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CWRK sub-element 2: essay

We were set the vlog assignment for Contemporary Debates in Marketing
Communications, and as I first imagined, it was a very challenging piece of work. We
had to follow a very specific structure in order to deliver a successful argument for a
question chosen specifically by us, in under five minutes. I am going to split my essay
up into three different sections, the first explaining how I constructed the argument
and the stages I took to create my script, the second being how I delivered my vlog
and the physical aspects of it and finally a reflection on the successes and downfalls
of my vlog, with the aid of my feedback, and the things I would do differently next
time.

How I did it
The first task I had to carry out was choosing my question and straight away I
knew that I wanted to talk about a subject revolving around the use of social media as
I felt like I had good knowledge on it and could offer some relevant points, in the
end, I chose “is giving up your private information online a good thing?”
There were 6 different sections that we needed to split the argument up into
introduction, narration, division, confirmation, refutation and finally a conclusion.
Beginning with, evidently, the introduction is where I aimed to establish
ethos, in other words meaning, to get the audience on my side, this could be done via
many different techniques, for example, making the viewer feel some form of
emotion or even an anecdote that they could relate to. My target audience was
Marketing communications students so I tried to make the viewers wonder, think
and form an opinion on the subject by giving them a sweeping statement followed by
the question I chose. I introduced myself with my full name, the university I attend
and the course I am taking in order to give the vlog an identity.
Following on, the narration was was where I prepared the viewer for my
arguments by giving them some background information and the general overview of
my question. I explained what was meant by and mentioned the obligations of
“private information”. I further listed some examples of private information so
that viewers could somewhat relate to what I was explaining.

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My task for the division section was to clearly explain the differences between
myself and my oppositions claims. Via the use of an anecdote, when mentioning
people I knew, I attempted to make this section relatable to the viewer as they would
be able to think of people in their lives that they personally know and picture them in
the same situation. As well as this I included a quote from a famous actor further
emphasizing the idea of this section being relatable for the viewer. When it comes to
setting out the opponent’s opinion, it was fairly straight forward as there was only
one main opposition and that was people who do not believe sharing private
information online is a good thing.
The fourth section was the confirmation section, this was the longest part of
my vlog as my aim was to offer my second point as well as any other reasons as to
why my side of the argument is superior. To back up what I was saying in this section
I used a statistic taken from BalanceCareers (2019) talking about the percentage
of people that lie on their resumé in order to gain an advantage over other potential
candidates for a job. Furthermore, in this section, I included a metaphor describing
social media as “the 21st century’s version of a town square” I did this with
the intention of helping people who don’t necessarily understand social media to gain
a better idea of the things that people may do or talk about when social networking, I
also did this to keep the viewers somewhat intrigued as to what I was saying.
I found the refutation part to be the hardest as this is where I attempted to
“destroy my opponent’s argument” (Henrichs, 2007). By this section I had
already used up a lot of my strongest arguments in the confirmation section and the
division section, because of this I tried to envoke some emotion or pathos into the
viewer and leave a lasting impression on them. Due to this vlog being for marketing
degree coursework I felt that mentioning the importance of social media in the world
of marketing would make the vlog somewhat relevant and relatable to the people
listening. I also reiterated a previous point I made in the preceding section to create
emphasis and strengthen the point.
Finally, the conclusion is where I rounded off my vlog. I tried to kept it very
concise and short in order, to sum up, my final thoughts quickly and not leave the
viewer hanging. As well as this I included a rhetorical question to round off the whole
vlog hopefully leaving a lasting impression on the viewer and thus forcing them to
create an opinion on the original question, “is giving up your private
information online a good thing?”

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How I delivered it
When it came to my delivery for my vlog I originally used my laptop camera to
record myself via the use of a teleprompt software provided to us by our lecturers,
however, the quality of the video was not up to scratch and the quality of the
microphone built into my computer made my voice sound somewhat like a robot.
Because of this, I resorted to using my iPhone camera, which provided a much
clearer video and much better sound quality. Unfortunately, there was not any free
software for the iPhone to do with teleprompting so my eyes do wonder in the vlog as
I had to remind myself what I was saying via my script on my laptop. I chose the
backdrop of my video as my dorm room and tried to speak as clearly and as
confidentially as possible so I could engage with the viewers as best as I could. This
was my first time ever doing a piece of work in the style of a vlog so it did not turn out
as clean as I would have liked, however, I was praised for my delivery being engaging
to listen to. I attempted to use hand gestures to help emphasize some important
points in my argument and I recorded a few practice runs beforehand to make sure I
could be heard and the lighting was correct, I also messed up a few times so I had to
restart for that a well, overall I think that I had to record it around 1o times.

What I would do differently next time

When it comes to content I would keep the same question for definite as I
somewhat enjoyed answering it, however, I would aim to add another major point
into the confirmation section so that my vlog could be closer to the five-minute mark,
as the final vlog was around 4 minutes 20 seconds. Moving onto my delivery there is
a lot of things I would change or try to improve for next time. As previously
mentioned this was my first piece of work in this style so it is not going to be perfect
straight away. Although I was told in my feedback that my delivery is quite engaging
to listen to, however, going again I would change my backdrop to a more plain
background like a white wall or a bookshelf this way there are fewer distractions for
the viewer and they can stay engaged with what I am talking about more so that what
is going on in the background, furthermore, I would try to sit a little further away
from the camera so that my facial expressions and eye movement is less noticeable,

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given more time and potentially even purchasing a high-quality teleprompter, I feel
that some of these issues could have been resolved. Another improvement I would
have made is I would have worn a smarter top and try to make myself look the part a
little bit more. Moving on, in my feedback I was also told that some more in-depth
research was needed as well as making better use of the tools taught in the APP unit
was needed. Some examples of the tools would be more use of image-based
techniques such as personification, similes, repetition and synecdoche. This would
have helped me gain a much better mark than I did.

(1422 words)

Bibliography
- BalanceCareers, 2019 Background checks for employees [online] Available
from: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/employment-background-checks-
2058432 Accessed on [05/01/2020]
- J. Heinrichs (2007) Thank you for arguing What Aristotle, Lincoln and Homer
Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion
Available from:
http://dawnweathersbeeclass.weebly.com/uploads/2/1/7/4/21744784/thank-
you-for-arguing.pdf Accessed on [06/01/2020]