Blog Post #9: Pitch Reflection

15/11/2016

What main appeals did you use in your pitch? Why did you decide they would be the most effective?

When pitching our advertisement for the share bike program we used logic and bandwagon as examples of what we would use in the video advertisement. However, for the actual pitch, we directed our focus on humour and logic. This decision was based on what we thought would influence the viewers the most, bringing a sense of humour to the presentation encaptures the audience in what you are saying while manipulating their perspective of you. If you are able to gain their attention and devotion in a simple pitch it gives them the idea of what you could do with the funding for an ad. Building this humour on logic or reasoning forms a well-rounded argument which is difficult for the audience to argue with. Humour obtains their attention and trust while reasoning secures it and develops the opinion of the viewer.

What were some specific persuasive techniques you used (include examples) why did you believe these would be effective?

To promote our pitch further, we incorporated simple persuasive techniques like humour, intense vocabulary and association to influences the audience's opinion on us and the advert we were pitching. Constant association between product and target audience took place to express how extensive knowledge and understanding of the bike share program. This association was accompanied by intense vocabulary and humour to excite the viewers with what we were selling. Intense vocab to describe our methods of how we would produce this ad glamorises what may actually happen while humour allows a connection to form. This connection introduces a more emotional aspect which highlights the charisma being expressed. Charisma and humour exaggerate our dedication to the product which influences their opinion on us as they will develop a fondness for our presentation.

Majority belief was another big part of our pitch as we based our whole text type on the point that our society no longer watches TV. The population today focuses on media especially Youtube and this is well known so starting off our presentation with this builds a credible argument that could sell products more effectively. This knowledge and understanding let the audience know how well we have deconstructed our topic.

How did an awareness of audience and context influence your overall approach to this activity?

Being aware of the audience and context influenced what we specifically discussed in our pitch and how we presented it. We made the audience of our pitch ignorant of certain aspects of the product due to our presentation. This manipulation allows them to focus on the positives of our presentation and our pitch rather than the complications of the product or production. We made our advertisement seem so suiting for the product that they would dismiss
the complications of selling an outdoors product in the desert or how you can skip an ad in 5 seconds on Youtube. The lack of discussion makes them forget about the concepts allowing a more devoted response to our pitch.

If you were to complete this presentation again, what would you do differently in terms of content and preparation?

I would probably include certain persuasive techniques like the repetition of the text type and its possibilities to sell the advertisements key features more. Although we did manage to focus on pitching our advert rather than the product, we still could have made the presentation a promotion of the ad by mentioning specific scenes or thing the ad could include. This imagery would allow the audience to visualise what we are selling, a visualisation is always key when constructing a promotion.