Language+Arts+Resources

In one of my favorite 90's television series, //Ally McBeal//, Ally (Calista Flockhart) has a friend John (played by Peter MacNicol) who struggles with many issues, including a stutter and low self-confidence. When she challenges him to find a "personal theme song" to sing to himself in the mirror, he laughs her off at first. But when he chooses the song "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" by Barry White, everything changes.
 * Theme Songs**

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Sports teams and athletes have this "theme song" thing down pat. Go to a baseball game and inevitably you will hear (besides "Take Me Out to the Ballgame") a specific song when each player gets up to bat. When he wasn't winning gold medals in the swimming pool, Michael Phelps was rarely seen without his earbuds. High school sports teams play music during their warm-ups that puts th em in a competitive and optimistic mood.


 * Think about a "theme song" that would pump you up as a public speaker. What kind of music would get you feeling confident, excited, and energized before sharing your expertise about the 3C+D rail system with our guests on Thursday evening?**

Imagine how you would walk into the room with one of the following movie themes playing (even if only in your head). How would such a "theme song" change the way you carried yourself as you entered the room? Anyone want to volunteer to show us?

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 * PowerPoint Slides**

1. Read this blog post about the "top ten slide tips" for PowerPoint slides, including recommendations regarding colors, charts, templates, and fonts.

2. This reading "Really Bad PowerPoint (and how to avoid it)" can keep you from making some major mistakes in creating your presentation.


 * Images for Presentations**



Check out this [|link] to get a list of sites where you can download free stock photos. I particularly like Stock.XCHNG and everystockphoto.com. Just search for "train" or "passenger train" or "train station" to get some professional images to use in your PowerPoint. Here are some images (below) that I found using both of those sites.
 * Free stock (professional) photos**