A case study of persuasion in oral presentations. Multimodality in conference presentations, research dissemination talks and product pitches

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Genre-specific persuasion in oral presentations : adaptation to the audience through multimodal persuasive strategies

Product pitches, research dissemination talks and conference presentations are three oral genres that share important characteristics. Previous literature has described them as multimodal and persuasive oral genres and has shown that speakers resort to multimodal persuasive strategies to achieve their communicative goals. However, they are used in different contexts, which is likely to affect their use of multimodal persuasion, and raises questions as to how genre-specific persuasion is. The aim of this paper is to explore how speakers adapt their multimodal persuasive efforts to the communicative situation established in each genre, and how this is reflected multimodally. This study combines multimodal discourse analysis and ethnographic methods. The results suggest that speakers multimodally convey a different relationship with the audience in each genre

Modal coherence in specialised discourse : a case study of persuasive oral presentations in business and academia

The multimodal character of academic and business discourse has long been acknowledged. Several studies have brought to the fore the multimodal nature of academic and business genres, and have shown that spoken or written words are only one among the many resources available to convey meaning (Carter-Thomas & Rowley-Jolivet, 2003; Kast, 2008; Querol-Julian & Fortanet-Gomez, 2012, 2014; Morell, 2014, 2015). In particular, in the case of persuasive oral genres within business and academia, semiotic modes such as gestures (Kendon, 2004) or intonation (Brazil, 1997) play a crucial role in the design of a persuasive message. This is the case of conference presentations, research dissemination talks and product pitches. In these genres speakers have been shown to resort to multimodal persuasive strategies to craft an effective presentation (Valeiras-Jurado & Ruiz-Madrid, 2015; Valeiras-Jurado, 2015; Valeiras-Jurado, Ruiz-Madrid & Jacobs, 2018). This paper probes into what exactly makes these persuasive presentations effective. Specifically, the question addressed is whether it is the choice of persuasive strategies, the number of semiotic modes, or the consistency in the use of these modes (i.e. modal coherence) that affects persuasion more directly. The case study presented in this paper compares a research dissemination talk and a product pitch. The study combines video-based, computer-aided multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) with ethnographic interviews. The results suggest that modal coherence is of crucial importance for the effectiveness of a persuasive presentation. Likewise, several practices detrimental to persuasion are identified. These findings have interesting pedagogical implications, since they can contribute with a genre-based, multimodal methodology to the teaching of English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

A multimodal approach to persuasion in oral presentations : the case of conference presentations, research dissemination talks and product pitches

Esta tesis presenta un estudio multimodal y etnográfico del uso de estrategias persuasivas en tres géneros orales: presentaciones en conferencias, charlas de divulgación científica, y presentaciones de productos. Estos géneros comparten un importante componente persuasivo: los tres se dirigen a una audiencia tratando de convencerles del valor de un producto, servicio, o investigación. Sin embargo, se usan en dos contextos profesionales diferentes: el académico y el económico, por lo que cabe esperar que consigan su propósito comunicativo de forma diferente. Por otra parte, recientes estudios muestran como distintos discursos, tienden a adoptar cada vez más rasgos promocionales (promocionalización del discurso). En vista de ello, es factible establecer como hipótesis que los tres géneros están relacionados interdiscursivamente, y un estudio multimodal y etnográfico del uso de la persuasión en dichos géneros puede ayudar a clarificar las relaciones existentes entre ellos, así como sus diferencias.This thesis is a multimodal and ethnographic study of the use of persuasive strategies in three oral genres conference presentations, research dissemination talks and product pitches. These presentations share a strong persuasive component in their communicative purpose: the three of them address an audience to convince them of the value of a product, a service or a piece of research. However, they are used in business and academia by different discourse communities in different contexts, and therefore they can be expected to achieve their communicative goals in different ways. In addition, research suggests that there is a trend towards promotionalization of different discourses, among which academic discourse is included. In view of this, I hypothesize that these three genres are intertextually and interdiscursively related, and that a multimodal and ethnographic study of the use of persuasion in them can help to shed some light on these relationships and differences

A multimodal apprach to persuasion in oral presentations: The case of conference presentations, research dissemination talks and product pitches

