Seeking Feedback on My First B-School Lecture: How Can I Improve My Presentation?

Greetings, I uploaded the PowerPoint (PPT) and the content I presented while speaking at Lotus Business School in Pune. I thank the college authorities for considering me for the session. Please share your feedback. I want to know how this can be improved. The session was attended by 70 students from both the first and second year. It lasted for two hours, including brainstorming and exercises. The presentation slides have pointers, so please consider this lengthy content while reviewing my work. Thank you for taking the time to contribute your efforts.

Topic Overview

The topic was about learning virtually for the real world. It then transitioned to how the IT industry works and the current opportunities within it. The last part focused on how students can leverage the digital world to develop themselves.

Career Path and Learning

In terms of learning, I shared my career path, highlighting each role I held to emphasize what helped me learn. I discussed the mentors I found and how each work situation differed from what I was taught. I encouraged them to use their internships to observe and identify escalations, as well as how managers handle them. Learning to seek information and collaborate within hierarchical structures is crucial.

Industry Insights

While the IT industry may exhibit conservative growth and hire in fewer numbers, the demand for specialized skills will increase over time. Developing niche skills while operating in a broad role will enhance their long-term value. The roles and compensation are pertinent to today's scenario. Students need to comprehend how to make themselves marketable at current salary levels and anticipate the changes these roles may undergo before they secure final placements.

Understanding Responsibilities

Understanding the framework of responsibilities that designations entail is essential. Navigating through the hierarchy is key to realizing the value one must generate, thereby cultivating technical and functional competencies. Career progression varies for each individual, resulting in diverse professional experiences. I engaged the students in discussions about their professional backgrounds and post-course aspirations, leading to extensive conversations as they navigate significant transitions not only in roles but also across sectors.

Digital Literacy

Digital literacy is an area where students often surpass my knowledge. I elaborated on how employers currently utilize digital tools and anticipated trends based on research. I highlighted the importance of establishing a professional online presence and creating their digital brand.

Online Communities

I introduced students to online communities and explained how these platforms facilitate dynamic learning and knowledge sharing. Curating their work online over two years will underscore the knowledge they've acquired. Employers often scrutinize resumes alongside students' digital footprints, emphasizing the importance of showcasing knowledge effectively.

Connecting with Industry Leaders

The opportunity to connect with industry leaders and gain insights from them is invaluable. We discussed why attempts to connect with knowledge leaders on platforms like LinkedIn sometimes fail and strategies to overcome such challenges. Students shared how the presence of these leaders inspires them, making it easier to define their own rules for personal branding.

Professional Opportunities in the Virtual Realm

The final segment focused on the burgeoning professional opportunities in the virtual realm, from establishing new firms to creating next-generation roles. I recounted my experience post-MBA, where none of my peers were hired as Community Managers initially, a role that has since evolved significantly based on my learning journey. During my MBA, Dr. Madhukar Shukla from XLRI suggested that I explore a virtual HR community tailored to my learning preferences. This recommendation led me to discover a community in 2006, shaping the course of my career from then on.

[NB: Presentation will be uploaded with credits to our contributors]

Please share if you have any questions about the areas I discussed. I am looking forward to learning from the gaps I left and the mistakes I made. Thank you for your words 

I am interested in knowing what you talked about in these places:

We've mostly always thought about how people probably get to the content in an online community—the design, the infrastructure, the content itself—but our recent discussions and the changes we made to the network are becoming more about what people expect from a real community. The focus was always learning, but now, we are trying to make this also about where you reach after the learning. What influence you have with the goodwill you created in the community.

The Evolution of Online Communities

Online communities have existed since the birth of the Internet—and frankly, it's the same as hosting an event. How good you are at managing people, the atmosphere you are able to create, and what need you are catering to define the success of the community. Facebook is the biggest (995 million users) because it brings the most social part of our life online—our friends and relatives. Compare that with LinkedIn (174 million users) and you'll see a steep drop as it caters to our need to network with other professionals (it's about the connection count, isn't it?)—then there is Twitter (140 million users) and you see the numbers drop a little more as it mainly thrives on celebrity statuses—which is a bit less important—which is why now their focus has become "to be about News" (which is probably the correct use) and the marketing budget is now going towards that.

Then we have us—Cite.Communities with 8 million users—still in its infancy, still bootstrapping. But we are growing rapidly mainly because people are realizing that a lot of the learning happens with discussions and sharing and by creating real connections with the people and with the community (something we are working towards). Quora is another which is coming up in a big way—but that's mainly tech-focused.

The Future of Virtual Communities

In the future, virtual communities will no longer remain virtual—they will be by your side (more intimately than on your mobile device) with the use of vision and contextual feeds. But to learn, you'll still need to make that push to show up—learning the matrix way where programs are implanted into your brain is probably still a few generations away.

Regards,
Sid

Dear Ms. (Cite Contribution),

It is great to know about your guest lecture at a B-school. The presentation prepared by you is simple and easily understandable. Instead of focusing on the online community in your presentation, if you choose another industry, you can delve more deeply into the topic.

Please accept our sincere appreciation for sharing with us.

Thank you.

Congratulations on getting the assignment, and thank you for the PowerPoint slides attachment. I have sent a private message raising some questions. Here is one comment that would be useful to others: I found the slide of a MIND MAP on Managing Digital Citizenship too complicated. I searched the web and found it at how to focus in the age of distraction - Google Search. It is always prudent to include a reference to material that is not our own.

Thank you.

My gratitude to everyone who has contributed to my work. I need to take the presentation out for a while to rework it with all the feedback I have received. I wish to include the contributions with the credits to our contributors. Please allow me time until I can upload it.

Thank you once again for your effort and support.

Regards,