If you don't care, why should I?

Have you ever sat around staring at your computer, praying that divine intervention will send you a research topic? That the topic will be so expertly chosen that it needs no tweaking? That the project would throw itself into your lap? Well, I can’t say that I can give you the secrets to unlocking that magic within the universe, but I can give you some helpful tips to get you to that comfortable place of knowing what you want to write about and a few useful methods that can lead to a truly expertly drafted paper.

According to Envision, the first step to choosing a constructive topic is simply by being curious, asking questions that lead to deeper research. In my opinion, this was something instilled in me by one of more influential teachers; you shouldn’t ever choose a topic you yourself aren’t interested in. We do need to be aware of our audience and readers, but not at the expense of our writing. Whether given a specific topic, an umbrella topic, or given no topic at all, you have to remember that it is important and possible to make the topic you choose all your own. Setting yourself, whether it be in business or in a class, apart from the rest can only help you on your way to success. Question things you hear in your everyday life that you feel passionately about and delve into them. Question the analogies and comparisons people make, those of different generations, even those with only a few years age gap reference different things.

After you have found something, broad or not, that interests you, begin to keep a log of your research and information gathered. Its not so important what format the log is kept in so much that the information is able to be gathered in one place and is kept. As you get more comfortable with the topic, continue asking questions until you find one that you are truly interested and invested in. Take the topic one step further and brainstorm with in that topic. This brainstorming may bring up facts you already know or questions you’d like to have answered. As the brainstorm becomes more spread out it becomes easier to pick a subsection of the topic to focus in on.

Once a topic has been clearly chosen, you can move onto the next step: planning through writing. One way of doing this, generally my most often used weapon in my arsenal of writing methods, is freewriting about the topic at hand. When accomplishing a freewrite it is advised that you divide it into three paragraphs, the first should introduce your topic and develop a thesis. The second should discuss the sources that you plan to use when developing your research paper. Finally, the third should identify problems that may arise as a result of writing your paper. Another way of planning a paper through writing is to draft a research hypothesis. This is similar to a freewrite, in that you aren’t actually researching yet. Instead, you are constructing a claim that you will try to prove. The key here though, is to remain objective, remembering that it is okay to revise and edit your hypothesis if the research proves the first to be false. The third way of planning your research, which is typically a more formal use of writing, is to create a research proposal. Research proposals are generally used when trying to acquire funds for a project or merely permission to delve deeper into the topic. When creating a proposal, there is information that is generally included. This information includes: your background with the topic-that is, what you already know, how you plan to research, what types of sources you plan to use, the overall hope in accomplishing this research and if appropriate a timeline so that work can be completed efficiently.

Now that I have laid out the most effective ways to approach a research project hopefully you will no longer have to Google or post Facebook statuses asking for help for topics that you aren’t concerned with.

A Trip to the Theatre

My friend, in a fabulous display of procrastination had to see a theater production before Saturday so she could write a paper about whatever production she saw. As it turned out there was only one show left. So Friday, she and I proceeded to Ball State University Theatre to watch Icons in Motion. We gave the girl at the door our tickets and found our seats and waited for the show to start, which took a surprisingly long time. The program showed that the show would be divided into seven separate dances, each with its own cast of dancers, choreographers and its own theme.

After browsing the program and talking with a few of the audience members my patience began to wear thin. Most of the audience members around me had started checking their phones and watches. The show started twenty minutes late due to “technical difficulties.” Twenty minutes past the start time, the curtain rose and the first dance began.

The first dance was to an Italian folksong. The dancers, in flowing dresses danced across the stage telling the story of the choreographer’s interpretation of the female identity. The second dance was the dancer’s interpretation of the complexities of thought within the human mind. A patron of the arts and of dance especially, that dance even for me, was a stretch. The dancer spent the majority of the dance gyrating and rolling on the stage like an insect. In the middle of the dance, she ran of the stage and the audience not sure whether to clap, looked at each other awkwardly. Then she ran back onstage and seemed to do the dance a second time before becoming still on the ground. After that I began to lose my focus. The next dance showed two couples dancing through the night. The couples danced around each other on the stage in a very fluid pattern, however one couple always went through the motions a little faster than the other, which was slightly distracting. The final dance before the intermission was a short story showing a segment of Billy Holiday’s life. One dancer read from Billy’s biography and played narrator. As he spoke, the dancers told the story he read through dance. This was the most interesting of the performances, but I couldn’t sit through the rest of the event. I was just so uninterested in the show, which to be fair, could have been due to lack of sleep. I left during intermission.

