Touro Communication Club Notes #72
Communication Quote of the Week
“Everything has been said already, but as no one listens, we must always begin again.”
Andre Gide, an influential French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947.
This Week: Wednesday, May 13, 2009
2 pm - Room 223 – Midtown
“Presenting Jason Alan Carvell”
Professor Carvell will share his experiences as a Touro Communication instructor who has parallel careers as an actor, director, sculptor and voice-over specialist for television and radio commercials.
A Note for Communicators:
Strategy: Finding models to emulate.
Tactic: Observe and absorb productive communication behavior.
No matter how far we look, we will inevitably find communication models in the news. In Sunday’s New York Times (May 10, 2009), Listening was the most important leadership lesson that James J. Schiro, CEO of Zurich Financial Services, learned. “It’s the ability to listen, and to make people understand that you are listening to them. Make them feel that they are making a contribution,… You’ve got to have a sense of inclusiveness. The other most important thing is making people understand the strategy and the message.”
If Mr. Schiro can provide a direct Communication lesson, two world figures lead their constituencies by their communication examples.
Pope Benedict XIV is in the midst of a major trip to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He will be delivering 32 speeches at some of the holiest sites in the world for Muslims, Jews and Christians. Many people are worried about what will come out of his mouth, including Archbishop Fouad Twal, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, according to the New York Times (May 8, 2009). “One word for the Muslims and I am in trouble. One word for the Jews and I’m in trouble. At the end of the visit, the pope goes back to Rome and I stay here with the consequences,” Archbishop Twal said.
This concern stems from the enormous verbal blooper Pope Benedict made in 2006 when he offended many Muslims with a speech in Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor who said Islam encouraged violence and brought things “evil and inhuman.” Many Muslims argued that even by quoting this Turkish emperor, Pope Benedict was endorsing the position. The Muslim world exploded in reaction. The Pope later went to Istanbul to make amends, but even today, many remain wary of what the 82-year-old pontiff will do when he opens his mouth.
At the other end of the verbal spectrum are the inarticulate skills of Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain. He is “spectacularly” unpopular these days, according to the same issue of the New York Times. But it was “still shocking to see the mauling Mr. Brown suffered in the House of Commons during last week’s half-hour grilling called Prime Minister Questions.”
This uniquely brutal British convention occurs weekly when the Prime Minister is required to stand before his opposition and respond to questions from the opposition. (Can you imagine this verbal slugfest occurring in the American Congress?!?) Similar to bear-baiting or cock-fighting, both sides cheer or jeer or boo, trying to gain a tactical point for their side. This sporting event is the epitome of the worst communication behavior between adversaries. Twisted logic, ad hominum attacks, interruptions by the mob are the norm in this paradigm of parliamentary democracy. Watch it yourself weekly on C-SPAN.
Where Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair were able to acquit themselves effectively during this ordeal, Gordon Brown is “a notoriously poor debater.” His opponents know “he hasn’t got a light touch, that he’s not quick on his feet, that he is dour and heavy.” More to the point is that Gordon gets angry at the his inquisitors.
During a recent session, Brown “grew increasingly angry, refusing to answer any of the questions directly.” One of the questions designed to embarrass and demean Brown was “Don’t you agree that you are a total failure?”
Although the British parlor game of “Slicing the Prime Minister” may be amusing for the bullies in the House of Commons, what is the lesson to be learn for our communicators/
Being able to respond effectively and elegantly while under pressure is a skill that is prized by every Communicator. What looks simple has taken years to polish. Yet even a most skilled Communicator, President Obama, can put his foot in his mouth. When Obama appeared on the Jay Leno show recently, he was trying to be funny, calling his ability to bowl below the level of the Special Olympics. The proverbial sludge hit the fan and proved to be a week-long distraction for the White House.
Once we become aware of the power of Communication, we quickly learn to respect its unforeseen impact, despite our most scrupulous efforts to be “fair and balanced.” We can only hope that we shorten our reaction time when we recognize that we have made a mistake.
One of the Communication axioms says a lot, “Communication is what people hear and feel, not what is intended."
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
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.
June 3 – Impromptu Speaking –Speaking without apparent preparation on your feet is an acquired skill. We rarely think about what we are going to say in conversation, yet in a formal situation our brain freezes on us. Practicing this skill makes it possible to present oneself professionally at all times. In business, it is called the “Elevator Speech,” one which captures the essence of who you are what you do in 30 seconds or less, the time to travel in an elevator to your next appointment. Great fun!
What happened on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 “The Alabama Experience”
An enormous crowd of 61 people witnessed an historic event at Touro – the moving visual portrait of a group of Touro students and faculty retracing the sites and events of the Civil Rights movement in Alabama during the 1960s. As we watched the slides taken by Alan Mildor and Orville Vernon, we heard the voice of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. Refreshments were served.
The program was introduced by Hal Wicke who remarked on the historic nature of the trip. Professors Charles Mason, Jose Dunker and Carlisle Yearwood shared their thoughts about the trip. Cynthia Leguerre and Gareth/Musa (aka “Moses”) Bryant presented riveting performances of their own poetry that captured their view of the Civil Rights issues.
The slide show will be repeated for the entire Touro faculty on Thursday, May 21st at 2:30 pm with Professors Mason, Dunker and Yearwood sharing their experiences of the Alabama trip.
Among the students who attended their first Communication Club session were Gail Williams, Angelic Thomas, Chritian Preus, Frankie Eloi, Marie Guinard, Jauncia Birch, Rajitha Roy, Pranita Rai, Ramesh Lama Gole, Abayami Adeniya, Martiza Estrella, Erica DeJesus, Angel DeFranco, Simmone Joseph, Olorunfemi Bengbose, Tracy White, Felicia West, Pamela Sheppard. Ronald Johnson, Jill Page, Idazel Caleb, Starr Mercado, Natasha Spady, Roody Felix, Munur Tunca, Asif Aziz, Vannessa Linnen, Supath Sitaile, Jackie Simmons and N. Johnson.
Other students who have previously attended a Communication Club meeting included Grace Gibson, Cedric Flemming, Marie Delmas, Ravi Patel, George Goodwine, Meggy Lindsay, Lorinda Moore, Brian Brown, Jerusalem Abraham and Jazzment Campbell.
Several faculty attended including Markus Vyandorf, Stephen Gradman, Brenda Coultas, Lacy Shaw, Dean Leon Perkal, Dean Timothy Taylor, Dean Stanley Boylan, Gena Bardwell, Evette Dunlap and Karen Sutton of the women’s Division who went on the trip. Two friends of Professor Dunker, Gloria and Samuel Singer, were also in the audience.
The slide show documented the group’s arrival at the Union Station Visitor’s center, Dr. King’s church and parsonage, Morris Dees of the Souther Poverty Law Center, the Slavery and Civil War Museum,
While in Selma, the Touro group reenacted the ritual walk over Edmund Pettus Bridge, infamous as the site of the conflict of Bloody Sunday (March 7, 1965), where armed officers attacked peaceful civil rights.. Later in the week, the Touro group visited Tuskegee University and its historic George Washington Carver Museum.
Many other sites were part of the week long adventure. The Alabama trip made an overwhelming impact on everyone. Everyone carried away vivid memories of a violent period in America where people fought and died for the most elementary of civil rights. Touro students relived and reenacted part of a history barely 40 years ago which painfully changed the face of American attitudes toward civil rights.
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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
Hal Wicke
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