www.ci.la.ca.us
– U.S. Bureau of the Census:
www.census.gov
Finding Reliable
Sources
Think tanks and
Centers: Examples:
– Public Policy
Institute of
California
– Rand Corporation
– Milken Institute
– California Budget
Project
– UCLA Lewis Center
– UCLA Center for
Health Policy
– Reason Public
Policy Institute
Finding Reliable
Sources
Advocacy/Interest Groups:
– Issue-oriented groups
– Trade Associations
– Labor Unions
– Major corporations
– Political parties
Finding Reliable
Sources
Popular newspapers:
• Los Angeles Times
• Sacramento Bee
• San Francisco Chronicle
• Orange County Register
…mainly for quotes, events...
...but probably not:
– National Enquirer
Finding Reliable
Sources
Writing Guide
• Not very helpful: www.dof.ca.gov
• More helpful: Calif. Dept. of
Finance, State Budget, 2011-12,
available at: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/BudgetS
ummary/BSS/BSS.html
• Note: Newspaper citations often
disappear from the web after a
short interval.
Writing Guide
Presenting data tables or
graphics:
– Discuss table or graphic in the text
– Do not just rehash the numbers
– Explain what you are demonstrating
with the table or graphic
– Avoid padding to fill space, i.e., just
reproducing tables or graphics to
enlarge the paper. If it’s not worth
discussing, it’s not worth including.
Writing Guide
Presenting data tables or
graphics:
– Present data in a useful way
• Absolute value?
• Rate of change?
• Ratio to some other index?
• What helps the reader?
– Source of data should be indicated
Writing Guide
Number your pages so that the
instructors can provide comments
geared to the appropriate location
in your text. Requirement!!
But these page
numbers should
not appear!
(Remember page
limit.)
Writing Guide
• Avoid paragraphs that go on and
on and on. Follow the three-
sentence rule: After 3 sentences,
ask yourself if a new idea is being
introduced.
• Avoid sentences that go on and on
and on. Follow the three-line rule:
After three lines, ask yourself if a
period is in order.
The two “Rules of Three”
Writing Guide
Avoid starting sentence after
sentence with the same word.
–The…
–The…
–The...
–The…
–The...
Writing Guide
• Don’t be afraid to use your
spellcheck!
• Be afraid not to use your
spellcheck!
• But it won’t catch everything!
– It is now the time…
– It is not the time...
Writing Guide
Avoid a folksy, informal
style that is inappropriate
for professional writing:
I have always loved this topic…
You probably are wondering why
I say that…
This paper gave me a chance to
explore...
Writing Guide
For team reports:
– Division of labor is fine and
necessary for research but…
– …choose one editor to write the
report so report is in a single voice.
– Do NOT simply paste together
sections written by each member.
+ + = ?
Writing Guide
Note the
required
checklist
included on
syllabus.
Final
individual
and team
reports
must
include it.
Oral Presentation
Guide
• Be organized. Have an outline
of what you plan to say.
• Basic groundrules: Time limits
for presentation, Q&A.
Oral Presentation
Guide
Do NOT read a written paper
out loud. Nothing is more
boring except…
…reading the presentation off
file cards.
Oral Presentation
Guide
For PowerPoint:
– Do not put too
much material in
small font on one
slide
– Repeat: Do not put
too much material
in small font on
one slide
Particularly
a problem
with data
tables
Oral Presentation
Guide
General test #1: Can someone read it
from the back of the room?
General test #2: Can someone
understand it even if he/she can read it?
TA won’t approve presentations that
don’t pass these tests!
Crash of Columbia
Space Shuttle in 2003
and PowerPoint
Columbia Accident Investigation
Board report, August 2003
PowerPoint Makes You Dumb
By Clive Thompson
NY Times: Dec. 14, 2003
...When NASA engineers
assessed possible wing damage
during the mission, they
presented the findings in a
confusing PowerPoint slide…
nearly impossible to untangle.
''It is easy to understand how a
senior manager might read this
PowerPoint slide and not realize
that it addresses a life-
threatening situation...''
Oral Presentation
Guide
Start with introduction
and end with conclusion,
just as in a written
report:
– What I am going to tell you.
– I tell it to you.
– What I have told you.
Oral Presentation
Guide
Use a single spokesperson even
in a team report. Do not have
sequential members of team
do “their” parts.
In later Q&A session, each
team member can respond to
questions in which he/she has
special expertise.
1
Oral Presentation
Guide
“I don’t know” is an appropriate
response to a question, if you
don’t know.
Side conversations with one
audience member are to be
avoided. “I would be happy to
discuss this issue with you after
the session.”
Oral Presentation
Guide
Practice, practice, practice your
presentation. Use an audio
recorder. Try to avoid putting
“you know” in every sentence.
Listen to the way newscasters
speak.
Where have
we been today?
• Time management
• Initial writing guidelines
• Finding reliable sources
and presenting original
work
• Writing guidelines
(style)
• Making oral
presentations