Body Language

One concept from the reading that I found very interesting is how body language can be just as important as verbal communication. When people feel uncomfortable they will move around in their place. If people are lying they will look down or break eye contact. I found it interesting that the book mentions that body language can interpret different things depending on cultural background. For example bowing in Asia shows respect when you greet people, but in America when people meet another person they shake hands. In pictures, body language is one of the more important things that is conveyed. It is said that pictures are worth a thousand words, and that is because of what people can see from the picture. Picture can bring out emotions because of the body language used. If everyone is smiling, then it was a happy moment when the picture was taken, but if everyone is frowning then it was a sad moment when the picture was taken.

Rhetorical Devices

In the past week I have used many rhetorical devices such as euphemisms and hyperboles. A euphemism is using a neutral or positive term to cover up a negative term, or in other words, sugarcoating. In the past week I was talking about the war with Vietnam and instead of calling it a war, I called it a "conflict" because it seemed less violent. This is an example of euphemism because "conflict" sounds less violent and disastrous than "war" sounds. War inclines that people will die, while a "conflict" suggests that people are only fighting. I also used a hyperbole, which is an exaggeration or possibly an overstatement. I was talking about the amount of homework I had to do over the weekend and I said I would die from the amount of homework. This is an exaggeration because I would not actually die from homework, but I would spend all day doing homework.

Sally Ride

Sally Ride is a great example of a critical thinker. In college her friends said she is "calm and totally focused...always able to see the heart of things... to quickly think, figure it out, crystallize it." Later in life, Ride was the first woman to be an astronaut and go to space in 1983. She was able to accomplish this because of her analytical and critical thinking skills. Also, because of her outstanding communication skills she was appointed as the person who handles all group-to-staff communication for the first and second shuttle flights. She put the NASA reports together and presented them to the United Nations which shows her excellent writing and public speaking abilities. She is now the head of Sally Ride Science which sponsors camps that encourages girls' science interests. The camp also helps the girls build their leadership, writing and communication skills, all of which are necessary for success in the future.

Communication Channels

One concept from this week's reading is about using communication channels. In any organization there needs to be some sort of communication. There are many ways to communicate within an organization including emails, text messages, phone calls, and of course face to face conversations. Some organizations use "formal channels" for communication meaning that there is a hierarchy of communication. It would start at the top where the Board of Directors will tell the CEO, who would tell the President, who would tell the Vice Presidents, who would tell the Directors and so on. This all means that there needs to be some sort of authority and chain of command. And if something were to happen at the lower levels of the hierarchy then the news would work its way up to the board of directors. When using this method for communications, it is best to use formal writing techniques such as writing emails and letters, keeping documents and memos much more than face to face conversation.

Dr. Novello

Dr. Novello became the United States Surgeon General in 1989. Dr. Novello focused on four public health problems: AIDS, violence, alcohol, and tobacco. She became aware that because of the advertisements that Camel cigarettes were publishing in 1988 that smoking has increased. This is where the "cause-and-effect" inductive reasoning takes place. Dr. Novello banned cigarette and alcohol ads targeting youth and increased education in school systems. She felt that if youth were not bombarded with images/videos/slogans for cigarettes and alcohol, they would be less likely to smoke and drink. She also worked with the school systems to help educate youth about violence and AIDS. Her reasoning is that the more the youth knew about the consequences of AIDS, violence, tobacco, and alcohol the more likely youth would be to abstain from them. She was somewhat successful because in the beginning of the mid 1990s there were less reports of violence and a decline in cases of AIDS.

Inductive Arguement

My friends and I were at a corner store trying to buy something to drink. I wanted a Red Bull to get my energy up but my friends said most energy drinks are bad for you and that Red Bull is an energy drink, therefore Red Bull is probably bad for you. The premise of this argument is that energy drinks are not healthy for your body. The conclusion of this argument is that Red Bull is a energy drink, so it probably is not healthy for your body. This is an inductive argument because my friend did not say that Red Bulls were bad for me, he said that energy drinks were bad and because Red Bull is an energy drink, I inducted that the Red Bull energy drink is bad for me. Inductive reasoning is based on probability and not facts. Just because most energy drinks are bad, does not mean Red Bull is. Red Bull might be perfectly fine for my body, but because of inductive reasoning it is probable that Red Bull is bad for me.

Leadership

There are many ways to lead a group to a desired outcome, some are better than others in different situations. The best all around I believe is participative leadership. Participative leadership is when the leader works with the group, they get the group together and keep people accountable but have no more influence over the end result than any other member of the group. This way seems the best in most situations because things get done efficiently, is of higher quality, and minimizes group conflicts. Sometimes though, time is a luxury that a group does not have so they require a authoritarian leader. Authoritarian leaders have all control over the whole group, with little to no input from group members. The group members may not like not being able to contribute their ideas and concerns but things will get done faster. If things need to get done as soon as possible an authoritarian leader might be necessary if a group cannot get things together quick enough with an participative leader.