Having taught speech communication for thirty years, one question students raised on a continuing basis was “What is communication competence?” A related question was “How do I know if I am a competent communicator?” You see, most people already think they are competent communicators; thus, the underlying purpose of such questions is “What’s wrong with me?” or “Why don’t I measure up?”
The most important reason that competent communication is important is because it has been proven to aid in gaining success in a wide range of social and occupational situations. It is a process through which interpersonal impressions are shaped and satisfactory outcomes are derived from an interaction. So, the real question becomes, how often do you offer others the impression you intend and derive the outcome you want?
In this essay, I will define the characteristics perceived to comprise competent communication. There are five.
Low anxiety is the first one. To be competent, communicators should not reveal excessive perspiration, shakiness, a rigid posture, vocal tremors, or a minimal response to others. Being fearful, scared, or excessively worried about a job interview, a speech, or a forthcoming confrontation can produce anxiety. Some anxiety is expected, of course. As-a-matter-of-fact, some anxiety is valuable because it can drive an animated, passionate, vibrancy that may not occur otherwise. In my experience I have found the tingle of anxiety both energizing and motivational.
The second characteristic of competent communicators is immediacy. Those who practice immediacy show interest in other people. They are attentive and engage in the positive reinforcement of others and their ideas.
You have probably been in the presence of another person who gives you their full and undivided attention when you talk with them. When my wife and I were shopping for a foyer ceiling fan, we visited a store that specialized in them. Upon entering, I noticed the sales clerk approach and stand before my wife, asking her if there was anything she could do for her. The signs of immediacy were obvious. She stood physically close to her. She had an open and direct body posture. She revealed positive reinforcers such as smiling, nodding, and eye contact. And when my wife explained what she was looking for, all the sales clerk’s gestures were strong, effective, and animated.
The third area of competent behaviors is expressiveness. People who reveal expressiveness are perceived to be involved and animated in both their use of words and in their nonverbal behaviors. Ask yourself, what is it about a communicator that holds your attention, that embeds the essential message in your consciousness, and that causes you to be convinced by the message? Often, it is expressiveness.
When I conducted an informal survey of students, I found out that teachers who demonstrated appropriate emotion and volume, who laughed and smiled, who used appropriate gestures, postures, and facial expressions, but did not know their subject well, were more desired as instructors, than those who knew their subject extremely well but could not (or did not) deliver the material as effectively. These informal results revealed to me that students preferred expressiveness (effectiveness in delivery) over competence in subject matter.
These informal results make sense when you consider that students cannot really judge subject competence, but they are not only effective judges of expressiveness, they require strong and effective expressiveness to hold their attention and to make a subject interesting.
The fourth characteristic of competent communicators is interaction management. The effective management of communication requires order. The obvious question is, “What do two individuals who are trying to create order in their interactions do?” Each is trying to gain the desired response from the other person; thus, each needs to solicit the cooperation of the other person in obtaining the goal—a goal that cannot be attained alone.
Those who manage their interactions are interested in maintaining some control over their communication. First, they see the relationship between communication and rewards (getting what they want). Second, they monitor their communication in relation to the goals they seek. Third, as they gain new information about how the other person responds to what they say and do, they adjust their communication. At the same time interaction managers are respectful of others and enable them to achieve their goals, too, where possible, and allow room for their expressive behavior.
Sometimes interaction management is easy. Conversing is comfortable, interruptions feel natural, there are few awkward pauses, and the indications of when to speak are clear. Sometimes, however, it is difficult; conversing is uncomfortable, there are unnatural interruptions, numerous awkward pauses, and you find yourself stepping on the other’s lines.
The final characteristic of communication competence is other orientation. Other orientation is the complete antithesis of a “me orientation” where everything revolves entirely around the communicator alone. When you are in the presence of people who possess a strong other orientation, they will adapt to your needs, express empathy and concern for your feelings, listen well, and provide relevant feedback to you during the conversation.
These five characteristics provide a fairly broad foundation; however, if you consider them overall goals to be achieved, you will find the important perception, listening, feedback, language, and nonverbal skills necessary for moving closer to achieving them on a regular basis. The nice thing is that awareness of these five characteristics that can establish a solid and inter-personally competent foundation and as you gain more experience — especially positive, supportive, and rewarding results — you will have constructive, practical, and productive personal examples that you can use to build an even more competent future. That is why it can be said that competence helps build greater competence.
