PSAs

Crafting and Revising Your PSA…

Today we’re going to be refining the concept behind your PSAs and drafting/revising your storyboards.

Collecting the meat of your PSA:

• The Concept:
  • First: Consider your target audience’s needs, preferences, as well as the things that might turn them off. They are the ones you want to rally to action. The action suggested by the PSA can be almost anything. It can be spelled out or implied in your PSA, just make sure that message is clear.How will you present your public health concern to your audience?
  • Second: Consider how you’ll grab your audience’s attention. You might use visual effects, an emotional response, humor, or surprise to catch your target audience. Be careful, however, of using scare/humor tactics.  If using humor, will your presentation offend any audiences? If using sincerity, will your presentation disturb any audiences?  Think carefully about presentation! Sometimes using a strong visual–an egg getting smashed in a kitchen or a family photo being dropped/shattered–can be more persuasive than staging a drama between two people.
  • Third: What is the purpose of your PSA? To inform? To persuade? To warn? To activate? Does your purpose match your presentation? Remember, PSAs create a forum for people to actively participate in a project that allows them to become stewards of — and advocates for — some form of social change.

The Script/Storyboard workshopping: Critique and Share and Critique

•  For the rest of class I want each of you to share your concept, script and storyboard with one other pair or person.
  • Group mates: take notes while listening to each concept.

  A 30-60 second PSA will typically require about 5 to 7 concise assertions. You’ve done your research, you’ve drafted your storyborads. Now let’s see how it holds up to this standard (listeners: carefully consider these questions in your critique!)

  1. What are the concise assertions made in this PSA storyboard?
  2. How has this PSA storyboard highlighted the major and minor points it wants to make?
  3. What forms of PERSUASION (ethos, logos, pathos) are being used and how effectively?
  4. Have the assertions been “framed” appropriately?
  5. Can they be framed differently to better or worse effect?
  6. Will there be characters acting a script or will still images? Is this the most appropriate or effect means of relating this message?
  7. What questions arise as he or she describes her concept, script, and assertions?
  8. Is the information conveyed clearly?
  9. How effective is this PSA concept?
  10. What suggestions do you have for improvement? What about this PSA should remain EXACTLY the same?

  EMAIL your pair/partners a summary of your critique (cc me on this email)