Sue Batterton Presents Poetry In New Light

Waking up in a cold sweat with drool oozing on my English textbook was my last core memory with poetry. 

Poetry was never a unit I felt interested in. I found it so hard to engage with the textbooks that outline archetypes, similes, metaphors, imagery and so on. It felt like a list. As someone who’s a visual learner, the 500 page textbook filled with poems from the 18th century did not fulfill me to say the least.

That being said, you could imagine how I was feeling going into this presentation. 

However, Sue Batterton and her presentation on Poetry’s Involvement in Advertising revitalized poetry in approximately 45 minutes. It captivated my attention the entire time.

Batterton is impressive to say the least. She’s written for clients like Chick-Fil-A, Ulta, Ram and Chrysler. 

It became evident that she was well-educated and she became aware of what kind of audience she was speaking to very quickly. 

 The presentation’s main idea explored poetry outside of the outdated English textbooks and how it is specifically found in advertisements. The presentation focused on how advertisers use poetry to create and elevate the brand’s character and image for consumers.

I learned that most advertisements incorporate poetry whether you’re aware of it or not. We watched different types of commercials, including ones from Nike and Honda.

Nike used powerful and strong words accompanied by images of people exercising in black and white to intensify their image of being a strong and tough brand.

It made me think about how brands use psychological manipulation to sway their audience into purchasing their products. 

Batterton’s choice of using Nike and Honda as examples proves she knew how to speak to an audience of teenagers. Batterton specifically chose Nike because she knew her audience buys clothing from the brand and chose a car company to highlight because her audience is at the age when they are beginning to drive. 

While the presentation served its purpose of introducing poetry in a non-traditional way for most students, I think it still lacked something for students or teachers who are already infatuated with poetry at a higher level. 

Another minor problem for me personally was that the presentation was online. Personally, I am a visual learner and cannot learn over a computer screen so if I had the opportunity, I would want to see this presentation in person.

I also think that if the presentation was in-person it could have been much more interactive and effective for the audience as it being online made it seem superficial.

However, Batterton made a presentation with what she had and was able to make it go as smoothly as possible for both her and the audience. Batterton was an overall excellent presenter who was precise in her words and made them easily digestible for everyone in the room regardless of grade level.

I think all of my peers should watch this presentation in order to understand more about the goods and services they purchase, how brands use people’s minds to their advantage and why we as consumers make certain decisions. 

Between her creative use of visuals and word choice, Batterton’s presentation left me with a deeper connection to poetry.