Touro Communication Club Notes #56

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

Have a great holiday!. See you in the New Year!

Put on Your 2009 Calendar:

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

2 pm – Room 223 – Midtown

SPAR Debate: Debating Silly Topics with a Serious Purpose

We are returning to the SPAR Debate Event to get our minds in gear for 2^nd semester which begins February 1^st. There are several values to SPAR Debates:

· They don’t require any preparation. Just show up with your mind turned on.

· They use topics which require no prior knowledge.

· There is no consequence to winning or losing – just practice for the future.

· They are short – 6½ minutes or less - so the “pain” is brief.

· They give you practice in thinking on your feet.

· They get you used to the pressure of forming clear responses that are responsive to questions.

· They ask you to organize your thoughts in a very limited amount of time.

· They ask you to listen very carefully to the thread of your opponent’s arguments.

· Plus many other values you will discover on your own.

Communication lessons from current events:

Snow arrived this week as we pause for the Winter Solstice which occurs during the Jewish and Christian holidays along with the African-American Kwanzaa celebration.

But life around us continues to unfold. The “life” menu – as is typical – is not particularly upbeat. We continue to brace for even worse financial meltdown, the downward struggles of the auto industry which the Bush White House offered a temporary reprieve, Russia is talking to NATO again after being “ex-communicated” from the organization for invading Georgia, Zimbabwe continues its leadership struggles as does the Congo & Rwanda. Plus many more too numerous to note here.

But questions of ethics and its impact on communication became a national topic with the Illinois Governor’s alleged claim to sell President-elect Obama’s Senate seat and with the $50 billion Ponzi scheme that has been operating for over 20 years.

Governor Blagojevitch and Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff seems to have several ethical issues in common. Both have presented themselves as honorable men. Both made promises that people believed. In short, although using different styles (Blagojevitch is combative and Madoff is smooth as silk), both spoke well and communicated persuasively – at least for the short term.

In this unusually tumultuous social and political environment in which we live where speed is very important, we often don’t make the time to consider the implications of what people say to us. We judge by first impressions. (Malcolm Gladwell has written a best-selling book, “Blink” on snap-judgments we make by what he calls “thin slicing.”)

If we are not careful, our snap-judgments come back to haunt us – in our personal lives as well as in our school lives. The Golden Rule (“Do under others as you would have them do unto you.”) becomes perversions as “Do under others before they do unto you” and “He who has the gold rules.”

Being alert to the messages people communicate can sharpen your “crap detector” (from Ernest Hemingway) to discover the integrity of the messages you send out and those you receive.

An endless topic – like most Communication topics – to be revisited from time to time.

Our upcoming schedule is:

Wednesday, January 7, 2008 - 2 pm - Room 223 - Midtown– SPAR Debate – After the holidays, we need to tune up our brains to prepare for finals and the new semester. For those who’ve never participated, SPAR debate stands for SPontaneous Argumentation. We learn to think on our feet, developing a line of reasoning about a silly topic. Practice in learning how to think on your feet defending such topics as “Greed is good” or “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”

Wednesday, January 14, 2008– 2 pm – Room 223 – Midtown –

Club Discussion on “How Power Affects Communication.” What is Power? Do I have Power? Do others have Power? How does Power And/or the lack of it affect Communication? We’ll share stories and try to come up with some conclusions about Power.

What happened on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at the Holiday Potluck Gathering Theatre?

James Millner was the first to arrive with a kosher pizza after Hal Wicke had set up the room. A couple of students and faculty poked their noses in the room but were embarrassed to enter. Communication instructor Diana Thompson stopped by, partaking of a pizza slice. Marty Vasas, a math instructor, wandered by, having smelled the pizza and took a slice. Another couple of students came by and also smelled the pizza, taking. Political Science instructor, Jose Dunker, joined the group, taking his slice of pizza. He shared some of the travails of the trip he is planning to visit Birmingham, Alabama, during 2^nd semester.

