Final Project (45%)

The final project is an 8-minute EXACTLY video documentary that focuses on a personal issue of your choice (the importance of Socionics ).

The video documentary will persuade the viewer of the importance of the issue, the impact of the topic, and provide ample data to support your argument. The content must be researched and is verifiable. This is a persuasive video that you will design and produce to convince the viewer why this issue is real and important. You also must take a stand on the issue that you selected - either for or against the issue.

Type: Inquiry based using the persuasion stages to convince the learner of either the pro or con of the issue.

Choosing an issue relevant to the video documentary final project. Your final project video documentary focuses on a work related issue.

Once you have taken a stand, the following questions must be addressed:

1. Can I find at least two people who can be interviewed as case studies (e.g., a student who uses mobile devices in the classroom or a teacher who has a strong opinion about it)? The purpose of the case study is to provide anecdotal evidence to build your conflict and to increase comprehension and resolution. Do not confuse this with interviewing an expert on the topic.

2. Can I find evidence to support my stand on this issue? Examples of evidence include but are not limited to journal articles, graphs, charts, data, interviews with experts such as teachers or administrators, and media reports.

3. Once you have your research materials supporting your stand, ask yourself: can I visualize the content?

Since this is a motion based medium, what kinds of shots or footage may be used to represent my content?

For example, on the issue of mobile devices impacting negatively, a good visualization of content would be a student playing Tetris while the teacher is teaching geometry.

Another example is students texting each other while the teacher is lecturing. It is imperative that you visualize your content according to the video language (long shots, close ups, etc.).

There are many ways to visualize your content to add meaning.

Footage is NOT just a visual filler, so do not use the same visuals repeatedly.

The 5 Stages of Persuasion are:

• Unawareness

• Awareness

• Comprehension

• Conviction

• Action

These stages apply to literally any decision we ever make, from purchases of products and services, to decisions about dating, marriage, careers, religion, to learning any concept, from spelling a name to building a nuclear reactor. There are no exceptions. This is a universal process and it is another rule without an exception.

The 5 Stages of Persuasion is a simple process. A person is first unaware of a product, service, or idea, then moves to awareness after gathering (being exposed to) some amount of information. The person then passes into the comprehension and conviction stages after gathering (being exposed to) addition information. The action stage is reached when the person buys a product or service, takes a specific action, makes a decision, or learns something.

It’s that simple. To persuade anyone to take some kind of action, believe anything, or learn anything, the person must be taken through the Five Stages. This is a rule without exception, but the problem is that the process is not always 100% successful. Many people are forever stuck in unawareness, awareness, comprehension, or conviction and never reach the action stage. In addition, some people may reach one stage but may actually go back to a previous stage. For example, a person may buy something as mundane as Hostess Cupcakes for years, then stop buying for one reason or another. This person, either from a comment by a friend or relative or exposure to an advertisement about Hostess Cupcakes may say, “I haven’t had one of those in years” and then once again enter the action stage by buying Hostess Cupcakes the next trip to the grocery store.

What do we know about the Five Stages of Persuasion? We know that:

1. All people pass through the stages for every decision they make or anything they learn.

2. All people pass through the stages at different speeds—there is no universal timing.

3. Not all people make it to the Action stage.

The only way to move people through the Five Stages is through repetition of the message. In most cases, people do not make decisions (or learn something) after only one exposure to a message. The process nearly always requires several exposures.

However, there are also many things we don’t know about the Five Stages. For example, we don’t know:

1. How many exposures are required to move a person through each stage.

2. How many people are in each stage of the process at any given time.

3. When people will move from one stage to another.

4. Why people move from one stage to another.

5. Where people are when they move from one stage to another.

We do know that all people must pass through the stages to make a decision, but we don’t know where, when, how, and why they will pass through the stages. Lucky for us that we understand that in order to move people through the stages, we must have repetition of the message.

There is no way to circumvent The 5 Stages of Persuasion. No company or manufacturer can slip around the process to sell products or services to consumers. No person or group can slip around the process in an attempt to persuade another person or group to do something or believe in something. No one can slip around the process to get someone to learn something. The process is universal. It is, as mentioned, a rule without exception. It is, after all this discussion, a Grand Unified Theory.