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The title on the page reads, “Communication Competence: The Essence of Aligning Action,” and in the short essay there by Richard D. Rowley, you will find five characteristics discussed: 1) commitment and good faith, 2) empathy, 3) flexibility, 4) sensitivity to consequences, and 5) adeptness. It is an informative little essay with a useful chart explaining the interrelationship of the parts.
At the NCLRC (The National Capital Language Resource Center), there is an essay entitled, “Teaching Goals and Methods — Goal: Communicative Competence.” It is a short essay that discusses: “Communicative competence [as] made up of four competence areas: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic.”
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Copyright October, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Feedforward will improve the accuracy and quality of your communication
On the first day of classes, just after students were settled in their classroom seats, I began my first-day lecture outlining some of the rules and expectations designed to govern their future behavior in my class. When we took in a computer for repair, we gave the technicians an explanation (supported by a written list) of all the things we had previously done to get to the place where we needed their help. In a third example, an employer began an interview with a prospect by clarifying the skills she expected from those occupying the position being sought, and by telling the prospect, “The questions you will be asked today are designed to examine how well you have demonstrated the skills we expect.”
We use feedforward prior to future messages. It is the information sent before new messages are delivered. They may help recipients predict, anticipate, understand, or prepare for forthcoming messages, but their point, clearly, is to set the stage for what might come next. They don’t always appear at the beginning of a message sequence; they can occur at any time during an interaction. The only prerequisite for feedforward messages is that they come before what may follow.
In a potential romantic situation, they may indicate whether those involved have any interest in each other. Antonio saw Maria in the produce aisle of a grocery store, and when both reached for the same bunch of bananas, he smiled at her and chose another similar bunch instead of the one she wanted. After that brief encounter, a very small door had been opened (feedforward). Then, as Maria turned to go down the cereal aisle, she immediately met Antonio picking out cereals. This time, she smiled at him — a prolonged smile that indicated there was interest. By the time they accidentally met while waiting behind each other at the checkout counter, they were talking. Notice in this instance how feedforward opened other channels of communication and paved the way for anything else to happen.
As in each of the opening three examples feedforward can be used to provide a preview of what is to come. Also, it can be used to offer disclaimers. A disclaimer is a verbal device designed to ward off and defeat, in advance (feedforward), doubts and any potentially negative results from intended future conduct. The goal in using feedforward as a disclaimer is to present others with cues that will lead to desired responses. For example, if you knew, in advance, that you were going to act in a way that others might think is stupid, or even take offense to, you use feedforward to try to deflect those impressions. You might say, before acting, “I know this is going to look stupid, but here goes....” Or, if you thought what you were going to do might be offensive, you might say, “Now, please don’t take offense to what I am going to do. I’m not trying to be offensive.”
Disclaimers are used to define forthcoming conduct in such a way that the typical, expected, potential characterization of our behavior does not occur. They can take many forms. Here are examples of a few common disclaimers: “I’m not prejudiced, because some of my friends are _________, but...,” “This is just off the top of my head, so...,” or “What I’m going to do may seem strange, so bear with me...,” or “This may make you unhappy, but....”
Feedforward messages can also suggest roles for others to take. What we want them to do as a result of a message we give them is to take on an identity that will be consistent with our goals. For example, we might say to a friend, “If you were me, what would you have done in this situation?” Often, this is said to try to have a friend confirm for us that our behavior was appropriate or proper. Examples are numerous: “What would you do if you were the teacher?,” or “If you were the boss, how would you have handled the situation?,” or “If you had a million dollars, what would you do?”
Like feedback, feedforward is something often taken for granted in our communication. We just do not think about it often. But, as demonstrated here, it is not only common, but it relates to a wide variety of situations; thus, the more we understand it, the better we will be able to control our use of it and get the results we desire in communication situations. Understanding simply gives us better control.
There are six ways to improve your skills in feedforward. First, when you know how valuable it is to opening channels, previewing what is to come, disclaiming, and suggesting roles, you can learn to make your feedforward signals clear, accurate, and distinct. In this way, one you become aware of what you are doing, it is more likely that your signals will be easily and accurately received.
Second, feedback is likely to occur at the same time as feedforward. For example, to your smile you might receive a smile in return. To your preview of important forthcoming information, you may perceive increased attention or alertness on the part of receivers. Also, it is likely others will provide you with their own feedforward messages simultaneously with yours. Thus, feedforward is unlikely to be a completely unilateral (source to receiver) process. You need to be aware of both sending messages and receiving messages in these situations at the same time.
