Start strong You've heard it before: First impressions are powerful. Believe it. The first 2-3 minutes of the presentation are the most important. The audience wants to like you and they will give you a few minutes at the beginning to engage them -- don't miss the opportunity. Most presenters fail here because they ramble on too long about unnecessary background information or their personal/professional history, etc… 1 Storyboarding The more you are on top of your material the less nervous you will be. Why? We fear what we do not know. If you know your material well and have rehearsed the flow, know what slide is next in the deck, and have anticipated questions, then you have eliminated most (but not all) of the unknown. When you remove the unknown and reduce anxiety and nervousness, then confidence is something that will naturally take the place of your anxiety. Know your audience as well as possible Before you can formulate the content of your presentation, you need to ask yourself a lot of basic questions. The goal is to be the best possible presenter for that particular audience. At the very least, you need to answer the basic "W questions." Who is the audience? What are their backgrounds? How much background information about your topic can you assume they bring to the presentation? What is the purpose of the event? Is it to inspire? Are they looking for concrete practical information? Do they want more concepts and theory rather than advice? Where is it? Find out everything you can about the location and logistics of the venue. Why were you asked to speak? What are their expectations of you? 2 When is it? Do you have enough time to prepare? What time of the day? If there are other presenters, what is the order (always volunteer to go first or last, by the way). What day of the week? All of this matters. 2 Develop a presentation persona. Whether you realize it or not, this is a performance as much as a presentation. Good presentations include stories. The best presenters illustrate their points with the use of stories, most often personal ones. The easiest way to explain complicated ideas is through examples or by sharing a story that underscores the point. Stories are easy to remember for your audience. If you want your audience to remember your content, then find a way to make it relevant and memorable to them. 3 This is Hans Rosling, Jedi Master of data presentations. Check him out at TED.com Move around. You need to engage and interact with your audience. Get closer to them by getting out from behind the podium. The goal of your presentation is to connect with the audience. The podium is a physical barrier between you. Removing it will help you build rapport and make a connection. Modulate the tone, pitch, and speed of your speech. Do not speak in a monotone. Vary your voice for emphasis and effect. This may seem a bit intimidating, but the good news is that this will happen naturally when you are passionate or excited about your subject matter. Never say ‘uh”. Use appropriate pauses. Just take a breath and pause before moving on to the next idea or point. Use gestures and facial expressions to help you explain, emphasize, and communicate the material. But don’t overdo it. Videotape yourself to find out if you are unconsciously doing anything that may be distracting to your audience. Also, you might want to invest in a remote control device to advance your slides and builds. A handheld remote will allow you to move away from the podium. I really like my Satechi SP400. They are about $35 on Amazon. 4 Are you passionate about the subject? Point out the fascinating aspects of what they are learning. If you are not interested in the subject, you can’t expect your audience to be interested, either. QUESTION: What? Financial Aid is dry, you say? Most people are interested in your interpretation of the reg, not the reg itself. Stay focused on the concepts and interpretations… Don’t overwhelm your slides with excessive text. Remember - a picture is worth a thousand words! If I had only one tip to give, it would be to be passionate about your topic and let that enthusiasm come out. Yes, you need great content. Yes, you need professional, well designed visuals. But it is all pointless if you do not have a deep, heartfelt belief in your topic. The biggest item that separates mediocre presenters from world class ones is the ability to connect with an audience in an honest and exciting way. Don't hold back. Be confident. And let your passion for your topic come out for all to see. 5 What’s the quickest way to be boring? Don’t read your notes or slides! What a perfect way to lower your energy level and make your audience feel less engaged. EXAMPLE: Shoebox Budget - financial literacy training. Remember the “B” key If you press the “B” key while your PowerPoint or Keynote slide is showing, the screen will go blank. This is useful if you need to digress or move off the topic presented on the slide. By having the slide blank, all the attention can now be placed back on you. When you are ready to move on, just press the “B” key again and the image reappears. 6 Make eye contact with the audience. Try looking at their faces rather than scanning the group. Since you are using a computer, you shouldn’t really need to look at the screen behind you — just briefly glance down at the computer screen. One sure fire way to lose an audience is to turn your back on them. And while you're maintaining great eye contact, don't forget to SMILE. …unless your topic is something morose, that would be weird. But overall, a smile can be a very powerful thing. Build a rapport with the audience. Interact with them. Make sure they are following you, and understanding what you are discussing. If they appear to be lost, ask them. Then, take time to explain your points and to answer questions. 