RP 4 Ideas (Option 2)

For this presentation, the audience is really anyone who's interested in the space program. Really it's hard to reach out and get the presentation seen by the space program's opponents; people who are against it most likely aren't going to be reading websites that the presentation might be posted on. The goal, then, is to educate those that are curious about the topic, and give them ideas and information to make the arguments themselves when they're confronted by opposition. I'd post it on scientific websites and those dedicated to Space (Ad Astra magazine, National Space Society, etc.).

As for changing the argument from the written form to that of the pecha kucha, I think that the argument will transfer well, but will end up being presented very differently. The introduction will be some inspiring pictures, perhaps of astronauts on the moon, or space shuttles lifting off, that sort of thing. Over these will be a mashup of sound bytes, some from popular sci-fi (Captain Picard saying “Space: the final Frontier...”, etc.) and some from history (“One small step for man...”, some from President Kennedy talking about the space race, etc.). These will do a great job of setting the tone for the piece, and getting the audience excited about space. From here, the presentation will launch into the argument itself. I don't think I'm going to use any music; I believe it would just distract from the argument itself. Or, I might fade the music, louder during the intro, and jut very quiet in the background during the important argument points. The audio would be primarily me speaking.

For the pictures during the argument itself, I think I'm going to have a variety. Some will be pictures of Astronauts doing their usual thing, some might be drawings of what it might be like in a colony on Mars, things like that. I'll also have one or two charts in there- perhaps showing a breakdown of government spending to show how little the NASA budget actually takes up, things like that.

Overall, I think that the argument will transfer well, but will definitely change. Instead of being a research piece, it will be more of an audio essay; instead of making the argument to the opponents of the space program, it will focus more on outlining the argument to give those that are pro-manned exploration a better idea of how to argue for it themselves.