Powerful & Practical: Writing the Impact Report

Powerful & Practical:Powerful & Practical:Writing the Impact Writing the Impact ReportReport

What is IMPACT?What is IMPACT?

Impact is…

The reportable, quantifiable, and verifiable positive difference (or potential difference) your program makes in the lives of people

Impact is the impression your program makes

What is an Impact Statement?What is an Impact Statement?

An Impact Statement is…

A brief summary, in lay terms, of the economic, environmental and/or social impact of your efforts. It states your accomplishments and their payoff to society

What is an Impact Statement?What is an Impact Statement?

In short, an impact statement answers the questions…

Who cares?and

So what?and

What have you done for me lately?

Why Write an Impact Statement?Why Write an Impact Statement?

The purpose of an impact statement is to

PERSUADE your reader that you have

done good work

PREVIEW PREVIEW of this Presentationof this Presentation

Principles for Powerful Persuasion

Principles for a Practical Process Putting It All Together

Principles for Powerful Principles for Powerful PersuasionPersuasion

The art of persuasion has a name: rhetoric.

What is Rhetoric?What is Rhetoric?

According to Aristotle’s teaching:

Rhetoric is the art of finding the best available means of persuading a specific audience in a specific situation

What are the Tactics of What are the Tactics of Rhetoric?Rhetoric?

Ethos – presenting the trustworthiness and authority of the writer

Pathos – speaking to the emotions and deeply-held beliefs of the audience

Logos – using the logic, reasoning, and evidence of the subject as presented

The Rhetorical TriangleThe Rhetorical Triangle

Subject

Writer Audience

The Rhetorical Triangle and The Rhetorical Triangle and the Tactics of Rhetoricthe Tactics of Rhetoric

Writer

Subject

Ethos

喻德

Logos 喻理

Audience

Pathos

喻情

Ethos, logos and pathos Ethos, logos and pathos 喻德，喻理，喻情喻德，喻理，喻情

清华四大国学导师之一的陈寅恪曾经说过，若论语言、文化之根源，古希腊语和古汉语有相通之处。古希腊语之发音强调格律与韵律，对于元音的运用和古汉语有诸多相同之处。

But what I’d like to add up is there are many differences between ancient Greek and ancient Chinese. Chinese, from its verbal perspective, is focusing too much on conception, or artistic conception specifically, while Greek is majorly focusing on its rationalization.

抛开汉语的发展演变不谈，从理性思辩的这一角度来说一说古希腊语的个人见解。

2300 多年前的古希腊哲学家 Aristotle （亚里斯多德）在他的《雄辩的艺术》 (The Art of Rhetoric) 这本书里就曾经论述过：一次成功的演说只有包含了“ ethos, logos and pathos”这三方面才会有效果和说服力。古希腊为什么能够成为哲学的发源地与 ethos ， logos 和pathos 这三个词不无关系。那么，这三个希腊语源的单词到底包含着什么含义呢 ?

ETHOSETHOS ——represents the ——represents the character or imagecharacter or image

从词源来说 ethos 源于希腊语词 ethikos ，表示“ moral or showing moral character” 。亚里斯多德认为一个演说者在开始阶段必须在听众中建立一种“道德可信度”，即 moral credibility 。这样，人们才会对他说的话有所信服。这个词经由拉丁语词 ēthicus 进入英语。若追溯更早的语言历史演变， ethos 则源于原始印欧语（ known as PIE ） *swedhe- 。

我们先来看看 *swedhe- 这个原始印欧语词，其实它是个合成拟构的原始印欧语词，前半部分*swe- 表示“ oneself, his, her, its” 。*swe- 这个原始印欧语词，它在很多语言的变体都进入了英语，其同源词有self ， gossip ， suicide ， secede ， seclude ，secret ， secure 等。仅拿一例略作阐述： *swe- 进入拉丁语写成 sui- ，表示 self 。 w 和 u 可以互换， sui- 就是 self ，而 cid- 表示“ cut” ，后引申为“ kill” 。 kill oneself 就是自杀，即 suicide 。

swe-dhe- 一词可能由于 sw 发音的脱落， dh-和 th- 对应，故发展成 ethe- 这样的形式，进而演化成 ethos （道德风貌）、 ethic （道德准则）、 ethical （伦理的；道德的）等词。还有ethnic （种族的）、 ethnology （民族学）等词也源于 *swedhe- ，和 ethic 同源。

