Touro Communication Club Notes #58
This Week!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Theater Workshop – Improvisation Technique II
Room 223 - Midtown –
Actor training can help the Communicator to express him/herself more effectively. In these sessions, we focus only on the body as an instrument to deliver messages. Some of the exercises may seem silly to the newcomer. However, with a little practice, you will soon see how actor training can help your communication. Breathing, mental focus, animals, objects, impersonations scene study – all are among the surprises that Professor Catherine Gaffigan will lead you to discover.. Lots of imagination! Lots of fun!
Communication comments:
We are on the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America. It has been called a landmark election, a turning point in American history. Millions will stand in the bitter cold on the Washington Mall to be eyewitnesses to history being made: the first African-American has been elected to the highest office in the land.
So much hope – in America and around the world – rides of the promise of this bright articulate, thoughtful Hawaiian born human being to lead this country and the world. With the vaulting hope comes crushing burdens at home and abroad. So many problems need immediate attention after eight years of a president whose leadership style has contributed mightily to the disarray in this country and escalated the dissension in the world.
In the weeks since November 4, 2008, before President Obama has taken office, he has begun to demonstrate an approach to leadership not seen in decades in Washington: - or ever:
- Obama has assembled an incredibly talented, bright, loyal support team to provide counsel about and execution of his ideas.
- Obama’s cabinet is extremely strong and capable, often called “A Team of Rivals,” after Lincoln’s cabinet.
- Obama’s called upon the 50 governor’s to be allies in rebuilding their states, promising to help them achieve their goals.
- Obama has met privately with a group of conservative columnists, including Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, at the home of George Will.
- Obama has sent Vice-President-elect Joe Biden to the Middle East to lay the groundwork for some very difficult negotiations.
- Obama has generated the first economic legislation, supported by the Bush administration, well before the inauguration. A first in American history.
In short, Obama has been incredibly pro-active, unlike ANY previous president in history, prior to being inaugur ated. An incredible feat accomplished with his “No drama Obama” style. It has seemed almost too easy.
Like the airplane ditching last week in the Hudson River, “The Miracle on the Hudson” said Governor David Patterson, President Obama’s pre-inauguration accomplishments are pitch perfect and are text book examples of how to run a government.
For a Yankee baseball pitcher, it’s a 20-game season. For a Ranger hockey player, it’s a 50 goal season. For a Knick basketball player, it’s a 50 point game.
And President Obama hasn’t even started yet!
Our upcoming schedule is:
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 – Club Discussion – “What’s Happening to Communication?” James Millner suggested this topic recently in an email. He wrote, “The other day I heard a conversation about communication that raised an interesting point. It was pertaining to the techno era, with all the e-mailing, sms mail, and texting. A question arose, "What happening to communication?" Now it seems that even the telephone is not used for the purpose it was invented for anymore. I think it would be an interesting topic to discuss.
We think so, too, James! If this discussion goes the way of our other discussions, we will end up with so very unusual conversation.
What happened on January 14, 2009 with the Club Discussion on “How Power Affects Communication”
Our largest attendance yet, fifteen people, stayed either a few minutes or the entire time for this exciting exploration. In order of the sign-in, they included Drani Gabu, Meggy Lindsay, Lisa Buckner, James Millner, Egypt Allen, Jose Dunker, Charles Mason, Lorinda Moore, Patricia (no last name), Max Kopelman, Marie Ossolom, Anna Indelicato, Brian Brown, Marcus Vayndorf and Amina Bibi and Hal Wicke.
Before for we begin our report of the session, let us wish “Bon Voyage” to Amina Bibi, who graduates from Touro this month and will be working for the Pakistani Mission to the United Nations. Amina has participated in the club for over a year, particularly in the SPAR and gun control debates. She told me she would miss these discussions and hopes to drop by when she can.
[As an aside, I have noticed that whatever I put on the blackboard – in typical professorial fashion – gets immediately ignored during the discussion. Among the items Hal wrote were:
“How Power Affects Communication”
What is Power?
Do I have powe r?
Where do I get it?
[On the side, Hal wrote my mantra – Aristotle – “Rhetoric” – Logos, Pathos and Ethos”]
Hal asked everyone, “Do you have power?” Most said they did. Some paused before they said yes. One said, “Absolutely.” Then we tried to find out what people meant when they said they had power. To academic types, we tried to define “power.”
Many people thought power was a version of having “power over.” Persuasion is a tool of power. Coercion is another tool of power. Some suggested an external force gave them power – a uniform, a title, a badge, a position. Lorinda suggested that some people confuse power and authority. Some talked about having internal power. Issues of control were important to people who thought they had power.
Some mentioned having a spiritual power, a religious source of power. Some were quite clear that they had an internal power that was not dependent on external forces. Hal interrupted to remind those present that we would focus on the secular aspects of power rather than power derived from a religious source.
Lorinda offered the proverb, “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.” [Proverbs 23:7. In 1902, James Allen expanded on the proverb to create a very successful little book that influenced the growth of the Horatio Alger-based self-help movement in America.] People agreed that one’s thinking was an important part of whether we felt power-full or not.
The question, “Have you ever felt power-less?” provoked general agreement that at one time or other, each had felt without power. One person said that sometimes he can’t “think his way out of power-less situations.”
Another person suggested AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] and NA [Narcotics Anonymous] and their 12-step programs. This is the first step: “I admit I am powerless over alcohol—that my life has become unmanageable.” This is another avenue worth exploring.
Meggy shared that when she feels power-less, she immediately flips her thinking into power-full thought mode. She told the vivid story of coming out of a club one night and being confronted with a man holding a gun who wanted her jewelry. Without thinking, she turned around, twisted the gun from his hand and threw him to the concrete. She then called the cops. She said she had never had any previous martial arts training, but in her head she made a decision that this person was not going to rob her. Without reflection, she20acted. The discussion that followed was riveting.
What about a gun? Does a gun make you power-full? Most people felt that the person who uses a weapon does not have power within. If you need an object to be power-full, you aren’t. One person said. “I may be power-less, but not help-less.”
James suggest that perhaps “Power is not constant; it was fluid.” He made a comparison to art, “Art is in the eye of the beholder.” But that was a digression. Marcus offered that there was individual and social power. Bertrand Russell’s 1938 book, “Power,” was suggested as a resource.
Time was moving along with many questions not yet addressed or adequately answered. Clearly, there is much to explore further in the future.
Hal suggested that we talk a little bit about the upcoming Obama inauguration. “Does Obama have power?” Just because Obama has the title of President, what does that mean in terms of power? The response was not sufficient to get a general impression. More later.
Finally, people agreed the topic of the student’s experience of power at school would be worth exploring.
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Several things seem to be apparent:
- Most people are engaged by the discussions. If they aren’t, they leave quickly.
- The exchanges are passionate, displaying a combination of deeply held thoughts or the beginnings of a deepening awareness.
- All of the exchanges are free of rancor, with great acceptance of different ideas and different ways to express those ideas.
- Even those who don t speak seem to follow the discussion intently – with their eyes.
- For those who are regulars to these sessions – we now have about 4 or 5 - each demonstrates a growing confidence of an ability to express one’s thoughts in a clear manner. The faculty presence is very important to the egalitarian nature of the discussions. No one is THE AUTHORITY.
- And, for me, as the moderator of these sessions, I am absolutely delighted that the standards of critical thinking are getting higher and higher, demonstrated by the careful listening and observation of all present.
These sessions are always open for everyone to attend. Bring a friend and join in the excitement. See you next time.
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