Writing and Oral Presentation Guide for Public Policy 10b (California Policy Issues)

Report Writing

and

Presenting

PP 10B

Don’t be insulted

How you use words

matters!

Scantron-itis?

Distant Early Warning

What’s the DEW Line?

Distant Early Warning

What’s the DEW Line?

Role of TA in PP 10B

(You may be referred.)

10 Pages!

Like, they never taught

me in high school!

Like, I don’t know

where to begin!

Like, it’s too long!

Like, I don’t have

time!

Report Preparation

and Presentation

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

Why follow rules? I want

to be creative!

Why follow rules? I want

to be creative!

1960

Why follow rules? I want

to be creative!

1960

Time Management

“Sorry. I guess I was just

procrastinating again.”

Time Management

“I wrote another 500 words. Can I

have another cookie?”

Time Management

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

Writing Guide

Use the introduction

to state what your

main topic is and

where you will be

going.

Writing Guide

Use the conclusion

to sum up the report

and make

recommendations.

“And I’ll be right back with the

conclusion to tonight’s story after a

few words from Daddy.”

Writing Guide

New ideas should

not be presented in

the conclusion.

Writing Guide

Give credit where

credit is due.

Footnotes,

references in

some consistent

style.

“Don’t think of it as plagiarism. Think of it

as homage.”

www.deanofstudents.ucla.edu

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.

Finding Reliable

Sources

Finding Reliable

Sources

“I can’t explain it--it’s just a funny

feeling I am being Googled.”

Finding Reliable

Sources

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

Advocacy/Interest Groups:

Just keep in mind they have an

axe to grind

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

“Read all about it! Falling

leaves kill six!”

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

“Meaningless statistics were up 1.5%

this month over last month.”

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

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

• It’s vs. its

• Effect vs. affect

• Media vs. medium

Writing Guide

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...

“I hate how informal

everything has become.”

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

Consider a paper handout instead.

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!

Oral Presentation

Guide

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.”

“Is it true you’re getting twelve

big ones for tonight’s lecture?”

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.

“Do you mind if I chase a few

practice balls first?”

Oral Presentation

Guide

Oral Presentation

Guide

Avoid “Uptalk”

Where have

we been today?

• Time management

• Initial writing guidelines

• Finding reliable sources

and presenting original

work

• Writing guidelines

(style)

• Making oral

presentations

Report Writing

and

Presenting

PP 10B