partsofspeaking

The other fundamental question is about your audience.   Who are they?   Where are they?   In fact, in some cases the audience is in a different time zone! And that really matters in how a listener responds.             Other experts suggest the following: 1.      Along with standing up for your presentation, smile.   People can hear a smile even when they don’t see you. 2.      Your anxiety does not go away just because you cannot see everyone in your “web audience.”   Also, you might not have ever met the people to whom you are speaking.   Be aware of the likelihood of anxiety—it might not hit until you are “on air.” As Ron Ashkenas says, “Anxiety in speaking is like static on the radio.” 3.      In your use of periodic questions, be specific.   The typical “Any questions?-pause- let’s go on” is really pretty ineffective. ...

This article says no. But it only cites one study.  I tend to think that in terms of the math/science issue, there is precious little difference.  It's probably more about goals women have in relation to self and family. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/06/male-female-brains-biologically-different/563702/

I decided I need to say "I'm a Writer" when people ask me what I do.  It's the primary thing I do, whether teaching, administrating, blogging, really writing, studying the Word, relating to people.  "But I pay the bills by . . . "  I suggest this for all aspiring writers who have legitimately published something.

I seriously do not understand why a restaurant owner can kick a person out of a restaurant because she doesn't like who the patron works for, but a cake decorator is dragged through five years of h*** for asking a gay couple to get their wedding cake from someone else.

https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/06/22/rilke-patience-solitude-art/ I would add that scholarly work is creative work, and patience, a quality which I lack, is a foundational characteristics for getting to both.  I am coding data today and it is slow work, but I can't make the data say what I want it to. Later I will work on a book and the same is true. I attended a somewhat fruitless writers fair the other day, but I made some good connections and had good conversations with fellow writers and readers.  That is a matter of patience, too.  In this day of marketing and sales, where a writer is only validated by her Amazon sales ranking, the patience needed to be a good writer is all the more needed. I realized Saturday that I should start telling people my primary role professionally is as a writer, and that I support that by being a college administration and faculty.  It's a tad pretentious, but I write more than anything I do (emails, assignment critiques, n...

During the Web Speech             One of the helpful suggestions from the business writers used for this appendix was to start on time.   This might seem obvious, but if you have ever been in an online meeting or webinar, it’s harder said than done--mainly because participants log on at the start of the meeting rather than early and it takes a while for the technology to kick in.   Therefore, one suggestion is to have a “soft” introduction for the punctual and a “hard” opening for the late-comers.   The soft intro could be the fun, attention-getting one (video, interactivity) and the hard one the “this is why the topic matters let’s get down to business” opening.             It goes without saying that you as the speaker should be on time well before the beginning of the meeting, and ready to go technology- and presentation-wise.    ...

This is a continuation of articles below on speaking for webinars, etc.  Experts give a few other preparation tips: 1.      Make sure you will not be interrupted during the webconference.   This can be extremely embarrassing as well as ineffective.   You have probably seen the priceless video from the BBC of an interview with an expert on Korea where his children photobomb the interview and then the mother tries to clean up the damage.   It is hilarious, but the same situation won’t be for you.   Lock the door, put a big sign on the door not to be disturbed, and turn off the phones. 2.      Have notes and anything else you need right at hand.   3.      If you can be seen, be seen—use the technology to your advantage so that you are not an entirely disembodied voice talking over slides.             Finally, ...

Saw one of my favorite sayings today on a car (one of those tire covers on the back of a jeep):  All who wander are not lost. This of course comes from The Lord of the Rings.  I love its affirmation that it is fine to explore without a specific goal in mind. My version is this:  All who wonder are not (spiritually) lost. The brand of Christianity I was indoctrinated into would disagree.  Faith, to this branch,  must be solid, circumscribed, and submissive.  Wondering about the unexplained is hurtful; "God says it and that settles it," regardless of whether you believe it or not.  The scope of debatable subjects is very small. I am thankful to have stepped out of that mindset.  Wondering is a "wonderful" act, freeing, stimulating. We must give ourselves permission to wonder and wander. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/smarter-living/trust-negative-product-reviews.html

It's hot in the Chattanooga metropolitan area. It's mid-June. We start back up with our ESL classes tonight, after Ramadan. Our pastor told of two Muslim converts who were baptized last night at our church.  One is being opposed, greatly and physically, by her family. Compassion International is the real deal.  Please sponsor a child--$38.00 a month is nothing for most of us.  Skip Starbucks 12 times every months and you've got it covered. Skip a couple of dinners out. Take a sack lunch to work.  My brother-in-law is being baptized next week.  This is wonderful.  He is in his late 50s and we are seeing a dramatic spiritual change in him. My husband is all about the World Cup, and I enjoy watching it for a bit, too.  Such passion. I was pulling for Mexico over Germany.  At least this time we don't have to listen to those ridiculous horns blown on constantly by the crowds when the World Cup was in Africa last time.  It's weird that th...