Third, feedforward messages are likely to most effective if they are brief and to the point. Attention spans are short, and people consider their time valuable. Thus, when feedforward is especially complex, includes too much specificity, or involves needless information, it may not serve its purpose well.
Fourth, strive for accuracy. Feedforward messages must accurately reveal the message to come. Inaccurate feedforward may negatively affect a communicator’s credibility, or it may cause listeners to discount future feedforward messages or, perhaps, any message that follows.
Probably the most important suggestion regarding using feedforward is the same as the one that applies to using all forms of communication: monitor it. Don’t just monitor your own use of feedforward messages, but monitor their effect as well. When critical feedforward messages have not been received or understood, or if they have been received inaccurately, you may need to adjust or repeat the message. This could be especially important when a life-or-death message is going to follow, or, too, if the message to follow could be critical to a third person.
The heart of the feedforward process lies in your ability to anticipate situations. Your ability at feedforward will help improve the accuracy and quality of your interpersonal communication.
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Marshall Goldsmith has a great essay, “Want to give feedback? Rather try feedforward,” —especially his 10 suggestions for trying feedforward. For the introduction to his essay, he writes: “Focusing on solutions, rather than mistakes, on the future, rather than the past, will enhance the self-image of business leaders and employees alike and propel them on the road to success.”
At the Self-Defense website, the essay, “Anticipation – How to Prepare Yourself for a Dangerous Situation,” offers specific advice that would be incorporated in a feedforward perspective. I quote here from the essay: “Anticipation in regards to self-defense means that you use whatever is handy in protecting yourself against an attacker. It means buying time while assessing the environment around you for a way out or potential weapon. Anticipation also means you should always carry with you a few items for self-defense that cannot be seen but can easily is reached in case of an attack on you as well as know how to use them comfortably so that the act is effortless.”
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Copyright October, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.
We use feedforward prior to future messages. It is the information sent before new messages are delivered. They may help recipients predict, anticipate, understand, or prepare for forthcoming messages, but their point, clearly, is to set the stage for what might come next. They don’t always appear at the beginning of a message sequence; they can occur at any time during an interaction. The only prerequisite for feedforward messages is that they come before what may follow.
In a potential romantic situation, they may indicate whether those involved have any interest in each other. Antonio saw Maria in the produce aisle of a grocery store, and when both reached for the same bunch of bananas, he smiled at her and chose another similar bunch instead of the one she wanted. After that brief encounter, a very small door had been opened (feedforward). Then, as Maria turned to go down the cereal aisle, she immediately met Antonio picking out cereals. This time, she smiled at him — a prolonged smile that indicated there was interest. By the time they accidentally met while waiting behind each other at the checkout counter, they were talking. Notice in this instance how feedforward opened other channels of communication and paved the way for anything else to happen.
As in each of the opening three examples feedforward can be used to provide a preview of what is to come. Also, it can be used to offer disclaimers. A disclaimer is a verbal device designed to ward off and defeat, in advance (feedforward), doubts and any potentially negative results from intended future conduct. The goal in using feedforward as a disclaimer is to present others with cues that will lead to desired responses. For example, if you knew, in advance, that you were going to act in a way that others might think is stupid, or even take offense to, you use feedforward to try to deflect those impressions. You might say, before acting, “I know this is going to look stupid, but here goes....” Or, if you thought what you were going to do might be offensive, you might say, “Now, please don’t take offense to what I am going to do. I’m not trying to be offensive.”
Disclaimers are used to define forthcoming conduct in such a way that the typical, expected, potential characterization of our behavior does not occur. They can take many forms. Here are examples of a few common disclaimers: “I’m not prejudiced, because some of my friends are _________, but...,” “This is just off the top of my head, so...,” or “What I’m going to do may seem strange, so bear with me...,” or “This may make you unhappy, but....”
Feedforward messages can also suggest roles for others to take. What we want them to do as a result of a message we give them is to take on an identity that will be consistent with our goals. For example, we might say to a friend, “If you were me, what would you have done in this situation?” Often, this is said to try to have a friend confirm for us that our behavior was appropriate or proper. Examples are numerous: “What would you do if you were the teacher?,” or “If you were the boss, how would you have handled the situation?,” or “If you had a million dollars, what would you do?”
Like feedback, feedforward is something often taken for granted in our communication. We just do not think about it often. But, as demonstrated here, it is not only common, but it relates to a wide variety of situations; thus, the more we understand it, the better we will be able to control our use of it and get the results we desire in communication situations. Understanding simply gives us better control.
