David Rose in a TED talk on pitching to venture capitalists like him. The whole thing is worth watching, but you can start at the five- minute mark if you want to save some time (h/t Billy Rex):
Here is another commercial using rhetorical questions. Which one is it?
Chiasmus of the Day
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." Albert Einstein
Here's the link to
the Alec Baldwin AIDA speech form Glengarry Glenross
***
Remote Area Medical is
not the Dr. Hotz Model for delivering healthcare to people who can't afford
it, but it gives you an idea why something like it is needed, and not just
in southern Georgia. From Sixty Minutes.
Here's another
link with information about Remote Area Medical.
***
Quote of the Day
"Centrism in accommodation
of nihilism is no virtue." Blog Commenter.
One way to make your messages
more memorable is to take cliches and famous quotes and flip or twist them.
This quote is clever because it takes a famous quote by Barry Goldwater
and fllips it. Goldwater's quote:
"Extremism in the
defense of liberty is no vice."
An example of cleverly
taking a cliche or adage and flipping it is the famous quip by Dorothy
Parker:
The adage: You can lead
a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
Parker's quip: You can
lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.
(There's also the pun:
horticulture = 'whore to culture'.)
***
For you accountants who
think you might want to consider another career after getting your midterm
grade, take some advice from the vocatonal guidance folks at Monty Python:
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Take what this guy says
to heart. It's not just about bosses; it's about the way you run your groups:
Friday, October 12, 2012
Michael wins by changing
the subject:
Quote of the Day:
“This lamentably
common use of comprise as a synonym for compose or constitute is a wanton
and indefensible weakening of our vocabulary.”--H.W. Fowler
***
Usage Tip: Compound
Adjectives
A compound adjective is
an adjective that comprises more than one word. Usually, hyphens are used
to link the words together to show that it is one adjective.
Examples:
Please request a four-foot
table.
It is a 6-page document.
Her fifteen-minute presentation
proved decisive to the outcome of the case.
Claire worked as a part-time
keeper at the safari park.
That is an all-too-common
mistake.
The student decided
to attend a school with a good legal-research-and-writing program.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity
Well-written paper,
ok; badly-written paper, not ok. No hyphens after 'ly' adverbs.
As we'll see in future classes, advertizers use rhetorical technique all the time. Here's an example fo the 'anadiplosis' we discussed in Week 3:
More Usage Tips
More on Semicolons:
Use a semicolon between independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb
(e.g., nevertheless, however).
INCORRECT:
They browsed carefully
through reference, however, no clear answer appeared.
Heroes have fallen on
hard times; for instance, the men of Dale.
CORRECT:
Spelling bees were her
specialty; nevertheless, she failed to spell “urbiculture” correctly.
J. M. Barrie is most
famous as the author of Peter Pan; however, I prefer his ghost story "Farewell
Miss Julie Logan".
Life is long; the work
of a scholar, however, is never done.
Why is the however in
the first senctence correctly preceded by a comma and not a semicolon?
Life is long; the work
of a scholar, however, is never done.
Why is preceding the however
with a comma in this sentence incorrect?
They browsed carefully
through reference, however, no clear answer appeared.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Daniel Pink on Motivation: Is it all about the money, or is it about making a difference?
****
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Hilda Black Tips
Hilda was a client in
the past, but she chose not to use your tax prep services this year. She
tried to save money by preparing her taxes herself.
You have the conversation
in question recorded, so there is no dispute about what actually was discussed
in the phone conversation in April.
A tax-deferred account
is one in which income can be sheltered until retirement. If you put $2000
in an IRA, for instance, you don't pay any tax on that amount in the year
that you shelter it. But you will pay a tax when you withdraw it when you retire. You don't
pay, though, if you move it into another similar shelter.
You need to find a proactive
approach. Don't be defensive or reactive.
Your grade on this assignment
will depend more on the effectiveness of your sentences. Show me you've
learned something from our discussion of sentences in class.
***
Best way to keep problematic
words correctly in mind is to memorize model sentences like the ones listed below to use as a template.
