Reading Aloud

If ever you are asked to read aloud there are three things you have to do:

1. Read the words
2. Read the punctuation
3. Read between the lines.

It may seem obvious to say that you have to read the words but is that what the audience is hearing? Don't whisper, don't gabble. You may feel that your objective is just to get through it as quickly as possible but no, your objective is to communicate with the audience. There is such a thing as speaking too slowly so don't over compensate – just try to speak at a reasonable pace.

The words only tell us what to say, the punctuation tells us how to say it.  There should be a slight pause at the end of a sentence or when you encounter a comma. You might use a longer pause when you encounter a semicolon, colon or dash. If nothing else, pauses give you a chance to take a breath.

When you encounter quotation marks your tone of voice should indicate the change from narrative to quotation.

In normal speech we tend to use an upward inflection at the end of a sentence when we ask a question. So if you encounter a question mark you should inflect your voice in the same way (note: in some dialects of English an upward inflection is part of normal speech).

An exclamation mark is the most obvious indicator that emphasis should be applied but if you read between the lines and try to imagine how it should be said. Which parts should be louder or softer? How can your tone of voice replicate the tone of the piece you are reading?

When reading poetry you have to capture the rhythm of the poem but prose can have rhythms as well. Modulate your voice and avoid monotone. Your audience will appreciate it.

Presentations: Best Practice

Last night I was at a meeting of a professional body. The speaker gave a presentation using an overhead projector linked to a PC.

The speaker was clearly confident in giving presentations to his peer group. The overheads were mainly black text on white. He proceeded at a rapid pace. One overhead might have a heading and a line of text, the next another point under the same heading.

Half way through the presentation he said "You don't need to take notes, the slides will be available on the website".

At one point he looked at the screen and said "I didn't mean to concentrate so much on ***".

After the meeting, I heard a few people say "A lot of that went straight over my head".

What do you think the speaker could have done to improve the presentation?

A Simple Guide to Newsletters in Word

POWERwrite

Online, On Paper or Both?

Are people going to be reading your newsletter on a computer screen?  If so any web addresses should be hyperlinks i.e. the reader should be able to click on a link to be taken to the web address. If it is to be printed you may want the number of pages to be a multiple of four especially if it is to be professionally printed. One sheet of A3 can accommodate four A4 pages (this is the advantage of the ISO system of paper sizes over the ANSI standard used in North America).

Tick TOC

If you want to use a table of contents insert a TOC field. It will make life much easier for you. Why? because the table of contents is updated Automatically. By default the TOC entries will be based on the heading styles so make sure that you use the correct heading rather than arbitrarily changing the size and weight of the font to match a heading. The page number will be a hyperlink to the item and you can add the \h option to make the entire entry a hyperlink (this is the default in newer versions of Word).

As an alternative to mapping the TOC to headings you can set the \f option to use TC fields.  This means that you insert a TC field before any item that you wish to appear in the table of contents.

Add Your Own Style

You may wish to add a style for a particular purpose for example a byline style might use right-justified paragraphs and bold text to display the author of an item.

Columns

Columns can complicate the layout of your newsletter but you may prefer this style of presentation. Use section breaks to separate collimated parts of the newsletter from non-collimated parts.

At the Drop of a Cap

If you leaf through a magazine you will notice that the first paragraph of an article and possibly some of the other paragraphs start with a large capital letter. This is a dropped capital or "drop cap". In word you can format the first letter of a paragraph as a drop cap. Do not use it on every paragraph and especially avoid it on short paragraphs. You might want to use drop caps as a way to break an article into sections.

Pull Quote

That eye-catching quote in your magazine highlighted in large print is known as a pull quote. You can add a pull quote in Word by inserting a text box and choosing a large font style. Format the text box to allow text to flow around it.

Format Painter

If you incorporate a submitted article into a newsletter you can use the format painter to copy the paragraph style from elsewhere in the document. The format painter is a brush found on the home ribbon or standard toolbar.  Select a piece of formatted text and then click on format painter. Select the text to be formatted and when you release the mouse button the format is applied. If you want to apply the format to several places you can use a double click to activate the format painter. It then stays active until you press the escape key.

An alternative to format painter is to use Ctrl-Shift-C to copy the formatting and Ctrl-Shift-V to paste formatting to other places.

Take care with formatting paragraphs containing hyperlinks. The hyperlinks will still be active but will have the appearance of the surrounding text.

Compatibility Issues

Somebody’s just got a brand new shiny computer and suddenly you cannot swap files. What’s wrong? The chances are that the recipient is using an earlier version of Word. If you are the sender you can fix the problem by ensuring that you send files in Word 97-2003 document format (Instead of “Save” choose “Save As” from the file tab and find said format in the pull-down list for “Save as type”). If you are the recipient of a “docx” file and your version of Word can only load “doc” files, do not despair; you can download a compatibility pack from https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/open-a-word-2007-document-in-an-earlier-version-of-word-HA010044473.aspx

Pictures

Insert your picture and experiment with the different formatting options until you are satisfied that it is presented the way you want it.