There are six ways to improve your skills in feedforward. First, when you know how valuable it is to opening channels, previewing what is to come, disclaiming, and suggesting roles, you can learn to make your feedforward signals clear, accurate, and distinct. In this way, one you become aware of what you are doing, it is more likely that your signals will be easily and accurately received.
Second, feedback is likely to occur at the same time as feedforward. For example, to your smile you might receive a smile in return. To your preview of important forthcoming information, you may perceive increased attention or alertness on the part of receivers. Also, it is likely others will provide you with their own feedforward messages simultaneously with yours. Thus, feedforward is unlikely to be a completely unilateral (source to receiver) process. You need to be aware of both sending messages and receiving messages in these situations at the same time.
Third, feedforward messages are likely to most effective if they are brief and to the point. Attention spans are short, and people consider their time valuable. Thus, when feedforward is especially complex, includes too much specificity, or involves needless information, it may not serve its purpose well.
Fourth, strive for accuracy. Feedforward messages must accurately reveal the message to come. Inaccurate feedforward may negatively affect a communicator’s credibility, or it may cause listeners to discount future feedforward messages or, perhaps, any message that follows.
Probably the most important suggestion regarding using feedforward is the same as the one that applies to using all forms of communication: monitor it. Don’t just monitor your own use of feedforward messages, but monitor their effect as well. When critical feedforward messages have not been received or understood, or if they have been received inaccurately, you may need to adjust or repeat the message. This could be especially important when a life-or-death message is going to follow, or, too, if the message to follow could be critical to a third person.
The heart of the feedforward process lies in your ability to anticipate situations. Your ability at feedforward will help improve the accuracy and quality of your interpersonal communication.
-----
Marshall Goldsmith has a great essay, “Want to give feedback? Rather try feedforward,” —especially his 10 suggestions for trying feedforward. For the introduction to his essay, he writes: “Focusing on solutions, rather than mistakes, on the future, rather than the past, will enhance the self-image of business leaders and employees alike and propel them on the road to success.”
At the Self-Defense website, the essay, “Anticipation – How to Prepare Yourself for a Dangerous Situation,” offers specific advice that would be incorporated in a feedforward perspective. I quote here from the essay: “Anticipation in regards to self-defense means that you use whatever is handy in protecting yourself against an attacker. It means buying time while assessing the environment around you for a way out or potential weapon. Anticipation also means you should always carry with you a few items for self-defense that cannot be seen but can easily is reached in case of an attack on you as well as know how to use them comfortably so that the act is effortless.”
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Copyright October, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
How to reach students in today’s technology-driven world
My wife and I made a special effort to drive to Grand Rapids, Ohio, for their “Canal Days” (Sunday, September 10, 2006) because there was to be a Lewis & Clark educational program there. The two fellows who performed as Lewis and Clark were former junior high school history teachers, and the fellow playing the role of Clark had actually ridden his bicycle the length of the trail just last year. People (maybe 25 or 30 altogether) meandered in and out of the shelter where, wearing the same clothes Lewis and Clark might have worn, they gave their talk.
Several things held our attention during the presentation. First, both actors knew what they were talking about. Having just driven the entire Lewis & Clark trail ourselves last year, we could verify much of what they said from our own experience and observations. Second, the actors were animated, and their enthusiasm held audience attention. Not only did they display a great deal of energy, but they played to their audience—some of whom were children.
Another part of their program involved props, and they had many. Some were maps laid out on the picnic tables at the front of the small pavilion. The actors held in their hands the same kind of spears Lewis and Clark would have carried, and they had guns, animal skeletons, beads, pictures, a wood trap used to ensnare animals, and even the medallions they would give to the Indians they met along the trail. There was a replica of the tent they would have slept in along the trail, and on one of the posts beside them was a framed picture of Sacagawea, the young Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied them on much of their trip.
The point of this essay isn’t really what these two gentlemen said during their talk, it’s about what they did to make history come alive for their listeners. In a Time magazine article entitled “History Goes Hollywood” (September 18, 2006, pp. 64-66), Nathan Thornburgh points out that schools are teaching less history, “so kids have less of an idea about what happened ...or why it matters (p. 64).” But teaching less history is a small part of the problem—but definitely part of it.
Because of theme parks, video games, movies, and the Internet, “Passive exhibits just aren’t going to attract young people today,” says Thornburgh, and because his article is about museums and historical sites, he discusses what many of them are doing because of dwindling crowds and shorter attention spans.