I have followed the mindfulness trend with half-heartedness. I think it's Biblical to be mindful and aware; I don't like the insistence on Eastern religious systems.  (same with yoga).  Here's a piece to add to the literature on whether it's the end all and be all. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/opinion/sunday/meditation-productivity-work-mindfulness.html

See below (or archived in June 2018) for Part I. Preparation for Online Speaking             First, recognize that this is a different type of venue.   You have two main tools:   your voice and your visuals (slides). If monotone and monorate speaking is horrible for face-to-face speaking, it is truly the “Kiss of Death” for web speaking.   The key word is “energy”—an energetic voice has variety and interest to it. Since we tend to have a lower energy level when we sit, some experts suggest that web conference speakers stand to approximate the real speaking experience. This suggestion makes sense.    As we have mentioned repeatedly through this book, preparing means practicing your speech orally and physically, many times. Audio-recording yourself during your practice on your smartphone or other device is a good first step, followed by critically and honestly thinking about whe...

Since I am trying to write a series of mystery novels (the next ones will be increasingly dark), I am a student of the genre--not the James Patterson stuff, but the primary British sources.  I've moved on to G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown series. Of course, they are brilliant.  And Chesterton's brilliant theology (in the British sense of the word and the American) is the best part. "The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen.  In short, there is in life an element of elfin coincidence which people reckoning on the prosaic may perpetually miss. As it has been well expressed in the paradox of Poe, wisdom should reckon on the unforeseen." G K Chesterton

Napoleon:  A leader is a dealer in hope. Frank Lloyd Wright:  Youth is a circumstance you can't do anything about.  The trick is to grow up without getting old. On this one, I'm failing.  However, I don't think jumping out of airplanes at 80 or 90 is the answer.

Walking my dog.  The dog is very thirsty and it's pretty hot, so I decide to take her down by a creek near the high school property where I walk her.  I forget it rained a lot and the bank is slippery.  As she happily enters the water to cool off and drink, I lose my balance on the muddy slope and land on my bum. One side of me is muddy, and my phone is not doing too well. I try to get up; I get upright, take a step or two, and end up in the same position. The dog is not concerned.  She's in the water. I manage to get up again and turn around this time.  Down again, on my front, to get the other side equally muddy.  Third time is a charm, I suppose.  I get the dog out, she pulls me up the bank (she's very strong), and I wonder how I'm going to get this mud off me. Thankfully no one was around. However, I learned my lesson.  I despise those "Help.  I've fallen and I can't get up" commercials, mainly because they are played over and over ...

The two narrative passages from Acts that I am covering today are some you are familiar with.   There are two ways of approaching these:   To take every detail and make a personal application about it, which I call allegorical, or “big picture.”   I’m taking the big picture view.   My plan Overview of the chapters Why did God include this in the book of Acts? What does this add to the gospel story? What does it mean to us as the church (not so much individuals)? What does it mean to us personally? What is the purpose of the book of Acts? “It is history in that it narrates the birth and growth of the early church from Jerusalem to Rome, spanning a period of thirty years (so to about 60 AD). It is theology . . . shows God’s plan of salvation through Jesus and the establishment and growth of the Kingdom of God.” (This from the notes in Believer’s Study Bible).   Notice Acts 1:3 and last verse of book.   We tend to think it’s about Peter, firs...

Wanted to share these links. http://www.breakpoint.org/2018/06/dr-aaron-kheriaty-churchs-response-mental-illness-suicide-epidemic/?utm_source=Colson+Center+Master+List&utm_campaign=5d34d157db-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_BP+Daily_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84bd2dc76d-5d34d157db-6584513 https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/08/dying-of-despair?utm_source=Colson+Center+Master+List&utm_campaign=5d34d157db-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_BP+Daily_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84bd2dc76d-5d34d157db-6584513 https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2013/april-online-only/addressing-depression-and-suicide-in-your-church.html?utm_source=Colson+Center+Master+List&utm_campaign=5d34d157db-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_BP+Daily_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84bd2dc76d-5d34d157db-6584513 I live with someone who suffers from depression, something I am blessedly untouched by, largely.  This is real. 

