How to Deliver a Suitable Presentation

Chapter nine in Envision is an interesting chapter. The main focus in this chapter is how to deliver a presentation. After reading through this chapter I was able to answer four important questions about presentations. How can I transform a written argument into a presentation? What are the branches of oratory, and how do they shape my presentation options? When should I use a speech, a poster session, PowerPoint, or a live performance? How can the canons of memory and delivery help my presentation? If I am able to get a good understand on these questions I should have a strong presentation. Aristotle divided oratory into three branches based on time, purpose, and content. The first branch is judicial or forensic discourse, which involves defending or accusing and deals with the past. The second branch is deliberative or legislative discourse, which concerns politics or policy and typically argues for or against specific actions that might take place in the future. The third branch is the epideictic or ceremonial discourse, which generally deals with the present.

There are important things to know when it comes to turning your written argument into a presentation. First plan for a shorter presentation time than what you actually have allotted. Most people speak longer than they expect to. When preparing a speech it’s important to be organized. Have an outline so it’s easy to look at when delivering a speech. The last step is translating your writing from text meant to be read to text meant to be heard. Choosing the right delivery of a presentation can make or break your speech. It’s important to have visuals to keep your listeners attention during your presentation. There are countless forms that a person can use including posters, multimedia, and slideshows. To deliver a powerful presentation you need to involve the last two canons of rhetoric, memory and delivery. Memory entails both memorizing one’s argument to communicate it to the audience and evoking memorable phrases. Delivery concerns strategies of presenting your argument to an audience. Following these guidelines should help a person deliver a worthy presentation.

Peer Editing and Research Assignment

Today is October 11, 2011 and it was my day to write about what happen in class. During class today we covered many different topics. At the beginning we got into groups of four and peer edited our rhetorical analysis paper. Our second draft was due today at the beginning of class. Everybody had a hard copy of their paper in class today. Each student was able to pass their paper around to three other students to peer edit. I enjoy being able to read and edit other student’s papers. I also appreciate when students peer edit my paper because it makes me see my mistakes. Our final draft is due this Thursday on October 13. When I received my paper back I was able to see some of my mistakes that I made. I let numerous students edit my paper within the past few weeks. Letting people peer edit my paper helps me receive a better grade.

After, peer editing today Mrs. Evans showed the class a power point over our next assignment. Our next assignment is a research argument essay. I am excited to do this assignment. My favorite types of papers to write are research argument essays. I find research papers to be interesting and fun to write. While writing a research paper the writer is able to put in his or her own emotion towards the writing. I learn the most when I write research papers. The reason I learn so much is because when writing a research paper you are forced to have many different sources. Having the opportunity to look at different sources, I am able to find various facts on a topic. Your evidence must be creditable and accurate when writing a research paper. Students can find information at the library, online, or interviews. I personally like having all different kinds of sources in my writings. I want my paper to be believable and have correct facts. Today’s class was helpfully in two different ways. First the peer editing process helped improve my paper, and the power point helped me understand the research assignment more clearly.

How Persuasion can be Powerful

In chapter two of Envision I was able to learn interesting facts about strategies of persuasion. There is that one question that I ask myself when I buy an item. What convinced me to buy that product? This can range from a new cell phone, sports drink, or the college I decided to attend. There are numerous different reasons why people choose to buy something. The question is did that person truly need that item or did persuasion cause them to buy the product? There are countless different strategies when it comes to persuasion. Some companies may use powerful words, while others may use only imagines. The strategies are equally effective in both visual and written text. Words can be powerful when it’s short and to the point. Two or three words can have a positive impact. An example is President Obamas campaign slogan was “change”. That simple word went a long way during his campaign. The other strategy is using imagines to show your product. An example is a hair product. A company may show a picture of someone before they use the product, then an after shot. The point is to show how the product can improve your hair and make you look different.

There are three rhetorical appeals, which are logos, pathos, and ethos. As a writer you use logos when you construct an essay around facts and reason. When someone uses logos they favor the use of logic. Pathos is appeals to emotion. Pathos is defined as “suffering” or “feeling”. The goal is to put the audience in a particular mood or frame of mind. Ethos is appeals to character and authority. Ethos works as a rhetorical strategy by establishing the goodwill or credibility of the writer or speaker. Most of us use this everyday as a writer, you construct an argument in which your power to persuade depends on credibility. Depending on your strategies used to persuade an audience will determine how successful you will be.

