Touro Communication Club Notes #71
Communication Quote of the Week
“No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.”
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) is considered Germany’s greatest man of letters. His most famous work, “Faust,” dramatizes the agreement Faust makes with the Devil to serve Faust in this life in exchange for Faust serving the Devil in Hell. We know it as the “Faustian bargain.”
This Week: Wednesday, May 5, 2009
2 pm - Room 314 – Midtown
“The Alabama Experience”
Recently a group of 31 Touro students and faculty journey to Alabama to retrace the sites and sounds of the tumultuous 1960’s Civil Rights movement. Early reports of the Alabama experience have been glowing. At this session of the Communication Club, participants will recount their experiences of the trip. A slide show history of the adventure is an added attraction.
A Note for Communicators:
Strategy: Finding models to emulate.
Tactic: Observe and absorb the productive communication behavior.
In last week’s entry, President Obama’s leadership style was my focus. At the Speech Contest, I reiterated the power of Obama’s unique ability to communicate. He can write and he can speak. We can do well to observe Obama’s communication behavior as a model for our own communication leadership.
This week, Communication Professor Catherine Gaffigan brought to my attention a profile of Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Airlines, entitled “He wants Subjects, Verbs and Objects,” in last Sunday’s [April 26, 2009] Business section of the New York Times, one of my favorite information sources. Nothing Anderson talks about is new. What makes it interesting for Communicators is that Anderson talks about the value of communication as a major tool of his leadership style.
When asked about what he looks for in a job candidate, Anderson replied, “You’re looking for a really strong set of values. You’re looking for a really good work ethic. Really good communication skills. More and more, the ability to speak well and write is important. You know, writing is not something that is taught as strongly as it should be in the educational curriculum. So you’re looking for communication skills.”
“You’re looking for adaptability to change,” Anderson said. “Do you get along with people? And are you the sort of person that can be part of a team and motivate people? Do you have the emotional I.Q.?”
Anderson continued, “I think this communication point is getting more and more important. People really have to be able to handle the written and spoken word. And when I say written word, I don’t mean PowerPoint. I don’t think PowerPoint helps people think as clearly as they should because you don’t have to put a complete thought in place. You can just put a phrase with a bullet in front of it. And it doesn’t have a subject, a verb and an object, so you aren’t expressing complete thoughts.”
In other parts of the profile, Anderson talks about patience as a leadership quality, running meetings and asking a job candidate what they read.. He commented on Blackberrys during meetings, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to use BlackBerrys in meetings. Let’s stay focused on what we’re doing. Let’s have a really good debate, but it can’t get uncollegial. I want the debate. I want to hear everyone's’ perspective, so you try to ask more questions than make statements.”
The inclusiveness of Anderson’s statements about his leadership style is analogous to that of President Obama’s reported meeting style. Obama goes around the room asking for everyone’s opinion. When people make vague statements, he presses them. When they are confidently expressed, he moves on.
How leaders manage meetings is a subject for another discussion. Good meetings are like good classes – everyone participates and feels valued. However, the process of good communication is universal and transferable to every situation. Creating an environment for good communication is a constant challenge for everyone, especially leaders.
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
May 13 – “Presenting Jason Alan Carvell” – a conversation with a Touro Communication professor who teaches, acts, directs, sculpts and does voice-overs for television and radio.
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.)
May 27 – Student Poetry Reading – Students of Professors Charles Borkhuis and Brenda Coultas will share their writing. A discussion of their experiences will follow.
What happened on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 – The 7th Speech Contest
This semester’s contest drew a number of observers who came to support their friends. They include Anil Oezlelik (Touro Berlin), Anderson Herryll, Cartier Greely, Tiffany Niang and History professor Jose Dunker as well as Communication professor Diana Thompson. The Communication staff included George Backinoff who rounded up the judges and scored the results; Richard Green who handled the video chores; Jason Carvell who coordinated the speakers and acted as certificate calligrapher; and Lorinda Moore who organized refreshments. Hal Wicke served as emcee.
The judges for the 7th Speech contest were Dean Lenin Ortega, Professor Charles Mason and graduating senior James Millner.
The 8 finalists were (in alphabetical order):
Tamika Howell (GCA 100 – Survey; - Prof. Richard Green)
“Is Communication becoming a lost art?”
Wanda Lopez (GCA 100 – Survey – Prof. Richard Green)
“The History and Symbols of the U.S. Dollar Bill”
Lubin Richards (GCA 215 – Interpersonal Communication – Prof. Jason Carvell)
“Two Different Types of Friends”
Alexandra Robbins (GCA 101 –Public Speaking – Prof. George Backinoff)
“Homeless Program / The DOE Fund”
Evangeline Rudolph (GCA 100 – Survey – Prof. Richard Green)
“Working Out While Pregnant”
Alexandra Serebryanikova (GCA 215 – Interpersonal Comm – Prof Hal Wicke)
“Depression in Russian Literature”
Lumina Shrestha (GCA 100 – Survey – Prof. George Backinoff)
“Artificial Insemination”
Aaron Steinig (GCA 100 – Survey – Prof. David Leventhal)
“Yankee Stadium – Not Just a Baseball Field”
And the 4 Prize winners
First Prize ($100.00 cash)
Princess Reddick (GCA 100 – Survey – Prof. Richard Green)
“The History of HIV”
Second Prize ($75.00 cash)
Aneeqah Dinaully (Touro Berlin) – GCA 100 – Survey – Prof. Jason Carvell)
“Glass Blowing”
Tie for Third Place ($25.00 cash)
Brian Brown (GCA 100 – Survey – Prof. Barrie Cline)
“Investing in the New World”
Ana Coché (GCA=2 0100 – Survey – Prof. Richard Green)
“Depression/Anxiety Disorders”
Each finalist received a Certificate of Participation while the prize winners received a Prize Certificate and their cash amount.
Congratulations to all the speakers! This contest is only one aspect of your Communication skill set. Writing and speaking for a variety of situations are twin foundations of effective communication.
By representing your class in this contest, you have set yourself apart from your colleagues. You have set a personal standard of leadership on which you can build for the future. To speak effectively before any audience is a personal skill that will always be with you, giving you a personal and professional edge over many of your colleagues. Treasure that skill. Polish it at every opportunity.
As always, the contest produced a variety of interesting speeches. The speeches are always demonstrations of the student interests. Especially noteworthy was the energy that all the speakers invested in their presentations.
With luck, you will be able to see all of this semester’s speakers on the Touro Communication Club blog.
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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. W e’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
Hal Wicke
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