后半部分 *dhe- 也是原始印欧语词根，表示“ do ， make” ，英语里的 do 就是源于它。其实 *swedhe- 整个词合起来的意思就是 to make one’s own ，蹩脚的翻译就是“使其成为自己的”，后来含义宽泛化，发展成“自己所具有的”，最后变成“（自身具有的）行为举止规范”，即“道德”，也就是 ethos 的本意。

LOGOSLOGOS ——represents the logical ——represents the logical argument argument

Logos 这个希腊语词所代表的意思就是逻辑性和条理性。在前苏格拉底时代的哲学里， logos 表示“人类对宇宙认识的理论”；在公元前 5 世纪晚期的智者派里， logos 表示“对一个论题的诡辩”；在后苏格拉底时代的斯多葛学派思想里， logos 表示“宇宙的合理的法则，所有行为和存在于人类灵魂中的理性的源泉”；在犹太教信奉的旧约圣经里， logos 表示“ the word of God” ，翻译过来就是“创造万物的力量”，是上帝与人类交流的媒介。

the word of God 为什么翻译成“创造万物的力量”？《圣经》约翰福音开篇“ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”太初有道，道与神同在，道就是神。《圣经》这段话的意思就是“上帝打破寂寞开口言说，万事万物也借由上帝之口而创造出来，此言说即为上帝创造万物的力量和起始。”这个解释看起来不可思议，但对于有着基督教信仰的基督徒来说，上帝之言就是创造万物的动因。

而亚里斯多德更多的是强调运用“三段论” (syllogisms) 的逻辑推理法来阐明自己的观点。举个简单的三段论的例子：人终有一死，苏格拉底是个人，所以，苏格拉底终会死。这种三段论是由大前提，小前提，最后推导出结论。其实，这是一种古希腊的诡辩术。即通过一种逻辑上的连贯来推导出符合逻辑的结论。而结论是否是 truth （真相或事实）则显得不那么重要。

上述的这种逻辑辩论的方法其实就是一种“说辞，说法”，即亚里斯多德倡导的 logos 。这个词的本意就是“ speech, words” ，最早源于原始印欧语 *leg- ，表示“ to speak” 。

先说说 *leg- 这个原始印欧语词根，它的“子孙”众多，其同源词汇在英语词汇中没有 100 也至少有 50个以上。 *leg- 最初表示“ to collect, to pick up” ，即“搜集”。而从 *leg- 进入古希腊语后变成的logos 其实就是“ to pick up words to make a speech” 。演讲，演说都需要“选词考究，遣词准确”。 *leg-进入拉丁语有很多变体，如 lig- 、 leg- 和其分词形词干 lect- 等。其相应的常见派生词简略举例有：diligent ， eligible ， elite ， intelligent ， intellectual ， elegant ， negligent ， select ， lecture ，legend ， analects ， apologize ， dialect…

如果再算上 *leg- 进入希腊语派生出来的 log- 和lex- ，还有作后缀的 -logy ，其派生词像 lexical ，logical ， logics ， eulogy ， biology ，加上刚才提到过的 syllogistic （三段论的）… oh, my goodness! 越想其派生词就越多。总而言之，在希腊语源的派生词里都是和“言论”有关。

PATHOSPATHOS ——represents the ——represents the emotion in argumentemotion in argument

梅尔 ·吉普森导演的一部电影叫《耶稣受难记》，片名就叫《 The Passion of Jesus Christ》。这里的 passion 可不是激情，它表示“苦难”，和 pathos 是同源。在亚里斯多德的《雄辩的艺术》 (The Art of Rhetoric) 这本书里，他专门论述了情感，像愤怒、同情、恐惧等情感在演讲中的应用，他强调善于引导 audience 进入到演说者想要的情感境界会大大的增加演说者的说服力。

亚里斯多德很早就领悟了“煽动群众情绪”的真谛。《建党伟业》这部电影描述在五四运动时期的新思维领袖们站在台上“煽情”的一幕幕，就是很好的运用了 PATHOS 这一条。那么， pathos 到底是什么意思呢？

pathos 最初源于希腊语，其原始含义表示“ to suffer, endure” 。当人有了情绪（如愤怒、同情、恐惧等），身体就在 suffer 和 endure 。我们会说情绪致病也是这个道理。所以， pathos 引出一个医学词根 path- 就表示“ disease” ，故 pathology 就是“病理学”，其同源词还有 pathetic （可怜的—生病时的痛苦状态）、 pathogen （病原体—致病基因， gene即为基因）、 sympathy （同情—与对方一同感受病痛）等等。

