Persuasive Writing : Introduction

Nicole Ball

MODULE 3- CASE

PERSUASIVE WRITING: INTRODUCTION

Whiplash! An injury to the cervical spine caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward. Unfortunately, this is what anyone is most likely to see when sitting in on either a 20 plus slide briefing PowerPoint presentation or a 10 slide briefing PowerPoint presentation (with each slide averaging 30 minutes or longer). PowerPoint presentations have the ability to be both effective and ineffective. PowerPoint Presentations are effective by putting limits on the briefing for both the audience and the presenter and it enables the audience to visualize and read what is being briefed. On the other hand, the PowerPoint presentation has become a “crutch” and as a result has created “lazy” presenters. In order to give a presentation that is truly effective the presenter must have a clear knowledge on what he/she is teaching, only then can a briefing become interesting enough to capture and maintain the audience’s attention (although this can be done with a PowerPoint presentation it is often abused and as a result becomes less effective).

One thing that most of us do while sitting in on a briefing is try to determine how long it is going to be or we try to see how many slides are included in the PowerPoint presentation. It is often quite difficult to put a finger on it, but PowerPoint presentations are a little more organized and can be quite useful when time is of the essence (timed slides). This helps the person giving the brief to keep the class from going out of control or off into some other topic that has very little to do with what is being discussed. PowerPoint presentations are excellent briefing tools used to help those who have issues with trying to visualize what is being taught or briefed (giving the presenter the opportunity to show his/her work). It is a briefing tool that can be used to keep the students involved (by reading the slides or on...