PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION and SUMMARY

This assignment is intended to aid you in your career development. Whether you are searching for a job with a new company or seeking a promotion within your current organization, you shouldbe prepared to market yourself to a prospective employer or boss. One way to market yourself is to present yourself as anasset to that company or organization. While resumes, cover letters, and emails are communications that we can plan for, other communication may occur unexpectedly.

For example, you may meet a prospective employer during an unplanned, unexpected encounter. Should this unplanned, unexpected encounter occur, ask yourself"Are you prepared to make the most this encounter? Are you prepared to "sell" or market yourself to this person?"Well, upon completion of this assignment, you will be because this final assignment prepares for that unplanned, unexpected encounter!

There are two parts to this final assignment: 1) a Professional Presentation and 2) a written Summary.

1) PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION - For the professional presentation, you will submit a video recording of yourself presenting a speech.

This video recorded speech takes the form of an"elevator speech." (See below forelevator speech description).

So, what exactly is an elevator speech? An elevator speech, also known as an elevator pitch, is "a concise statement designed to communicate your value [to someoneor to a company] and initiate a deeper conversation" with them in the near future. An elevator speech is considered persuasive communication because you are attempting to persuade someone to want to have further contact with you to find more out about you.

Imagine you're at a hotel attending a networking or other social/professional event. You're on the 7thfloor waiting for the elevator to arrive to take you down to the 1st floor.

The elevator arrives, and, as you step into the elevator, you make eye contact with and strike up a friendly conversation with the person already there in the elevator. Very quickly you realize this elevator ride represents either

1) a potential employmentopportunity because this person works for a company you'd like to work for, or

2) a potential promotion opportunity because they may be able to help you advance your career.

In sum, an elevator speechexplains who you are, what you do, what interests you, and what value you offer a prospective employer. These characteristics-who you are and what you do, what interests you and what value you offer a prospective employer-represent the skills and qualities that set you apart from others.

Professional Presentation: Elevator Speech Criteria \The Elevator speechis. Remember, you are marketing yourself so you want to stressthe skills or qualities that separate you from others.

Speech content & length: Your elevator speech should be between 1 - 1 /2 minutes. In your elevator speech, you want to sound friendly, professional, and well-informed. You should include evidence that demonstrates your skills and provides support for the qualities you discuss.

Evidence that supports your skills/qualities may include education, certifications, work experience, volunteer experience, adaptive/transferable or job-related skills, or a personal story relevant to your professional development. You may use materials that you discussed in your Module 4 Multimedia Assignment.

You will video record your elevator speech and upload it to your group discussion page. Consult materials from chapters 11, 12 and 13 for guidelines concerning developing and delivering a professional, persuasive presentation.

Video frame:Your video should be framed to include a shot of you from at least the chest up, meaning your video recording should include a view from your face tomid-torso. For example, think of a laptop on a desk using a webcam to record you. If you choose, you may include a wider perspective, such as from your torso up or full body.

Remember to consider contextually and visually how to best present yourself in this professional encounter. Contextually, the setting should be quiet, well-lit, and free of objects or images that would be distracting or deemed inappropriate.

Visually, consider how your physical appearance best projects your professionalism, including choice of clothing and personal grooming. Video recording options include use of a cell phone, laptop or tablet, or digital camera.

Video file format:Format your video as a video file type that is recognized by Blackboard. File types recognized by Blackboard are provided via a link under Module 6. This link is labelled Recognized Attachment File Types.

Please post your Elevator Speech to your group discussion board as an attachment and label the file as Last name First name, Elevator Speech. For example,

Trego Alison, Elevator Speech.

Please verify with ASU Help Desk that you have uploaded your video recording correctly if you are unsure, as video assignments submitted incorrectly will not be accepted.

NOTE: Blackboard does not recommend using Wi-fi and mobile connections to upload your video because they are prone to fluctuations, and fluctuation will disrupt and cancel the upload, or the file can be slow to upload, and your assignment will not be received by the due date/time. If you have concerns about uploading your video, please contact the ASU Help Desk.

2)The SUMMARY: The Summary, worth 20 points, is the written portion of this assignment. The written portion of this assignment requires you to provide a) a mock follow-up email to the person whom you spoke with in the elevator, and b) a description of who this person is and why you chose them for this assignment. The Summary should adhere to a 300-400 word count.

a) Mock Follow-Up Email: After delivering your elevator speech, you should be prepared to follow-up with this person in some manner, and an email represents an ideal way in which to do that. Your follow-up email should follow standard elements of correspondence, including a salutation, body, and closing (see p. 371).

After your salutation, the body or content of the email should provide a sentence or two that serves as a reminder for them as to how you met, who you are, and why you are following up with them. When discussing who you are, you want to make sure you review the same skills and qualities as you presented in your elevator speech,however, this review should not take the form of a script of your speech.

Your email should demonstrate appropriate business writing skills (See pp. 358-365) and largely follow the format of the business letter example on p. 372. Note you do not need to include a return address or inside address. The written portion of the assignment should meet a word count of 300-400 words.

b) Description of other person: After the Closing element of the email, double space and then provide a separate paragraph about this person whomyou have chosen to talk to for this elevator scenario. Who are they? Why are they someone who can impact your future successes?

Provide a discussion that describes who this person is and a rationalefor why you have chosen them.
Please post your SUMMARYto your group discussion board. I strongly suggest you type and edit this assignment in a separate document, and then copy and paste the final version into your discussion post.