7 Go ahead and bring a little humor into your presentation. But all times: be courteous, gracious, & professional. When audience members ask questions or give comments, you should be gracious and thank them for their participation. Even if someone is being a putz, you need to take the higher ground and at all times be a gentleman or lady and courteously deal with them. A true professional can always remain cool and in control. Remember, it’s your reputation, so always remain gracious even with the most challenging of audiences. EXAMPLE: Guy falling asleep & snoring in FA 101. If you don’t handle the situation professionally, your credibility is gone, your school’s reputation is damaged and you can bet your bottom dollar that as the story is told and retold, it will morph into something much worse than it actually was. I personally don’t want to be that urban legend. Do you? 8 We humans have short attention spans. Passively sitting and listening to someone talk is just not our thing. I remember reading somewhere that our attention spans wax and wane every 8 minutes or so. Your audience’s attention is going to be the greatest at your opening and then again when you say something like "In conclusion...." This is just the human condition, especially so for today’s busy (often tired) workers. But still, it’s a fascinating little factoid that can prove useful. So, if you notice your audience drifting away. Try jolting them back with a little “In closing…”. No just kidding. What I mean I, if you have 30 minutes for your talk, try to finish in 25. It is better to have the audience wanting more of you than to feel that they have had more than enough. Professional entertainers know this very well. “Always leave them wanting more” is attributed to both Walt Disney and PT Barnum. Whoever said it, the quote speaks to the showman in both. Also, keep the lights on. If you are speaking in a meeting room or a classroom, the temptation is to turn the lights off so that the slides look better. But go for a compromise between a bright screen image and ambient room lighting. Turning the lights off — besides inducing sleep — puts all the focus on the screen. The audience should be looking at you more than the screen. Today’s projectors are bright enough to allow you to keep many of the lights on. 9 Okay, so let’s review… 10 Remember to make your slides visceral and memorable Visuals that surprise people, touch them, delight them, and support your story are best because they affect people in an emotional way. People are more likely to remember your content in the form of stories and examples, and they are also more likely to remember your content if your visuals are unique, powerful and of the highest quality. 11 Welcome Intro Template C Plain-crimson-bright 12 When we are talking about Financial Aid, a good analogy is to refer to it as a funding puzzle. Because very few of you will pull from once source to pay for school. Most of you will be using a combination of savings, work, parents/grandparents, scholarships and financial aid to fund your education; your family's individual situation will determine what your puzzle looks like. Paying for school is a hot topic these days. The cost of tuition is steadily increasing while Financial Aid has remained fairly static. 20 years ago, students would have been able to pay for college strictly thru savings. The reality of education today is that most students work to some degree while they are in school. The days when a grant covered all one’s education expense are long gone. But the good news is that if you have to work while in school, studies show that students who work up to 20 hours per week while they are in school do better academically than their non-working counterparts. 13 I just want to highlight some of the terms you will inevitably hear any time you contact your financial aid office. QUESTION: The first one is FAFSA. Anyone familiar with that term? The SAR is your copy of the FAFSA calculation results. This report gives us your EFC or Expected Family Contribution., which we use to calculate your Financial Aid eligibility. Dependency Status is usually a big issue. We’ll talk about that on the next slide. 14 15 There is a misconception held by many families that their income is too high to be eligible for financial aid, and they never bother filling out the FAFSA. The reality is that ALL families are eligible for financial aid As LONG as you meet the FAFSA filing criteria: 1. U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen 2. If male, registered for Selective Service 3. No arrests for drug related crimes 4. Not in default on a prior student loan It is true that many types of aid are based on financial need. But both Student Stafford Loans and Parent PLUS loans are available regardless of income. These loans are considered financial aid because they are subsidized by the federal government and the interest rates are fixed and much lower than you could expect from a credit card or private loan. Another misconception – students think they are required to attend full time to receive aid – but not true – as long as you are half time, you can tap into some of your financial aid – This may not always the best option for a student but sometimes it can be a real solution if you have other competing responsibilities such as work or family. If you don’t meet the filing criteria for the FAFSA. Don’t give up hope. There are still ways to pay for school. In Washington State HB 1079 allows any student who has lived in WA for three years and graduated from a Washington High School to pay in state tuition rates. ALSO, there are also numerous scholarship opportunities. If you don’t meet the filing criteria, come see me after the presentation and I will get you some resources. 16 The definition of dependency status for financial aid purposes is literally an Act of Congress. So it’s important to remember that living on your own, being self supporting, or being financially independent from your parents in real life, has little or no bearing in FAFSA land. HIGHLIGHT CRITERIA If you don’t meet any of this criteria, we may still be able to help you. If we can document a history of abandonment, abuse, or neglect, your financial aid counselor may be able to manually override the requirements to make you an independent student. 17 18 REVIEW FLOW One key component missing from this flow chart is Verification. Remember to factor in processing timelines, which can take up to 12 weeks in peak. Turning in documents in a timely manner is so important. No aid can post to your student account until Verification has been completed, so if you receive any requests for information from your school and you don’t know what they are; don’t ignore them. Contact your financial aid office and we will walk you thru the process. Also, make sure that you use the FAFSA website at www.fafsa.gov, NOT www.fafsa.com. 19 When you complete the FAFSA, you are requesting a review of eligibility for all aid programs with one single application. The color coding helps know what you will be eligible for. If a student receives free/reduced school lunches, they are eligible for the blue programs. But you need to be aware of your school’s priority FAFSA deadline. If you file after this date. There are certain grant programs that have already expended their funds. The Loan program here is in green