Writing Theory

Writing Theory

Name

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Part I: Writing Theory

1. Draw and label Toulmin’s Bridge.  Note the elements of argumentation; describe the Aristotelian appeals for each element.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aristotelian appeals for each element

Toulmin’s Bridge is a tool developed by Stephen E. Toulmin. It breaks an argument into six parts. A claim is the main argument that an author is supposed to prove to the target audience. Data refers to facts that are used to prove an argument. Warrants are hypothetical or logical statements that connect claim and data. Qualifiers limit the strength of an argument proposing various conditions under which the statement may be considered true or false. Rebuttals are counter statements used to justify various circumstances under which the argument is considered false. The backing is a well-thought statement that is used to support warrants. On most occasions, the warrant is implied; thus, the backing is necessary in solidifying the warrant by proving a substantive example.

2. Describe the relationship between interest, effort, and time. How do these elements affect your audience?

Effective speakers are those with the ability to deliver their message to the target audience without much struggling or boring the audience. Speaker’s effort is equivalent to a ‘dress to appear’ before the target audience. The effort is necessary for capturing the attention of the target audience. Interest is a powerful motivation process generally energizing learning or delivery of the message to the target audience. It is a psychological state of attention that enables your audience to focus. Time is an integral part of any communication process, such as speech making. The audience is encouraged to pay attention while the speaker required communicating on time. Effective time management during communication with a particular audience leads to a great level of satisfaction.

3. Draw and label the Inverted Pyramid Model (including all assumptions) at the document level, section level, and paragraph level. How does each level fit together? How does the structure help the reader?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assumptions

Inverted Pyramid Model is a writing style where the most important information (or what could be considered the conclusion) is presented first to attract the reader’s attention. This is usually at the document level. The section level (the body) comprises who, what, when, usually appear at the start of the story. The tail section provides other details considered necessary for the reader to get more insight into the presentation topic. The levels rely on one other, and they help a reader understand information better. Levels improve comprehension of the story, decrease interaction costs, encourage down or upward scrolling, the logical structure of the content, and support readers who love skimming a document.

4. Define usability. Provide five best practices to make a document more usable.

Usability is a comprehensive process of examining or measuring how well specific users of the text within a specific context can use a piece of writing for the effective, successful, efficient, and satisfactory achievement of the set goals. Making a document more usable can be achieved by enhancing the following elements:

1. Efficiency-users should be able to read a document quickly.
2. Effectiveness-document should support readers in completing specific actions quickly.
3. Engagement-Users should find it pleasant, encouraging, attracting, and flexible using the document.
4. Error tolerance-A document should support many actions and only show an error in an erroneous scenario. This is accomplished by finding out the number, type, and severity of common document errors that users are likely to make.
5. Ease of learning-a Document should make it possible for new users to accomplish goals easily and in the future. Usability is anchored on the creativity and experience of the author.
6. Define plain language. Describe what plain language does for the reader.

Plain language is also called plain English or plain writing. It is a high quality written communication that your target audience can comprehend the first time they hear or see. Readers consider it necessary for customer service since it takes little time to understand the key message being conveyed to the target audience. Readers get to understand plain writing quickly, thus developing a strong bond with the author. They will call less to seek explanations on some of the document content. In this way, they can make fewer errors when filling out forms on a given subject. Therefore, plain English is highly recommended for readers, especially those without advanced academic qualifications.

Part II: Document Critique

To: Kevin Plank

Date: 11/27/2017

Subject: Report

As per your request, I conducted an analysis of Under Armour versus its leading competitor Nike. As a result, I wanted to go to bat for you to show you the position of your company. Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a University of Maryland alumnus. Under Armour’s mission, “is to make all athletes better through passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of innovation. Every Under Armour product is doing something for you; it’s making you better.”

Data

Under Armour is in an excellent financial position as seen in the table below:

EPS	1.06
Quick Ratio	1.3
P/E	50.84
BETA	1.1

 

Highlights:

1. Under Armour is in a good position,
2. EPS;
3. Powerful mission.

Under Armour company is in a good position. If I were you, I would start selling more clothing to women. This strategy will ultimately produce a paradigm to shift your company’s mission by establishing a whole new set of competitive core competencies. I would say that you are on your way to dominating the industry by taking a big bite out of Nike’s market share. If you have any questions, let me know. I am willing to work 24-7.

Part II – Critique Questions

1. Critique any issues with the overall message by answering the following– (1) Did they provide a clear claim? If so, what was it? (2) Did they provide enough evidence and interpretation to support their claim. What support did they use? (3) Did they provide enough attribution to lend credibility to the claim?

There is no claim presented to the target message recipient. The report lacks clear information about Under Armour, such as the industry’s defective definition, current financial position, and other important metrics. Indeed the report does not meet the threshold requirements of plain writing. There are numerous abbreviations (P/E, BETA EPS, and quick ratio) used without explanation, making it hard for the target recipient to comprehend some of the key points. There is a lack of strong evidence to justify the financial position of the company. The report ought to have used factual information such as recent annual revenue, employee turnover rates, corporate social responsibility program of the company, and the current reward system to justify the financial health of Under Armour. No enough attribution was provided to justify that the company has a unique brand compared to Nike. Therefore there is no enough information that the company is on the right trajectory of attaining a unique competitive advantage in the industry that has been dominated by Nike. There is nothing on strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities associated with Under Armour in the clothing industry.