Along about 3:30, Lorinda Moore blew in with three trays of chicken – broiled, baked and fried –with lots of “fixings” and overwhelmed the group with a feast she had prepared and brought with her from her Bronx home. With the pizza gone, the gourmands took over. As the group was packing up before the next class, George Backinoff was seen enjoying a plate of Lorinda’s homemade chicken. Lorinda packed up the large amount of remaining chicken and carried it over to the homeless shelter on 23^rd Street off 6^th Avenue.

Our first Holiday potluck party was over. The experiment was complete. Three people brought food. Some 10 people broke bread together. So many Communication lessons abounded during the event which might be worth exploring at some far distance time in the future.

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

Hal Wicke

Touro Communication Club Notes #55

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

Have a great holiday!. See you in the New Year!

This Week: Communication Club Holiday Potluck Gathering –

Room 610 @ 50 West 23^rd St.

This Potluck Gathering is a first for the Communication Club. It tests the sense of community that club members have for each other. (Remember anyone can belong to the club.)

The price of admission is a food offering for three people if you plan to join us. Please be aware the food must be kosher. (Call the Communication office for guidelines.) The Communication department will provide the plates, napkins, cups, beverages and utensils.

A stern word about this potluck gathering: Like everything we do in the Club, having a gathering with food is an experiment, a different test of our ability to communicate.

A potluck meal is a special occasion for breaking bread with people who share a common interest. The food you bring is to share with others. If you don’t bring an offering, you won’t have anything to share. You will be a taker, instead of a sharer. And from a Communication point of view, I don’t think you want to send the kind of message that is not representative of your best self.

=0 A

The Club has no budget and the success of this first potluck party depends on people not assuming there are going to get free food. If you don’t bring food for three, please don’t plan to join us. And doesn’t everyone buy a box of Enteman cookies!

Communication lessons from current events:

During each week, there are literally hundreds of communication issues that arise from our individual experience as well as observations from the world around us.

1. President Bush has 2 shoes thrown at him during a Baghdad press conference with Premier Maliki. (Iraqi culture views throwing shoes as a sign of contempt.) What is the message for Americans?

2. Illinois Governor Blagojevich is arrested for trying the sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. What is the message?

3. A $50 billion Ponzi scheme collapsed on Wall Street last week. What’s the message?

4. The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear a lawsuit saying that Obama is ineligible to serve as President because his father was a citizen of Kenya. What is the message?

5. Over 200 people, including several Americans, are killed last week in a coordinated bombing on 10 hotels in Mombai, India. What is the message?

6. Pirates continue to raid shipping off the Somali coast. What’s the message?

7. Fighting continues in the Congo and Rwanda. What’s the message?

8. President-elect Obama appoints a Nobel Prize winner to be his Secretary of Energy (the first Nobel Prize winner to be appointed to a Presidential cabinet.) What’s that message?

9. Recent anecdote: Student says in class, “I get confused when I think. Therefore I don’t like to think.” What is that message?

Each response to the question, “What’s the message?” will be different. As you try to respond to the question, here are some basics before we look at the message.

1. Then we begin the process of analyzing the “message.”
2. What are the facts?
3. What is the context surrounding the facts?
4. What ancillary information must you know to understand the facts and their context?

Now we get to the “message” itself.

1. Explain the “message.”
2. Did you notice anything different or the same about the “message”?
3. Compare this “message” to other “messages” about which you are aware.
4. What are the patterns?
5. Did you notice anything about the patterns?

This question can be applied to everything we do. I argue that we can learn much from around us if we ask key questions. And the more we get in the habit of asking questions and analyzing information, the more adept we will be at understanding issues in our daily life. (More in the future.)

