How to improve your writing: Arthur Plotnik and what’s burning inside you
by Tom Aaron
We write to communicate. Two facets of this are what we want to communicate and how we communicate it. Arthur Plotnik’s quote shows us both of these facets:
You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.
In this article, I would like to discuss the first facet, what’s burning inside. Pick up a William Faulkner novel and read. You can see what is burning inside him by looking at this sentence from “The Mansion”:
His father was the cobbler, with a little cubbyhole of a shop around a corner off the Square’a little scrawny man who wouldn’t have weighed a hundred pounds with this last and bench and all his tools in his lap, with a fierce mustache which hid most of his chin too, and fierce undefeated intolerant eyes’a Hard’Shell Baptist who didn’t merely have to believe it, because he knew it was so: that the earth was flat and that Lee had betrayed the whole South when he surrendered at Appomattox.
If you would like to look at something more modern, pick up a Carl Hiaasen novel and read. You can see what is burning inside him by looking at this sentence from “Double Whammy”:
He was two steps from opening the door when something the approximate consistency of granite crashed down on the base of his neck, and he fell headlong through a dizzy galaxy of white noise and blinding pinwheels.
Faulkner and Hiassen have different styles, but both write stories about what is burning inside them. These two quoted sections of their writing show us parts of these stories. Before you start writing, think about what is burning inside of you. This could be a novel, a love letter, or information about a commercial product. For good writing, the subject is not important. What is important is that you have something burning inside of you. If so, you need to tell your audience about it. Let’s take a subject that may appear to be less than exciting: building a better mousetrap. Here is the first paragraph of the first draft:
Oscar’s little one bedroom apartment was above a honeycomb of tunnels in what was once a field ruled by brown field mice. The field had become a block of apartments but the tunnels and the mice remained. The mice gnawed holes in Oscar’s walls, nibbled on his cereal, and chewed on his salty sweat-soaked tennis racket. Oscar, driven to throwing books at the mice, howling curses at the sight of his chewed-up tennis racket, and pounding his fist at mousetraps that surrendered Swiss chest to the mice, went to the library and the lumberyard, surfed the Internet, and started to build the ultimate mousetrap to purge his apartment of brown field mice.
If we write well, we can encourage our audience to read what we have written, regardless of the topic. Comparing the Faulkner and Hiaasen quotations with my writing, I know I come in a distant third. Still, if I have something to say, something burning within me, I write. My writing is far from perfect, but I work toward improving, focusing in two areas: reading good English for the unconscious knowledge to write better and editing to consciously improve.
At Aaron Language Services (http://www.aaronlanguage.com), we provide translation, proofreading, and online English coaching for a primarily Japanese client base. If you are an editor, specializing in medicine or the hard sciences, we are always looking for experienced editors. Click on the menu at our top page where it says personnel, in English, for more information about the work and how to contact us.
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Publc Speaking - 8 Proven Steps to Great Speech Writing
by Edward Hope
The writing of a speech can be time consuming and frustrating. With the right approach it can be a simple, worthwhile and an enjoyable experience for you and your audience. A step by step process to speech writing will assist in relieving some of the anxiety of public speaking.
Having great content with a worthwhile purpose makes the job of delivering your speech much easier. This knowledge also builds self-confidence and makes the process more enjoyable. Content that is interesting and worthwhile to the audience will be received favourably by them. Preparing your thoughts and writing them down in a structured way puts you in control of the process.
Step 1: Know Your Audience - Find out as much as you can about the audience and the organizers of the event. Ask the following questions: Why have I been invited? What would they like to hear from me? How many people will be there?
Step 2: Determine the Purpose - The circumstances and situation can dictate the purpose especially in a work or business environment. The question the purpose of the speech should answer is “What benefit will the audience gain from the speech?”
Step 3 Determine Your Theme - How are you going to achieve your purpose? It is the central idea you will build your speech around to accomplish the purpose of the speech e.g. the purpose of the speech may be - To get members of the audience to vote in the upcoming election. The theme to support this could be - Voting is the duty of every citizen in a democracy.