 

2. Overall, was the overall document deductive or inductive? Given the message, which structure is more appropriate?

In my opinion, the entire document is inductive since there is no valid argument presented concerning the financial health of Under Armour. There is no true premise to make the document sound. However, the document is containing false premises about Under Armour, making it unsound. The conclusion, as seen in the highlights table, is false. Under Armour’s report is inductive since it is likely to be affected by acquiring new information such as the nature of company brand, employee number, financial health, corporate culture, organizational leadership, and the nature of market competition.

 

3. Identify five document design issues. Describe why they are problematic for the reader.

There no efficiency, and it is hard to read through the report due to numerous abbreviations without proper explanation. False conclusion, as seen in the highlight section, makes it unsound. The report cannot support the target recipient to make informed decisions about initiating investments due to insufficient data and information about its financial health. There is an issue of engagement. The report is not attractive and appealing to the sense of the reader. There are numerous intentional errors, such as unexplainable financial ratios (P/E, BETA, EPS, and quick ratio), thus missing the error tolerance element. The reader can’t accomplish current and future business goals due to limited information about Under Armour. Therefore, there is no ease of learning design element.

4. Evaluate the overall language (style: word choice) of the document.  Identify at least two issues (idioms, clichés, buzzwords, euphemisms, and jargon). Describe why they are problematic.

The overall writing style is unprofessional and does not reflect the true image of a financial analyst. The choice of words is wanting. There is no topic sentence at the beginning of the sentences leaving the target reader in confusion. Notably, the text is not plain due to technical terms (jargon) such as Quick Ratio, P/E, and EPS. The author ought to have given a detailed meaning of these financial ratios to make it easy for the target reader. There is overuse (cliché) of the term Under Armour, making it boring.

Part IV: Presentation Coaching

Based on the book, the Naked Presenter by Garr Reynolds, and from our class discussion(s), I want you to coach me through the process of developing and presenting a compelling presentation (points will be awarded for your level of description). Use at least 10 concepts found on the table below. Note: Bolded concepts count as two. Note: Failure to incorporate these terms into a well-developed essay will result in a 50% deduction in your score. Do not simply list and define these terms.

Presentation Concepts

Presenting Naked	Seven Lessons from the Bath	Conversation Not Performance	You Need Alone Time
Know Your Audience	Contrasts are Compelling	Eight Step Process for Presentation Development.	Advice on Using Notes
Rehearsal: How Much?	Preparing the Day of the Presentation	P.U.N.C.H.	Projecting Yourself
Advice on managing your fear	Nervous Tells	Open Versus Closed Body Language	Connect with Eye Contact
Showing Your Passion	Tapping into Emotion	Interact Using Proximity	Use the B Key
Changing the Play	Involve through participation	Make your Ending Sticky: S.U.C.C.E.S.	Look the Part
Questions and Answers	Less is More	Tone, Pitch, and Volume	Hand Gestures

 

According to Reynolds (2011), presenting an appealing presentation is a comprehensive process. The process should start with a comprehensive analysis of and knowing your audience, selecting the topic that suits the interest and time of the audience, and finally defining the presentation’s objective. It is necessary to obtain background information, values, interests to have a clear picture of what your audience may expect from your presentation. Rehearsal: How Much? This is necessary in practicing the number of times you should avoid using boring terms such as ‘you know.’ Rehearsal is necessary for fine-tuning your content to ensure that you will present important points to the target audience. This can be done before a small group of people who may chip in through positive criticisms on the areas that you need to perfect.

A hand gesture is what enhances the effective development and presentation of the topic. An orator should be purposeful in using both hands. This communicates to the audience that you are super and charismatic about what you are talking about. It would help if you opened palm gestures to gain the trust of the target audience. If possible, the hands should be kept at the stroke zone to avoid incidences of distracting your target audience. Hands should never be placed at the wrong places, and also objects such as food or pens should be kept of hand.

Tapping into emotion is an art that ensures successful speech development and presentation. The need to appeal to people’s emotions is fundamental for successful speech presentation. It would be best if you aroused your target audience’s emotions by using an enticing story, image, or piece of data to ensure that your speech is better remembered. You should smile as much as possible to engage with the audience effectively. In comparison, smiling, never fake, or forcing it to avoid your audience’s incidences considering you unworthy or hypocritical.

Advice on making your fear during the development and presentation process is key to a successful speech. Fear of public speaking is a common form of anxiety. Fear can be avoided by knowing your topic of presentation. Should you get lost, it becomes easy to reconnect with your memory. Getting organized by planning on what you want to present reduces the chances of fear. Take a deep breath before you get to the podium. This will help you to calm and prosecute your issues with a lot of professionalism. Focus on your material if you fear your audience or realize that you are likely to get scared.

Advice on using notes is highly encouraged during speech development and presentation. Never write notes in full sentences but instead use key phrases or underline headlines to jog your memory easily.  Your presentation notes should be easy to read. Use the right font size. Practice multiple times until you can use your notes seemingly and smoothly. Making your ending is the art of public speaking.  The way you close your presentation will affect how your audience responds and remembers. It would help if you ended your presentation on a positive note. Refer back to the opening message, such as closing with the title of your presentation. A presentation can be ended with a summary highlighting key items addressed. Make it clear that your presentation is successfully finished by asking some questions.

 

 

 

References

Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2007). MADE TO STOCK: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.  Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House  Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. ISBN: 978-1-58836- 596-5

Reynolds, G. (2011). The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With or Without  Slides.  ISBN-13: 978-0-321-70445-0. Printed and bound in the United States of America