Is Pizza a Vegetable?

For the past few weeks an interesting topic of conversation that I have had introduced to me, usually in a sarcastic manor, has been the controversy of congress passing this new agriculture bill. “Which agriculture bill,” you may ask. Well, the nutrition of schools falls under the agriculture “umbrella.” The controversy has not in reference to the bill itself, but what people are walking away with, in this case, that pizza has been declared a vegetable. Congress has passed some weird laws in its time, but when this kind of propaganda gets out it makes our government out to be completely incompetent. For the record, both the words “pizza” and “vegetable” can’t be found in the legislation at all. The bill isn’t arguing for the health benefits of pizza, it is actually just a question tomato paste and how much could constitute a “serving” of vegetables. The bill was actually there to hold schools and manufactures providing schools food more accountable for the nutrition they were providing. The bill would have resulted in vegetables, fruits and of course, tomato paste to be only equal to its actual volume. Therefore, pizza would have to have an actual half of a cup of tomato paste present on each serving of pizza for the pizza to contain “a serving of vegetables.” However, congress denied the change enabling pizza manufacturers to have an easier time creating products with a serving of vegetables in them. So, all the controversy has been even more skewed, due to the fact that the bill wasn’t passed.

-Happy to clear that up.

No excuses, no explanations, get er dun.

On October the third, I attended an Excellence in Leadership seminar, all of which are free and open to all students and are held in order to help students gain useful and necessary knowledge about how to be better communicators and leaders. This particular seminar was led by the Colts’ chaplain, Ken Johnson. From the beginning of his presentation, until he left the room, he commanded attention. He entered the room and began his presentation by singing, “God bless America” in the richest voice I could have imagined. From the second he opened his mouth the audience fell silent, it was as though everyone was in a trance, consumed by his voice. Girls lowered their cell phones, the men stopped their music and when he finished, he was greeted with a chorus of cheers, “amen’s,” and applause. From the introduction, he began to speak about effective communication and from there about achievement and intelligence and self worth. Mr. Johnson spoke about a multitude of topics, all of which circled back around to encouraging the members of the audience to strive to achieve excellence in every area of their lives and communicate positively with others in all areas of their lives. He makes this known not only by the title of his presentation (“Effective Communication”) and the organization through which his seminar was arranged but also through his usage of words and tones, he wanted the audience to be involved and interact so he knew that they were “picking up what he was laying down.” His first main point which, he repeated many times and had the audience repeat back to him, was “don’t be stuck on stupid.” He was trying to get across the point that people who think they “know” something, cannot grow because they chose not to, they become comfortable. While discussing “knowers vs. learners” he made a statement that stuck with me, “if I’m the smartest guy at my table, the table isn’t big enough.” From there he transitioned to talking about valuing one’s self and about vision. He brought up the question, “do you want to be a chicken or an eagle?” Chickens are always focused on looking down, no vision, no plan; eagles they are skilled, and don’t get stuck or fall behind. He continued to weave this and the “stuck on stupid” message throughout the entirety of his speech. He also tapped on the works that he and his wife do. He is part of many organizations that work with at-risk communities and his wife works with underprivileged families to help provide what they need. He also works with youth organizations and is very well versed when it comes to working with and communicating to adolescents and young adults. Not only is he the Indianapolis’ Colts’ Chaplain though, that isn’t where all of his experience comes from. He grew up in an at-risk community and managed to pull himself out and become an inspiration and a confidant for a lot of people who need encouragement and help. While he spoke he used and referenced his book, told stories about his work life, and about other teens and adults that he worked with, he also spoke about his family, his wife (who was sitting front row) and daughter and their relationships with him specifically which gave the audience a much more personal perspective, making his points all the more real and affective. As he spoke to us, asking us to repeat after him, he became louder and more energetic and put more emphasis on his words, and the funny part was the audience emphasized as they repeated his words back to him. Comedy, this man, while well versed in the word of god and very family oriented, could have been a comedian. He was very aware of his audience and brought to the table a lot of humor that I never would have guessed possible from a chaplain. When discussing the wellbeing of his daughter he began to sing a rap song that featured the word "ballin’" and was quite objectifying towards women-I didn’t recognize it, but the rest of the audience did because they sang along. He stopped in the middle of singing and pointed dramatically to a guy and explain nobody talks to his daughter like that or he would have to go to jail and start the “bust a cap ministry.” He imitated the chicken and had the audience flap their “wings” and soar with him like eagles. The entire presentation he remained active and on his feet. The end of the presentation was interactive, answering questions from students and then asking students questions. His final words were, and once again the audience repeated them in unison, “NO EXCUSES, NO EXPANATIONS, HIGH EXECUTION, HIGH EXPECTATIONS. GET ‘ER DUN.” While unorthodox, it was memorable and fun and is something that at least a few of those students and a lot of others who have listened to him speak will carry with him.