Step 4: Decide on Delivery Style - The purpose for speaking and the nature of the audience will help determine the type of delivery. Your delivery style will probably be a mixture of styles but with one style dominant depending on the audience and purpose of your speech. The styles are:
Humor and narrative - For providing entertainment
Informative - To help the audience understand something
Persuasive - For the audience to form an opinion, change their mind or strengthen a belief
Motivation - To inspire the audience to take action
Step 5 Research - You need to thoroughly research your theme so that you are an authority on it. There are 4 general sources to find information to support your speech:-
1. Your own personal knowledge and experience
2. Reading
3. Talking with others
4. Writing to experts
Step 6 Select and Arrange Your Speech - You will probably have more information than you need for your speech. To select the information to be included in your speech chose the research that is the best support for your theme. Arrange your speech into the introduction, main body and conclusion. The main body information is best arranged into a logical pattern of thought e.g. chronological, problem and solution etc.
Step 7 Write Your Speech - Start by outlining your speech - this is the blueprint. This will give you the structure and make it easy to see how your speech fits together. When writing your speech use words and sentences that make it easy to read and speak. Use spoken language when writing out your speech especially if you intend to read the speech. Written language can be difficult to listen to and understand. Language that sounds great on paper does not always sound great when spoken.
Step 8 Practice and Edit - Make time to practice. By speaking your speech you will discover phrases that don’t work well, whether it flows properly, do the timings work etc? Edit your speech as required.
In following these steps you will be able to deliver speeches that are valuable to your listeners. When your speech includes worthwhile your poise will increase and your delivery will be more confident.
Put confidence into your public speaking and conversation with “The Art of Great Conversation.” To claim your free preview visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com
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One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Reporters Come in all Shapes and Sizes
by Karen Friedman
Every so often, I stumble across an article attempting to psychoanalyze reporter’s styles. Some writers talk about machine gunners, reporters who fire one question after another after another. Others believe reporters follow specific patterns. Just last week, a writer labeled some media inquisitions as “sneak attacks”.
Let me clear up a few things. As a reporter for twenty years, I’m here to tell you reporters don’t sit around planning how to get you. They don’t approach stories by consciously saying hmmm, what type of questioning pattern should I use on this one? In fact, if my cronies and I were discussing this as we sat around staking out the scene of a story, we’d have a few good laughs.
True, each reporter has his or her individual style just as teachers teach differently in their classrooms. Through the years, you do learn what works and what doesn’t work, but most often a reporter’s style depends on the personality of the interviewee, the chemistry between the reporter and the subject and the sensitivity of the situation at hand.
For example, I recall covering a story about a baby who had been abducted from the hospital nursery. For obvious reasons, the family did not want to talk to the throngs of reporters shouting questions and hovering outside their home. I was one of those reporters and felt very uncomfortable being sent to hound the family during a time of such duress so I removed myself from the crowd and remained off to the side. I didn’t do it to appear more sensitive or to angle a way into an interview, yet that’s exactly what happened. Family members noticed and invited me into their home to talk. I ended up with an exclusive.
Instead of wasting energy trying to identify what you perceive as an upcoming sneak attack or a pre-planned question asking pattern, think of reporters as people who simply want to know what you would want to know if you were a reader, listener or viewer. When you learn to do that, you will learn to prepare in advance. Usually, those so-called sneak attack questions are really follow up questions to something the spokesperson said. My best stories always came from the unexpected responses.
Regardless of who a reporter works for, they are all after the same thing: a story. If you are not providing the information needed to tell that story, they will look for ways to pull it out of you including:
PLAYING DUMB Acting like a blank slate often prompts an interviewee to deliver more information than the reporter really needs. Depending on what the interviewee says, the subject of the story can drastically change. That’s why it’s critical to know what you want to say BEFORE the interview. Instead of waiting for questions to trigger your message, look for opportunities to insert your messages into the conversation.
I’M YOUR FRIEND You are more likely to open up to a friend as opposed to a stranger. If you feel the reporter genuinely cares about you and has your best interest at heart, you may inadvertently reveal too much. Reporters can be nice people, but they are not your friends.
PLEAD AND BEG This is truly an act of desperation, but sometimes if a reporter says please, please tell me, my editor will have my head if I don’t come back with this information and I promise not to quote you…you might give in. Chances are, the reporter won’t quote you, but the information is now out there. If you don’t want something made public, then zip it.
