Last week, you analyzed your audience and purpose and found research to prepare your presentation for next week’s Communications Conference. You must post that presentation by Thursday midnight of Week 8. Again, look ahead to the instructions for the Week 8 presentation!

This week, participate in ONE of the following threads in preparation for the conference next week. Follow these instructions for adding images, audio, and video.

Thread 1: Social Media

As a presenter next week, you have been asked to help promote the conference on social media. Before Thursday midnight, post an initial message that does both of the following:

Provide a social media message appropriate for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or other social media platform. The message should encourage participation in next week’s communications conference, specifically your presentation at that conference. Be creative!

Discuss the strategies you used in your social media message by answering the following questions:

Which social media platform would your posting be most appropriate for (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) and why did you choose that platform for advertising the conference?

What 2-3 specific strategies discussed in the Week 7 lesson did you use in your posting and why? 

How has a real business used these strategies in one of its social media messages? Share the social media message and discuss how it used those same 2-3 strategies! 

Thread 2: Podcasts

As a presenter next week, you have been asked to help promote the conference through the podcast series on your company’s website. Before Thursday midnight, post a 2–6-minute podcast about the topic of your Week 8 presentation.

To be courteous to all, including those who may be unable to hear the podcast, the recording must use captions OR a text transcript must be included. (The average speaking time is 100-150 words per minute, so the transcript of a 2–6-minute podcast would be 200-900 words.) For a concise and clear recording, preparing a transcript in advance helps!

Use this podcast as a “rough draft” or overview of the presentation you will create for next week, since that presentation also requires audio.

Thread 3: Blogs

Review the APU Edge blogs specific to Careers and Business. Before Thursday midnight, write a blog posting about the topic of your Week 8 presentation. This posting should be appropriate for publication on APU Edge! (Here is an example: How to Emphasize the Positive in Business Writing.) 

Use this blog as a “rough draft” or overview of the presentation you will create for next week. You can even submit your blog for publication to APU Edge, which would be something to add to your résumé!

Thread 4: Visual Aids

The Week 8 presentation requires an original visual aid created by you. This visual might be a pie chart, bar chart, line chart, infographic, flowchart, etc. Before Thursday midnight, post an initial message that does both of the following:

Provide the visual that you created.

Discuss the development of your visual by answering the following questions:

1. What source(s), if any, did you use to collect information to be presented in the visual? Why is this information necessary to support the ideas of your presentation? (Cite the visual as explained in Documenting Visuals in the Week 7 lesson.)
2. Why does the information need to be presented in a visual form? (For instance, why not just present the idea in text?)

Why is the type of visual you used appropriate for the content? (For instance, why did you choose a bar chart and not a line chart?)

What Visual Media and Design strategies did you use in your visual? (For instance, how did you employ Gestalt Theory?) 

• Before Sunday midnight, respond to at least two others in any of the threads by addressing two or more of the following questions relevant to each thread:
• Thread 1: Social Media
• Do you agree or disagree that the platform used is best for the purpose and audience of the message? What additional social media strategies might accomplish the same purpose for the audience? What additional examples from the real world demonstrate the social media strategies used? What are the pros/cons of social media advertising for professional purposes, such as this communications conference?

Thread 2: Podcasts

What section(s) of the podcast stood out to you the most and why? What ideas from the podcast should be removed or expanded upon for the Week 8 presentation? What additional ideas relevant to the podcast topic should be addressed in the Week 8 presentation?

Thread 3: Blogs

Do you think the blog should be submitted for publication? What additions or revisions, if any, would you suggest before submitting for publication? What ideas from the blog should be removed or expanded upon for the Week 8 presentation? What additional ideas relevant to the blog topic should be addressed in the Week 8 presentation?

Thread 4: Visual Aids

Is the visual really necessary or would the content be better presented textually and why? Is the type of visual used appropriate for the content or would a different type of visual be better and why? If research is used, is the visual properly cited in APA style? What design changes, if any, would you suggest?