Welcome to MODULE #5: Media and Leadership - Learning The Persuasive Language of Media

This module officially begins on Monday, March 16. This module officially ends on Sunday, March 30.

"persuasion" - "the art of convincing."

How do media persuade us?

Even though we have the most powerful living thing in the known universe – the human brain – embedded in our skulls, we are still very easily persuaded by powerful media messages and stories.

Why is this?

Now that you know a bit about how the three-part brain - REPTILIAN, LIMBIC, NEOCORTEX - experiences media, it is time to learn media’s “language of persuasion,” those specific techniques by which media seek to influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

Attached to your Module #4 e-mail is a short two page handout (PDF) listing and defining more than 24 different persuasive techniques – please print it out and start studying it. (We'll also mail the PDF to Aya and Kanan in Armenia and Azerbaijan.)

Our goal for this two-week module is to learn to turn these “persuasive techniques” into “tools of analysis": - and begin to develop a language with which to discuss together our media experiences.

We do this by first learning how to recognize and “name” the persuasive techniques. Study the "language of persuasion" closely.

For example, the very first persuasive technique on your list is SYMBOLS.

"Symbols" are "idea conveyances" - words, pictures, phrases, logos, brands - that move or transfer ideas.

Here is an example.



All national flags are very powerful symbols.



National flags mean many different things to different people.



The American flag symbolizes freedom for some people, and oppression for others.

And this is one of the most IMPORTANT aspects of ALL persuasive language.

Persuasive language is not BAD or GOOD, but COMPLEX.

So - let's begin to practice APPLYING the language of persuasion to the media texts all around us.

Here's one of my favorite YouTube clips - 'Grand Theft Coke." Take a look - give it a watch - it is only 60 seconds long.

I like this piece of media because it tells a funny and interesting story, combining several different kinds of popular media texts - video games, commercial advertising, clever animation, and a wonderful song.



The advertisement appeals to my REPTILIAN brain (at the beginning, with the fast-moving car chase), my LIMBIC brain (with the uplifting "Give a Little Love" song and all the colorful graphics) and my NEOCORTEX (when I begin to think more deeply about the relationship between video games and products like Coke.)

It also uses a number of persuasive techniques from our list.

1. SYMBOLS: the use of the "Grand Theft Auto" main video game character at the beginning and the "Coca Cola" logo at the end.

2. HUMOR: The message of the media example here is funny, because the GTA guy decides to help out everyone in the story rather than beat them, kill them, or take their money. (A good pro-social and positive message!)

3. PLAIN FOLKS: The media text uses a bum/singer, an old lady, and many other "normal" everyday characters to tell the story.

4. BANDWAGON: The media text suggests that "everyone is drinking Coca Cola," and that I should, too.

5. TESTIMONIAL: The Grand Theft Auto character is famous, and immediately recognizable to anyone who has ever played this game around the world.


HERE IS YOUR ASSIGNMENT, TO BE COMPLETED BY MARCH 30:

Find and “embed” a short YouTube video at your blog, and then:

1. Describe how your three part brain engages with the media text: REPTILIAN, LIMBIC, AND NEOCORTEX.

2. Make a list of FIVE specific persuasive techniques you can find in the video, along with a “moment” illustrating each technique from the video, just like I did, above.

I will comment on your blog post and make some observations of my own, once you post.

I look forward to reading your blog posts and seeing what you learn from applying our "language of persuasion."

Congratulations – you are becoming more media literate!