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Week of July 18 (8 weeks out):
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- Think about your topic.
- Write down everything you potentially want to communicate.
- Determine if you have too much or too little. Try to focus on two or three main points.
- Narrow down your outline by making some decisions about what’s a must-have vs. what’s a nice-to-have.
- Organize your content into a natural flow. This will be your presentation’s first official outline.
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Week of July 25 (7 weeks out):
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- Use this outline to say your presentation out loud to yourself and at least two other people.
- Pay attention to how you transition from one topic to the next ‐ make it easy for yourself.
- Rearrange topics and key points in a way that help the story to have a clear beginning, middle and end.
- Get feedback from the other people you’ve shared your presentation with and incorporate their insights into your edits/next draft.
- Begin to think about the key visual tools you will use to support your message.
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Week of Aug. 1 (6 weeks out):
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- Create your draft PowerPoint presentation. Remember: You’re limited to just 20 slides. It’s okay if you have a few more than that for now, but you’ll need to edit them down to just 20 slides by next week.
- For each slide, use the “notes” feature to identify what you need to cover in those 15 seconds.
- Add supporting images (no clip art) to the slides. (Be sure to use image sites like Pexels or Pixabay where the images are free, not copyrighted, and of high resolution. You’re also welcome to use personal photos so long as they’re a high enough resolution. Images should fill the full slide with no border.)
- Only add words (no more than 3-5 per slide) if they significantly enhance the message you are trying to convey. (In rare instances, a solid color slide with a couple of words may be more impactful than an image plus words.)
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Week of Aug. 8 (5 weeks out):
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- Narrow your slide deck to just 20 slides if you haven’t already.
- Begin practicing with your slides (at least once a day, if not more).
- Although you may be using the speaker notes or index cards for the next week or so, your goal is to be completely “off book” before the time of your first rehearsal.
- Make tweaks to the slides, add or remove information from your “script,” and move things around, as necessary.
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Week of Aug. 15 (4 weeks out):
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- Lineup between 3 and 5 friends for you to do your presentation for. Request feedback and incorporate insights into your slides and notes.
- Mimic the session environment by standing when you speak, imagining the audience in front of you with the slides automatically advancing every 15 seconds. (You will have a confidence monitor in the session room.)By Friday, make any last-minute changes to your slides and email them to Aaron at TSAE.
- Schedule your practice run with the planning committee for the following week.
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Week of Aug. 22 (3 weeks out):
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- By now, you should be completely “off book.”
- You’ll have your first rehearsal with the planning committee.
- Expect lots of feedback – and be prepared to incorporate insights into both your slides and your talking points.
- Continue practicing your presentation with your new edits.
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Week of Aug. 29 (2 weeks out)
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- Practice your slides at least once a day (if not more).
- You should start to feel a difference from having simply memorized your slides to now a natural storytelling approach.
- Watch the clock and the transitions to determine what content is too long or too short.
- Adjust, as necessary.
- Create a final punch list for what you want to tweak or double check following the Labor Day weekend.
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Week of Sept. 5 (one week out)
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- Take a break and enjoy Labor Day!
- Review and work your punch list.
- Continue to practice your slides at least once a day.
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Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022:
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- The presentation takes place from 2:30pm- 3:45pm on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022.
- Please plan on arriving by 12:30 p.m. This will be an opportunity to see the room set and get comfortable with the environment, test your microphone, and do a full second rehearsal in front of the planning committee.
- Take a deep breath and feel great that you prepared the best you could and now it is time to have fun!
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