| Course | BU 245 Business Communication |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 7 |
| Paper type | Presentation with speaker notes |
| Length | About 1,260 words, 10 slides |
| Format | Slide deck with speaker notes, APA 7 references |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BS in Business Management |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 245 Unit 7
Three Fixes for Late Bread Before the April Renewals: A Presentation to Lakeshore Bread Company's Owner and Managers
Student Name
Business, Herzing University
BU 245: Business Communication
Instructor Name
March 2, 2026
Slide 1: Late deliveries are fixable, and we have until April to show it
Lakeshore Bread Company: operations update, March 2, 2026
Presented by Dana Whitfield, Operations Coordinator
Speaker notes: Good morning. I have ten minutes, and I want to use them to make one argument: our late deliveries come from three problems we control, we have already started on two of them, and I am asking for one decision today on the third. Everything I show comes from our dispatch log, maintenance log and loading sheets for October through December. Lakeshore is our composite bakery case for this course, and the figures are from its records.
Slide 2: One delivery in eighteen was late last quarter, and December was the worst month
212 of 3,880 deliveries late: 5.5%
October 41, November 62, December 109
[Column chart: late deliveries by month. Source: dispatch log, Q4 2025]
Speaker notes: Here is the size of the problem. Five and a half percent sounds small until you remember that each late delivery is a store opening with empty bread shelves. December more than doubled October, because holiday volume and the first hard cold came together. The chart shows the three months side by side; the source is our dispatch log, which records each stop's arrival from the driver's scanner. The trend is the reason to act now rather than wait for next winter.
Slide 3: The south route runs late almost three times more often than the rest
South route: 97 late of 1,020 (9.5%)
Other three routes: 115 late of 2,860 (4.0%)
[Bar chart comparing late rates. Source: dispatch log, Q4 2025]
Speaker notes: If we look route by route, one stands out. The south route serves 11 grocery stores over the widest area, and its late rate was nine and a half percent against four percent everywhere else. Both chains whose contracts renew in April have stores on this route, so this is the route our biggest customers see.
Slide 4: Three causes explain every late delivery, and all three are ours to fix
Route order and traffic: 44%
Vehicle problems: 31% (Truck 2 in 48 of 66)
Loading after the 4:45 a.m. cutoff: 25%
[Single stacked bar showing the three shares. Source: dispatch, maintenance and loading logs]
Speaker notes: When I went through each late stop and assigned the cause that started the delay, every one fell into three groups. Route order and traffic is the biggest. Vehicle problems come second, and nearly three quarters of those involve one truck, Truck 2. Loading delays make up the rest. Weather made all three worse in December, but it did not create any of them. That is the good news: we can change every one of these.
Slide 5: Fix one, loading, started February 2 and costs nothing
First pallets staged by 4:25 a.m.
Drivers start at 4:20 with a paid 10-minute pre-trip check
Early result: 3 loading delays in February, versus 19 in December
Speaker notes: The first fix is already running. Loaders now stage each truck's first pallets before drivers arrive, so the two groups are not fighting for the dock, and drivers use the first ten minutes for a truck check. In February we had three loading delays compared with nineteen in December. One month is not proof, and February has fewer deliveries than December, but it is the direction we wanted.
Slide 6: Fix two, replacing Truck 2, removes the largest single source of breakdowns
Truck 2: 2012, about 214,000 miles, $9,840 repairs in 2025
Lease quote: $1,150 per month, maintenance included
Approved February 12; new truck in service March 9
Speaker notes: The second fix was approved in February. Truck 2 cost us nearly ten thousand dollars in repairs last year and failed three times. The lease costs about three hundred thirty dollars a month more than those repairs averaged, but it takes the truck behind forty-eight late deliveries off the road. The new truck goes into service next Monday.
Slide 7: Fix three, a 90-day route-planning test, targets the biggest cause
Software suggests the south route's stop order each morning
Test: March 16 to June 12, south route only
Cost: up to $790, mostly staff time
Speaker notes: The third fix addresses the biggest cause, route order. The south route still runs on a printed list that has not been reorganized since we added two stores in 2024. Route planning with delivery windows is a well-studied problem, and there is inexpensive software for small fleets that suggests the best order each day. I am proposing a ninety-day test on the south route only, starting two weeks later than first planned so the new truck is settled in, and I would report the results in June.
Slide 8: We will know by June whether the test worked
Target: south route late rate below 5%
Also tracked: weekly miles, driver overrides
Comparison: the other three routes, unchanged
Speaker notes: Here is how we will judge it. The headline number is how often the south route runs late, and I want it under five percent. We will also watch miles driven and how often the driver overrides the software, and why. The other three routes stay on their current lists, so if everyone improves in spring we will not mistake good weather for the software.
Slide 9: The decision today: approve the route-planning test
Approve up to $790 for a 90-day test
Allow the south route's stop order to change during the test
Next update: March 31
Speaker notes: So this is the one decision I need today: approval to spend up to seven hundred ninety dollars and to let the south route follow the software's stop order for ninety days. If we approve it this morning, I will set up the software this week and train both drivers before March 16. I will send a one-paragraph update at the end of each month.
Slide 10: Backup for likely questions
Why not all four routes at once? A comparison group shows whether the software caused the change.
What if drivers dislike it? Overrides are allowed and recorded.