与 pathos 同源的拉丁语词根为 pati- ，其过去分词词干为 pass- ，派生词 passion 在后古典时代表示“ suffering of Christ on the cross” ，也就是本段开始我提到的电影《 The passion of Jesus Christ》里的 passion 。所以，说到 passion 这个词，可不是简单的“激情”所能够诠释的。

关于 pati- 和 pass- ，其派生词也有很多，像passive ， passionate ， passible （易感动的）、 patient(病人 suffer 的是 disease ；忍耐对人来说也是一种suffering) 、 impatient ， patible 、 compatible ， penury （贫穷—忍受饥饿）等等，这里就不一一解释了。

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_53b72e730100vl1j.html

For more…For more…

http://courses.durhamtech.edu/perkins/aris.html

The Rhetorical Triangle The Rhetorical Triangle and the Larger Contextand the Larger Context

Writer

Subject

Ethos

Logos

Audience

Pathos

Your Work & Research

Their Needs & Interests

Your Project’s Impact

飞机在地面是肯定；飞机起飞离开地面，是否定；飞机降到地面，是否定之否定。

飞机起飞，离开地面，飞机到了终点站，降到地面

Pathos Principle 1:Pathos Principle 1:Know your Impact Audience.Know your Impact Audience.

1. Peers (Other researchers and extension specialists)

2. Politicians (Governing boards and legislators)

3. Public & Private Organizations (Current & potential funding sources)

4. Public (Clients, taxpayers, and the media)

Pathos Principle 2: Know what Pathos Principle 2: Know what moves your Impact Audience.moves your Impact Audience.

What do they all commonly want?What have you done for me lately?What are your program’s results?

(And give it to me straight!)Since I have lots of competition for my attention, give it to me short and simpleTell me the facts & figures that prove your program helpsShow me how people were helped

Ethos Principle 1:Ethos Principle 1:Write like a ProfessionalWrite like a Professional

To trust you, your readers must believe you are a competent person, a professional

Make sure you get the information down correctly

The data

The names

The spelling

The grammar

Ethos Principle 2:Ethos Principle 2:Write like a PersonWrite like a Person

Never talk down to or over the heads of your audienceTell your story simply

Aim for a 10th grade levelUse simple familiar wordsAvoid jargon and acronymsUse short simple sentencesShow rather than tell

Logos Principle 1:Logos Principle 1:Make your argument clear.Make your argument clear.

Answer the basic questions (5W’s & 1H)

State your activities and results plainly

Choose clear words

Choose a common vocabulary

Choose active verbs

Choose concrete nouns, adjectives, & adverbs

Logos Principle 2:Logos Principle 2:Make your results clear.Make your results clear.

An impact statement is not...Just a description of your process

Just the number of folks attending, enrolled, or served in a program (or acres involved, etc.)

What YOU got out of the program

A technical or scientific report

An impact statement shows real, positive results of applying your program to a real need

Six Principles for Six Principles for Powerful PersuasionPowerful Persuasion

1. Know your impact audience2. Know what moves your impact

audience3. Write like a professional4. Write like a person5. Make your argument clear6. Make your results clear

Principles for a Principles for a Practical ProcessPractical Process

How do I go about writing my Impact Report?

Principle 1: Writing Principle 1: Writing ISIS a process a process

Forget the myth of the perfect first draft

Multiple drafts lead to better reports

Using “stream of consciousness” writing does not make for good reporting

Your process may be unique to you

To complete the process of writing, you have to plan the time to write (Avoid “the night before class” syndrome)

Principle 2: Principle 2: Writing is a simple processWriting is a simple process

(But no one said it was easy)(But no one said it was easy)

Prewrite

Write

Rewrite

PrewritePrewrite

Gather your data and writing materials

Write a preliminary summary (the “elevator” exercise)

Organize your dataWhat defines the issue?

What describes what was done?

What shows the results, the impact?

Make notes on what you want to say

WriteWrite

Try writing your Impact Report in this order:The Impact Report Specifics

• The contact person(s)

• The cooperators

• The funding sources

• The year and title(?)

The Impact Report Statement• Issue

• What was done

• Impact

The Impact Report Summary

Writing the Impact Report Writing the Impact Report StatementStatement

Issue (Who cares? Why?)

Show the gap: What is] [What should be

Use state or national figures to put the local need in context

Define the problem and/or opportunity

What was done (Who? What? Where? When? How?)

Select the details, facts, & figures which summarize what you did for a non-scientist

Set the scope of the project


Impact (So what? What have you done for me lately?)

