Strategy is Everything to Winning the Game



CAFÉ SOLANO 2000 Management Book Club

RPTA 166 Management Book Review and Oral Presentation

Please visit the course syllabus for information on the percentage worth of this and other course assignments. Due dates will be given on the assignments page.

syllabus:

As a workshop in administration with students of varying interests, part of the goal of this course is to help you develop your personal management style and find role models that are appropriate for you. It was for that reason that each of you selected a management book on an agency or company of your choice. By doing so, you had the opportunity to make this section of the course an informative, personalized and interesting read for you. Now’s the time to share what you’ve learned with me and the rest of the class in two related assignments: a written review of the book and a (very) brief oral presentation.

Written Review:

The goal of the written portion of the book assignment is to summarize the text information into a concise, informative and well-written review that is a mix of factual sections and an opinion recommendation. The format is as follows:

▪ The title page* of your book club review has four components:

▪ Your name and relevant course information

▪ An APA style reference for the book (proper APA format please!)

▪ A very brief abstract of the book (no more than four sentences)

▪ A list of the main points of the book

▪ The body of your book club review has three main sections:

▪ There should be a brief introductory paragraph that in a couple of sentences tells what the book or who the book is about, and what are the main points a reader will get from the book.

▪ The bulk of the review will constitute a summary of the main points of the book’s text. This means that you should demonstrate a clear knowledge of the book’s material. Reviews that are too vague and seem like a simple listing of chapter titles will not demonstrate that you’ve actually read the book. Always bear in mind that you should discuss the text with a deep understanding of it. It should be organized into headings that follow your main points (see below).

▪ In presenting an organized document, you should use sub-headings to designate your main points. In some of the books, the major points will be easy to follow – the five rules of successful management, for example. In other books, you’ll have to imagine that you are finding the five or eight main points of the book so that the review is easy to understand. Each heading should have a summary of that point that not only explains it, but tells why it is important. If there are good examples the author uses, you can repeat those. Even in books that are chronological biographies of famous managers (the Marriott book, for example), still have main points that the reader should get after reading the book.

▪ There should be a concluding paragraph that is your “book club scout” recommendation. This paragraph basically will discuss the overall value of the book and its readability. Just because you selected the book (or even because I showed it in class), doesn’t mean that you loved it – or even if you loved the information, maybe it was confusingly written (the opposite can also be true). So in this last paragraph let someone know what to expect or even if they should pick it up at all.

▪ The book review should be single-spaced, with double spacing at appropriate places between headings and sub-headings.

▪ * The “title page” should all fit on one page. You should make 7 copies of this page so that each person in your group (I’ll tell you that in class) will have a copy of your book review.

Oral Presentation:

The goal of the oral presentation is to briefly state what your book or who your book is about, the main points of your book, and give a short recommendation on the writing style and value of the information. Clever 166ers will realize that turning parts of their written review into two or three PowerPoint slides should do the trick.

How long will you talk? Three minutes, and no longer, so it should be on-point and informative, without appearing shallow.

(Beauty counts, so make sure your PowerPoint slides are visually appealing, read-able and consistent. You probably don’t have time for all of the fly-ins and fade-outs, etc. If you have anything moving, sliding in or flying over, make sure that at the pace you’re talking, it’s not distracting. Careful planning and practicing the short talk will usually make that apparent.)

Clever 166ers will realize that their one page summary will make an appropriate outline for their oral presentation (you may also want index cards or tabs in your book or something to help you “teach” this book). You will present in small groups (hence the Café Solano 2000 reference below) for approximately five minutes each. Six people per group, so each group will meet for approximately 30 minutes. Five minutes means four minutes thirty seconds to five minutes thirty seconds. Talking for two minutes on an entire book will not be acceptable. At the same time, no one wants to hear you ramble on for ten minutes. So take your time, map it out, have some examples from the book to help explain, and practice your talk so that you know you’re on the mark. Your talk should be informative and cover the major points of the book. We’ll also do a wrap-up talk and I might ask about a few of the books and what you thought of them.

(Are you creative? Your book review “title page” that you are copying seven times can be front and back if you want to add creative touches. A chart. A special diagram. Attractive clip art. Whatever. I don’t want to stifle creativity, but try not to go over front and back of one page for handouts. Obviously the one you’re turning into me can be longer.)

On the day you present, we’ll make it a comfortable, cozy Café Solano 2000 Book Club. Bring your coffee or tea and a biscuit or scone.

[pic]

[pic]

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download