Never use weasel words to back up from a position that you have taken in any of your presentations. Take a position and then provide clear and convincing, persuasive reasons for your beliefs. Don't use these weasel words out of fear of offending somebody. Or just don't say anything on that issue at all.
Justin Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, recently fell into this "weasel word" tactic, apparently fearful of offending some people, although when you read the newspaper column where columnistNaomi Lakritz describes this incident it's obvious the word he said he would have chosen would not describe his real feelings on the issue of "honour killings".
He publicly objected to the use of"barbaric" in a Canadian citizenship guide to describe Canada's stance on honour killing and other violence against women.
He said that term should have been changed to "unacceptable" or words to that effect instead of the term "barbaric practice" published in the guide.
The writer or writers and editor or editors of this guide were dead-on in their use of "barbaric". There is no gentler way to describe this custom and Trudeau should have realized that. Ironically his Father, a man who never minced his words would not likely have tried to appease others like this for no reason.
Copy the example of the writers and editors of the new Canadian citizenship guide in your presentations. Avoid "weasel words" that retreat from your true position on issues. Just make sure you can justify the words and expressions you do use.
Also copy the example of Elizabeth Taylor, who during her lifetime not only became one of the greatest of movie stars through the roles she played but also had the courage to stand up for what she believed in -- such as her efforts to help AIDS sufferers when most of friends were turning their backs on them -- and her.
Her efforts and presentations to persuade more and better care for them -- many of whom became victims of AIDS through no fault of their own -- helped many of these persons to find better care.
The point I am trying to make with all of this of course is to have the courage to stand up for your beliefs and present your ideas clearly and with conviction -- and not resort to weasel words.
For a fuller discussion of this issue see Naomi Lakritz' column in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, March 19, 2011. Click on: vancouversun.com. Lakritz wries for the Postmedia News
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Learn From Bible Presenters.
Different Biblical characters made good use of powerful evidence in order to prove themselves to others -- from Jehovah God himself to Moses and finally Jehovah's Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Going back to earliest parts of human history the use of water featured in many of their activities such as the Flood Jehovah God used to destroy a world during Noah's day that had become filled with violence and immorality. He left little doubt in the minds of the flood survivors and later readers of the account that he was a God who would not forever tolerate wickedness and was a God who lived up to what he said
It was so overwhelming in its scope and power that many different races have captured the story of this flood in their culture down to this day. And further evidence of its occurence comes to us in the remains of land creatures dug up -- in many cases almost intact with food still in their mouths -- by archaeologists and other explorers often looking for new sources of fossil fuels.
Other dramatic uses of powerful examples to prove the truthfulness of what they claimed included the time that Moses turned the Nile River into blood in his efforts to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt described for in in Exodus 4: 1-9.
And then there is the stuff of Hollywood movies when on instruction from God Moses held out his rod the second time after all of the Israelites had safely crossed the Nile during their flight from Egyptian slavery . As soon as he did this the water abruptly started swirling over the Egyptian riders and drowning Pharaoh's entire army.
Later on Jesus Christ also made good use of irrefutable evidence to prove that was the Son of God first by turning water into wine during a wedding feast providing the wedding guests with an additional 6 clay water jars full of fresh wine, later by walking on the surface of the Sea of Galilee out to his disciples who thought at first that he was an apparition, as described at John 2: 1-1, 1and still later by calming the stormy Sea of Galilea by ordering the wind and the waves" to die down causing a great calm to set in over the sea enabling his apostles' fishing boat to make it safely to the other side
Of course Jesus also performed other miracles such as the healing of the sick and even the resurrection of the dead and all of this left little doubt in the mind of Apostles and others that he indeed was the promised Messiah and all of these instances are excellent examples of the effective presentation of ideas.
We could go on and on with this for the Bible is full of such stuff but you get the idea: Prove yourself with good solid evidence in your presentations and even follow that up with actions (as in the case of the Flood) that you are going to do what you say in some cases.