Which evaluation tools did you use?Ask them (survey research)

Test them (simple experimental designs)

Observe them (recorded & confirmed observations)

See http://www.ca.uky.edu/agpsd/soregion.htm & http://www.extension.psu.edu/evaluation/titles.html

Which approach will you use?Quantitative, qualitative, or a combination?


What level of impact did you achieve?

1. Program Preparation

2. Program Activities / Research

3. People Involvement

4. Participant Reactions

5. Change in KASA (knowledge, attitudes, skills, aspirations)

6. Change in practice

7. Broad results


Impact (So what? What have you done for me lately?)

Quantify change which occurred in one or all:Economic value or efficiency (cost/benefit?)

Environmental quality (facts & figures)

Societal/individual wellbeing (facts & figures)

Use anecdotes and testimonials

If change is yet future,focus on potential impactExplain your project’s importance to real world

Report present accomplishments–extrapolate carefully

Example of “potential impact”Example of “potential impact”

We bought special software for classroom computers. The students learned to analyze the total true cost of producing food products. Using the same software industry uses makes these students ready for the job market and ready to enhance the food economy.

Example of an anecdotal impact Example of an anecdotal impact statementstatement

Farmer James says the university saved her life. A radio report on rabies symptoms in cattle was produced and distributed. Farmer heard on her local station and thought she had a cow with symptoms. Called the vet -- no rabies. A second opinion -- no rabies. Cow dies and the farmer sends it for testing. Tests positive for transmittable rabies. The farmer got immediate treatment. And credits the radio report with describing things well enough to save her life.

Writing the Impact Report Writing the Impact Report SummarySummary

In the summary, summarize the following into one sentence each

The IssueWhat Was DoneThe Impact

Combine them into a short paragraph which describes the need(s), the process(es), and the impact(s) involved in your project without going into details

RewriteRewrite

Set your report in order

Read it out loud; listen for awkward sections

Ask yourself, “Does this report answer the 3 questions?”

Who cares?

So what?

What have you done for me lately?

Edit for 1st time readers, checking content

RewriteRewrite

Rewrite for content remembering to:Shorten

Simplify

Show results

Proofread for grammar and spelling errors

Have another person check it over as well

Send it off!

Targets for LengthTargets for LengthReport Summary

One short paragraph

100-150 words

IssueOne short paragraph

100-150 words

What was doneOne or two paragraphs

150-200 words

ImpactOne or two paragraphs

200-300 words

Why should I work so hard when Why should I work so hard when someone else is going to edit it someone else is going to edit it

anyway?anyway?

You can:• Save the whole program time & money• Develop a reputation as a real

professional• Improve your communications skills in all

areas of your life• Make sure your ideas aren’t changed • Do your best and save the world

Putting It All Putting It All TogetherTogether

Give That to Me One More Time

Six Principles for Six Principles for Powerful PersuasionPowerful Persuasion

1. Know your impact audience2. Know what moves your impact

audience3. Write like a professional4. Write like a person5. Make your argument clear6. Make your results clear

Two Principles for a Two Principles for a Practical ProcessPractical Process

1. Writing IS a Process

2. Writing is a Simple Process• Prewrite• Write• Rewrite

Sample impact summarySample impact summary

Economic value or efficiency…Five years ago, Cornpone County pork producers spent $17 more than the state average to raise a market hog. We helped them improve their record keeping and production practices, and costs dropped $20 to $3.19 BELOW the state average. Each farm’s profit increased $345,000 over five years, bringing more hogs, more jobs, and more spending to the county.


Environmental quality...Chopped waste paper is an economical substitute for wood chips commonly used as bedding by the horse industry. Our scientists have found that the paper absorbs moisture better too. By using some of the 76 million tons of paper Americans throw away each year, researchers can reduce landfill demands, save a few trees and keep horses comfy all at once.


Social/Individual wellbeing… (health)No standards exist for wooden basketball, dance and aerobics floors. So, we’re setting them. Our scientists study the role of floor type and construction in chronic-use injuries that often make people stop exercising. Computer models predict how a floor reacts to various forces or environmental changes. Those predictions, and what doctors know about chronic athletic injuries, bring a prescription for safer exercise for athletes of all ages and abilities.

Remember….Remember….

The public expects us to be accountable -- to show the impact of our land-grant programs.

Impact is the difference your programs are making in peoples lives.

Impact statements tell various audiences about that difference.

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Powerful & Practical: Writing the Impact Report