Throughout the semester, the course Strategic Presentation had much to offer me in many different aspects. However, if I had to break down what I learned the most in three different ways it would have to be in regard to learning about building a website, copyright laws/licensing, and the fundamentals of creating a podcast (exemplified in the final project for the course).
Before taking Strategic Presentation, I held very little knowledge as to how one should go about creating a website/blog for topics of interest. When I was in high school, I was required to create a free website for my photography class to stock a portfolio for photography I had taken. Other than that experience, I didn’t know where to start. My experience using WordPress quickly assured me how simple, easy, and effective it could be to create a website using their platform. Also with the help of Professor Hodges’s instructions, they helped to make the website creation process a much more smooth experience. In the future, I plan to continue to use this platform if I ever need to create my own website for a company one day.
When learning that we would need to filter certain information/imagery to comply with copyright law, I was completely lost as to how I would confine my project to such parameters. I had limited knowledge as to what was acceptable or what was considered copyright. Luckily, the unit about copyright/creative commons laws in class helped to supplement the information necessary for complying with the licensing. It was helpful to know that Google images has a built-in tool to filter for images that are approved for noncommercial reuse with modification. Having more knowledge around copyright/creative commons licenses, it will be absolutely helpful for creating credible presentations in the future.
Lastly, I found the creating of individual podcasts to be the most intriguing part of the class. Being a musician, I’m well rounded in knowledge on using recording programs. I have used Pro Tools mixing software, Ableton, and Apple’s Garageband. I have also produced music for SoundCloud so I also had previous knowledge of how to create a profile and upload mp3 files to the platform. However, our final project required us to use the free audio mixing software program Audacity which I had never used before. I found that it was a very straightforward program to use and would recommend it to others especially with all the editing tools and effects you can use on the platform. Overall, I found the podcast project to be a highly engaging and useful. I never knew how much could go into making a podcast but now I feel even more confident with making future ones with the knowledge I received from the class.
In conclusion, Strategic Presentation is a class I would highly recommend to anybody looking to learn about creating a brand for oneself and how to properly use modern tools and platforms to expand one’s influence. Knowing how to create a website, use different types of official copyright/creative commons licenses, and produce a podcast were skills I plan to apply to future projects of my own and for my career.
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