The Touro Communication Club Notes - #100 –January 6, 2010
This is the 100th issue of the Touro Communication Club blog. Thank you for your support for the last 3 ½ years.
December 23 – No club meeting today – We are taking a holiday hiatus and return after the New Year. Enjoy!
Communication Quote of the Week
[Omitted in error]
The Touro Communication Club
2 pm - Wednesday, January 6, 2010– Room 223
“Rap and Hip Hop – What’s the Message?”
When Lorinda Moore leads this session, it won’t take but a second to get into a lively discussion – even an argument – over this topic. Everyone has an opinion about rap and hip hop. Academic Michael Eric Dyson supports it. Musician Wynton Marsalis calls “ghetto minstrelsy.” Most importantly, what is rap and hip hop saying to YOU. Come and share your “attitude!”
A Note to Communicators:
Motivation
In a standard public speaking course, there are usually three or four speeches that students are asked to give: an informative speech, a persuasive speech, a demonstration speech and a motivation speech. Occasionally, there are other assignments like a personal narrative and an after-dinner (humorous) speech.
The kind of speech style depends on the audience. The informative speech assumes an audience who wants to learn something. (Informative speeches in a speech class push this requirement since most students are there because they are told to be there: “It is required.”
The demonstration speech is generally an informative one with visual aids, except when the speaker is selling something –, a product, a service or an idea. Then the speech is really one which uses selected information to sell the product, service or idea.
You might argue that in a speech class, the informative speech needs to also include some persuasive elements because the student audience is forced to listen reluctantly to a host of speeches by their colleagues.
The persuasive speech assumes a neutral to hostile audience, one that has a predetermined opinion about the speaker and/or the topic. The persuasive speaker must find ways to move the audience away from their previous opinion to one closer to that of the speaker. Presidents do this all the time. Teachers find themselves often in a persuasive situation – but don’t know it.
The motivational speech is an unusual animal. The sermon priest, rabbi or minister is a motivational speech, designed to reconfirm the beliefs of the audience who choose to come to the service. While in seminary, the preacher, regardless of denomination, is taught to combine information with persuasion to bind the audience closer to their religion. The sermon training course is called homiletics.
The football coach – or any other coach – uses the pre-game and half-time to motivate his/her players to win the game. The coach uses all kinds of rhetorical devices (tricks?) to have the team transcend their negative attitudes, their injuries, their team record, all individual animosities and jealousies to reach the Nirvana of winning.
In movies like “Stand and Deliver,” the teacher is a coach motivating his students to excel in their exam. Where any teacher perceives his/her job to be a coach, rather than a fountain spouting information, many motivational elements appear.
Then there is a genre of films which are entirely motivational. All the “Rocky” films inspire the triumph of the underdog. “Rudy,” who is too small to play, gets to play in the very last game of the season at Notre Dame. All of the Frank Capra movies, such as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939) and “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) create a positive attitude toward America despite the Depression and World War II.
The new Clint Eastwood film, “Invictus,” with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, recounts the story of Nelson Mandela encouraging the all white South African rugby team to win the 1995 World Cup to help motivate the country to accept a new kind of leader.
What are some of the motivational devices that speakers use? They tell stories of “regular folk” overcoming hardship to achieve their goal. Historical figures who personify a particular religion, like Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, were effective motivational speakers. Each used storytelling and parables to carry the message of the religion.
The motivational speech philosophy says rather simplistically, “You can do it!’ This kind of speech urges the audience to “actuate” their thoughts. Don’t talk about it, do it!
Getting someone to do anything is a major job. Most motivation fails because the target audience must buy into the viewpoint. Religious believers like students must be constantly reminded of why they are doing what they are doing. There are too many distractions.
Ultimately, no one can get anyone to do anything. Only the individual person can motivate himself. When force is used – a gun, a bomb or torture – it is called persuasion.
The emphasis is on “pathos” (emotion) not “logos” (reason).Information is minimal in a motivational speech. Most of the language has an emotional base. Despite what many educators say, emotion is more powerful than reason.
The problem with emotion is that it is transitory. It is momentary. People get distracted. Unless emotion is reinforced, it declines, loses its power and disappears. It is no accident that religious services are weekly. For the devout, they are daily with prayers many times a day.
Any “rags to riches” Horatio Alger story is a rich part of the American tradition of success. Beginning with Emile Coué (“Every day in every way, I am getting better and better.”) through Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, Denis Waitley, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Anthony Robbins, among dozens of others, success is a motivating force. The best self-help guru, in my not so humble opinion, is Stephen Covey with his“Seven Habits of an Effective Person.” Covey wrote his PhD dissertation on the history of success in America. But that is another topic.
Speech making is immensely illusive. If one is not clear in his/her own mind, word salad comes out of the mouth. Since the audience has only one chance to hear the message, the intention of the speaker must be very clear.
And then since many people are not listening or perhaps faking listening, the speaker must find ways to penetrate the invisible wall between speaker and audience.