For example, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum has a talking Honest Abe hologram “and a host of other educational parlor tricks (p. 64).” The Marine Corps museum in Quantico, Virginia, is using changes in temperature and humidity to immerse visitors in harrowing and heroic battlescapes. In Colonial Williamsburg they are using Palm Pilots that visitors can point at various landmarks to get video presentations. At Mount Vernon, Virginia, home of George Washington, they offer a heavy dose of showmanship: a scrolling cartoon of Washington’s life, an action flick about Washington at war where visitor’s seats will rumble when the cannons go off and where the audience is dusted with simulated snow when Washington crosses the Delaware River.
For many museums, it is the cost that is keeping them from going the entertainment/ showmanship route. Government funding for the arts has dried up. Many of the large foundations that once supported such endeavors through their philanthropy are now supporting social causes and leaving both museums and history behind.
There are important implications in all of this for education. When museums and historical sites try to boost their attendance by dumbing down history, ripping out intellectually challenging exhibits to make room for vapid video presentations, writes Thornburgh, what does this say about the consumer? How does this bear on education?
Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the planned National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington says, “we also have to give visitors what they need.” “But,” writes Thornburgh, “increasingly what visitors really need may be the same as what they want: less in-depth education, and more seduction....When it comes to history, Americans don’t lack information; they lack the attention span to wade through the dusty collections of the old history museums.”
It’s a whole new generation, one labeled “The ‘Daily Show’ generation,” in an article by Mary Zeiss Stange (USA Today, September 12, 2006, p. 15A), a college professor. One major demographic for John Stewart’s “Daily Show” are students—young (14-22 years old), well-educated, moderates (or liberals) who get their news, for the most part (almost 60%), from the Web. Why are they attracted to “The Daily Show”? It doesn’t take a scientific study to determine the reasons—Stewart’s is an entertaining, highly engaging, humorous, satirical riff on the news. It is precisely designed for those entertained by the media and the Internet.
These are the same students who occupy the seats in classrooms across the U.S.A. The question that begs an answer is: How can educators compete? It isn’t just in the history classroom, it is in the math, science, English, foreign language, and other classrooms as well. Not only are there few resources and little financial support to obtain more, but what do the new technology-driven students with their short attention-spans and desperate need to be entertained require to satisfy their educational needs? Is there hope?
Teachers can’t dress up in costumes every day and use a wide array of props to make their points. Daily lessons do not need to be dumbed down and the intellectually challenging assignments eliminated and replaced by vapid video presentations—less in-depth education and more seduction. And teacher-education programs don’t need to begin offering circus training, costume designing, acting, and text messaging courses. This is obvious. But what is the answer? How do educators make certain they are reaching today’s students and making the kind of impression that makes learning—knowledge acquisition—enjoyable enough to inspire a lifetime of continued interest in further learning?
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“Fifteen guidelines for developing attention-holding lessons,” by Dr. Ronald Partin, at his own website ronpartin.com, is an excellent essay with terrific suggestions. All teachers need to read this essay.
Heather Carriero, at the associated content website, in his essay, “Teacher Tips: How to Keep Student Attention,” includes at least five excellent suggestions.
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Copyright October, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.
Several things held our attention during the presentation. First, both actors knew what they were talking about. Having just driven the entire Lewis & Clark trail ourselves last year, we could verify much of what they said from our own experience and observations. Second, the actors were animated, and their enthusiasm held audience attention. Not only did they display a great deal of energy, but they played to their audience—some of whom were children.
Another part of their program involved props, and they had many. Some were maps laid out on the picnic tables at the front of the small pavilion. The actors held in their hands the same kind of spears Lewis and Clark would have carried, and they had guns, animal skeletons, beads, pictures, a wood trap used to ensnare animals, and even the medallions they would give to the Indians they met along the trail. There was a replica of the tent they would have slept in along the trail, and on one of the posts beside them was a framed picture of Sacagawea, the young Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied them on much of their trip.
The point of this essay isn’t really what these two gentlemen said during their talk, it’s about what they did to make history come alive for their listeners. In a Time magazine article entitled “History Goes Hollywood” (September 18, 2006, pp. 64-66), Nathan Thornburgh points out that schools are teaching less history, “so kids have less of an idea about what happened ...or why it matters (p. 64).” But teaching less history is a small part of the problem—but definitely part of it.
Because of theme parks, video games, movies, and the Internet, “Passive exhibits just aren’t going to attract young people today,” says Thornburgh, and because his article is about museums and historical sites, he discusses what many of them are doing because of dwindling crowds and shorter attention spans.