A Little Help Can Go a Long Way

Today, I was able to meet with Mrs. Evans to discuss my rhetorical analysis writing. Each student signed up for a fifteen minute conference with Mrs. Evans to discuss our writings. I enjoyed having the opportunity to have a one on one conference with Mrs. Evans. Class being canceled for two days was a wonderful idea. During class it is too difficult for Mrs. Evans to help each student during class. With conferences she is able to help you and only you. I appreciate the feedback that Mrs. Evan gave to me. Mrs. Evans was kind enough to point out my errors in my paper.

Throughout the conference Mrs. Evans, made my mistakes clear to me, and help me correct them. Peer editing is an efficient way to improve your writing. Mrs. Evans is giving students over a week to improve their writing. During this week students should have others read their papers as well. There is no such thing as to much peer editing. Writing is an ongoing process that takes time to get your paper perfect. I have been able to experience peer editing in two ways. On our first paper we did the peer editing process in class. I enjoyed this because five students had the opportunity to read my paper. This helped me correct all my errors in my paper. On this paper we all had the opportunity for Mrs. Evans to help us with our papers. I am glad that these conferences are possible. Conferences never happened during high school. In fifteen minutes I feel like I got a lot of feedback and now am able to improve my paper.

Even Barack Obama is a rhetorician.

Chapter 9 in Envision is all about delivering a live presentation. You need to have a rhetorical strategy—even the president of the United States has a rhetorical strategy. The chapter starts out by giving Barack Obama as an example. There are many strategies that you can use while writing an oral delivery.

Classical rhetoricians, such as Aristotle, divided oratory into three branches based on time, purpose, and content. The three branches are judicial or forensic discourse, deliberative or legislative discourse, and epideictic or ceremonial discourse. Just think of a court system… there’s judicial and there is legislative. The Judicial branch defends or accused the deals with the past. The legislative concerns politics and typically argues for or against specific actions that might take place in the future. And the epideictic generally deals with the present.

Skip ahead a little bit and the book goes into transforming your research into a presentation. There are three steps to doing this: selection, organization, and translation. Select your material, organize your material, and then translate it from words meant to be read to words that are meant to be heard.

This actually reminds me of my NEWS 105 class. We had to write an inverted pyramid story, then a broadcast story, and then a web story. Each time we were told to start from scratch (our notes), but that might be different with hard news than with rhetoric. Besides that, though, we had to organize and construct our sentences completely different each time. If they were too similar, we didn’t take out or change enough.

So yeah. Yeah.

David Axelrod

“The future is not a gift, it’s an achievement. Make it your achievement,” says David Axelrod, a humorous yet whole-hearted man who came to Emen’s auditorium Monday night to speak about leadership on behalf of the Obama administration. Axelrod calls himself one of the “architects of the Obama campaign.” He speaks about Barack Obama with great care.

David Axelrod isn’t just the adviser of President Barack Obama, but he is also a father, a husband, and a tax-payer. He has had experience with his daughter having seizures and not having enough health care to pay for his daughter’s health bills. He had two health care plans, but his daughter was not accepted on the second one because she already had a pre-existing condition. He’s been on both sides of the spectrums. David Axelrod was in awe when he found out that the Obama Healthcare Bill passed.

“Being an American in 1960 is a hazardous occupation,” said John F. Kennedy, “We will choose what path we take.” David Axelrod was inspired by these words and is inspired by many leaders like John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and even a woman with stage-four breast cancer who was a mother and had a family to care for. This woman had exceeded her health care benefits and all she could think about was her family and the debts they may endure after her passing.

Axelrod explains how working in the White House is a great honor. “It’s not the water in the White House that turns their hair gray,” says Axelrod. By saying this, Axelrod is implying that working as a hierarchy does not come without any effort or stresses. “Leadership means fighting through. It means doing stuff that’s greater in the long run for the greater good.”

While working in the White House, Axelrod has had to deal with things like the recession and health care. Axelrod says that Barack Obama handles things very calmly. He says that Obama “doesn’t let fear of failure paralyze him. Leaders under pressure cannot operate out of fear of failure,” says Axelrod.