The dog often lies here
by the fire.
The dog is lying by
the fire.
The dog lay by the fire
for over two hours.
The dog has lain by
the fire since breakfast.
The counselor's advice
affected my thinking about dropping out of school.
The CEO effected significant
changes in budgetary policy within a week of taking office.
His chewing me out had
quite a negative effect on my motivation.
I don't like your affect,
you ill-tempered, surly grump.
The team comprises fifteen
members.
Fifteen members compose
(not comprise) the team.
The team is composed
of (not comprised of) fifteen members.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Figures of the Day
Anadiplosis: using the AB, BC, CD structure to lead to a compelling punchline idea. Used by Otter in the student court scene from Animal House. Another example:
Watch your thoughts, they
become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
Hypophora: a rhetorical question that is immediately anwered by the speaker:
Is this any way to run and airline? You bet it is.
From what I can tell, the trends that led Romney to do well in this debate are macro. Obama is not a bad debater, and he was not underprepared. Both Romney and Obama are executing their messaging strategy, it’s just that Romney’s worked, and Obama’s didn’t. Romney is pointing to the bad economy, and Obama is staying likeable and above the fray. Romney and his team believe that they can simply point to a failed economic strategy by the administration, and voters will fire Obama. Obama and his team think that Obama is viewed as a warm person, and they want to emphasize that he can relate to Americans in a way that Romney can’t.
if I knew nothing about the candidates and this was my first exposure to the campaign, I’d think this Romney fellow has a detailed tax plan, wants to defend the middle class and poor, and will take care of people who can’t find health insurance.
Problem is, this isn’t my first exposure to the campaign.
Analysis Hints:
Use the Problems, Goals, Audience format I put up on the board and just
fill in the blanks.
When you are trying
to define the issues, look at them in this case as being arranged concentrically,
with some issues more at the periphery influencing the most important
issue in the center.
When defining objectives
think about them in two categories: reactive--what you have to do at
a minimum to put out the metaphorical fires--and proactive--what possibilities
are there to go beyond the status quo ante.
When defining the audience,
the most important element is to define the need, because what you choose
to include in your summary should be determined by its usefulness in
meeting your boss's need.
Outline hints: You
need to have at least two major subtopic headings structuring the body
of your outline. These subtopics should be equal in importance. The biggest
challenge in this part of the assignment is envision how you will make
this document into a useful tool. I'll have more to say about that on Tuesday.
Remember, your goal in
this assignment is to create a document that will be more useful or helpful
for your boss than the original article.
***
One of the great American commonplaces is that America is the land of opportunity and social mobility. Is that really true? Here's what Nobel Prize winner in economics Joseph Stiglitz says about it in a Salon interview. Substitute the word "commonplace" where LP says "myth".
LP: There’s a persistent myth that America is still the “land of opportunity.” Why is that myth so prevalent, even in the face of so much evidence to the contrary?
JS: Well, there are two reasons for this. One of them is that the myth is so much part of our sense of identity as Americans that it is devastating for us to give it up — for us to say we are less of a land of opportunity than old ossified Europe. It was one of the things we were most proud of, and clearly, it’s not true. When you have something that’s so inconsistent with your self image, it’s really, really hard to face the facts.
The second reason has to do with the nature of evidence. Everybody knows examples of people who make it from the bottom or the middle-bottom to the top. And our press talks about them. The media calls attention to the successes. But when they call attention to successes they don’t say this is one of a million or one of a thousand. In fact, the reason they write about it is because they are so unusual. If most people did it, it wouldn’t be an unusual story. So, in a sense that’s how our media works. It encourages us to think of the exceptions as the norm.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Can you find the mistake?
It's certainly possible that there was some other motivation--there
is such a thing as palace intrigue--but for the most part it's safer
to assume that in a crisis a president isn't going to appoint someone whom
he thinks is making things worse.
Is this sentence correct?
In the season 2 opener, a convalescing Carrie and Congressman Brody must reckon with who they really are.
