At the October 19, 2012 Mentor Corner, Gentle Heron gave us directions and a template for creating a "book report style" presentation. Naturally, she and the other mentors who regularly present would be very happy if the rest of us mentors would volunteer to give a presentation! It's easy and it's fun, and here is how:

[08:49] Gentle Heron: Hello NPC friends. This is a 'how to' presentation!
[08:49] Gentle Heron: Today I want to show you how to avoid having me repeat this presentation. I want to encourage each of us to step up and share something they know about as part of the Mentor Corner series.
[08:49] Gentle Heron: Each week someone (far too often Gentle or Zinnia) shares a short piece of information.
[08:49] Gentle Heron: You too can share! Here’s how to make it even easier than those old high school book reports we all used to dread.
[08:49] Gentle Heron: First, choose a topic.
[08:50] Gentle Heron: Make it something you’d like to hear about. Perhaps you already know about this topic, or maybe it’s something you’d like to know more about.
[08:50] Gentle Heron: Both ways work.
[08:50] Gentle Heron: Since we’re talking about this as a book report style presentation, you may already have an article to tell us about. I have a whole file of them on business topics…. Just ask and I’ll find one for you.
[08:50] Gentle Heron: But you can also find your own. Educause has a GREAT series titled “Seven Things You Should Know About…”. I really like their seven standard questions they answer for all their topics.
[08:51] Gentle Heron: Their topics are mostly tech topics: http://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/7-things-you-should-know-about/7-things-you-should-know-about-campus-wide-it
[08:51] Gentle Heron: But if you don’t want to do a seven-item long report, try Googling something shorter.
[08:51] Gentle Heron: ...
[08:51] Gentle Heron: When I Googled “5 steps to…” I got information on risk assessment, studying, fighting stress, accomplishing goals… (as well as how to winterize my car or hide a pimple!)
[08:51] Gentle Heron: “4 steps to…” found me articles on successful Facebook marketing, starting an exercise habit, and effective performance evaluation.
[08:52] Gentle Heron: This is the work, making an outline of the article. But it’s easy if you’ve read something that is listed as steps, because those are your outline entries!
[08:52] Gentle Heron: The first entry in your outline should be the introduction. The last should be your conclusion. In between, just list the author’s steps.
[08:52] Gentle Heron: Put your outline into PowerPoint slides. If you need help with this step, ask a Mentor. We’re happy to help.'
[08:53] Gentle Heron: You don’t even need to do this step, if you don’t want visuals with your presentation!
[08:53] Gentle Heron: ...
[08:53] Gentle Heron: If you chose to do a PowerPoint slideset, you’ll probably want some pictures.
[08:53] Gentle Heron: Please be mindful of copyrights. Choose images that are copyright free.
[08:53] Gentle Heron: One great source of copyright-free images is the Morgue File (perfect name for Halloween, right?)
http://morguefile.com/
[08:53] Frans Charming: :)
[08:53] bulaklak: 7 steps to giving a 7 step presentation
[08:54] Gentle Heron: Glad you lijke that one, Frans. Right you are Bulaklak
[08:54] Gentle Heron: Write out the text you’ll be presenting in Local Chat.
[08:54] Gentle Heron: Basically, you are now filling in your outline. Don’t just use the words of the article. Add your own examples.
[08:54] Gentle Heron: Bring the slides and text into Second Life and prepare your presentation tools.
[08:54] Gentle Heron: Again, Mentors (I’m looking hard at Jen and Zinnia here!) are happy to help.
[08:54] Zinnia Zauber: We are here for you, man!
[08:54] Gentle Heron: And you’re ready to schedule your Mentor Corner “book report” with Zinnia.
[08:55] Gentle Heron: It’s as simple as that, really.
[08:55] Gentle Heron: I promise, you’ll be glad you shared your knowledge with the rest of us at NonProfit Commons.
[08:55] Gentle Heron: (and you really won't want me to repeat this presentation, will you?)
[08:55] bulaklak: This is also a good place for copyright-free images: http://search.creativecommons.org/ (although some rights reserved in certain cases)
[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you so much, Gentle! It means a lot to us if you present!
[08:56] bulaklak: That was super helpful! Thanks, Gentle!
[08:56] Gentle Heron: Please contact me if anyone wants some articles out of my extensive collection. Just give me the topic.
[08:56] Buffy Beale: you're the best Gentle!
[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: We all have unique insight to share and it is fun to be in the spotlight!
[08:56] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thank you Gentle!
[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you Gentle!
[08:56] Ozma Malibu: Thank you Gentle!
[08:56] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Amazing as always :)
[08:56] Nicki Clary: thanks so much Gentle