Touro Communication Club Notes #67

Tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

Communication Quote of the Week

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."

Voltaire, 18^th century French philosopher.

Wednesday March 25, 2009

2 pm - Room 223 - Midtown

Theatre IV – Using Your Voice Effectively

Thus far, we have focused on basic acting tools- breathing, sense memory, emotional recall and improvisation. Although we are far from finished in identifying more basic acting tools, we need to introduce working with your voice. Like the body, the voice is a major part of the actor’s instrument. Being aware of the capabilities of the speaking voice, very different from the singing voice, can give the Communicator another range of options in delivering the message.

Dear Communicators:

Strategy: Finding the universal in the particular.

Theme: Entitlement is reflected in Communication

An important Communication question is raised with the national outrage over the $218 million in bonuses paid to 400 employees by American International Group (AIG) from the government’s TARP money. Claimed to be required by prior contract , these super people were entitled to these large checks.

Entitlement is a growing phenomenon in our society. Some examples include:

• “AIG is too big to fail.” (Therefore, AIG deserves a bailout.)
• The AIG bonuses were justified as being given to retain excellent employees. Ironically, after receiving the bonuses, a large number of employees jumped ship to other companies.
• Recently, the Detroit CEO’s for GM, Chrysler and Ford flew to Washington in their corporate jets to ask Congress for bailout money.
• Students who feel entitled to an “A” just for coming t o class. “The default grade is A ‘Student Expectations cause Grade Disputes.”.” (New York Times, 2.17.09)
• Extraordinary compensation for “sports stars” that don’t perform- Alex Rodriguez, among other professional athletes.
• The status of a “rock star” whether in music or not.

To be entitled implies to be deserving of whatever rewards you desire and to demonstrate that entitlement in many ways. If you are rich, you are entitled to the perks of being rich. If you are beautiful or handsome, you are entitled to the attention you receive. If you are powerful, you are entitled to obedience.

Verbal and non-verbal communication strategies often betray a sense of entitlement. Clothes, jewelry, vacations and an entourage are some external manifestations of entitlement. Verbal cues often come from how many names or places you casually drop in conversation or certain special topics or events you say you attended.

Entitlement creates a narcissism in which everything is about “Me.” Attitudes tell the world that “I am the center of the world and everyone is my subject.” Of course, this is an exaggeration to the point of being a cartoon stereotype. However, there are elements of the cartoon that appear in many people.

When you discover “narcissism” and “entitlement” together in a human being, you find someone with whom it is difficult to talk. As in a play by Anton Chekhov, the early 20^th century Russian playwright, people talk in parallel worlds, alternating noises but never connecting. Narcissistic entitlement creates separate worlds which are isolated from one another. If I am a superior being, then everyone is subordinate to me. Ultimately there is NO communication, just an exchange of noises we are duped into thinking as conversation.

The characters of Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and David Mamet do not communicate because of their narcissistic self-absorption. The master of human isolation is Chekhov whose characters do not know how to communicate.

If entitlement separates, its opposite is egalitarian interchange – everyone is a human being, each of us has strengths and challenges, each of us is on an individual journey, and each of us needs the help and good will of others to survive and to thrive. The root of communication is “coming together” – community, communion, common.

If we are to believe John Donne, “No Man is an Island…” But there are certainly some people who behave as if their island is superior to all others.

UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

What’s Happening to Communication II Pressures & Technology

Led by James Millner

As always in our Communication Club meetings, everyone has so much to say that often we barely scratch the surface of the topic. The process is important: everyone gets a chance to be heard – hopefully. With a second discussion we need to focus on some of the factors that affect how we communicate. We’ll try to nail down a few influences.

The Club will be on “hiatus” on Wednesday, April 8, and April 15 because NYSCAS is on spring vacation.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Politics & Communication II

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

7^th Speech Contest

What happened on Wednesday, Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - “Politics and Communication”

This group of debaters was extremely willing to undergo the severe challenges of SPAR Debate. They included: Carlisle Yearwood, Egypt Allen, Charles Mason, Markus Vayndorf, James Millner, Lorinda Moore, Drani Gabu, Brian Brown and Hal Wicke.

The topic “Honesty is always the best policy” was the first to draw blood. The 4 teams divided as follows:

PRO: CON:
Drani Marcus (W)

Charles Egypt (W)

Lorinda Carlisle (W)

Carlisle (T) Brian (T)

The group found several of the debates difficult to decide, but finally chose one side. Interestingly, all but one debate was won by the Negative side. Perhaps the operative word “always” seems to confound the Affirmative side.

After the vote, each person commented on the strengths and weaknesses of each debate. The debaters then commented on their own performance. Each person seemed to gain something from the experience. People have become used to the pressure of the time limit and thinking on your feet.

The group was overwhelmed when Carlisle quoted from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” to support his Affirmative position. The classic strategy of one-upmanship to derail your opponent.

Brian commented that he was prepared to argue both sides. In his mind he had thought how to flip his arguments depending on which side of the issue he received after the coin toss.

During the early debriefings, people commented that they were voting for the position, rather than how well the PRO or CON side presented its case. This is always the reality of any debate, particularly in Congress or in the Supreme Court.

Knowing this, lawyers will make sure that part of their briefs will contain tidbits for various judges or members of Congress. In a larger context, lawyers will use the propaganda device of “card stacking’ to make sure certain people know of their positions.

In the remaining time, the group had a spirited round table discussion over the two topics on the blackboard: It was clear that everyone was aware of the context of both topics and had sufficient confidence and knowledge to discuss them.

1. President Truman was correct in his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.

2. AIG was correct to pay $218 in bonuses.

Let’s not forget Carlisle Yearwood’s IDEA several weeks ago. He suggested we develop a 3x4 index card with basic Touro information on it. We’ll talk more about this in the future.

As always, these sessions are open for everyone to attend. Bring a friend and join the excitement. See you next time.

Hal Wicke