Envision Numero Nueve

Something beautiful happened as I began to read this chapter; I realized that this is the last chapter. Oh happy day (clasps hands together dramatically)!

So, to review, after you have researched and outlined and cited and all of the glorious work that we have covered not only in class but also in reading the previous chapters of the book, we now are asked (hypothetically) to present our argument in presentational form. The authors break down oratory into three categories. Then visit the three main areas of focus when preparing for a presentation. Finally, there are the three steps to a successful presentation. Boy, do the authors like their threes.

Firstly, the three branches of oratory are as follows Judicial (forensic discourse), Deliberative (legislative discourse), and finally Epideictic (ceremonial discourse). These are the basic types that one’s presentation can fall under. The first type is generally the type of presentation used when arguing between right and wrong, and should generally appeal mostly to the audience’s logic. The presentation should generally involve graphic support, photos and other visual aids. This type of presentation or speech aims to persuade the audience in favor of the speaker’s opinion. The second branch deals with political jargon. This type of speech is focused on getting a specific response from the audience. This type of argument should appeal to the audience’s ethos and logos using finances, charts, slides or models. The final branch of the oratory generally is focused on “praising or blaming” whatever the topic of the speech is.

Moving swiftly along, the three main areas of focus when preparing a presentation are the audience, purpose and persona. When deciding how to approach a presentation one must be acutely aware to whom they are speaking. Depending on the make up of the audience, one may need to dress more professionally. Depending upon the age of the audience, one’s speech itself may change, when speaking to an older crowd a more conservative vocabulary is necessary. Also, deciding how to convey one’s self to the audience is a crucial step. Deciding how to appear aesthetically also helps determine which tone to use and plays a roll in how the audience views the speaker. Finally, when determining the audience and the persona one must determine decide what form of visual aids if any are appropriate.

Now that all that is sorted out its time to put all of this knowledge to use. The first step is to transform the research into a presentation. And unless the research was written in monologue form and aimed to be read aloud, extracting key information is important to a successful presentation. Once all the key points have been chosen its time to organize the information and align the information with any visual aids. Now the basic research that has been broken down and reorganized can be “translated” audible information that can be taken in and understood by an audience.

The second is to decide how to deliver the speech. The two main points in this are memory and delivery (seems rather repetitive). Memory is the way the one memorizes the material and the way that one makes the words and/or message memorable. The delivery is the way the message is presented. When trying to persuade an audience in any direction it is important to not only rely on one’s words and voice, but also the look of the presentation as well. The “look” of the presentation does not only include the visual aids used in the speech but also the clothing, posture and gestures of the speaker as well.

When bring a speech or presentation together, the arguably most important step is practice. Whether it be in actual sports, or old dance movies or even Pilates videos, the key to becoming good at anything is “practice, practice, practice!” Practicing a speech doesn’t just include going over the words in one’s head but also out loud to anticipate the length of the presentation, and any mishaps that might occur. Another important thing to consider when practicing is anticipating possible questions to avoid being blindsided and appearing ignorant of the material. All that is left is to give the presentation, and to hopefully leave the audience with some memory of the presentation. Many professional speakers use pamphlets or cards with the main points outlined.