Me,
Myself, and I. "Don't say myself if you mean me or I. Me
is a perfectly good and acceptable word. I think myself is misused so
often because as people are speaking, they become uncertain about whether
the word they want to use is me or I. They retreat into myself because
they think that's correct in every circumstance." Read
more.
I am writing in response to your August 15 email
questioning the $108.00 in overdraft fees charged against your account.
Upon receiving your email we investigated and learned that a miscommunication between you and the United Oregon Bank led to the automatic imposition of
this fee.
In your email, you mentioned that you had instructed
the United Oregon Bank to transfer $45,000 to your account
here on August 1. It did not, however, make the transfer until August
10--which explains why on August 8 we charged your account for the overdraft.
We value your account with us, Mr. Goodwin. You have been
one of our most reliable and valued customers, and we understand that
miscommunications like this happen from time to time. On this occasion
we are happy to refund to you the $108. But please contact United Oregon
to be sure that they send future transfers on the date you specify.
Perhaps an overdraft line of credit would be appropriate
if you anticipate this kind of miscommunication in the future. You might
also consider consolidating your accounts in such a way as to make these
transfers unnecessary.We’ll have one of our personal bankers contact
you in the next week to see if we can help you to meet your banking needs
in a more streamlined way.
Sincerely,
Note that this revision makes the misunderstanding issue the "crux", and adds a proactive dimension by seeking to flip the problem into an opportunity and move with Mr. Goodwin beyond the status quo ante.
Wednesday, September 26,
2012
Read for Discussion on Tuesday: "The Righteous Mind", by Jon Haidt. This is required reading.
Words of the Day
Commonplace:
accepted values of a community summarized in adages, and cliches. "The
children are our future." "Freedom isn't free." "Everyone
has a right to choose." "I'm living the American dream."
Amplification: Word pile on: “Entertaining, thrilling, completely addictive, and
a little scary.”Adding detail after detail to make your case, and
when the audience thinks you're done, you say, "And that's not all--I'm
just beginning to tell you how wonderful X is.
Tactical Concession:
Instead of challenging your opponent's facts or assumptions, you concede
that he is right. This has a disarming effect, and makes him feel that
he has been heard and is well understood. You then either change the subject
or use those facts or assumptions as the foundation for the argument you
want to make. Good example: In Up in the Air, the Clooney character
concedes that his brother-in-law-to-be is right about marriage being pointless.
He changes the subject to focus on the real issue, which is whether he
wants a future in which he is alone and scared. He changes the tense. This
is how you felt last night when you were lonely; How do you want to feel
tomorrow and the next day and the next?
Chiasmus:
A figure of speech that structures elements cleverly in an ABBA pattern.
You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country
out of the boy. Boy = A; Country = B.
Anthithesis (syncrisis is a type of antithesis):
Figure of speech that compares opposites."Not that, but this." It
can be used to redefine terms, change the subject, or reframe the discussion
on terms more favorable to your argument: "It's not manipulation;
it's instruction." "It isn't just a matter of faith; it's a matter
of science." Also: "We support the victory; they decry the cost."
Prolepsis:
Anticipating your opponent's counterargument: "Some will say . . .,
but I say . . ." In the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front," a
militaristic German schoolteacher tells a class of boys, "Perhaps
some will say that you should not be allowed to go yet - that you have
homes, mothers, fathers, that you should not be torn away by your fathers
so forgetful of their fatherland...by your mothers so weak that they cannot
send a son to defend the land which gave them birth."
Welcome to Business
Communications for Fall Quarter 2012.
I'll be using this space as the quarter progresses
to summarize and amplify points that
I make in class with verbal commentary, video,
and other supplementary materials. Check in at least once a week
to make sure you're up to speed.
It will probably
take me until next week to
get all the relevant links updated, but the ones that are live now
if
you
want
to get
a feel
for the resources available here.
The
assignment links will be activated the class day I introduce the
assignment. Even
if you miss class, you should know what the assignment is.