Converting your research essay into a multimodal presentation

English 104Ball State University

Tess Evans

Let’s say this is the outline for your research essay…

Cats and Dogs: Which Make the Best PetIntroduction: Dogs and Cats are popular pets, but people

tend to like one or the other betterDogs• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Cons, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc. Cats• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Cons, citing facts, stats and opinions of experts• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.Conclusion: What are Pros for some are Cons for others

You decide you want to focus on dogs for your presentation or video

Cats and Dogs: Which Make the Best PetIntroduction: Dogs and Cats are popular pets, but people

tend to like one or the other betterDogs• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Cons, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc. Cats• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Cons, citing facts, stats and opinions of experts• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.Conclusion: What are Pros for some are Cons for others

You further narrow that down to focus on the cons of owning dogs

Cats and Dogs: Which Make the Best PetIntroduction: Dogs and Cats are popular pets, but people

tend to like one or the other betterDogs• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Cons, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc. Cats• Pros, citing facts, stats, and opinions of experts• Cons, citing facts, stats and opinions of experts• Pros and Cons by Breed, citing facts, stats, etc.Conclusion: What are Pros for some are Cons for others

Based on your previous research, you might focus the presentation this way

When Not to Get a DogIntroduction: Briefly state pros of owning dog,

then transition to cons of owning a dogHow Cons Relate to• Allergies and other health issues• Households with children• Busy lives outside the home• Apartment living• Expense of careConclusion

K.I.S.S.Keep

ItShort and

Simple

Your platform affects your message

• How it’s organized: circular, linear, hierarchical, and more

• What applications are available, limited, or unavailable: Insert links, change typeface, rearrange design layout, etc. (especially for the free versions)

• Whether you can legally use creative works of others (online projects have more risk of violating Fair Use exceptions to copyright law because putting things online is a form of publishing)

Circular: Prezi

Linear: PowerPoint, Video

Hierarchical: Web Site

Components of the presentation

• Video• Audio• Graphs, Charts, or Tables• Illustrations• Photos• Facts and Statistics• Expert Opinions

Keep it legal

Use your own works This is the safest route, but is

not always possible:• Take your own photos and

videos• Draw your own pictures and

scan or photograph them to make .jpegs

• Create slides in PowerPoint and save as .jpegs

• Perform music you wrote yourself or that is in the public domain

Use the works of others In this case, you must do one

of the following:• Find a work in the public

domain• Find a work with a

creative commons license• Pay to use the work• See if the project and use of

the work fall under Fair Use exceptions to copyright law

• Risk getting sued

Make Sure It’s Readable

• Can you see this?• Or this?• Contrast makes

a difference

• So does type size• Can you read this?• How about this?• Can you read this?• How about this line?

Stay focused, in both text and imageAnd when using your own works, give yourself credit.

Focus is on the flowers Focus is on the bee

Photo by Tess Evans Photo by Tess Evans

Give proper attribution and link back

Photo by CoreBurn

This 3:21 minute video explains how creative commons licensing allows artists to share their work, while protecting it.

Provide information about video links

Remember to cite your sources of information and opinions

Works CitedDickinson, Howard W. Crying Our Wares. New York: Day, 1929. Print.Ewen, Stewart, and Elizabeth Stewart. Channels of Desire: Mass Images

and the Shaping of American Consciousness. U of Minnesota P: Minneapolis, 1992. Print.

Fleckenstein, Kristie S. "Words Made Flesh: Fusing Imagery and Language in a Polymorphic Literacy." College English 66.6 (2004): 612-631. JSTOR. Web. 10 Jul. 2012.

Friedman, Walter A. Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2004. Print.

Garner, Dwight. "Oil's Dark Heart Pumps Strong: 'Private Empire,' Steve Coll's Book on Exxon Mobile." nytimes.com: n. pag. 26 Apr. 2012 Web. 15 Jun. 2012

On a Web site you might cite sources at the bottom of the page where you have cited them

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Works CitedDickinson, Howard W. Crying Our Wares. New York: Day, 1929. Print.Ewen, Stewart, and Elizabeth Stewart. Channels of Desire: Mass Images and the

Shaping of American Consciousness. U of Minnesota P: Minneapolis, 1992. Print.

Video credits might be shorter

“Beautiful” PhotoSamuel Smith

A Great BookSally Jones

“Impressive Statistics Published in an Article”Credible Research Institute

Who appears more informed?

This person?• Proper speling and

grammer is imprtant• Misteaks can distract

frm your massage and that means you loose credilbility

Or this person?• Proper spelling and

grammar are important• Mistakes can distract

from your message, and that means you lose credibility

Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.

Check your links

Link to articles you cite in text if they are available. You can also link to videos and Web sites that may be relevant to your presentation. Always check your links to make sure they work. Sometimes links get broken or the work is taken offline or moved to a new URL address. Don’t persuade your audience to click on a link to the best video ever if it only leads to…

ERROR 404: The page you requested cannot be found

ERROR 404: The page you requested cannot be found

And make sure the link to your presentation, video, or Web site works, too!