Our upcoming schedule is:

Wednesday, January 7, 2008 - 2 pm - Room 223 - Midtown– SPAR Debate – After the holidays, we need to tune up our brains to prepare for finals and the new semester. For those who’ve never participated, SPAR debate stands for SPontaneous Argumentation. We learn to think on our feet, developing a line of reasoning about a silly topic. Practice in learning how to think on your feet defending such topics as “Greed is Good” or “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”

Wednesday, January 14, 2008– 2 pm – Room 223 – Midtown –

Club Discussion on “How Power Affects Communication.” What is Power? Do I have Pow er? Do others have Power? How does Power And/or the lack of it affect Communication? We’ll share stories and try to come up with some conclusions about Power.

What happened on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at the Theatre Workshop – Improvisation Technique?

The group was an enthusiastic one, willing to undertake every challenge. They included James Millner, Lorinda Moore, Amina Bibi, Brian Brown, Geovanny Leon, Hal Wicke and newcomers Meggy Lindsay, Ronnie Samuels, Delfina Domingo and Anna Indelicato, Meggy and Geovanny were the lst and 3^rd Prize winners in the recent 6^th Speech Contest. Lorinda was a finalist in the 4^{th Speech Contest.}

^{Hal asked James to share a little background on the play, “Fences” by August Wilson. Two males were talking as they entered. In rotation, two players read the first 6 speeches. They were asked what they could learn about the characters that would help the performance. Each pair built on the information of the previous pair. We only scratched the surface of what an actor – and director – have to do to bring the play to life.}

^{This part of acting training is called “Scene Study.” If you weren’t interested in acting, you might think this was an English class where the process is called “Close Reading.” In French, it is is called CExplication de texte.” The difference between what an actor does and an English student does is that the actor must make the words become alive after all the intellectual analysis. You might call it “Critical Thinking” times ten.}

^{The next sequences of exercises began with the basics of breathing followed by imagining the various sizes of human beings. Then the actors were asked to impersonate a teacher followed by a series of individual activities like threading a needle and eating pizza.}

^{The session concluded with an improvisation between two tenants. Each had a different intension and each had to invent their character in response to the other actor’s presentation. Then Hal gave each pair of actors a private instruction (“You’re your ch aracter as if he/she were a kitty cat, snake, Doberman pinscher, etc.). Every performance changed radically from the first attempts.}

^{Everyone left excited by the experience and wanting to schedule another session. There will be another Theatre session in January.}

<sup>These sessions are always open for everyone to attend. Bring a friend and join in the excitement. See you next time.

Hal Wicke</sup>

Touro Communication Club Notes #54

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

This Week: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 – 2 pm - Room 223

Theatre Workshop: Improvisation Technique

Ordinary mortals can learn a lot about communication from actor training. We worked on breathing last time. This time we will experiment with improvisation. What the actor does in a scene and what the ordinary mortal does is similar. When we communicate, we are improvising all the time. We rarely know what the exact words or gestures are going to occur when we talk to our friends. Actor training takes what we do everyday and adds a few layers to make the contrived exchange more interesting for an audience. The possibilities are endless – and entertaining as well.

Communication lessons from current events:

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you know that President-elect Obama has been announcing members of his cabinet in the last week or so. First came his transition team and chief of staff and some key assistants; then came the financial team followed this week by his foreign policy and national security team. All these announcements are well- ahead of his inauguration on January 20, 2009.

Does that sound unusual? Perhaps not, if you don’t remember what happened in previous Presidential transitions. But, judging from what Presidential historians are saying, Obama is well-ahead of schedule. Just think: We might get the impression that he knows what he’s doing. Gosh, that feels like a change after 8 years. In his press conferences, Obama rolls off the names as if he’s being doing this kind of stuff for years. Oh, yes, w e remember that he’s known as “No Drama Obama.” Calm, cool, collected, articulate, controlled, yet with his easy, flashing smile.

But, in this corner, this week Obama wrote a brand-new page in American history. No previous President has summoned the governors from the 50 states to a pre-inauguration meeting. By doing so, Obama sets the tone of the Washington/state relationship agenda. He solicits cooperation from these governors who have been historically ignored by Washington. Instantly, he gains 50 ambassadors from both parties to be partners – allies - in arriving at a united attempt to restore a common American vision. And, finally, in this tactic, Obama moves to minimize potential negativity from people who disagree with his agenda. This writer believes Obama’s meeting with the governors is a singularly brilliant political stroke. Obama establishes a communication structure never done before!