ANOTHER SOURCE SAID If a reporter tells you another source said something that you believe is unfair or not true, you may feel the need to correct that information. Perhaps the so-called source never said a thing, but now you are being quoted. So, be careful not to repeat negatives or use the reporter’s words because they can become your own.
I WANT YOUR OPINION If you are representing your company or agency, then you should be speaking in “we” phrases, as opposed to “I”, therefore your personal opinion is irrelevant.
EITHER/OR This is very dangerous, but it’s a great tactic for drawing information. For example, the reporter says: “Either you stole the money or you didn’t.” Do not get lured into a yes or no answer. Simply state what you want to say or respond with phrases such as: “The situation is not black and white…and then deliver your message.”
ARGUMENTATIVE Some reporters simply have an agenda. It doesn’t matter what you say because they aren’t listening. They want to make you angry because anger equals emotion and emotion sells stories. Keep calm and repeat your message.
SUBJECT CHANGER The reporter who changes subjects is trying to throw you off track. Perhaps you agreed to the interview because you want to talk about your new product. The reporter really isn’t interested in your product, but it was the only way he could spend some time with you. If you do not want to talk about what he wants to discuss, simply remind him this is not the subject at hand and perhaps you can discuss the other matter at another time.
GOING FISHING This reporter doesn’t have an agenda. She’ll take whatever she can get. She knows little about your company and will throw a bucket of questions up into the air to see which one sticks. It’s up to you to manage the message. If the reporter asks three or four questions at once, pick the one you want to answer and stop.
HOLDING YOU ACCOUNTABLE This reporter will tell you what they know even if it’s exaggerated. For example, I know A and B and C. Is this true? I know X and Y and Z. Can you explain that? Again, don’t repeat the reporter’s accusations or assumptions and don’t assume they know what they say they know. Stick to your message and what is confirmed.
DEALS IN RUMORS Many stories are initially based on rumors. Someone calls a newsroom because their neighbor told them something. The reporter is assigned to check it out and after a handful of interviews, comes up with a story. Don’t deal in rumors. Stick to the facts. No matter how many ways the reporter repeats the question; if it’s not fact, don’t speculate.
GREEN The inexperienced reporter is your biggest problem because they have no perspective. They are still learning and don’t always ask questions that will generate good information. It is your job to feed them the information you want delivered so you have greater control. Be careful not to say too much or the green reporter might choose the wrong message to report. Remember, when speaking to reporters, less is more.
Finally, every interview situation is very different. If you are terribly upset about a situation, a journalist may try to get personal. While you might be sorry later, they will have a story loaded with real feelings, not pre-planned messages devoid of emotion. A reporter’s job is to make the public see what they saw, hear what they heard, feel what they felt and smell what they smelled. They can’t do that if they don’t ask the right questions to generate an emotional response.
Copyright (c) 2009 Karen Friedman Enterprises, Inc.
KAREN FRIEDMAN is an international communications coach and advisor who helps business professionals and spokespeople excel in every meeting, appearance, interview and presentation. President of Karen Friedman Enterprises, she can be reached at 610-292-9780, Karen@karenfriedman.com or http://www.karenfriedman.com
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Public Speaking - 4 Simple Steps to More Impactful Speech Content
by Edward Hope
The process of developing the content of your speech is fundamentally important to effective public speaking. Meaningful content is critical to writing a great speech and without it the presenting skills of voice, language, body language and gestures are of little use to the listeners or the speaker.
The process of developing the content of your speech can be frustrating and use up a vast amount of time. But you can use a 4 step process to simplify and streamline the development of content for your speech.
1. Decide on the Purpose
The purpose of the speech must justify the time and energy put into it by you as speaker and by the audience listening to it. The speech purpose needs to answer the question “What will this presentation do for my audience? The considerations to keep in mind when deciding on the purpose are;-
(i) How will the presentation benefit the audience? (ii) Is it appropriate for the audience?
