Tag Archives: communication

From twit to Twitter: a non-believer – transformed

April 23, 2009

1twit·ter 
Pronunciation: \ˈtwi-tər\
Function: verb
1: to utter successive chirping noises
2 a: to talk in a chattering fashion b: giggle, titter
3: to tremble with agitation : flutter

I LOVE WORDS! I love their ancestry. I love their power. And I love the way they taste when well spoken. Any word, when deeply considered, can launch a thousand stories (think “grass” or “dress”).  One word, at the perfect moment, can change a life (think “yes”). I love words.

Twitter is a word.  In fact, twitter is a great word! It’s onomatopoetic (I never get to use that!), meaning the word sounds like its sense. It evokes all sorts of images: small birds twitching on limbs; adolescent friends’ high-pitched and ceaseless chatter; an uncontrollable shaking brought on by nervousness.

But it is not a word that evokes the strength, scope and utility it has newly come to represent!

I was a non-believer. I am transformed. This is why…

read more »

Also tagged , , , – 1 Comment

One Conversation at a Time

April 8, 2009

We’ve all heard it said that adults fear public speaking more than their own death. As Jerry Seinfeld puts it, “I guess this means that most people at a funeral would rather be in the coffin than delivering the eulogy.” Would it spoil the joke if I let you in on a secret? Well, either way I am going to. Here goes…

…three

…two

…one

“Public Speaking” is a myth!  Surprise!!

Now don’t get me wrong, I am well aware that people speak to large groups of ‘public’ every day. The myth lies in the presumuption that ‘public speaking’ is fundamentally different than any other mode of speaking. It’s not.  Furthermore, my own experience has taught me that understanding the truth of this is the single greatest key to conquering the speaking fear.

read more »

Also tagged , , , – 5 Comments

Storytelling at the Dawn of Civilization

March 26, 2009

A while back (say somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago) we humans started to get with it. Tired of sitting around the fire staring at the same faces night after night, our small clans began discussing the benefits of joining together with other small clans. If we gathered enough of us together (we figured) all sorts of opportunities might present themselves: large scale agriculture, a more efficient division of labor, discos. So that’s what we did. And civilization dawned.

Now the question is “Why then?”. We had been sitting around the fires with our semi-nomadic family units for a couple million years. Why the sudden interest in discos?

read more »

Also tagged , , , , – 1 Comment