GObama

Public speaking has been a hot topic lately; at school, at work, and in the media.

As many of you may know, Obama was re-elected as president.  His confidence was probably one of the deciding factors when it came down to the final voters. According to Aristotle, a public speaker must master ethos pathos and logos in order to present and convince an audience. These three pillars of public speaking powered Obama and his audience believed the words he said.

- Ethos: is the speaker credible?

- Pathos: is the speaker emotionally connected to the audience?

- Logos: is the speaker's topic logical?

If a person can master these three areas, almost any audience can connect to the speaker can connect to the audience. Obama won the election and proved how important it is to master all three areas of public speaking. 

Toyota Talking Cars

Toyota Tests Cars That Will Communicate With Each Other 

The attached article indicates that Toyota is coming out with a new technology, which will allow Toyota vehicles to communicate with each other in order to prevent accidents. This new technology will, over time, create a safer environment for pedestrians and other drivers on the road.

It is interesting to note that in this day and age, communication can not only occur from a handheld device in our hands, but now to our vehicles. What will be next? Communication between houses?  Even though this new technology will create a (supposedly) safer environment, is it going too far? 

Article Retrieved from: 

http://www.siliconvalley.com/latest-headlines/ci_21980056/toyota-tests-cars-that-communicate-each-other

Conflict Resolution: Pesky Partners

 Group work with students you are not familiar working with is never an easy task.

Recently, I was put into a group with the most inconsiderate group member. During our group meetings, he would not allow anyone else to speak; he would not listen to others ideas, and would talk over anyone who tried to raise a point. These are probably the three most frustrating traits to have in a group. As a result, the group presentation came off unprepared, and we lost marks because he did not allow others to speak.

Looking back, I would have used the knowledge about conflict I have learned in class. I would have used the collaborating and compromising techniques. These would have solved the issue without placing the blame on the uncooperative group member, making him feel attacked.  

Albert's Fear

"I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots" - Albert Einstein

What Albert Einstein once feared is now reality. The days of face to face communication are long gone. Today, the main form of communication has fallen under the umbrella of text messaging, Facebook, and Twitter. The youth in todays society rely on technology to communicate. For example, No ones picks up the phone to talk, or writes letters. Yes technology is fast and easy, but the act of communication has become extinct. People cannot communicate in person like they used to in the past. Conflict used to arise from our physical actions and words. Now anyone can just sit behind a computer or a cell phone and say what they want. Communication is being lost through these means of technology, and the little things we know today need to be passed on and saved. 

Difficult Conversations

Difficult Conversations is a book written by Stone, Patton and Heen. 

It covers how and why some conversations are difficult to have.  In the book you can find why people feel they need to avoid conversations that they feel uncomfortable with.  If you have a conflict with someone and you are avoiding the conversation, it is helpful to read this book. 

The book describes how leaving feelings out of the conversation (theirs and your) will not fix the conflict, but make it worse.

This book is helpful when dealing with group projects.  It gives you a better understanding how to work through the difficult conversations with group members.  When you can agree on something, or you have let something go that you know needs to be discussed.  This book will give you the tools to start that conversation.

10 Tips for Public Speaking

10 Tips for Public Speaking

Nervous about an upcoming speech, here are ten tips for public speaking.

1.      Know your material

2.      Practice

3.      Know the audience

4.      Know the room

5.      Relax

6.      Visualize yourself giving your speech

7.      Realize that people want you to succeed

8.      Don’t apologize

9.      Concentrate on the message – not the medium

10.  Gain experience

These tips are from the Toastmasters website.  Toastmasters is an organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. 

These 10 tips are worth trying to help prepare you for your next presentation.

http://www.toastmasters.org/tips.asp

Lose/Win

I've stressed my self all week, only to give in to a lose/win situation.

I was recently assigned to work with a partner in one of my classes. The rules were clear; only one mark would be distributed to the partnership.

Soon after speaking with this pupil, I realized that this would be a lose/win situation. My partner was incapable and lacked motivation. I could not risk my grades, so I had to do everything my self. I provided ample opportunities for her to contribute; I received nothing but blank stares. I took one for the team, had a days full of anger, and created a project alone. Unfortunately when speaking up to the professor, he told me there was nothing he could do. Who knows it if was luck or not. I let her win; she never got caught for her lack of work (I am not exaggerating when I say that she did nothing), and it honestly didn't seem to bother her the least. Yes I ended up with a good grade, but I consider my self the loser in this situation. I lost to prevent escalation in conflict, since it was all out of my control. Doing the work alone was the easiest way out.