For example, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum has a talking Honest Abe hologram “and a host of other educational parlor tricks (p. 64).” The Marine Corps museum in Quantico, Virginia, is using changes in temperature and humidity to immerse visitors in harrowing and heroic battlescapes. In Colonial Williamsburg they are using Palm Pilots that visitors can point at various landmarks to get video presentations. At Mount Vernon, Virginia, home of George Washington, they offer a heavy dose of showmanship: a scrolling cartoon of Washington’s life, an action flick about Washington at war where visitor’s seats will rumble when the cannons go off and where the audience is dusted with simulated snow when Washington crosses the Delaware River.
For many museums, it is the cost that is keeping them from going the entertainment/ showmanship route. Government funding for the arts has dried up. Many of the large foundations that once supported such endeavors through their philanthropy are now supporting social causes and leaving both museums and history behind.
There are important implications in all of this for education. When museums and historical sites try to boost their attendance by dumbing down history, ripping out intellectually challenging exhibits to make room for vapid video presentations, writes Thornburgh, what does this say about the consumer? How does this bear on education?
Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the planned National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington says, “we also have to give visitors what they need.” “But,” writes Thornburgh, “increasingly what visitors really need may be the same as what they want: less in-depth education, and more seduction....When it comes to history, Americans don’t lack information; they lack the attention span to wade through the dusty collections of the old history museums.”
It’s a whole new generation, one labeled “The ‘Daily Show’ generation,” in an article by Mary Zeiss Stange (USA Today, September 12, 2006, p. 15A), a college professor. One major demographic for John Stewart’s “Daily Show” are students—young (14-22 years old), well-educated, moderates (or liberals) who get their news, for the most part (almost 60%), from the Web. Why are they attracted to “The Daily Show”? It doesn’t take a scientific study to determine the reasons—Stewart’s is an entertaining, highly engaging, humorous, satirical riff on the news. It is precisely designed for those entertained by the media and the Internet.
These are the same students who occupy the seats in classrooms across the U.S.A. The question that begs an answer is: How can educators compete? It isn’t just in the history classroom, it is in the math, science, English, foreign language, and other classrooms as well. Not only are there few resources and little financial support to obtain more, but what do the new technology-driven students with their short attention-spans and desperate need to be entertained require to satisfy their educational needs? Is there hope?
Teachers can’t dress up in costumes every day and use a wide array of props to make their points. Daily lessons do not need to be dumbed down and the intellectually challenging assignments eliminated and replaced by vapid video presentations—less in-depth education and more seduction. And teacher-education programs don’t need to begin offering circus training, costume designing, acting, and text messaging courses. This is obvious. But what is the answer? How do educators make certain they are reaching today’s students and making the kind of impression that makes learning—knowledge acquisition—enjoyable enough to inspire a lifetime of continued interest in further learning?
-----
“Fifteen guidelines for developing attention-holding lessons,” by Dr. Ronald Partin, at his own website ronpartin.com, is an excellent essay with terrific suggestions. All teachers need to read this essay.
Heather Carriero, at the associated content website, in his essay, “Teacher Tips: How to Keep Student Attention,” includes at least five excellent suggestions.
-----
Copyright October, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Through words, you become an architect of your own reality
Whatever. I’m talkin’ an essay that, best-case scenario, takes no prisoners as it puts its ass on the line, kicks some butt, walks the walk, produces some roadkill, and gives 110 percent to explain that even though pop words rock, they, like, really suck. Oh, they sound smart, but, trust me, I’m going to step up, break ‘em down, and show you they ain’t called no-brainers for nothing.
With the exception of the word “essay” which I substituted for her word “book,” these words come from the prologue to Leslie Savan’s Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005)—a brilliant, well-documented, extremely well-written book based upon her thirteen years of writing a column about advertising and commercial culture for The Village Voice.
If you are like me you are feeling immersed (submerged?) in a world of popular catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts that Americans seem unable to communicate without using. This verbal kudzu tells more about how we think than we think. There is no doubt that many of these words and phrases—when used in the proper context—pack rhetorical oomph and social punch, but, as Savan notes, “today’s pop talk projects a personality that has mastered the simulation of conversation. It’s a sort of air guitar for the lips, seeking not so much communication as a confirmation that...hey, we’re cool (pp. 10-11).”
“Movie talk,” according to Savan, “suffers not so much from a dearth of good writers but from the assumption of producers and writers, bolstered by market research, that flattering and exciting audiences is more profitable than challenging them (p. 119).” In the same way, the language drawn from the media—in this case movies—creates a physical sensation, often the pleasant one of numbing out—zingers offered for the sake of the zing, not for hard truths and obdurate realities.