because ALL students are eligible regardless of income. There are also Scholarship opportunities, we’ll talk about those in a little bit. 20 So, lets talk a little bit about Stafford loans… Demystify them for you. Subsidized means the Federal Government pays interest on Subsidized while in school Need is not a consideration for Unsub. Bill Gates would qualify for an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan All the loans have: • • • • Fixed interest rate Grace Period Deferment/Forbearance options 3.4% on sub, 6.8% for Unsub 12/13 fixed interest rate There are annual borrowing limits. These amounts may seem low, but you should know that these amounts were just recently increased after remaining static for over a decade. All the time while tuition costs were rising each year. One thing to be aware of is that your loan eligibility is the same from part time on up to full time. So if you are in a situation where you have a funding gap, you can weigh the pros and cons of going Full-time and having to fund the remaining balance or dropping to ½ time and having enough aid to cover tuition and books. Repayment begins 6 months after graduation or less than ½ time enrollment. 21 We’ll talk about cancellation options on the next slide 21 Perkins loans are SIMILAR in structure to a subsidized Stafford Loan, but reserved for High Need students. Usually Pell Grant eligible students. Each school has a limited annual fund for Perkins loans. So the amount of the loan will vary from school to school. The USDOE MAY allow loan cancellation in certain situations for Stafford or Perkins Loans You must be employed after graduation in a “High Need” field: •Nursing •Teaching •Child Care Provider •Public Service These are the CURRENT definition of high need majors – however, that could be expanded in future years – especially with the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Bottom line – if you will be working in one of these high need fields you may be eligible for a portion of your loans to be forgiven. You will want to research what the current rules are as you get nearer college. 22 •PLUS loans are based on a cursory credit screening •This may not be the best option for you, but it is still an option •Borrowers are parents of dependent undergraduate students and graduate students •Annual loan limit: cost of attendance (COA) minus other aid •Fixed interest rate of 7.9% Repayment can begin immediately or be deferred until 6 months after graduation Parents denied a PLUS Loan can request a $4000 increase in Unsubsidized Stafford loans for their dependent students Private Loans should be a LAST RESORT – after all federal and state aid accessed Use to meet “gap” if COA not met with federal/state aid 23 24 Blue is need based aid. Institutional grants usually pay remaining balance up to tuition & fees IF Pell and SNG do not cover full tuition. Maximum SNG is $9280 Maximum Pell is $5550 Be aware that this example includes all types of aid for which a student’ eligibility is reviewed. The SEOG, Pell Grant, State Need Grant and Cougar Commitment are all need based programs, and many students will not be eligible for these types of aid. •We use this award letter as an example to showcase all the programs we just spoke about. But just know many students fund their education with the Stafford and PLUS loans only. 25 FAFSA Priority Filing Deadline EVERY YEAR School forms Get documents in timely Special Circumstances Budget adjustments • Transportation • Child care expenses • Computer purchase EFC adjustments • Change in income • Change in household size • Medical/dental expenses Keep copies of all documents Follow up on all information requests Use Online Portal for your daily check-in: •Register •Pay •Direct Deposit advice •Financial aid Award Accept/Decline 26 27 Traditional scholarship season is October thru March of each year for the upcoming year. Most students make the mistake of applying for nationwide scholarships before investigating local resources that have a much smaller applicant pool. The broader your search the more competitive the scholarships. Also donors like to see their money invested in their community. The very first place all high school students should be looking at is in your local high school. Many times alumni who have graduated from your high school return and create a scholarship only for students attending your high school. Find out where outside scholarships are kept in your school – usually either in the counseling office or the career center. Your next step is the colleges you are applying to. Most schools have scholarships just for students attending their institution. Then there are local community scholarships such as the Vancouver Rotary awards $20K in scholarships each year just to the WSU Vancouver campus, and the Scottish Rite has local scholarships as well. SEH America, Coca Cola, Credit Unions, etc… Weird Scholarships New site just for students living in Washington www.theWASHBOARD.org – 1st in nation, match.com for scholarships 28 28 The most successful students are willing to put in the time and work for the application process. Also, think of scholarships as a numbers game. The more you apply for, the better your chances of getting the money you need. Don’t restrict your applications search to just one or two sources. There isn’t one database that houses every single scholarship. Rather than spreading your volunteer hours among numerous non-profits, try to focus on a select few and increase your volunteer hours. Many organizations like the SW Washington Humane Society and SW WA Medical Center offer scholarships for their volunteers. Another very important part of creating a strong scholarship application is personalizing your essay. Very often, your personal story can have a large impact on whether or not you are awarded the scholarship. • • • • Be thorough Be persistent Be involved in school & the community Apply only if you are eligible 29 Signs of a scam 1. “This scholarship is guaranteed or your money back.” 2. “You can’t get this information anywhere else.” 3. “May I have your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship?” 4. “We’ll do all the work for you.” 5. “The scholarship will cost some money.” 6. “You’ve been selected by a ‘national foundation’ to receive a scholarship,” or “You’re a finalist in a contest” (that you never entered). Like schools FA office on Facebook & follow on Twitter Ask questions, questions, & more questions! Use your resources and make sure to ask questions if you are not sure how to proceed There is always a way to fund your education! 30 31