The Devil

… is in the detail so they say and the detail will depend on the version of Word you are using. Use what I have said above in conjunction with the help system to add a little sparkle to your newsletters.

Persuasive Speaking Part 3 - Charm and Hex Words

To understand persuasive speaking you have to understand the power of words. If an advertisement for a food product claims it is “full of natural goodness” they are trying to make you believe the product is wholesome. The phrase is meaningless but it circumvents laws against making demonstrably false claims.

Words can have emotional resonance that strikes deeper than rational argument. When a tabloid journalist talks about “Frankenstein food” he or she is trying to stir up revulsion at the idea of “tampering with nature”.

Words like pure, natural and hygienic are what I call charm words. Words like artificial, synthetic and “germy” are what I call hex words. The former have a positive connotation, the latter a negative one.

A vitamin made by artificial means is no different to the same vitamin from a natural source. Is it meaningful to describe a soap dispenser as “germy” if it harbours a few hundred bacteria? If it harboured a few thousand the advertisers might have a point.

In a TV studio discussion programme they were talking about whether obese pregnant women should be given a drug hitherto given to diabetics (including pregnant diabetic women) in order to prevent the foetus from receiving too much insulin. One of the panel said that if she were pregnant she would want to make sure that anything she took was “pure”. Pure what? Pure poison?

When I hear words like “chemical” being used a hex word I take it with a pinch of sodium chloride (that’s a chemical commonly known as salt by the way). If you want to avoid chemicals, avoid the sugar and spice and go for the healthy protein of the rats and snails.

To recap, in Part 2 I explained that an Adult-Adult transaction at a social level can also be an Adult-Child transaction at a psychological level. As a persuasive tactic you can appeal to the Child in us through charm words, words that make us feel safe and comfortable or you can use hex words to frighten the Child (scary monsters – hide behind the sofa).

In debating think about the use of words and the resonances that certain words have. Don’t forget about humour. sometimes the charm words that work best tickle the Child.

Persuasive Speaking Part 2 - Transactional Analysis

In his book, Games People Play, Dr. Eric Berne described ego states as being “a system of feelings accompanied by a related set of behaviour patterns”. He tells us that ego states are categorised as exteropsychic, neopsychic or archaeopsychic. The first resemble ego states of parental figures; the second are autonomously directed towards the objective appraisal of reality and the third are ego states that remain from early childhood.

The expression of the three kinds of ego state may be referred to colloquially as the Parent, Adult and Child respectively.

Berne defines a transaction as a unit of social intercourse. Parents indulge in gossip. Adults solve problems together. Children or Parent and Child play together. These are known as Complementary Transactions. However a Crossed Transaction occurs when one party addresses the other as Adult-to-Adult and the other party responds as Child-to-Parent or Parent-to-Child.

What does any of this have to do with persuasive speaking? In Part 1 I talked about Aristotle’s three types of persuasion. Ethos (moral character of the speaker) is an appeal to the Parent, Logos (reasoned argument) is an appeal to the Adult and Pathos (an emotional appeal) is an appeal to the Child.

Berne points out that transactions involving the activity of two ego states simultaneously (Ulterior Transactions) are the basis of games (games are complex social behaviours with their own rules not necessarily games in the literal sense). He cites the following example:

Salesman: ‘This one is better, but you can’t afford it.’
Housewife: ‘That’s the one I’ll take.’

On a social level the transaction is Adult-Adult but on a psychological level the salesman’s Adult is addressing the Housewife’s Child. Notice that there are two sets of Complementary Transactions here. Berne states that “the first rule of communication is that communication will proceed smoothly as long as transactions are complementary; and its corollary is that as long as transactions are complementary, communication can, in principle, proceed indefinitely.”

Perhaps now you can see why the emotional appeal is particularly powerful. In Part 3 I’ll examine the use of language in persuasion and how we are easily persuaded using words with a positive connotation (charm words) or those with a negative connotation (hex words).

Persuasive Speaking Part 1 - Aristotle's Rhetoric

The Greek Philosopher Aristotle defined rhetoric as “the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion”. Aristotle’s Rhetoric was a very influential work in the development of the art and now, millennia after it was written, it is still regarded as an important work in the academic study of rhetoric.

Aristotle identified three types of persuasion that a speaker can use:-

• Ethos: Persuasion based on the moral character of the speaker,
• Logos: Persuasion based on logical argument,
• Pathos: Persuasion based on emotional appeal.

