partsofspeaking

Why the news media actually reports on the inane rambling of Charlie Sheen when the world is absolutely falling into chaos?

I finished teaching the book of II Kings this week.  I prefer to teach the New Testament.  However, there are some treasures in the Old Testament narratives.       Manasseh is the worst of all the kings of Judah and probably Israel.  His reign is the nail in the coffin.  There will be inevitable, irrevocable punishment, exile, and destruction.  He destroyed all the copies of the law (which is why his grandson Josiah is so shocked to find one during his reign).  Tradition says he sawed Isaiah in two (referenced in Hebrews 11).  However, the II Kings narrative says "the rest of his acts are recorded in II Chronicles."  If we look at Chronicles 33:10 we do get the Paul Harvey rest of the story.  I have to wonder if his repentance put off the destruction that came in 609 B.C.  When it says "he was led off by hooks," that is "hooks in his nose, an Assyrian specialty.   ...

I found this interesting quote.  You have to draw a distinction between hope and optimism. Vaclav Havel put it well when he said “optimism” is the belief that things are going to turn out as you would like, as opposed to “hope,” which is when you are thoroughly convinced something is moral and right and just and therefore you fight regardless of the consequences. In that sense, I’m full of hope but in no way optimistic. Cornel West.

Another trait of spirituality is patience, or the ability to take things slowly.  How slowly?  As slowly as things need to be. Additionally, a spiritual person has the physical world in its place.  A spiritual person knows the physical or material world is in a constant state of change, decay, and passing away.  But the material world is not evil.  It is good, only temporal. Some may be wondering at this point, why don't you just refer to Ephesians 5 and leave it at that.  Because I am not writing about being filled by the Holy Spirit, or led by the Holy Spirit.  Such a person will of course be spiritual, but I am putting out there the idea that a person can be spiritual without being a Christian.  This may seem heresy to some readers.  I do not think so, because I am not saying a spiritual person will be accepted by God.  There are just some people in the world who are capable of seeing beyond the material world. Some of these peopl...

A third trait of spirituality, I believe, is peace.  Peace is not the absence of turmoil (although that would be good enough. I don't think we realize how much turmoil we are in the midst of).  Peace is not relaxation or denial of trouble either.  I went to a sort of mini-conference today and one of the speakers addressed stress, and even more, strain.  She took us through a relaxation exercise with soft voice, closed eyes, ocean waves and gull noises, and darkened lights.  It helped.  But that is not necessarily peace.  I was in a room full of driven women, and I don't know why we are so driven.  Maybe because the immediate surroundings don't meet our vision of perfect and we think we have to change it.  So we live without peace and actually choose against it.

http://beautifulfeet10.blogspot.com/  This is from a young man who is spending six months in Brazil.  He is a member of our BCM at Dalton State. This is my son's blog on the environment.  http://theecoforum.wordpress.com/   He is doing it as an internship with Pulitzer Center.  He has some interesting articles.  Please check out both of these.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/us/24marriage.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1298512889-gHeyEIonT39QFqUCgzX2sA

In the previous post I wrote the being spiritual means to listen.  But the second, and equally important characteristic of spirituality is discernment. Discernment is not the same as judgmentalism or a critical nature.  Discernment is "testing the spirits" as we are admonished in scriptures.  A person can be discerning and kind, discerning and tolerant (in the right sense), but also discerning and careful and wise. Discernment means being able to see the root of something, whether it is an idea or an emotion.  Where does the belief have its origin?  What caused the person to feel that emotion. A colleague and I were discussing our spring breaks.  She said she would see her mother-in-law--we discussed that, laughingly.  She said, "You know, I finally realized that when someone is rude to me, most of the time it has nothing to do with me.  It's a pre-existing condition for them."  So true.  Unfortunately, it is also often a permanent...

Rules about delivery 1. Your speech starts the minute the audience can see you (and ends when you are no longer in their vision). The way you walk to the front of the class and the way you walk away from the lectern (the podium is a stage, by the way) is part of the overall package of your speech. It sets an impression if you walk up confidently and walk away as if you know you did well. It sets a different impression you look as if you are going to the guillotine and walk away as if you just had a root canal. 2. Don’t talk to anything except the audience. Eye contact, eye contact, eye contact. 3. Enthusiasm covers a multitude of problems. The old corny saying is “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” We expect a public speaker to be passionate and having conviction about what you are saying. 4. Practice. Practice. Practice.  Standing up.  In a room like the one where you will be presenting, if possible  With an audience if possible  Wit...

I have been thinking about the word "spiritual."  It's one that gets used indiscriminately, like so many.  So what does it mean to be spiritual. The first characteristic of being spiritual is to listen.  A spiritual person listens.  A spiritual person is quiet and pays attention and hears. 