When a transparent communication structure is in place and is maintained, a President (or any leader) can promote dialogue from all quarters. This action, in turn, energizes all parties to transcend petty differences to find common ground on the avalanche of issues that face this nation – and the world. Obama expands Lincoln’s legacy of a “team of rivals” into a coordinated movement to change the direction of America.

This is the promise of what Obama has done so far. We have to wait until January 20^th to see if he can begin to walk his talk.

In the meantime - Bravo! Bravissimo! One small step for humankind!

Our upcoming schedule is:

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 - 2 pm - Room 223 - Midtown– Theatre Workshop – Improvisation Technique (see top)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 610 @ 50 West 23^rd St. - Communication Club Holiday Potluck Gathering.

The price of admission is a food offering for three people if you plan to join us. Please be aware the food must be kosher. (Call the Communication office for guidelines.) The Communication department will provide the plates, napkins, cups, beverages and utensils.

A stern word about this potluck gathering: Like everything we do in the Club, having a gathering with food is an experiment, a different test of our ability to communicate.

A potluck meal is a special occasion for breaking bread with people who share a common interest. The food you bring is to share with others. If you don’t bring an offering, you won’t have anything to share. You will be a taker, instead of a sharer. And from a Communication point of view, I don’t think you want to send the kind of message that is not representative of your best self.

The Club has no budget and the success of this first potluck party depends on people not assuming there are going to get free food. If you don’t bring food for three, please don’t plan to join us. And doesn’t everyone buy a box of Enteman cookies!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 – Debate 3 SPAR Debate – Room 223 – Midtown. After the holidays, we need to tune up our brains to prepare for finals and the new semester. For those who’ve never participated, SPAR debate stands for SPontaneous Argumentation. We learn to think on our feet, developing a line of reasoning about a silly topic.

What happened on Wednesday, December 3, 2003, at the Negotiation Workshop?

Participants included, Amina Bibi, Drani Gabu. Geovanny Leon, Charles Mason, James Milner, Lorinda Moore, Denise Santos, Carlisle Yearwood and Hal Wicke.

The 2 ½ hour session – as usual – started slowly and then turned into an exciting exchange with a surprise story at the end that turn the entire discussion inside out.

Hal put the following on the board, hoping to have some semblance of a boring discussion:

Negotiation Workshop - Purpose of negotiations is to find common ground

Questions:

1) Do you negotiate anything in your life? Examples
2) What is the usual result of your negotiations?
3) Do you know how you negotiate?
4) What tools (strategies/tactics) do you use?
5) Do you prepare for a negotiation? How?

Areas Where You Negotiate

1) Values (an internal negotiation precedes an external negotiation)
2) Product Price

3) Real Estate

4) Pre-nuptial agreements

5. Jobs – promotion, salary

6) Other?

Condition s For A Negotiation To Be Successful

1) Emotions have to be under control

2) The needs and requirements of all parties need to be acknowledged.

3) Once to negotiation is completed and agreed to, all parties abide by its conditions.

The discussion started in an academic way with definitions, but, as soon as other people joined the group. the formal class-like atmosphere was transformed into a lively series of questions, statements and sharing of experiences.

Part of the discussion centered on marital arrangements, particularly arranged marriages. The issue of love in a marriage is a relatively recently phenomenon. As we can observe by the 50% divorce rate, maybe “love” should be reconsidered as the major criterion for marriage. Ah, but that’s another discussion.

A microanalysis of a job interview occupied much attention. Strategies for composing resumes and cover letters, how to conduct yourself in an interview, the goals of both the interviewer and applicant were discussed. The question of lying and inflating your resume was explored.