(iii) Is the speech being given for entertainment or is a specific action wanted from the audience
(iv) The circumstances and situation of the speech, e.g. at a charity fund raising event your talk will be delivered to raise money
2. Developing the Theme
Your theme should be stated in a clear, brief and meaningful statement. The theme chosen must be able to be developed to accomplish the purpose. To develop the theme you will need to keep in mind a clear picture of the audience and in your judgement
(i) Has the greatest influence on your audience
(ii) It can be developed successfully for your audience
(iii) It supports the purpose
(iv) The audience characteristics such as age, number, experience, attitude etc
3. Selecting the Style of The Presentation
The style(s) chosen to deliver your speech must support the purpose of the speech and it will determine the type of information you need to gather in the research step.
There are 2 criteria you can use to select the style of your speech:
(i) The purpose for speaking
(ii) Audience’s attitude and understanding
The 5 styles that can be used in delivering your speech are:
(i) Humor - the principal idea is to entertain the audience
(ii) Narrative - used to tell a story of people, places and events
(iii) Exposition - used to describe, explain or demonstrate an idea
(iv) Argument - presentation of facts and other evidence to support your ideas
(v) Motivation - uses emotional appeals to the audience to take a certain action
Humor and narration are more likely to be utilised when the audience is to be entertained. Argument and motivation are usually used when a specific action is wanted from the audience.
4. Research
The goal of research is to uncover information to support and justify the theme and ideas of the speech. The first step in research is to develop a rough outline of your speech so that the research is properly focussed.
The primary source of information should be your own experiences. Once you have exhausted your experience, there are many other sources of information that can be utilised. The other sources include books, films, TV, interviewing other people and of course the internet. When using these sources it is important to use your judgement as to the validity of the information.
You will now have the content necessary to outline, organize and write and deliver your speech . Mastery of the process of developing the content will enable you to write and deliver a speech that is of benefit to the audience. With the knowledge that your content is valuable to your listeners your confidence will increase and you will enjoy the experience of public speaking more.
Discover how to speak with confidence in public speaking and in private conversation. To claim your free preview of The Art of Great Conversation visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com
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Article Writing to Help Promote Websites
by Gen Wright
A great many new business owners, especially those who do not own a whole lot of article marketing background, have the swell idea that getting a great many links for their sites is a fine tactic. That’s not really a hundred percent correct because building links, when done wrong, can plunge your sites. There are a wide variety of ways to build back links to your online site, and so far, the benefits of article marketing far surpass other link building methods.
Some webmasters generate links by posting their sites to thousands of online directories. With such a large number of links out in the world wide web, it’s almost a sure thing for search engines to seek out your links and index your sites. But that’s pretty much it. There are very few benefits that’s worth mentioning.
Other webmasters like to post on forums and blogs to build links. This is a much better link building method because it allows the owner to communicate with others on the websites. Human beings will see respond to the posts, see the links, and click through to see what your business has to offer. This is a pain staking process. It takes a great deal of time to post on forums and blogs, and it takes even more time for other bloggers to remember you and your sites.
The expert Internet Marketers usually choose article marketing over all other link building methods for a few special reasons. First, article marketing allows them to get their message out there very quickly. By generating great articles, they let the readers have a preview of the products and services that they have to share. If readers want to research more on the subject, they can always click the links in the author bio boxes and visit the author live site.
Besides direct traffic and higher search engine rankings, this method is also easily scalable. There’s a snowballing effect as more and more articles get submitted and approved by the article directories. If done regularly over a few months, readers will inevitably learn to trust the writers more as can see for themselves the quality of the information that’s put forward by the article marketers.
It’s tantamount to having your own website or blog for customer communications, except that now you have hundreds of routes. Article marketers know how to use this method to let others see themselves as gurus in their field. There’s no need to mention, those who are not implementing article marketing will certainly lose in the long term because the Internet is all about traffic.
As these quality information get indexed by the search engines and syndicated to hundreds of other sites, the publishers will get a great amount of traffic. With a a lot of traffic coming to their websites, guess who is going to eat up the market in the long run? It doesn’t take someone very smart to answer that question.
If you’re not into article marketing yet, I highly suggest that you look into executing this method immediately. Do it for a couple of months. Write and distribute five articles each day, and if you don’t see some expected results, you can always junk the plan. But chances are, you’re more likely to get hooked once you see the tangible advantages.
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