To continue with my "non-negotiables" of public speaking, here are a few more related to content: 1.  Hit the concrete. Use real-life, visible, specific examples and details. 2.  Don’t use words you don’t know or can’t pronounce. I know this seems like a funny one to put here, but it has two applications. If you 1aren’t 100% sure about the pronunciation and meaning of a word or term you are using, don’t use it. If you don’t know it, the audience probably won’t either. And if the audience doesn’t know the word, they won’t be sitting there thinking, “Wow, this speaker is so smart! I wish I could be smart like him!” No, they will be saying, “Why can’t this jerk use words everybody knows?” 3.  If it’s not funny to the audience, it’s not funny. (this one was alluded to in an earlier post but this is the complete thought on it.)  Humor is a great tool, but humor is also very personal, volatile, unpredictable, and potentially offensive. When in doubt about a joke, ask ...

Remember the power of story. Story because stories are powerful and your most useful tool as a public speaker. People will always listen to a story. If you would like to watch some good videos right now and stop reading this lecture, go to You Tube and watch some of the videos of Patricia Fripp, such as this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvQqSSxzJkQ&feature=related Not only does she use stories in public speaking, but she talks about how to do it. My first speech instructor, Dr. Steve Euler, said it best and I remember it after 37 years.  "Your ability to communicate is in direct proportion to your ability to tell a story."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/hero_unwelcome_Zi3u1fwtRpo87vXAiAQfSN Why do we hear so many of these kinds of stories but not many on conservatives who forbid free expression?  Of course, I know part of it is who's reporting, but the incident happened--it's not deniable.  How can anyone argue against the military when it is the military protecting their ability to protest in the first place?

This of course means Keep It Simple (Student, not Stupid). It has two applications. (1) Focus on one purpose. I will repeatedly say in this class: “Listening is not reading.” Everything must be simpler, more elegant, and direct in public speaking, since the audience’s listening skills determine the communication results. When it comes to your purpose statement, for example, it is best that it not have an “and” in it—that you have one purpose. (2) The best visual aid is a simple visual aid. We will go into more detail on PowerPoint later, but this subrule is mostly related to that technology, since it (or other open-source presentation software) is the most logical way to go for visual aids other than the actual objects or just writing on a board (which is harder than it looks). PowerPoint allows you to do just about anything you want, but remember: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Too many bells and whistles will not help your presentation. Visual aid means visual help,...

Had a discussion today with colleague in the communication department in which I work; he is a comedian who studies humor academically.  He is of course very funny so even a serious discussion with him is pretty hilarious.  Humor is volatile in terms of public speaking, yet necessary.  Everyone should know his or her strengths in using humor in public speaking.  Jokes are not the only way to be funny.  Sometimes it is best to relate a funny, or appropriately quaint/cute story (children are always good for this) relevant to the topic of the speech.  I am not much for humor that is just being used to waste time or as unnecessary icebreakers.  However, even those have their place.  What ultimately matters, though, is not if the speaker (you) think something is funny but whether your audience thinks it's funny, so this is my next non-negotiable rule of public speaking:  If it's not funny to the audience, it's not funny. That being said, I hea...

.....anymore after this. Having a dog can be a way to have some spiritual lessons rehearsed for you. 1.  Our dog ran away as soon as we brought him home.  He came back after an hour.  I did pray for God to send him back.  I felt stupid praying for that.  However, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus points out that God, in charge of the universe, cares about the fall of a sparrow, a tiny bird.  So it's not wrong to pray for everything, including the dog to come back (as long as we don't stupidly let him go again!).  That being said, I was thinking about how narrow our prayer life is.  We pray about our own concerns but not the world's.  So I feel silly praying about my dog when millions of people in Haiti suffer, and over 200,000 died.  Am I thinking God doesn't care about them?  Why do those things happen?  The floods in Pakistan, the tsunami in Indonesia?  It's good to be able to trust God about a personal problem, but the...

The best speeches are purpose-driven rather than topic-driven. The phrase “purpose-driven” was popularized in a recent book, so I’m using it here as a hook for attention and memory (always a good idea in an oral medium). We commonly think about speeches in terms of our topic, but I would like you to be outcome-driven—what do you want the audience to think, know, believe, or do when the speech is over? It’s not what you are talking about , but what you are trying to achieve , in the speech. Once you start thinking of your speech in terms of purpose and outcomes rather than topic, you will be able to focus much more and decide what is relevant or not in your speech. Purpose is largely based on audience and on contextual factors. If you are early in your college education, outcome-orientation is something you should get used to.  Whether you are going into business, education, social work, or some other fields, the emphasis will not be what you do but whether you achieve what you ar...

