How to Excel in Multimodal Speeches (Tips from a NSW High School Theatre Director)

1What is a multimodal?

During your high school life, NESA assesses students on their ability to develop skills that extends beyond analysing texts in the written word, but also their imaginative engagement, allowing others to appreciate your individual interpretation. The deconstructive definition of the word, 'multimodal', is a presentation including multiple ways of communicating a text (modal). For example, using a visual element alongside an oratorical speech. Schools have created unique ways to assess this criterion, asking students to present a variety of creative speeches such as a 'pitch' for a video game or filmic adaptation, a video essay that compares a play to a film, or an imaginative text accompanied by a visual. However, despite the diverse directions a school may interpret these guidelines, the fundamentals of an effective multimodal always remain the same. While your ability to understand the text, topic and themes is foremostly assessed, a skillful control in speaking, listening and presenting also plays a major factor. Here is my advice on how you can excel in the outcomes assessed by NESA.

Outcomes: English Stage 6 Syllabus – Advanced

EA112 uses and evaluates processes, skills and knowledge required to effectively respond to and compose texts in different modes, media and technologies.

2Quality of presentation: visuals and speaking

When students are asked to enhance their written speech by integrating multimodal aspects, they love to use visual aids (Powerpoint/ pictures /short videos /posters). Yet your creativity is not limited to visual aesthetics. You may also want to consider an interactive (asking questions), a dramatic (costumes / props / backdrops), or a musical (background music/ soundtrack) approach. Consider which medium is best suited to your skills and how it will effectively convey the ideas of the text you are analysing.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many schools have opted to assess their students via video essays. Don't lose this opportunity to brandish your skills at Movie Maker, Premier Pro, Loom, Photoshop, Canva, Prezi, WordClouds, Creatoon, Moovly, Blender, or Lucidchart.

Creating your slideshow

When you are creating a slideshow or video remember to:

• Only display the key words and images noting any special features; techniques, themes, or context. Do not use massive paragraphs on your slides, simply write them onto palm cards. Remember, the audience needs to be captured by you as well. By writing your whole speech on the slide, their attention is naturally drawn to the visual and not to yourself.
• Display examples. To show your marker that you have read and understood the text, include quotes for novels and screenshots for films to directly draw attention to the evidence that supports your point. This will prove to the marker that you are able to compose a perceptive oral presentation that engages with how a quote or shot is being used and its effect and purpose. For more information on how to analyse texts, click here.
• Never read off your slide show! Your speech should be written on palm cards. Inevitably, some of the audience will read faster than you and become quickly disengaged. Always, always keep them engaged!

3Writing and presenting your speech

Engaging the audience will enhance your message.

1. Use persuasive techniques. While your speech is analytical in nature, like an essay, don't be afraid to use techniques like rhetorical questions or figurative language to engage the audience. Using rhetoric is a great device to connect to the audience and make your speech entertaining. Figurative language will help immerse them in the world of the text. Even if your presentation skills are weak, the marker will reflect on these techniques as an attempt to engage the audience. At JP English, all new students are given a comprehensive technique list to not only help with essay writing, but also speech writing.
2. Link your speech to the topic and appropriate audience. In assessment tasks sometimes teachers may ask you to present for a Ted Talk, the Sydney Writer's Festival or a School Assembly. Make sure you adjust your speech to the format and expectations of the audience. It would be useful to research and watch examples of presentations from these conventions to understand techniques they use to engage the audience.
3. Ethos, Pathos, Logos. This technique is as old as time, deriving from Aristotle. Despite being a common method when writing persuasive speeches, it is an effective device that establishes audience trust in your speech.
   • Ethos means credibility. Make a case for why the audience should trust your view on the text. Perhaps the topic affects people your age, or maybe you have a deep interest in the author beyond the parameters of school life.
   • Pathos is the ability to evoke emotion. You might use figurative language to persuade the audience to empathise with the characters, context, and themes in the text. Your ability to make the audience engaged with the text will demonstrate a high level of skill to represent the importance of narrative through integration of another multimodal aspect.
   • Logos refers to logic. Every analytical school speech needs a combination of quotes, techniques or perhaps statistics to create an effective speech that engages and teaches. You should still write your speech following PEEL paragraphs to maintain a clear argument and progressive flow.
4. Presentation skills. To translate your message successfully, it is vital that you have the following oral presentation skills. 1) Volume: Ensure you speak louder than necessary, so that the audience can hear every word that you are saying. 2) Pacing: speak at a moderate rate that is clear. A common mistake among students is to rush so they deliver a longer speech. Slow down! 3) Articulation and Modulation: Remember to speak clearly and vary your tone, emphasising the important points.
5. Vocabulary. Despite the somewhat casualised context of a speech, always use a sophisticated word choice that effectively creates and communicates meaning in texts.

EA115 thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically to respond to, evaluate and compose texts that synthesise complex information, ideas and arguments.

4Synthesising text, topic and themes

• Do not provide a content summary. All of your classmates have read the text and should know what it is about. Providing a summary wastes time and does not show that you can analyse the text critically. Instead, provide appropriate links to ideas/context/values from the prescribed and/or chosen text.
• To synthesise information means to write accessibly. Deconstruct hard and complex ideas into different components, such as techniques, structure and form in order to communicate the meaning and purpose of the text successfully.
• Structure. While using figurative language to engage the audience, you should always keep your language formal, sophisticated and analytical. Therefore, structure your speech as a PEEL paragraph to avoid incoherence and confusion. Refer to our previous blog post on ‘How to write a PEEL paragraph’ for more information. Occasionally, a multimodal will ask you to compare two separate texts of different forms and features. Refer to our guide on ‘How to Write a Comparative Essay’ to learn how to structure this speech.

Enjoy your multimodal task! It is a fun avenue to explore creativity, allowing you to embellish your speech with your own unique style!

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