Of course you are never going to be anything so dramatic as illustrated by these Biblical accounts but they are excellent reminders of the need for good supporting material for what you say and do.
Going back to earliest parts of human history the use of water featured in many of their activities such as the Flood Jehovah God used to destroy a world during Noah's day that had become filled with violence and immorality. He left little doubt in the minds of the flood survivors and later readers of the account that he was a God who would not forever tolerate wickedness and was a God who lived up to what he said
It was so overwhelming in its scope and power that many different races have captured the story of this flood in their culture down to this day. And further evidence of its occurence comes to us in the remains of land creatures dug up -- in many cases almost intact with food still in their mouths -- by archaeologists and other explorers often looking for new sources of fossil fuels.
Other dramatic uses of powerful examples to prove the truthfulness of what they claimed included the time that Moses turned the Nile River into blood in his efforts to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt described for in in Exodus 4: 1-9.
And then there is the stuff of Hollywood movies when on instruction from God Moses held out his rod the second time after all of the Israelites had safely crossed the Nile during their flight from Egyptian slavery . As soon as he did this the water abruptly started swirling over the Egyptian riders and drowning Pharaoh's entire army.
Later on Jesus Christ also made good use of irrefutable evidence to prove that was the Son of God first by turning water into wine during a wedding feast providing the wedding guests with an additional 6 clay water jars full of fresh wine, later by walking on the surface of the Sea of Galilee out to his disciples who thought at first that he was an apparition, as described at John 2: 1-1, 1and still later by calming the stormy Sea of Galilea by ordering the wind and the waves" to die down causing a great calm to set in over the sea enabling his apostles' fishing boat to make it safely to the other side
Of course Jesus also performed other miracles such as the healing of the sick and even the resurrection of the dead and all of this left little doubt in the mind of Apostles and others that he indeed was the promised Messiah and all of these instances are excellent examples of the effective presentation of ideas.
We could go on and on with this for the Bible is full of such stuff but you get the idea: Prove yourself with good solid evidence in your presentations and even follow that up with actions (as in the case of the Flood) that you are going to do what you say in some cases.
Of course you are never going to be anything so dramatic as illustrated by these Biblical accounts but they are excellent reminders of the need for good supporting material for what you say and do.
Make a Game of Pronouncing Words
Presentation Idea
One of the best ways to make your presentation memorable and easy to listen to is to make sure that your speak clearly.
Practice this skills regularly whenever you are alone and have a few minutes; you can ever do it in your vehicle while waiting for an appointment or another person if have have tinted windows or a portable recorder that you can read into if you don't want passerby to think your're a bit dafter talking to yourself.
The trick is to selected a piece of reading that you are either very familiar with or find very interesting (even something that you are trying to commit to memory) and practice reading it out loud over and over with a different, different pausing, different volume, different tone, and different syllable stress each time.
My father, a successful playwrite and actor before the Second World War who gave a command performance before King George the VI used this technique before a performance all the time according to my mother.
I try to do this with presentations or readings and found that it does help to make your voice much more flexible and clearer --able to create word pictures that inform and move your listeners
If you don't already do this why not try it? I'm sure you will find that it really helps you in your goal towards constant voice improvement.
An Idea to Play With
Out here in what they call the Inside Passage, which separates mainland British Columbia from outer islands there used to be a nortorious rock mariners called Race Rock which created such vicious whirpools and currents during changing of tides.
Until engineers finally planted explosive at the base of the rock and blew it created those huge, powerful whirlpools that sucked in or damaged many vessels of all sizes. The only way to safely navigate around this rock was to pass when the tide was not running as captains also had to navigate around other underwater hazards in the waterway as well as the whirlpool itself. This of course required either the help of a ship pilot who was familiar with when it was safe to pass or to follow tidal table and waterway charts yourself. Very carefully! It could be done
exercise: Play with this idea and see how you can use it to illustrate a point in a presentation. Could these charts be compared to advice or warnings that could save businessmen from shipwreck in business or other situations? Can you think of any other ways this "Race Rock" illustration could be used to illustrate material? What could the tidal charts be compared to? What about the ship pilots?
