Presentation Skills
UCD Smurfit Academic Writing Centre
Director: Dr Megan McGurk
Writing Workshops, Fall Semester 2017
MSc & MBA WORKSHOPS (90 minutes each, including Q&A)
Academic Writing
Any topic you wish to write about has already received a significant amount of academic inquiry. Scholars communicate through the citation method to trace how ideas develop over time through contributions to research. Citation provides the scientific method on the page. Citation practice lends writers authority because it allows readers to reproduce and verify evidence. Students will learn the basics of argumentation, how to paraphrase what they read and how to cite sources (in-text and end reference page) according to Harvard format.
Persuasive Writing
Writers often labour under the misconception that if they just collect enough data, they can persuade an audience. Yet people are rarely convinced by facts alone. We’ll investigate strategies that distinguish your writing from default ‘officialese’ prose which dominates business practitioner and academic style, but rarely inspires or encourages an audience to action. Successful persuasive writing incorporates stylish prose, an angle of vision, emphasis, and storytelling.
Business & Report Writing
Business writing is transactional. People turn to writers who can help them plan, solve problems, and make decisions in the workplace. Practitioner style requires writers to be clear, concise, and coherent when offering recommendations. We’ll cover report style, format, referencing sources, using tables and charts, and presentation. Every student in business should know how to write a report.
Collaborative Writing
Group writing assignments can pose a major challenge for post-grads. Collaborative writing is standard protocol today because individuals seldom have enough expertise to meet the various writing demands within an organisation. Far more than a module exercise, collaborative writing projects in Smurfit will prepare you to meet the challenges that await in the professional world. Ideally, team writing includes an element of built-in audience, one which every writer struggles to realise on their own. Your team has the benefit to test and strengthen ideas before they reach an audience, to share experience, and gain confidence with editorial and feedback methods.