Then one student revealed a powerful strategy where this student gained of first class job experience in the financial field at a first class salary for nearly a decade before being laid off recently. All without a college degree. The student shared the six years of preparation that was undertaken before applying for the first job.

Everyone was riveted and pummeled this student with countless questions. The student was calm and clear in the explanation. Survival was the motivation coupled with a determination to work at the level of this student’s competency and not below it. The student was now at Touro for personal reasons.

We were all astounded and overwhelmed by this student’s story. The story raises so many other questions as we look ourselves in the mirror. What is motivation? How does motivation focus our thinking? What is the role of motivation in our choices? How clearly do we know what to do to succeed? What can we learn from this student’s experience? Can the experience of this student be taught to others? And on and on.

The discussion was an incredible benchmark in the brief history of the Communication Club. As we explore the various aspects of Communication, we begin to discover how much we can learn from each other. If this session is any indication of future excitement, we are in for an incredible New Year!

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

Hal Wicke

Touro Communication Club Notes #53
tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

THIS WEEK: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 – Room 222 – Negotiation Workshop. Everybody negotiates but many people don’t know what it is or how to do it successfully. It’s not rocket science, but you do have to pay attention. We’ll discuss some strategies for successful negotiation.

We took a mental holiday for the past week, but that doesn’t mean that the world did not stop. The Mumbai, India, terrorist bombings grabbed most people’s attention. The financial crisis is starting to hit home. (The business of a neighbor of mine suddenly went bankrupt.) President-Elect Obama continues to make selections for his cabinet, with Senator Hillary Clinton to become Secretary of State tomorrow.

There was a fascinating program on CSPAN recording an important discussion of the 2008 Presidential election as it affects the African American community. All the speakers were passionate and articulate in their points of view on issues that a President Obama will=2 0have to face after January 20, 2009. Education topped the list followed by jobs. Several speakers commented that the Latino and Asian communities have already presented their agendas to Obama, but the African-American community has not. Many pointed to the need for leadership in the black community to make these issues come to pass.

Our upcoming schedule is:

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 2 pm Room 222 - Negotiation Workshop. We will explore how to negotiate the many issues that we face every day.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 – TBA

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 – TBA – this will be our last meeting for 2008. We’ll discuss our plans after the holidays.

Here are some testimonials which club members wrote in October:

After the theatre session on Thursday, October 2, 2008, Hal Wicke asked those present to write a short testimonial on their experiences with being part of the Communication Club. Here are their responses.

Olushile Akintade
We have been doing SPAR debates that have challenged our minds and mounted enormous pressure on our routine thoughts. These debates have improved how fast we can organize on the spot relay our thoughts in an understandable way. I have begun putting my ideas and thoughts into an order and communicate the way I can.

By the end of the meeting today, Professor Catherine [Gaffigan] helped us to learn to breathe deeply. I realized that the “solar plexus exercise” gave me a sense of control over and released the tension built up all day from extraneous activities. This exercise will definitely help to articulate myself and control my vocals while singing

Drani Gabu
The Debate and Communication Club has made me think critically before supporting any topic on the floor. It is one of the clubs in college, I suppose, will help me or any other student to entertain abstract ideas and advance them by argument.

Steve Gradman
The Communication Club is a good place to pick up new communication skills such as debating, acting and develop your listening skills. It’s a good place to meet interesting and positive people who come the sharpen their skills.

Lorinda Moore
Today’s theatre experience was a refresher on the capabilities the I possess within my own mental, physical, emotional network. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the power within and how capable or adequately equipped we are to overcome outside influences or obstructions to our inner peace.

The Debate Club has helped me learn to address different views while expressing my own in a respectful manner. It has sharpened my communicating of my feelings and perceptions.

James Millner
I enjoyed today’s theatre club meeting. We discussed some great writer. We did breathing exercises. We also learned that it will be a long way before we actually put on a skit. I think this program would be an excellent addition to the other communication club meetings.

Marcus Vayandor
Experience vs. knowledge
Experience and knowledge

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

Hal Wicke