Chapter Four in "Crafting Digital Writing”, by Troy Hicks, offers a new perspective on crafting web presentations. Traditionally, students are taught to use a linear model of presenting, which is limiting. A linear presentation can be dull and unappealing to an audience. To keep an audience attentive, Hicks encourages students to be creative when focusing on crafting the presentation. In order to craft a captivating and effective presentation, one must take into consideration Robin William’s core principles: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. These principles help students visualize their presentations. Along William’s principles, one must also consider “stickiness” and storytelling.

     Storytelling is emphasized because it makes for a more interesting presentation; a story is relatable. With a well-constructed story, one can make it “sticky”, which is a term used to describe it’s ability to leave the audience with a long lasting impression. Along with the experience of crafting and presenting, a student, or presenter, can also benefit from watching presentations, which are  available on online at TED.com. These presentations show the writing, design, and delivery that are perfect examples of using digital design to craft a presentation.

     The overall design of a presentation depends on the audience and its purpose, whether it is about selling a product or posing an argument.Hicks goes on to say that students should use new media when designing presentations. Videos, photos, audio recordings, and others of the like combined with text to improve delivery. Even e-books and handouts can improve one’s delivery because it provides the audience with more information. With digital technology and new media, there are many ways for students to get creative. Students should explore the digital writing process for presentation and make use of presentation tools such as Power Point and Prezi. Composing well-written text and finding visuals that connect with the text can create a “sticky” presentation. In conclusion, Hicks offers a look into digitally composing presentations and the importance of encouraging creativity to showcase a student’s ability to craft a well-designed presentation.

     In this world of growing new media, Hicks presents a look at new digital tools that show the ways presentations can be designed and crafted. There are many opportunities to take advance of these digital technologies to create and deliver compelling presentations. Two concepts I found enlightening are the concept of storytelling and using a presentation tool other than Power Point. Storytelling is not something I considered as part of a presentation. Before taking this course, Writing in the Digital Age, I did not know that there were different online presentation tools such as Prezi. Hick introduces and explains storytelling and the use of new and emerging digital tools well in the chapter, “Crafting Presentations”, and above all, encourages creativity and exploration of these tools. He takes the reader through an informative and well-organized article to show the digital writing and designing process for a presentation.

(Original blog post can be found here)