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
January 13, 2010 - “Current Events”- When we are in preoccupied with school, it seems that the rest of the world disappears. Major events are happening all the time that have an impact on your life. The question is “Do you care?” We’ll talk about what’s happening in the world and in America and whether you care about ANY of it.
January 20, 2010 - “Cynicism”- It has always been cool to be cynical, especially in college. You know all these good ideas, but stay apart from them. It’s safe to be AGAINST something, but uncool to be FOR something. To show any passion, except for pop music, is just not cool. Why is that? Is being positive about ANYTHING –except pop music –turns you into a social outcast? We’ll try to dig under the surface.
What about one of these topics?
“How Do You Fire Someone?”
“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”
“Asking Questions in Class”
“Cold Calling in Sales”
“Repetition”
“Meaning”
“The Seven Heavenly Virtues”
“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”
“Heroism”
“Leadership”
“Concentration”
“Student Needs”
“The Power of No”
“Coping with Adversity”
“Dreams”
“Gender Communication”
“Thinking II”
And dozens of others!
What happened onWednesday,
December 16, 2009?
Compare the notice of the session with what really happened
“Thinking”
Do we know when we think? Can you NOT think? Do you know how YOU think? Do you like to think? Then what do you think about? How can you direct your thinking? What about distractions? These are only some of the topics that will probably come up during the discussion. Maybe someone will know how to read our minds.
At least 18 people spent some or a lot of time sharing their views. People seemed to be interested in thinking. New faces included Cesar Gil, Solange Almante, Jacqueline Ben-Meyer, and Latavia Fields. Familiar faces included Gary Sheinfeld, Lorinda Moore, Steve Gradman, Damian Forbes, Richard Green, Erica Bell, Donne Kampel, Charles Mason, Ephraim Smith, Pamela Sheppard, Rene Vasquez, Christopher Couch., Jean Missial and Hal Wicke.
Hal asks everyone for their definition of “Thinking.” Some people said that “thinking” was something they did all the time. Others didn’t believe they “thought” all the time – just sometimes.
Others felt they were “thinking” when they thinking about one thing, but doing something else. Cesar works as a bartender and he is always “thinking” about ways he can increase his tips. As she works the cash register, Solange “thinks” about making the customers feel good about their purchases.
Renee only thinks about sports. He says the only time he doesn’t think is when he is drunk.
Much of the discussion shifted to dreams. Steve felt that dreams can be predictive. Gary argued that dreams are used to work out the conflicts within the unconscious. Other contributions included:
· Dreams are nature’s way of keeping alert.
· Dreams are within one’s self.
· They are not premonitions.
· Dreams are nothing, says Renee. “They don’t matter.”
· Erica learned of her grandmother’s death through a dream. She dreamed of having a girl, but got a boy. Once she got used to the idea, she loved her son very much.
· There are levels of consciousness.
· People think all the time.
Donne asked the question, “Whether thinking in education is different from thinking in the street?” No one answered the question directly, but here were some of the responses.
· You think better when you are relaxed
· Mental activity is not thinking.
As he was leaving the room, Charles asked if there was a difference between thinking and “critical thinking?” [this is a freshman course.]
A variety of topics kept coming as if one thought made someone think of something else.
· Rhetoric
· Salvatore Dali
· Gary – “Paranoia is a deep seated need to name things.”
· Through education, you learn to organize your thoughts
· Cesar – “I don’t think all the time.”
· Richard – “Thinking depends on listening.”
· “You are being educated from birth.”
Renee - “When I listen to women talk and talk and talk, it becomes just white noise.”
A great noise arose from the women in the group. Hal said we would focus on gender communication in the future.
Thinking in class:
· Math class – “I zone out.”
· “I just check for facts in class.” No facts, no thinking.
· Distinguish between thinking and feeling.
· Difference between intellectual thinking and “regular” thinking and “zoning out.”
· “I think just to get through.”
· Street smarts vs. book smarts.
Erica said her mother told her to be happy with a “C” grade, but now she has changed her standards. A “C” is not acceptable.
· Lifestyle affects everything.
· “You have survival tactics when you don’t care about math.”
· “I have a window of time that doesn’t come back.”
· “I need to change the way I think.”
· A scarcity mindset vs. an abundance mindset
Although the discussion rambled all over the place, often with a series of non-sequiturs [unconnected statements], it was a valuable one. Some people seemed to think about thinking for the first time. Some, both male, had very clear ideas of what went on in their thinking.
So much about thinking was left untouched.
· What about Rene Descartes’ influential thought, “I think, therefore I am.”
· Can you be programmed to think a certain way?
· Do you think as an individual or as part of a group?
· Do you avoid thinking? When? Why?
· Does your thinking get interrupted? When? Why?
· Is concentration “thinking”?
· Do you think when you are emotional?
· Which is more powerful? Thinking or emotions? Etc. etc.
We’ll have a second session on thinking later.
We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.
Hal Wicke
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