ENGL01G

• Multimodal Texts


  Characterize by the combination of five different modes of communication: linguistic, visual, gestural, audio, spatial
• Linguistic


  • Word choice
  • Arrangement into sentences, phrases, paragraphs
  • Delivery of spoken or written text (tone)
  • Coherence
• Visual 


  • Color
  • Layout and style, size

  
• Gestural 


  • Hand gesture
  • Body language
• Aural

  • Sound effects
  • Silence & Ambient/Noise
  • Accent
  • Tone
  • Volume of Sound
• Spatial 


  • Proximity between people and objects
  • Perspective
  • Organization
• It is important to develop the competence of text users who are capable of understanding, analyzing, and producing effective texts in different forms
• COCCETA (2018): 'It is important to develop the competence of text users who are capable of understanding, analyzing, and producing effective texts in different forms'
• Wooldridge: 'The art of creating a PowerPoint brief frequently has become a substitute for real planning, thoughtful discussion, and cogent analysis'
• PowerPoint Case Study


  1. Read or describe the case study

  2. Answer the following questions:

  3. How can PowerPoint presentations be improved without banning them?

  4. What lessons can public speakers learn from this case study?
• Benefits of visual aids

  • Improves listener memory
  • Speeds comprehension
  • Adds to speaker credibility
• Types of visual aids

  • Audiovisual aids
  • Electronic and multimedia aids
  • Flip charts
  • Marker boards and chalkboards
  • Objects, models and handouts
• Using audiovisual aids

  1. Have them cued to right location

  2. Omit sound on videotape—use own words

  3. If sound necessary, check volume

  4. Insert clips into your PPT folder

  5. Limit clips to 15-30 seconds
• Using Electronic/Multimedia Aids


  1. Simplify, simplify, simplify— 6 second rule!

  2. Use sounds sparingly, if at all

  3. Give transition before clicking to next slide

  4. Maintain eye contact & conversational style

  5. Use light so you can be seen

  6. Bring a backup
• Using flipcharts and posters

  1. Include one idea per page

  2. Use water-based markers on flip charts or leave blank pages between

  3. List all items, then discuss each in detail

  4. When finished, cover or reverse to blank side
• Using marker and chalk boards


  1. Include one idea per page

  2. Use water-based markers on flip charts or leave blank pages between

  3. List all items, then discuss each in detail

  4. When finished, cover or reverse to blank side
• Using objects, models and handouts

  1. Make large enough to be seen

  2. Keep small enough to be easily displayed

  3. Usually wait until end of speech to pass around or hand out copies
• PowerPoint Mistakes

  • Reading off the slides (62%)
  • Text too small to read (47%)
  • Text color hard to read (43%)
  • Complete sentences (39%)
  • Too much motion (25%)
  • Charts too complex (22%)
• Text visuals


  • Mainly for text or printed words
  • One or two pieces of clip art
• Graphic Visuals


  • Organizational charts, diagrams, maps
  • Enough words to clarify visuals
• Number of visuals to use

  Basic formula
• Selecting a Typeface

  • San serif–great for titles & subtitles
  • Serif–readable when small
  • Typefaces project a tone or image
• Design tips for text visuals

  • 4 to 6 lines of text
  • 40 characters wide
  • Phrases not sentences
  • Same space at the top and bottom of visuals
  • Simple typeface
  • Use photos/clip art, larger type and color for emphasis
  • Upper/lowercase type
  • Avoid Using ALL CAPS

  
• You should use only four to six lines of type per visual
• Be sure to limit each line to not more than forty characters
• It is best to use phrases rather than sentences
• Using a simple typeface is easier to read and does not detract from your presentation
• If you allow the same amount of space at the top of each visual, you make it easier for your listeners to follow you
• You can emphasize your main points with color and large type
• If you use upper- and lower-case type, it is easier to read
• Types of graphic visuals


  • Organization charts
  • Flowcharts
  • Diagrams
  • Schematic drawings
  • Maps
  • Graphs
• Design tips for graphic visuals

  • Limit data to what is absolutely necessary
  • Keep background lines and data points to a minimum
  • Always use titles
  • Limit data and Minimal background lines
  • Make bars wider than spaces between them
  • Always use headings
  • Group data when possible

  
• General design principles

  • Contrast (color, size, line thickness, shape and space the same)
  • Repeat visual elements of design through the piece (helps develop organization and unity)
• Benefits of using color

  • Color visuals are more persuasive
  • Color advertisements are more persuasive
  • Colors add spatial dimensions
  • Colors produce emotional response
• Guidelines for selecting color

  • Use the same color scheme for all visuals in speech
  • Know the difference between hue and saturation (hue - actual color, saturation - amount of color for a selected hue)
  • Use different hues for unrelated items
  • Use single hue with different saturation for related items
  • Use fully saturated hues for graphs and charts
  • Use low saturated hues for backgrounds and texts
  • Contrast text and figures with background
  • Avoid using colors that look the same at a distance
  • Limit the number of colors you use
  • Avoid using opposites on the color wheel next to each other
• Exposition


  • A major form of discourse that gives information, develops an idea, or provides an explanation
  • Its primary purpose is merely to explain and inform through definition, examples, comparison and contrast, analysis, process description, and cause and effect, among other methods
• Exposition methods

  • Definition (give the meaning of an unfamiliar, or even a familiar, term that needs to be defined)
  • Examples (provide an instance or a case in point)
  • Comparison/contrast (explain an unfamiliar term or abstract idea by showing its similarity to the familiar or known or its difference from it)
  • Analysis (break down the idea into parts of which it is composed)
  • Process description (explain how something is made or done by giving the steps of an operation, process, or procedure)
  • Cause and effect (explain something by telling what produced it (cause) and what it will produce (effect))
• Persuasion and rhetorical appeal

  • Ethos (appeal to credibility)
  • Pathos (appeal to emotion)
  • Logos (appeal to logic)
• Your thesis statement should clearly state your position on the issue at hand.
• A good topic will be interesting, relevant, and have enough information available to support your argument.