Presentations

As a student still completing my undergrad, presentations are relevant to my present place in the Nutrition field. I will be presenting a poster in my fourth year, and perhaps a few more presentations will come up along the way to graduating. I have always been a fan of presenting in front of an audience, with the new techniques I have learned in ALES 204, I look forward to applying these skills as the next opportunity presents itself.

It is during my fourth year capstone course that I will produce my first, professional research poster. Posters are an effective way of presenting information to a large conference of people. They must captivate the eye, and summarize your objective and findings in an attractive, direct and complete manner. This requires that you have subjectively summarized your work, leaving only the main points on the poster, while including enough for the reader to have a thorough understanding of what exactly it is that you did. Information must then be organized, and presented in an appealing manner so to catch the eye of every passerby. What's excellent about this lengthy, precise process is that by the end of it you will know every inch of your work that when asked, you shouldn't hesitate an instant before engaging your audience in a more detailed conversation of your research!

Powerpoint or computer-mediated presentations are a very common way of presenting information. Here, presenters must be careful to avoid making their presentations too chalk-full of text, irrelevant data or hard to interpret data. If the wrong colors are chosen for text and background, this could also lead to a disastrous, ineffective presentation. Little factors, such as font type and slide backgrounds are just as important to the presentation as the factual texts on each slide. If you can master the art of both, you are on your way to being the deliverer of a great presentation.

The field of nutrition is a very dynamic industry. With ongoing scientific research, new realizations and proposed hypotheses, people involved in the industry need effective ways of relaying information amongst themselves and with others of different fields. Whether it be via powerpoint, Slideshare or a poster, professionals in my field need to be coherent and successful when it comes to delivering a presentation.

Speeches and the Nutrition Industry

Speeches and presentations are a great means of communicating an individual's knowledge with an audience. For this to be an effective exchange, the presenter must have a well formulated, organized speech, as well as be conscious of how she physically composes herself throughout the delivery. 

Speech is useful in the field of Nutrition when it comes to presenting research and translating nutrition jargon to a language that the public can understand. The public may not care much about nutrition, or feel no need to understand it. It is in my greatest intention to become a great presenter, in order to influence others to be interested in their own nutrition and health. This is my ultimate career goal, it is why I want to become a Registered Dietitian. Spreading the essential knowledge that is nutrition, showing others why it is important for them to incorporate it into their lives in order to become healthy individuals with an increased quality of life is my inspiration. 

It takes a lot of consideration to create a great speech. Organizing thoughts into a logical flow, while keeping it interesting, exciting and educational are what a good speech comes down to. After the speech is created, it is up to the presenter to carry the words into a motivational presentation that engages the audience and moves them. My classmate Naomi has done a blog post explaining the Pecha Kucha presentation method. This is a newer approach to presentations, each slide in a slideshow remains fairly simple and is only posted for 20 seconds. The aim of Pecha Kucha is to keep the presentation moving forward and only with the most important details being presented. The presenter must consider so many details before even uttering their first words in front of an audience. What they are wearing from top to bottom, how nice their hair is, and whether they have anything on that will allow them to fidget with is all taken into account before stepping in front of the audience. Aside from this, the presenter must take deep breathes to regulate their breathing, and be aware of a strong posture and a projecting voice. A great way to become relaxed in front of the audience is to introduce yourself and perhaps extract a few laughs from the audience while doing so, this may help take some unwanted pressure off.

Once these essentials are figured out, information may be conveyed excellently to the audience. It is so important for professionals in my field to be great when it comes to these basics of communication. The Nutrition industry exists because it affects everyone, in return everyone should be knowledgeable in this area. For this to persist, the knowledge from Dietitians and Nutritionists must be conveyed to the public. It is important that this conveying be persuasive and informative to engage all into our realm of nutrition. To leave on some final words, I will pass you on to Steve Jobs' speech to Stanford graduates. I was shown it in one of my business classes at the University of Alberta and it is one of the speeches that I will always remember:

Creating my Facebook Business Profile

I have just finished creating a new Facebook profile and page for my business self. It was a great experience and I find myself surprised at just how much I enjoyed it. Starting out, I couldn't help feeling like I had no clue what I was doing or if it sounded too dry and at times too silly. I hope it is effective in providing some insight into what kind of employee I am, as well as a taste of my personality.

