Outlining presentation

How?

Why?

To Outline.

OUTLINING OUTLINING (NO REDUNDANCY)

WHY CREATE AN OUTLINE: AUDIENCE

^For whom are you writing (AUDIENCE)

*Academia (Experts in the field of study already)

*Educators (Intelligent people who seek to educate others)

*Business Types (clients/sales reps—need to know for personal

economic benefit)

*General Public (parents, residents of a community, general

consumers)

AUDIENCE CONT’D: VISUAL FROM DIANA HACKER (RULES FOR WRITERS)

PURPOSE (WHY SHOULD YOUR AUDIENCE CARE?)

• TO INFORM

• TO PERSUADE

• TO ENTERTAIN

• TO CALL ______ TO ACTION

• TO CHANGE ATTITUDES

• TO ANALYZE

• TO ARGUE

• TO EVALUATE

• TO RECOMMEND

• TO REQUEST

• TO PROPOSE

• TO PROVOKE (THOUGHT)

• TO EXPRESS FEELINGS

• TO SUMMARIZE

• TO CAPTURE

PURPOSE: THE “OLD” AND THE “NEW”• HOW IMPORTANT IS THE RESEARCH YOU’VE ALREADY DISCOVERED TO YOUR

AUDIENCE?

• ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

• LITERATURE REVIEW

• BACKGROUND/TERMINOLOGY/QUALIFIER

• HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “NEW” RESEARCH (ORIGINAL RESEARCH, FIELD WORK) TO YOUR PAPER?

• SURVEYS (CURRENT OPINIONS, BIASES, TRENDS, PRACTICES)

• INTERVIEWS (EXPERT, ‘MAN ON THE STREET’)

• EXPERIMENTS (SCIENTIFIC METHOD, DESIGN THINKING, ETC); FOCUS GROUPS

• CRITICAL ARGUMENT

• DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

• OFFERING SOLUTIONS

HOW TO OUTLINE: SOME MODELS

LONGITUDINAL MODEL: BADKE

CROSS-SECTION MODEL

EXAMPLE: WHICH MODEL IS IT?

A FEW TIPS FOR DETERMINING ORDERIN OUTLINES

• Look for a ‘natural order’ to establish itself

• “Burnout in the workplace” example from Badke

• Ascending / Climactic Order = Rule of Thumb

• Various viewpoints are valid—do not misrepresent

• Reservation / Rebuttal

• Point/Counterpoint

• Objectivity/Subjectivity

RESEARCH INTRODUCTIONS: WHAT’S THY PURPOSE

• “Keep your introduction lean if not mean” (Badke 140).

• Hooks: real-world examples/problems/issues to engage

• Attention, Interest, Good Will

• Research Intros serve two, and only two, real purposes:

• 1) establish working knowledge of the topic

• 2) state your single research question

IS THAT A BULGE IN YOUR PAPER, OR DO YOU JUST LOVE TO GO ON TANGENTS?

• Bulge ( noun): “ a section of information that has little relationship to the paper topic at hand” (Badke 141).

• We did the digging, so it must make the final cut…right?

• It’s just too interesting to leave out…right?

• At times like this, remember

TRIAGE APPLIES TO PAPERS, TOO!

SO, IN SUMMATION…

• Outlines are essential to organizing piles of information before you write.

• Know thy foci!

• A) For whom are you writing

• B) For why are you writing

• Less is more: simple divisions are preferable to “algorithmic” models

• Have an approach in mind: topical, chronological, climactic

• Be fair: even if you don’t endorse the research you’re reviewing or including, objectively offering it behooves you early and later

• Avoid tangents (even if they are “really cool”)

BIBLIOGRAPHYBadke, William. Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog.

2nd Edition. iUniverse: New York, 2004.

Hacker, Diana and Sommers, Nancy. Rules for Writers. 7th Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s:

New York, 2012.