EMBA Oral Presentation Rubric

Excellent (4) Acceptable (2) Needs Work (0) Total Organization  Presenter made little or no  Presenter captured the  Presenter attempted to capture Intro: Attention effort to capture the audience’s audience’s attention from the start the audience’s attention attention  Presenter clearly explained the  Presenter provided some  No explanation of the Intro: Significance significance of the presentation to indication of the presentation’s presentation’s significance the audience significance  Presenter clearly previewed  Presenter briefly mentioned main  No preview was provided in the Intro: Preview main points of the presentation points of the presentation introduction  The presenter made clear,  The presenter made somewhat  The presenter made abrupt, Organization logical transitions throughout the clear transitions throughout the unexpected transitions presentation presentation  Content was extremely well  Content was generally well Focus (Concise)  Content was poorly focused focused focused  Presenter effectively  Presented provided brief  Presenter ended abruptly; Conclusion summarized main points or conclusion to the presentation provided little or no conclusion objectives Content  Presenter consistently used clear  Presenter generally used clear  Presenter rarely used clear Word Choice and distinct words and avoided diction and some jargon words and phrases jargon  Presentation was clearly  Presentation spoke effectively to Audience-  Presentation did not target or targeted at the audience interests, the audience’s interests and level of address the audience orientation benefits, and level of formality formality  The presentation showed little  The presentation was strongly  The presentation showed Credibility or no evidence of research; the supported by credible resources evidence of research presenter presumed credibility  Presenter effectively responded  Presenter handled questions;  Presenter struggled with Q&A to questions; built support maintained support questions; lost support  Visual aids clearly and succinctly  Visual aids distracted from the Visual Aids  Visual aids supported the message enhanced the message message Delivery  Presenter could be clearly heard  Presenter was generally heard,  Presenter’s low volume made it Volume by the entire audience at all times though volume dropped occasionally difficult for some to hear clearly  Presenter consistently used an  Presenter generally used an  Presenter spoke either very Pace engaging, conversational pace effective delivery pace rapidly or haltingly Fillers  No fillers  Some fillers  Many distracting fillers  Presenter consistently used  Presenter generally used effective  Presenter used flat Modulation effective voice modulation; voice modulation; avoided flat monotone/bad reading avoided flat monotone/bad reading monotone/bad reading  Presenter consistently and  Presenter generally used clear Articulation  Presenter generally mumbled clearly articulated each word articulation; some mumbling  Presenter used few to no facial Non-verbal:  Presenter used effective facial  Presenter used some facial expressions to support the expressions to support the message expressions to support the message Facial Expression message Non-verbal:    Presenter used effective body Presenter used some body Presenter used little body Body Language language language language Non-verbal:  Presenter used effective  Presenter used some gestures to  Presenter used few to no

Gestures gestures to support the message support the message gestures to support the message  Presenter maintained a strong  Presenter generally engaged the  Presenter made little or no Engagement and consistent audience audience effort to engage the audience engagement  Presenter maintained strong and  Presenter maintained some eye  Presenter maintained weak, Eye Contact consistent eye contact contact with the audience inconsistent eye contact  Presenter communicated an  Presenter indicated little to no  Presenter showed some interest Passion appropriate level of interest and interest and passion about the and passion about the topic passion about the topic topic  Presenter appears uncertain  Presenter projects confidence  Presenter shows some confidence Executive Presence and hesitant regarding the and assurance in the presentation message

1 EMBA Written Communication Rubric

2 The Elements of Business Writing Gary Blake & Robert W. Bly

Principles of Composition Principles of Tone 1. Use the active voice. 23. Write to express, not to impress. 2. Avoid long sentences. 24. Prefer informal to formal language. 3. Use simple language. 25. Prefer positive words to negative words. 4. Delete words, sentences, and phrases that 26. In a sentence containing both good and do not add to your meaning. bad news, give the bad news first. 5. Break your writing into short sections. 27. Write to change behavior, not to express 6. Use specific and concrete terms. anger. 7. Write in a natural, conversational style. 28. Be your most pleasant self. 8. Keep ideas parallel. 29. Use contractions to warm up your message. Principles of Organization 30. Avoid unnecessary hedging. 9. Organize your material according to the 31. Avoid sarcasm. way your reader thinks about the subject. 10. Organize your material logically. Principles of Persuasion 11. Delete the warm-up paragraph. 32. Gain your reader’s attention in an appropriate manner. 12. Use an executive summary. 33. Awaken a need for an idea before 13. Separate fact from opinion. presenting the idea. 14. Delete unnecessary closings. 34. Stress benefits, not features. 15. Use headings and subheadings. 35. Use facts, opinions, and statistics to prove your case. Principles of Wording and Phrasing 36. Don’t get bogged down in unnecessary 16. Avoid wordy and redundant phrases. details or arguments. 17. Use small words. 37. Tell the reader what to do next. 18. Avoid sexist language. 38. Before making a request, give the reader 19. Know the proper use of the most a reason to respond. commonly misused words and phrases. 39. Do not assume the reader has been 20. Substitute modern business language for persuaded by your argument. antiquated phrases. 21. Substitute original language for clichés. Principles of Punctuation, Grammar, 22. Avoid jargon. Abbreviation, Capitalization, and Spelling

3 EMBA-Specific “Tips” for OMBs (One Minute Briefs)

Get to the point—fast! Avoid overly descriptive versus analytical message; highlight the analytics Be explicit; avoid vague generalities Clarify focus—what’s the main idea Edit ruthlessly

What sticks?

S Simplicity

U Unexpectedness

C Concreteness

C Credibility

E Emotional

S Stories

From: Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (Random House, 2007) From: Stephen E. Toulmin, The Uses of Argument Updated Edition (Cambridge University Press, 2003)