What does it cost after the test? About $98 per month for two seats if continued.
Speaker notes: I hold this slide back unless someone asks. The questions I expect are why we are not testing every route, what happens if the drivers find the software awkward, and what it costs if we keep it. The answers are here so I can respond with numbers rather than guesses.
Design Notes for the Instructor
Each slide headline is written as a complete sentence stating the slide's claim, following the assertion-evidence approach Alley (2013) recommends, in which a sentence headline is supported by visual evidence rather than by a list of bullet points. Slide bodies carry few words, because Mayer (2009) found that people learn less when on-screen text repeats what a speaker is saying, a pattern he called the redundancy effect; the full sentences therefore sit in the speaker notes. Charts are described in brackets where they would appear, each with a source line.
The deck has one idea per slide and a single slide for the request, near the end but before the backup slide. Duarte (2008) argues that presenters should design slides for the audience's comprehension rather than as a document to be read, and that the most important message should be unmistakable. The backup slide holds answers to predictable questions so that the main argument stays short. The route-planning method mentioned on Slide 7 rests on the vehicle routing literature summarized by Toth and Vigo (2014).
References
Alley, M. (2013). The craft of scientific presentations: Critical steps to succeed and critical errors to avoid (2nd ed.). Springer.
Duarte, N. (2008). Slide:ology: The art and science of creating great presentations. O'Reilly Media.
Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Toth, P., & Vigo, D. (Eds.). (2014). Vehicle routing: Problems, methods, and applications (2nd ed.). Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
BU 245 Unit 7 instructions, in plain terms
The Unit 7 instructions ask you to create a business presentation with slides and speaker notes, often based on a report or proposal from earlier in the course. Expect to organize the deck around a clear message, keep slides uncluttered, use visuals with sources and write notes that show what you would say. Many rubrics ask for a specific number of slides or minutes and a clear call to action. Some sections require a recording, while others grade the file alone. Design principles from the course reading should guide choices, and any data or frameworks cited should appear in an APA 7 reference slide or list. Building the deck from an earlier report saves research time and lets you focus this unit on structure and delivery.
Inside the BU 245 Unit 7 example
The sample's title page states the argument, and each of the ten slides carries a sentence headline that makes one claim. Slide bodies hold a few phrases or a bracketed chart description with a source line. Speaker notes under every slide contain the spoken sentences, the source behind each figure and the transition to the next point. The sequence runs problem, location, causes, fixes, measures and request, with a backup slide held for questions. A caution about one month of data appears in the notes rather than on the slide. A short design section after the deck explains the headline style, the limited text and the single request slide, citing presentation research.
Reading the BU 245 Unit 7 rubric
Herzing's rubric for presentations commonly assesses content and organization, slide design, speaker notes, use of evidence and the call to action. Content earns full points when the deck follows a clear argument that a viewer could reconstruct from the headlines. Design is judged by readable slides with limited text and visuals that carry titles and sources. The speaker notes criterion rewards full, speakable sentences that add to the slide rather than repeat it. Evidence scores highest when every number can be traced to a source. The call to action should appear on its own slide in plain terms. Instructors also credit backup material prepared for questions.
BU 245 Unit 7 help before you submit
The most frequent Unit 7 mistake is a slide full of bullet points that the presenter reads aloud, which research on redundancy suggests reduces what an audience remembers. Another is topic headlines, such as Delivery Data, that tell viewers nothing about the point. Speaker notes are often left blank or copied from the slide. Charts appear without titles or sources. Many decks never state what the presenter wants the audience to do. Finally, keep the number of slides proportional to the time; a ten-minute talk with twenty-five slides forces the presenter to rush, while a clear request slide near the end gives the talk a purpose.
Get a BU 245 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
Send us the Unit 7 instructions and the BU 245 rubric, with the scenario, slide count and any recording requirement your section sets. We write a custom example with claim headlines, one idea per slide, sourced visuals, speaker notes carrying the spoken sentences and a reserve slide for the expected question. First custom sample free, back in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 245 Unit 7 questions, answered
How many slides should the deck have?
Whatever the instructions require, and the count is usually set precisely because the constraint is part of the exercise. Where it is open, let one idea per slide decide it and expect fewer slides than you first drafted. A deck running long almost always contains two slides making the same point, and cutting one of them costs nothing.
What exactly goes in the speaker notes?
The sentences you would actually say, the source behind every number on the slide, and a line moving the audience to the next point. Notes written as fragments help nobody under pressure. If your section asks for a recorded delivery, the notes double as the script, and having the sources written there is what lets you answer a question without stalling.
Do I need to record myself presenting?
Only if the instructions require it, and many sections at this level grade the deck and notes alone. If a recording is required, the notes carry the delivery, so write them as speech rather than as prose. Check what the rubric rewards, since some sections score delivery separately and others treat the recording as evidence the notes work.
Where can I find a free BU 245 Unit 7 sample paper?
The full BU 245 Unit 7 deck, all ten slides with speaker notes and design notes, is shown above for free. For a presentation on your own report or proposal, share the instructions and a free custom deck will be drafted for you, typically returned within two days.
What goes in the BU 245 Unit 7 speaker notes?
The sentences you would actually say, the source behind each figure and the transition to the next slide. The sample's notes add explanation and cautions that would clutter the slide itself. Notes that repeat the slide word for word miss the point of having them.