Yesterday my husband and I adopted a dog.  We went to the Walker County Animal Shelter and a small beagle mix, male, 3-yr. old, tawny color caught my eye.  He grew on my husband.  He is attached to us and wants to sleep in our room (but of course on the floor), is house-trained, has not barked yet, and is not the friendliest dog in the world but will eventually come around.  Unfortunately, he ran off as soon as we got him home (our stupidity) but managed to find his way back from quite a distance away an hour or so later.  We know better now; he needs to be neutered so that might help the roaming.  His name?  At the shelter it was Jumpy, which seemed more personality than activity, since his bag leg is slightly injured (it doesn't prevent his running away quite fast).  I don't like that name.  My husband likes Booboo, to which I am indifferent; however, that will probably win.  I took him out to walk this morning and he did his business...

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/january/34.34.html

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/january/35.48.html

We have looked at some non-negotiable rules about context.  Now we will move on to rules about content. The most effective speeches are the ones that answer the questions in the minds of the audience. If this series had a thesis sentence, here it is.  Good speakers scratch where the audience itches, information-wise.  As the Radio Shack ad said, You've got questions, we've got answers. You might be shaking your head and thinking, what's the big wisdom in this?  And that's the point--your audience is asking questions, such as mentioned before, what's in it for me? and why is the speaker qualified to talk on this subject?  But there are others.  The ancient rhetoricians had long lists of them, basically ways to investigate the subject.  But the issue is what questions would your audience have? You can decide on these questions two ways:  Ask the audience yourself, or look at audience characteristics and discern what the questions might be base...

Being prepared means never having to say you’re sorry. Never apologize for being unprepared; we’ll know it anyway. The point of this rule is preparation. A good presentation takes much more preparation and practice than many novices realize. Let me give you a personal example: Last summer I was asked to give a five-minute speech at the local Kiwanis meeting (which was being held on campus that month) about the Teaching and Learning Center. So far, so good. I worked on it until the day before when I got a call from the person in charge of the meeting telling me that I was to speak on the School of Liberal Arts and the Teaching and Learning Center. Oh, no! Not only did I have to re-compose my remarks, but I had to practice, practice, practice: First, to be sure the speech was five minutes long, and second, to be sure it was articulate and perfect, because I am a public speaking teacher and I have a special burden. So I hid in a room on campus and went over the speech as many times as it ...

Don’t tell the audience what they already know. This is half of the definition of “boring.” We find a speech boring when we are hearing the same information we’ve heard before. The others half of “boring” takes place when the audience sees no connection between the information and their lives. People expect new information in a speech, not same-o-same-o. In fact, when we get into persuasion, we will see that the only persuasive information is new information, because listeners will have “assimilated” the information they have already heard—they will have filed it away and dealt with it in a way that it is no longer persuasive. Let me give you an example. You probably may know someone who smokes; perhaps you smoke. More than likely, the person who smokes has been told several times that smoking is bad for him or her, but the behavior continues. Whatever “information” he or she has heard that should have made the behavior stop, didn’t work. It’s been filed away, disregarded, refuted, etc...

I will take a break from my series on public speaking to mention that this is post #500.  It's hard to believe I have found that much to write about, although in some respects I may take a hiatus for Lent to focus on some book writing.  But in celebration of #500, I have some other observations that might do for a while. I hope everyone reading this is aware of and praying for the people of Egypt, especially but of course not limited to the Christians of all persuasions, who are about a 10% minority and in potential danger of exile and great persecution if the wrong groups get in power.  I fear that Americans, and no less Christians, are ignorant of what's going on and would rather focus on the latest antics of some reality show personage. I was supposed to take a group of seven students from the Baptist Collegiate Ministries to Haiti at the end of the month (our spring break) for a week.  We were going to work outside of the city with children and youth.  I...

Up to this point I have posted three principles.  The fourth principle is that there are certain non-negotiable rules.  It doesn't matter when or where or why or to whom or about what you speak, these apply.  There are are rules about context, content, and del ivery. 1. Rules about context (a). Never exceed expected or given time limits. If you are given twenty minutes, you are given twenty minutes and should take eighteen, not twenty-five. Audiences are very perceptive about (and sensitive to) speakers going overtime. The old saying is “He who thinks by the inch and speaks by the yard should be dealt with by the foot.” As I read recently in an article on toasts at weddings, “no one has ever complained that a speech was too short.”

The audience is sovereign, or “king.” It’s all about the audience; say that over and over. Earlier in this lecture I said that the key job of a speech is to answer the questions in the minds of the audience. There are many questions they might be asking, but there are two that they are always asking. Your ability to engage your audience will depend on how you answer these two questions. a. The egocentric question: Why should we, as audience members, care? What’s in it for me? (WIIFM)? How will this improve my life, my relationships, my budget, my career, my success, my education? b. The credibility question: Why should we listen to you, the speaker? What are your credentials and background that make you smart enough to talk about this subject? Yes, you can answer these questions, and you should do so early in the speech. You can answer them directly (good idea for the egocentric question) and indirectly (probably better for the credibility questi...