Purpose
The primary purpose of this project is to acquaint you with the power of rhetoric, the art of persuasion. You will learn interpersonal skills, decision-making strategies, and collaborative writing skills. The project also will emphasize the importance of effective design.
Particulars
Your group will produce a document (a pamphlet, a poster, a PowerPoint presentation, an advertisement, et cetera) on a nonexistent product or service. The product or service must be relevant to your group's field of study (discipline). The purpose of the document is to persuade your peers and me to purchase your group's product or service. Each group will give a brief, informal presentation on their document and product or service on the day the project is due. We will evaluate only your group's document, not the presentation.
Procedures
Interpersonal communication is communication between people. Interpersonal skills such as listening and talking are used in one-to-one interchanges, in problem-solving groups, and in writing groups. To listen means to decode and to interpret sounds correctly. Acknowledgment responses--nods, uh huhs, smiles, frowns--send a message that you are listening.
Individual members can play several roles in a group. Such roles can be positive or negative. Positive actions that may help the group achieve its goals include the following:
The primary purpose of this project is to acquaint you with the power of rhetoric, the art of persuasion. You will learn interpersonal skills, decision-making strategies, and collaborative writing skills. The project also will emphasize the importance of effective design.
Particulars
Your group will produce a document (a pamphlet, a poster, a PowerPoint presentation, an advertisement, et cetera) on a nonexistent product or service. The product or service must be relevant to your group's field of study (discipline). The purpose of the document is to persuade your peers and me to purchase your group's product or service. Each group will give a brief, informal presentation on their document and product or service on the day the project is due. We will evaluate only your group's document, not the presentation.
Procedures
Interpersonal communication is communication between people. Interpersonal skills such as listening and talking are used in one-to-one interchanges, in problem-solving groups, and in writing groups. To listen means to decode and to interpret sounds correctly. Acknowledgment responses--nods, uh huhs, smiles, frowns--send a message that you are listening.
Individual members can play several roles in a group. Such roles can be positive or negative. Positive actions that may help the group achieve its goals include the following:
- seeking information and opinions--asking questions and identifying gaps in the group's knowledge,
- giving information and opinions--answering questions and providing relevant information,
- summarizing--restating major points and assembling ideas,
- evaluating--comparing group processes and products to standards and goals,
- coordinating--planning work, giving directions, and assembling contributions of members,
- encouraging participation--demonstrating openness and acceptance, recognizing the contributions of members, and inviting quieter members to participate,
- relieving tensions--joking and suggesting breaks,
- solving interpersonal problems--opening a discussion of interpersonal problems in the group and suggesting ways to solve them,
- listening actively--showing group members that they have been heard.1
The following is a useful seven-step process for solving problems.
- Understand what the group has to produce, in what form and by what date.
- Identify the topic.
- Gather information, share it, and analyze it.
- Establish criteria.
- Generate alternate solutions.
- Measure the alternatives against the criteria.
- Choose the best solution.2
Two or more people can write collaboratively. In terms of the process of writing, a successful group understands the project as a response to a rhetorical situation, plans revisions as a group, and has a positive attitude toward revision. Collaborative writing is most successful when the group articulates its understanding of the project's purpose, audience and context and discusses explicitly the best way to achieve its rhetorical goals. Most writers find that composing alone is faster than composing with others. However, composing together may reduce the time it takes to revise, since the group examines every choice. Because writers' mastery of proper English varies, a group project requires careful proofreading and editing.
The following guidelines will assist in the creation of a visually attractive document.
The following guidelines will assist in the creation of a visually attractive document.
- Use white space to separate and to emphasize material.
- Use headings to group material and to lead the reader through the document.
- Limit the amount of words in all capital letters.
- Use no more than two fonts in the document.
- Base your decision to justify the margins on the audience and the situation.
- Place important material in the top left and the bottom right quadrants of the page.
- Use a grid of imaginary columns to unify visuals and other elements in the document.
- Moderate the use of highlights, decorations and colors in the document.3
1David W. and Frank P. Johnson
, Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills, 6th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1977) 20-21.2H. Lloyd Goodall Jr.
, Small Group Communications in Organizations, 2nd ed. (Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown, 1990) 39-40.3Kitty O. Locker
, Business and Administrative Communication, 6th ed. (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003) 127.
