NOTE: This piece was written before the U.S. presidential election of 2016, which dropped the bar for political discourse below zero. It’s a reminder of kinder, gentler communications times. *** If you’re sick of “political speech” that sounds like it’s coming from first graders, you’ll understand how glad I was to see Jerry Mouch’s masterful missive to the United States Congress’s Read More
The World We Speak In
Public Speaking Tip 52: Be an Entitled Public Speaker, Whatever Social Class You Come From
Is There Social Class in America? Hell, Yeah! When I was growing up, America’s white middle class was the envy of the world. We had good educations (free), great jobs (with health care and pensions), and respect. The government built highways for our new cars, regulated the banks, and even subsidized home purchases (with the Read More
For Great Public Speaking, You Need a Ground Game
What with Hurricane Sandy and the 2012 elections, it’s been a rough few weeks here in the northeast. Sandy and the elections have put “ground games” in the news—and, like hurricane responders and presidential candidates—public speakers need a good “ground game,” too. Here’s why. The Ground Game of Presidential Politics In her pre-election article Obama’s Edge: Read More
New Jersey Got Help with Hurricane Sandy Because Chris Christie Didn’t Burn Bridges
The Temptation to Burn Bridges In my younger years, I was inclined to burn bridges. If I didn’t like how someone treated me, I just walked away from them— completely away! And I didn’t come back for a long, long time, if ever. This didn’t work well for me, and it wouldn’t have worked well Read More
Cross-Cultural Communication: How I Rescued the Chinese Baby
Last Thursday was a gorgeous day in New York: cool breezes, a little hint of fall in the air. So I went out for a food and cultural walking tour of the Lower East Side with awesome tour guide Ray McGaughey. Walking from the subway to the meeting point in Chinatown, I passed by Sara Read More