My classmate Mareli has posted an example of a realtor's Facebook Business profile on her blog, check it out to get an idea of where to start. Here is a screen shot of my new Facebook page, and here is the actual page on Facebook, let me know what you think!

The impact of Facebook in business and careers today is profound. Employees and Interviewees are changing their privacy settings to reveal next to nothing. People are getting fired for posting comments about their bosses on friend's walls, or for inappropriate photos taken on the weekend. Facebook is a great way for an employer to find out just what sort of person you are, or at the very least what sort of person you wish to be portrayed as. While creating my business profile, I considered this and made sure to portray myself in a professional manner, while letting some individuality shine through as well. Every word I typed, every page I "liked" and "favorited" on my business profile was thought about several times. I want my potential employer to see how devoted I am to my field of Nutrition, and also that I am a fun and outgoing person on top of that. 

My ultimate goal was to get the reader (potential employer) thinking "She sounds like an enthusiastic Nutrition Nut, but a competent, fast-learning and effective worker as well". I believe that having a positive attitude and great personality is just as important to an employer as are your work skills. Overall, making a business profile was a great experience. Every step I considered that this wasn't just another Facebook page, it could be setting me up for my future position. 

Introduction Post

Hey there!

My name is Annalise, I am currently in my fourth year at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Specializing in the Nutrition Program, I am still aiming high to graduate a Registered Dietitian. I simply love food, there is no other way to put it. I love eating, cooking, tasting, savoring and even analyzing the science behind food. Health and fitness really interest me as well. Running triggered my interest a couple years ago, and some time before that working out began to pull me in as well. I live a life that is based around my field of study, and I mean that in the best possible way. My love of food since birth and my newly discovered passion for the body's health and fitness have brought me to who I am at present. With a kitchen stocked full of fresh produce & farmer's market meat, a drawer designated to workout wear and two pairs of running shoes - that's my life today. 

Social media has really boomed over the past decade. I remember being in Grade 10 and thinking I wasn't allowed to join Facebook because my sister told me it was for College students. Today, ten year olds now have Facebook accounts. My personal experience in using Twitter, blogs and podcasts have proved just how effective the Nutrition community can be when using these tools. For example, on Twitter I follow Monica Reinagel ( @NutritionDiva ) a licensed Nutritionist. She links articles to my feed, which I may read if they interest me and tweet back at her if I have any questions. This type of communication is so easy and accessible, I have advanced my knowledge in many areas of Nutrition and Food simply by following one Nutritionist on Twitter. 

For those who don't like to read, there are podcasts. Fortunately, my favorite Nutrition Diva also has her own podcast ( Nutrition Diva's Quick & Dirty Tips ). With this type of social media today, I can now tune in to programs in my field of interest as opposed to listening mindlessly to another song on the radio. 


Another advance that communication offers the Nutrition industry is the ability to post surveys and questionnaires on blogs or Facebook. Offering these surveys to an entire network of online profiles will yield great feedback about what the everyday consumer wants. This will give Nutritionists an idea of what areas they should be focusing on most in terms of relaying information to the public. An example of this is the ALES 204 survey posted on the blog. Hundreds of students filled out this survey, leaving the blogger with a better understanding of their audience. 

New types of communication, available through technology, facilitate a Nutritionists' access to the public and vice versa. For example, I can connect with my classmate Michelle by accessing her blog online. Here, I have the opportunity to learn about her interests and we can pass information back and forth using comments on each other's blogs. However, personal interaction will always play an important role in my profession. Nutritionist's must meet their clients in person in order to assess the patient and establish a trusting relationship. This may only be done in a personal setting, and wouldn't work over other methods of communication. 


My profession definitely benefits from the social media that modern technology has provided for us, but will continue to use traditional means of communication as well.