By far the most powerful persuader is pathos. If you want to win people over trying to appeal to reason can be difficult as can relying on your reputation – would I lie to you? Emotion will trump these almost every time.

Thought for the Day

Friendship and learning enriches our lives and make us better human beings. So make sure that you learn the right things and make friends with the right kind of people.

Kelly Sagar.

How to Create an Impromptu Presentation

According to Mark Twain it usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech. Most of us however when called on at short notice to give a brief presentation in a meeting (for example) probably don’t even have the luxury of 5 minutes preparation time – let alone 3 weeks! So how can you still deliver a reasonably successful presentation if you’ve got about ZERO Preparation time?

Presentation Structure is the Key

In a situation like this, you need to have some form of standard structures in your head that you can call upon at very short notice.

One example structure that you can use quickly (if it’s relevant) is:-

1. What’s the issue
2. How is it affecting things?
3. And what is being done about it?

Using the Power of Three – so 3 main points and then if needed break down each of the points into 3.

Chronological Structures

Another structure you can use for impromptu presentations is:-

1. Past
2. Present
3. Future

 Another similar structure is based on:-

1. What was it like before?
2. What was the event?
3. What’s the result now?

 The Three 'W's Structure

1. What?
2. Which?
3. Who?

e.g.  Buying a car: What sort should I buy? Which brand should I purchase? From Whom should I buy it?

More Conventional Structure 

• Introduction
• Main Body
• Point 1 – with 3 sub points in support
• Point 2 –  with 3 sub points in support
• Point 3 – with 3 sub points in support
• Conclusion and call to action if relevant

Conclusions
As with most things the more you practise something the better you can become at it. And impromptu speaking is no exception!

Give yourself some topics to speak on and then allow 2-3 minutes of preparation for each one. Then try presenting on each of about 5 minutes. Learn as you go get someone to watch you and give you feedback on how it went. Try it in your POWERtalk club!

Not a member yet?  See the links to clubs in the right-hand panel or ask about starting a club in your area.

Stella Sneddon

Communication and Success

The quality of your life is the quality of your communication.

This means the way you communicate with others and, more importantly, the way you communicate with yourself.

What you focus on is what you get. If you look for the positive this is what you get.

This is a fundamental law of Nature.

The Top 200 Secrets of Success and the Pillars of Self-Mastery

Robin S. Sharma

D, E and F

Focus on learning by doing.Debates and panel discussions.
Division VPs - great champions.









Effective evaluations - a fantastic encouragement.POWERtalking e-magazine - very professional.Extension manual & starter kit - great help in starting a new club.









Lifelong friendships made - "need I say more"
Fellows of ITC - la creme de la creme

Top 20 Figures of Speech

Alliteration Repetition of an initial consonant sound

Anaphora Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verse.

Antithesis The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

Assonance Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighbouring words.

Chiasmus A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first, but with the parts reversed.

Euphemism The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

Hyperbole An extravagant statement, the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.

Irony The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement of situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance of presentation of the idea.

Litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is
expressed by negating its opposite.

Metaphor. An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.

Metonyomy. A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.

Onomatopoeia. The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects of actions they refer to.

Oxymoron. A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

Paradox. A statement that appears to contradict itself.

Personification A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

Pun. A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar senses or sound of different words.

Simile A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.

Synecdoche. A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole .

Understatement. A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

INTRODUCING AND THANKING A SPEAKER

1. Check that

• The microphone and other electrical equipment is working
• water is available for the speaker
• the lectern is the right height for the speaker
• You have enough background information.

2. Make the Speaker Welcome

• Meet the Speaker at the entrance.
• Ask if there is anything he/he requires.
• Show the speaker to his/her seat.

3. Preparation.

• Prepare your introduction and thanks beforehand.
• Write key words on a cue card.

4. Avoid.

• Cliches
• Repeating yourself - remember to use your notes.

5. Use this Formula.

• Why this subject?
• Why this subject subject for this audience?
• Why this subject for this audience at this time?

6. Don't

• Exaggerate the speaker's qualifications
• Read a lengthy curriculum vitae or biography
• Say how wonderful the speech will be
• Steal the spotlight

7. Do

• Speak to the audience not the speaker
• Be brief - never longer than two minutes
• Be genuine and sincere
• Smile and relax

8. Facilitating questions

• listen carefully to the question
• Repeat it clearly for the benefit of both speaker and the audience
• Unobtrusively guide speaker to audience members signalling to ask a question.

9. Thanking the Speaker

• Say what you enjoyed about the presentation
• Don't simply repeat the main points of the presentation
• Speak to the speaker and the audience.

10. Most Importantly

• Be sincere
• Be brief
• Be seated!