This is the first in a series of posts on speaking online and in webinars.  I wrote it for a free online textbook for Dalton State College and other institutions as part of the OER movement.  As we were looking toward this revision of Exploring Public Speaking , we realized that one area of public speaking that our readers might run into is “speaking online.”   Although traditional face-to-face public speaking has a 2500-year history and thousands of research articles to support it, speaking online is a relatively new procedure. This appendix will attempt to give some guidelines for this new mode of public speaking, gleaned mostly from business communication sources such as the Harvard Business Review .   The websites we used to compile this appendix are given at the end of it. All online speaking is not created equal.   You might take an online class that requires you to send a video of yourself giving a speech for a grade.   Yo...

I like to listen to Jonah Goldberg's podcasts, and he has recently published a book, Suicide of the West.  This week I feel like changing the preposition. Two celebrity suicides in less than a week have a lot of us talking about suicide.  From what I understand, celebrity suicides spawn more consideration and thinking about committing suicide by people who might be inclined to that kind of thinking. Even worse, from all accounts suicide is rather dramatically on the rise over the last 15 or 20 years. Why? Superficial answers won't do.  I think it's atomization and individualization leading to isolation, and loss of hope, meaning, and purpose.  And I would add, contentment.  Is there something inherent in Western civilization that leads to suicide going up? The Roman Catholic Church has traditional taught suicide to be a serious sin, one that excludes the deceased from heaven.  That is not Protestant teaching, although many people still think that and...

Twitter world is afire with claims that the Southern Baptist Convention is in crisis.  I have a feeling 99% of the members of the largest denomination are not feeling this crisis.  This is a crisis in a certain segment of the leadership, in a certain seminary, in the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, with some high profile women and men.  The average Joe or Jane in the pew does't know what's going on.  I had to tell my Life Group class of middle aged and elderly women what was going on.  They didn't even know there was a controversy, or were confused as to how it affected them. Because for most of us, it doesn't. That said, repentance and firings and strong statements needed to be made, and I'm glad a certain person stepped down from being the keynote.  He would have to have world class hutzpah to try to speak, and most of the audience would have walked out, as would I if there, mostly because it would have shown a prideful and unrepentant ...

https://qz.com/1293467/the-seven-essential-behaviors-of-highly-creative-people/ Excellent article.  Having read Czickzentmihalyi's work, I know this to be true.  Creativity does not come from inspiration, it comes from sitting down and just starting.  I have found that incredible stuff comes out of my brain once I start, stuff I look at later and think, "where did that come from?"  But you have to do it.  It won't come on a puff of wind.  

I just got a DM from someone on Twitter, none of which I answer.  It was a digital pickup line, if I ever heard one. I also stuck my neck out and commented on my pastor's tweet about the Paige Patterson issue.  Some people will never be happy, but I think in good faith Southwestern is trying to deal with this biblically, and do damage control, too.  Paige Patterson had some deeply disrespectful views about women. Another Twitter thought:  the contextless nature of the discourse on Twitter.  What the heck are most of these people talking about, anyway?

Is this a good poem?  In my college years, in my time of trying to fit in, I was told it was and obediently, compliantly agreed. It is subjective, overwrought, maudlin even.  "More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world."  No.   But there are some good lines in it. I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.  Crowned With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you. Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust. A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew, A formula, a phrase remains,—but the best is lost. The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,— They are gone.  They are gone to feed the roses.  Elegant and curled Is the blossom.  Fragrant is the blossom....

I'm pretty sure that when Twitter was created it was not so celebrities could embarrass themselves.  Although I use Twitter, mostly as an experiment in seeing how many connections I can get (don't like the term "followers;" I'm not starting a cult), I don't see its point. In fact, to paraphrase the line from Star Wars , you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.  You must be cautious. Second thought of the day:  The nonsense of apology.  If I get in the flesh and mouth off to someone in the moment, an apology is necessary and warranted and the action should, or at least could, be forgiven.  If I script write a blog post in a cool moment, reread it, and then post, angering or offending people, why apologize?  I shouldn't have done it in the first place.  Apologies have become too easy and therefore meaningless.   So, didn't Samantha Bee have a host of comedy writers who helped with her script and vetted it and said,...