The main problem with catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts is that they are simply a form of entertainment that anyone can perform. They connect people instantly and can keep conversations bobbing with humor and liveliness, but they work against taking ourselves seriously. They are accessible, but they reveal no depth. They are easy to understand, easygoing, and pleasant, but there is no substance attached to them. Pop language is fun, useful, and free in the same way that advertising-supported media is fun, useful, and “free,” but there are obvious trade-offs, and the most important one is thought replacement. “Repeated and mentally applauded over years,” Savan writes, “pop language carves tunnels that ideas expressed otherwise are too fat to fit through (p. 13).”
The perfect metaphor for the effect that pop language has on communication is the way that people’s clothes and their delivery style commands the attention of listeners far and above anything communicators might say. Using catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts, whatever points communicators make gain acceptance not on their merits but on how familiarly they are presented and how efficiently listeners’ tongues snap into grooves. It is as if these phrases are themselves “no-brainers.” Buzz-loaded repertoire displaces thinking with a pleasant buzz! Truth drowned in a sea of irrelevance!
There is true value in using catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts. For example, high-profile words allow listeners “to feel special, individualistic, above the crowd—and, simultaneously, very much part of the crowd, drawing power from the knowledge that they’re speaking the same language as millions of others clued-in individuals,” writes Savan (p. 17). The word, phrase, or concept becomes a thought, or more accurately, a stand-in for a thought.
Savan sums up this idea, using the appropriate catchwords and buzzphrases, saying, “The thrill is gone; been there, done that; same old, same old. But that’s neither here nor there, because if a phrase has the right stuff, it doesn’t merely express an idea, it owns the motha’ (p. 20).”
“Phrases like these aren’t just cliches. They’re more like a bad case of televisionary Tourett’s—involuntary, canned punch lines that bring the rhythms of sitcom patter into everyday experience,” writes Savan.
Human communication holds greater possibilities than catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts, but this pop language is not designed to plumb life’s mysteries. Rather, it establishes the fact that users recognize and can characterize any pre-characterized thing or situation. If people can produce the right phrase at the right time, it reassures them that they are awake and can connect.
Even more important than being awake and connecting, catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts come with built-in applause signs and laugh tracks. They are a direct reflection of our entertainment culture—whether it is movies, television, or the Internet—and being absorbed in this culture creates commercial-flavored norms that shape values and expectations. “And keeping us on track,” writes Savan, “they provoke in us click responses, the sort of electronic-entertainment tic we twitch and jerk with more often lately (p. 12).”
Again, borrowing from Savan’s prologue, “You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to see that too much pop is totally lame-o. But what if a rocket scientist just doesn’t get it and refuses to opt out? What if he hollers, ‘Pop words rule!”?
“No prob:,” Savan writes, “I’ll grab him by the lapels, jerk him around, yank his chain, bust his chops, rattle his cage, push his buttons, hang him out to dry, and let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind. Oh, he’ll be one sick puppy, and he won’t be a happy camper. He might even throw a hissy fit. But here’s the beauty part: He’ll get with the program (p. 8).”
“Our language puts blinders on us,’ says linguist Robin Lakoff, author of The Language War. “The way we construct language influences the way we see reality, and reality influences language.” Students of all ages need to be involved in language-rich environments so they can be sure of words, find alternatives to catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts, and become, through their words, architects of their own realities.
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Sarah White writes a short essay, “The Power of Language,” at the website I’m So Corporate, which nicely explains how powerful it can be.
At TeachingK-8, Mary Ellen Bafumo has written a thorough, clear, and interesting essay on “The power of language.” She is a Program Director for the Council on Educational Change, an Annenberg legacy group, and divides her essay into three parts: 1) Language inspires us, 2) Language Moves Us to Action, and 3) Language has power. Under the third category she offers 10 specific ways to develop power through the use of language.
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Copyright October, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.
With the exception of the word “essay” which I substituted for her word “book,” these words come from the prologue to Leslie Savan’s Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005)—a brilliant, well-documented, extremely well-written book based upon her thirteen years of writing a column about advertising and commercial culture for The Village Voice.
If you are like me you are feeling immersed (submerged?) in a world of popular catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts that Americans seem unable to communicate without using. This verbal kudzu tells more about how we think than we think. There is no doubt that many of these words and phrases—when used in the proper context—pack rhetorical oomph and social punch, but, as Savan notes, “today’s pop talk projects a personality that has mastered the simulation of conversation. It’s a sort of air guitar for the lips, seeking not so much communication as a confirmation that...hey, we’re cool (pp. 10-11).”
