Touro Communication Club Notes #69
Tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

Communication Quote of the Week

‘The greatest problem of communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”

George Bernard Shaw, 20th century playwright, socialist and literary and music critic

Kudos for the Touro Communication Club blog!
Recently Catherine Gaffigan, a Communication instructor who has led our theatre sessions, wrote Hal Wicke that she thought the blog was “Amazing!” Hal asked her to explain.

Catherine wrote back, “The blog is comprehensive and thorough. A myriad of varied and wide-ranging topics are selected and presented {some in depth). It illuminates the endless amount of knowledge which one needs in communication. (A life’s work!) The blog could be the basis for a stand-alone major. Students who attend the meetings are receiving an invaluable supplement to the required course work.”

Thank you as always, Catherine, for your kind words.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
2 pm –Room 223 - Midtown
Politics & Communication II
Our second session will no doubt generate the sharp interchange of the first. Politics is all around us all the time in every Communication exchange. Much of what “rules” is beneath the surface of the interchange, the “subtext” so to speak.” Many difficulties arise between and among people because they don’t realize or notice the unspoken elements that are operating. We will try to uncover some of these during this session.

A Note for Communicators:

Strategy: Seeing the forest for the trees.
Theme: Closing the gap between rhetoric and reality.

We are surrounded by so much persuasive stimuli in our daily lives – particularly in NYC - that we hardly even know that we are inundated. It feels like everyone is trying to get into our heads and/or our wallets all the time. Someone has estimated that we are hit by some 2 billion stimuli each day. We become numb to the images and sounds around us. We withdraw into the safe world of our iPod. We hear and stare but we don’t see. Are we really listening to the iPod?

It’s almost as if we are suspended in our own heads from the reality around us. We live in our heads. When we do try to communicate, the words transform into monosyllabic reductions as they become text messages.

When it comes to persuasion, the media is always in full bloom. A recent bus advertisement shouted “I AM KING” – a new men’s perfume by Sean John.” PR is a way of life for many people. PR is the mask that covers the reality.

How do we become aware that we are being swamped by persuasion? Perhaps the first step is to even notice that something is out of kilter. Something seems wrong. The technical word for this feeling is “cognitive dissonance.” The words don’t match the experience. I feel a gap inside– something is wrong.

Another strategy is “perceptual checking.” Ernest Hemingway calls it “crap detection.” You hear and see the message. Then you check your solar plexis (below your rib cage) to see if it feels right. If there’s any discomfort, you have probably discovered that something is wrong in the communication.

Becoming aware is like exercising a new muscle. With constant practice, you build an awareness about the authenticity of the communication you send and receive. Pinocchio’s Jiminy Cricket is a good beginning image of awareness. You notice more things. The colors are richer. The sounds are more luscious. The emotional experience is richer. Your head begins to make connections that you never were even aware were possible. You move from the sepia color of Kansas to the Technicolor of Oz.

Once your awareness is turned on, your life becomes transformed. The flamboyant character of Auntie Mame says in both the book and the musical, “Life is a banquet. Look at all these poor people who are starving to death.” Awareness whets the appetite for the banquet that life is.

The great danger of becoming “aware” is that you become cynical and negative. Suddenly, you notice the gap between the rhetoric and reality. Isn’t that awful? That gap will always be there despite your newly discovered “awareness.” The question is what YOU will do with your awareness.

Once you’ve turned on your awareness, it’s very difficult to turn off. The disparity between the fake and the real almost jumps out at you. Bridging that gap is your choice, a choice inside your head. As the vernacular says, you can choose to see the doughnut or the hole.

Perhaps we can go back to “intentions.” What are your intentions when you communicate? In your actions? Keep in mind the old saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Use your heightened awareness to check the perceptions of those with whom you communicate.

Predictably, awareness brings the burden of responsibility. We see the gap between rhetoric and reality and choose to close the gap in what we do and what comes out of our mouths. Our next challenge is to work toward bridging the gap.

UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 7th Speech Contest

Upcoming:
May 6 – “The Alabama Experience” – students talk of their recent Civil Rights trip to Alabama

May 13 – “Presenting Jason Alan Carvell” – a conversation with a Touro Communication professor who teaches, acts, directs, sculpts and does television voice-overs.

May 20 – “Talking to Women” – an open discussion about what women expect when they talk with men. (A follow up “Talking to Men’ will be scheduled.)

What happened on Wednesday, April l, 2009 –“What’s Happening to Communication II Pressures & Technology” - Led by James Millner

Gathering to discuss this important topic, this small thoughtful group led by James Millner included Lorinda Moore, Richard Green, Meggy Lindsay, David Nussbaum, Brian Brown and Hal Wicke

James listed many aspects of communication on the board to trigger the discussion. They included technology, video conferencing, teleprompting, SMS messaging, email, voicemail, faxing, telephone, newspapers, computers satellites, fiber optics, Blue Tooth, the Printing Press, video games, Facebook.

His opening question, “What’s the problem?” set off a spirited exchange. “Communication technology is out of control!” There are many mediators (filters) between the person (you) and the source of the message that we are “learning not to care for one another.” These filters influence the information we receive. The mediator takes away the personal aspect of communication.

Communication technology has become smaller and smaller. The first computers filled a huge room. The latest computers are now the size of a hand. Phone communication once required land lines; now signals bounce off satellites. The technology industry is succeeding in its attempt to combine all forms of communication – voice, video, film, computer, recordings, text messaging – into one hand-held device. No doubt, we eventually be able to use the device as a TV clicker to point to the stove to make dinner and the computer to write the term paper.

If we define ideal communication model as a face-to-face exchange between two or more people without mediators, then we have to be aware of how much the mediators can and do change the message. We need to constantly verify the accuracy of the message.

But we don’t. And this is where people get into communication trouble.

In face-to-face communication, “Content is King!” The greatest challenge is to figure out ways to have the users of technology more responsible in their use of content. That is always a difficult issue even under the best of communication situations.

How do we get a handle on the communication situation? Should we create a 1984 “Big Brother is Watching YOU!” situation, building on fear? Tempting, but not wise, we agreed.

Guiding technology toward more responsible use is important. It is not the technology itself that is the problem, it is the people who use the technology. Then we must direct our efforts through education. Parents should be involved. Contact companies who are corporately sensitive to the impact of technology on communication. People need to be made “stakeholders.” In that way, individuals will learn to care.

One of the by-products of technology is that everyone is in a rush. Certainly in New York City! Rush! Rush! Rush! Speed is valued. No one likes to wait. Can you imagine New Yorkers waiting 8 days for a letter to be delivered by pony express? Imagine having to walk to school or take your horse to go shopping? We couldn’t stand it!

The Lorinda Question: What did we learn from this discussion. We have to become aware of the downside aspects of technology. We have to embrace technology. We have to turn technology against itself. “I prefer unfiltered communication.”
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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