Esta tesis presenta un estudio multimodal y etnográfico del uso de estrategias persuasivas en tres géneros orales: presentaciones en conferencias, charlas de divulgación científica, y presentaciones de productos. Estos géneros comparten un importante componente persuasivo: los tres se dirigen a una audiencia tratando de convencerles del valor de un producto, servicio, o investigación. Sin embargo, se usan en dos contextos profesionales diferentes: el académico y el económico, por lo que cabe esperar que consigan su propósito comunicativo de forma diferente. Por otra parte, recientes estudios muestran como distintos discursos, tienden a adoptar cada vez más rasgos promocionales (promocionalización del discurso). En vista de ello, es factible establecer como hipótesis que los tres géneros están relacionados interdiscursivamente, y un estudio multimodal y etnográfico del uso de la persuasión en dichos géneros puede ayudar a clarificar las relaciones existentes entre ellos, así como sus diferencias.This thesis is a multimodal and ethnographic study of the use of persuasive strategies in three oral genres conference presentations, research dissemination talks and product pitches. These presentations share a strong persuasive component in their communicative purpose: the three of them address an audience to convince them of the value of a product, a service or a piece of research. However, they are used in business and academia by different discourse communities in different contexts, and therefore they can be expected to achieve their communicative goals in different ways. In addition, research suggests that there is a trend towards promotionalization of different discourses, among which academic discourse is included. In view of this, I hypothesize that these three genres are intertextually and interdiscursively related, and that a multimodal and ethnographic study of the use of persuasion in them can help to shed some light on these relationships and differences

Modal coherence in specialised discourse: a case study of persuasive oral presentations in business and academia

The multimodal character of academic and business discourse has long been acknowledged. Several studies have brought to the fore the multimodal nature of academic and business genres, and have shown that spoken or written words are only one among the many resources available to convey meaning (Carter-Thomas & Rowley-Jolivet, 2003; Kast, 2008; Querol-Julián & Fortanet-Gómez, 2012, 2014; Morell, 2014, 2015). In particular, in the case of persuasive oral genres within business and academia, semiotic modes such as gestures (Kendon, 2004) or intonation (Brazil, 1997) play a crucial role in the design of a persuasive message. This is the case of conference presentations, research dissemination talks and product pitches. In these genres speakers have been shown to resort to multimodal persuasive strategies to craft an effective presentation (Valeiras-Jurado & Ruiz-Madrid, 2015; Valeiras-Jurado, 2015; Valeiras-Jurado, Ruiz-Madrid & Jacobs, 2018). This paper probes into what exactly makes these persuasive presentations effective. Specifically, the question addressed is whether it is the choice of persuasive strategies, the number of semiotic modes, or the consistency in the use of these modes (i.e. modal coherence) that affects persuasion more directly. The case study presented in this paper compares a research dissemination talk and a product pitch. The study combines video-based, computer-aided multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) with ethnographic interviews. The results suggest that modal coherence is of crucial importance for the effectiveness of a persuasive presentation. Likewise, several practices detrimental to persuasion are identified. These findings have interesting pedagogical implications, since they can contribute with a genre-based, multimodal methodology to the teaching of English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Multimodal engagement strategies in science dissemination: A case study of TED talks and YouTube science videos

The growing interest on science dissemination offers new opportunities to communicate science openly to various audiences, but also brings on the challenge of adapting to an audience that does not share the same academic background. This adaptation has been referred to as recontextualization. In the case of the formats that concern this study, that is, TEDx Talks and YouTube science dissemination videos, their multimodal nature suggests that recontextualization, and therefore engagement as a crucial aspect of this process, is likely to go way beyond purely linguistic aspects. The aim of this study is to unveil how engagement strategies in two science dissemination formats (a face to face talk and an online video) are realized through complex multimodal ensembles, and to highlight differences across them. In order to fulfill this aim, two talks by the same presenter and dealing with similar content were selected for analysis: a TEDx talk and a YouTube science dissemination video from the channel PBS Space Time. The recordings were annotated using the software Multimodal Video Analysis. The annotation included engagement strategies; embodied modes, that is, modes carried out using the body; and, in the case of the YouTube video, filmic modes, that is, modes triggered by the editing process of the recorded video. Our results show that the role of both embodied and filmic modes is paramount in the realization of engagement strategies. Our findings also bring to the fore significant differences in the ways in which the two distinct audiences are engaged, concerning the frequency and use of both semiotic modes and engagement strategies