“Movie talk,” according to Savan, “suffers not so much from a dearth of good writers but from the assumption of producers and writers, bolstered by market research, that flattering and exciting audiences is more profitable than challenging them (p. 119).” In the same way, the language drawn from the media—in this case movies—creates a physical sensation, often the pleasant one of numbing out—zingers offered for the sake of the zing, not for hard truths and obdurate realities.
The main problem with catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts is that they are simply a form of entertainment that anyone can perform. They connect people instantly and can keep conversations bobbing with humor and liveliness, but they work against taking ourselves seriously. They are accessible, but they reveal no depth. They are easy to understand, easygoing, and pleasant, but there is no substance attached to them. Pop language is fun, useful, and free in the same way that advertising-supported media is fun, useful, and “free,” but there are obvious trade-offs, and the most important one is thought replacement. “Repeated and mentally applauded over years,” Savan writes, “pop language carves tunnels that ideas expressed otherwise are too fat to fit through (p. 13).”
The perfect metaphor for the effect that pop language has on communication is the way that people’s clothes and their delivery style commands the attention of listeners far and above anything communicators might say. Using catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts, whatever points communicators make gain acceptance not on their merits but on how familiarly they are presented and how efficiently listeners’ tongues snap into grooves. It is as if these phrases are themselves “no-brainers.” Buzz-loaded repertoire displaces thinking with a pleasant buzz! Truth drowned in a sea of irrelevance!
There is true value in using catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts. For example, high-profile words allow listeners “to feel special, individualistic, above the crowd—and, simultaneously, very much part of the crowd, drawing power from the knowledge that they’re speaking the same language as millions of others clued-in individuals,” writes Savan (p. 17). The word, phrase, or concept becomes a thought, or more accurately, a stand-in for a thought.
Savan sums up this idea, using the appropriate catchwords and buzzphrases, saying, “The thrill is gone; been there, done that; same old, same old. But that’s neither here nor there, because if a phrase has the right stuff, it doesn’t merely express an idea, it owns the motha’ (p. 20).”
“Phrases like these aren’t just cliches. They’re more like a bad case of televisionary Tourett’s—involuntary, canned punch lines that bring the rhythms of sitcom patter into everyday experience,” writes Savan.
Human communication holds greater possibilities than catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts, but this pop language is not designed to plumb life’s mysteries. Rather, it establishes the fact that users recognize and can characterize any pre-characterized thing or situation. If people can produce the right phrase at the right time, it reassures them that they are awake and can connect.
Even more important than being awake and connecting, catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts come with built-in applause signs and laugh tracks. They are a direct reflection of our entertainment culture—whether it is movies, television, or the Internet—and being absorbed in this culture creates commercial-flavored norms that shape values and expectations. “And keeping us on track,” writes Savan, “they provoke in us click responses, the sort of electronic-entertainment tic we twitch and jerk with more often lately (p. 12).”
Again, borrowing from Savan’s prologue, “You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to see that too much pop is totally lame-o. But what if a rocket scientist just doesn’t get it and refuses to opt out? What if he hollers, ‘Pop words rule!”?
“No prob:,” Savan writes, “I’ll grab him by the lapels, jerk him around, yank his chain, bust his chops, rattle his cage, push his buttons, hang him out to dry, and let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind. Oh, he’ll be one sick puppy, and he won’t be a happy camper. He might even throw a hissy fit. But here’s the beauty part: He’ll get with the program (p. 8).”
“Our language puts blinders on us,’ says linguist Robin Lakoff, author of The Language War. “The way we construct language influences the way we see reality, and reality influences language.” Students of all ages need to be involved in language-rich environments so they can be sure of words, find alternatives to catchwords, buzzphrases, and quickie concepts, and become, through their words, architects of their own realities.
-----
Sarah White writes a short essay, “The Power of Language,” at the website I’m So Corporate, which nicely explains how powerful it can be.
At TeachingK-8, Mary Ellen Bafumo has written a thorough, clear, and interesting essay on “The power of language.” She is a Program Director for the Council on Educational Change, an Annenberg legacy group, and divides her essay into three parts: 1) Language inspires us, 2) Language Moves Us to Action, and 3) Language has power. Under the third category she offers 10 specific ways to develop power through the use of language.
-----
Copyright October, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.
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