21 - 27 October Reflections

Last week’s assignments included reading Chapter 14 in Writing that Works and reviewing our peers’ memos for the Dr. Nerd project.

Having prepared and delivered quite a number of presentations in the course my professional life, I found the chapter's advice insightful and practical. What makes the chapter’s advice practical is its relation to rhetoric and communication. In order to make sure one’s message is conveyed efficiently, one has to determine the purpose of one’s presentation, identify and analyze the audience, gather information, and structure presentation in a way that is conducive to its rhetorical purpose. As we are supposed to draft PPT presentations for our Dr. Nerd projects, this chapter comes in very handy.

Last week, we also peer reviewed each other’s Dr. Nerd memos. It was a very useful exercise as it gave me a couple ideas on how to improve my Dr. Nerd deliverables. Specifically, both my peer’s review of my work and his own Dr. Nerd draft memo helped me better understand the project requirements.