One of the best ways to make your presentation memorable and easy to listen to is to make sure that your speak clearly.
Practice this skills regularly whenever you are alone and have a few minutes; you can ever do it in your vehicle while waiting for an appointment or another person if have have tinted windows or a portable recorder that you can read into if you don't want passerby to think your're a bit dafter talking to yourself.
The trick is to selected a piece of reading that you are either very familiar with or find very interesting (even something that you are trying to commit to memory) and practice reading it out loud over and over with a different, different pausing, different volume, different tone, and different syllable stress each time.
My father, a successful playwrite and actor before the Second World War who gave a command performance before King George the VI used this technique before a performance all the time according to my mother.
I try to do this with presentations or readings and found that it does help to make your voice much more flexible and clearer --able to create word pictures that inform and move your listeners
If you don't already do this why not try it? I'm sure you will find that it really helps you in your goal towards constant voice improvement.
An Idea to Play With
Out here in what they call the Inside Passage, which separates mainland British Columbia from outer islands there used to be a nortorious rock mariners called Race Rock which created such vicious whirpools and currents during changing of tides.
Until engineers finally planted explosive at the base of the rock and blew it created those huge, powerful whirlpools that sucked in or damaged many vessels of all sizes. The only way to safely navigate around this rock was to pass when the tide was not running as captains also had to navigate around other underwater hazards in the waterway as well as the whirlpool itself. This of course required either the help of a ship pilot who was familiar with when it was safe to pass or to follow tidal table and waterway charts yourself. Very carefully! It could be done
exercise: Play with this idea and see how you can use it to illustrate a point in a presentation. Could these charts be compared to advice or warnings that could save businessmen from shipwreck in business or other situations? Can you think of any other ways this "Race Rock" illustration could be used to illustrate material? What could the tidal charts be compared to? What about the ship pilots?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Illustrations Are All Around
Illustrations for speeches and presentations are all around us; I'll include some of these as I get a chance.
The first of these has to do with a new bridge they are building out our way next to the old Port Mann Bridge crossing the Fraser River between Surrey, and Coquitlam B.C., (both suburbs of Vancouver -- but don't tell anybody I said that because Surrey especially.considers itself an independent city it self -- soon to outshine Vancouver itself.
Anyway. the new bridge is being built beside the existing structure with the help of climbing cranes that I have never seen reach such heights before. And while driving past them one day the thought that occured to me is, "The men or women operating these cranes are an excellent example of faith -- which of course is not based on blind trust, but, the assured expectations of things hoped for -- that is facts."
And of course the crane workers are a perfect illustration of that. With anything buildt by man I guess the emphasis is a little on the side of "things hoped for" but from past experience and their knowledge of the crane's structure and performance they know what to expect. Their faith is built on solid evidence -- not blind, emotional trust. And they are, in this way, a perfect example of true faith -- I think, a terrific illustration that could be used in many types of writing from speeches to feature articles and essays.
The first of these has to do with a new bridge they are building out our way next to the old Port Mann Bridge crossing the Fraser River between Surrey, and Coquitlam B.C., (both suburbs of Vancouver -- but don't tell anybody I said that because Surrey especially.considers itself an independent city it self -- soon to outshine Vancouver itself.
Anyway. the new bridge is being built beside the existing structure with the help of climbing cranes that I have never seen reach such heights before. And while driving past them one day the thought that occured to me is, "The men or women operating these cranes are an excellent example of faith -- which of course is not based on blind trust, but, the assured expectations of things hoped for -- that is facts."
And of course the crane workers are a perfect illustration of that. With anything buildt by man I guess the emphasis is a little on the side of "things hoped for" but from past experience and their knowledge of the crane's structure and performance they know what to expect. Their faith is built on solid evidence -- not blind, emotional trust. And they are, in this way, a perfect example of true faith -- I think, a terrific illustration that could be used in many types of writing from speeches to feature articles and essays.
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