tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331412548295924002024-03-20T21:10:23.094-05:00The MoreBrainz BlogAll things communication with Dr. Steven VroomanSteven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-11427418394998100132021-02-22T16:46:00.004-06:002024-01-14T12:15:02.954-06:00A New Type of Chart for your Data Visualization Consideration: The Cartesian Waffle Chart<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> by <a href="https://www.stevenvrooman.com" target="_blank">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrh7I_qrEIdeUV4kY2sa0zonReB3r5h86CD0wkQ_7eZCNebNsdJI_D19BG-SW6jeb4TY42XfOMNn6mLxKWG_WvD1g6EkuCJ0gdSdmSxClYin5SU82O7E5moQGunrQBRREDJqUzvPcMi74p/s2048/cartesian+waffle+chart.png.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1565" data-original-width="2048" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrh7I_qrEIdeUV4kY2sa0zonReB3r5h86CD0wkQ_7eZCNebNsdJI_D19BG-SW6jeb4TY42XfOMNn6mLxKWG_WvD1g6EkuCJ0gdSdmSxClYin5SU82O7E5moQGunrQBRREDJqUzvPcMi74p/w640-h490/cartesian+waffle+chart.png.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Let's call that the Cartesian Waffle Chart.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I can't find it in all the usual places you'd look, from just Googling "waffle charts" to Ann K. Emery's <a href="https://depictdatastudio.com/charts/">Depict Data Studio's Chart Chooser</a> to <a href="https://xeno.graphics/">Xenographics</a>. I ever messaged Alberto Cairo about it and he drew a blank.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's super weird to be claiming I invented a thing. I am a professor, and the idea of plagiarism is pretty horrifying to me. I posted it up on social media and a part of me keeps waiting for someone to message me with an "Actually...."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But that hasn't happened, yet, so I'm just going to plow ahead.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Waffles Good!</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My graduate students in Data Visualization class know that I am a huge fan of waffle charts. I love them because they don't ask you to transform numbers into spherical areas (we are just fooling ourselves if we think most of those pie and bubble forms are processed by audiences correctly or in anything more complex than <i>bigger</i> and <i>littler</i>). They also don't ask you to transform numbers into shapes where convention tells us to ignore the shape part and just pay attention to the length, like columns or bars. And as we generate more and more complex chart types where various elements of other charts are mashed together (seriously, check out Xenographics!), calculations and conventions of areas are key trouble areas.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Graphics should help us understand! And maybe they can be complex and ask us to look at them for a minute to draw greater understanding than simple forms like they are number poetry. But in many cases clarity is the key, and so I value forms that reduce cognitive load. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because waffle charts are just blocks, really, and we all remember stacking blocks at some point (don't we?), I think they have an immediate effect that other forms don't.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Waffles Bad!</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The trouble with waffle charts is that not converting numbers into other forms means that there is a representational problem as the number of numbers increases. Take a look at this snapshot of a Google image search:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTj5pxGoH8Jx_wSEvo9PhnQwZYnpzAPjK2CHS_53oxdWyjV5mHLgQPwAAeer3zgiYGlGialqiB1BLjCOtm2hPpzvztuvA1I92m3z8z0sO3ZA4i0U3Bdp9UgSqC3eU73CfajsfzY8LZYDl/s632/google+search+waffle+chart.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="632" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTj5pxGoH8Jx_wSEvo9PhnQwZYnpzAPjK2CHS_53oxdWyjV5mHLgQPwAAeer3zgiYGlGialqiB1BLjCOtm2hPpzvztuvA1I92m3z8z0sO3ZA4i0U3Bdp9UgSqC3eU73CfajsfzY8LZYDl/w400-h296/google+search+waffle+chart.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With multiple numbers, either we just make a lot of waffle charts or we stack multiple colors of blocks in one space. The first option becomes just decorative at that point. Don't you just look at the numbers and move on? In which case, why bother with a purely decorative visual? The second one is more interesting, but because there is no good way to figure out how to start and stop the different zones of color, we are often left to, again, just look at the number label and basically ignore the visual. Compare that to how much easier it is to contrast items on a <a href="https://depictdatastudio.com/charts/tree-maps/">treemap</a>, for example.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When you try to add another variable, like I did in my chart, it just becomes impossible. </span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Putting Descartes before the Horse</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I created this visual for use in a faculty meeting to help participants understand the results of a survey. I tried different forms and was unhappy until I went back to my old favorite, the waffle. But I wanted it to be more immediately obvious how big the different areas were. And only then did it really strike me that the waffle chart is so often just used with percentages and not real numbers. So escaping the boundaries of the multiplication table grid wasn't something that had occurred to me before.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I separated the box clusters in just horizontal spaces, but I wanted more comparison, so I needed the boxes closer together. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thus, a version that borrows from the coordinate plane, which allows us to compare 2 variables really easily. And because it was visually simpler I felt like I could add the 3rd variable with the dots without losing clarity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It worked really really really well in its moment. My point was clear and a number of faculty messaged me how much they liked the visual.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Onward!</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What now? Well, try it out if you're that sort of person. You really have to draw this thing on Excel, though. That's not too hard, but in the age of Tableau and Power BI, maybe that's not your cup of tea anymore? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you do try it, please let me know. I'm curious about whether or not it was helpful, but I am also interested in tracing innovation processes in the field of data visualization with my graduate students, and it would be useful to have a close-up view of that process.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm going to keep the idea percolating in my head for a bit and try it in other contexts. I'll report back later. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thanks for reading, fellow nerds!</span></p>Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-64190168974888405412020-04-05T20:47:00.002-05:002020-05-13T11:18:42.015-05:00How to Get Online Speaking Right, from Meetings to Classrooms to Job Interviews to Recordings: Part One, HELP Yourself<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">There's a an awful lot of working from home via video right now, and many of us are muddling through. But what should we aim for in terms of best practices? Here are some tips based on mistakes I am seeing people make or am hearing about in my network of colleagues and former students.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">These tips apply to all forms of electronic speaking, from formal roles like presentations or job interviews or leading a meeting or lecturing to a class, to more informal ones like being in a meeting or class. Different mediated formats will affect this advice, and I have tried to clarify that when it is relevant for things like Zoom or Google Hangouts or Skype versus social media live versus recorded presentations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">I have been teaching online and studying online interactions since before video was possible, and I have done a fairly constant stream of live and recorded presentations to various professional groups and corporations over the years in addition to recorded media for my university and for classes. Plus TEDx. All that is to say that there are lots of opinions out there on this right now as people madly produce content while trapped in their houses with their cats. But I think my take is going to be valuable for you. These notes, by the way, will provide the backbone of a new chapter on electronic speaking in my forthcoming update to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1515337790/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=morebrainz-20&linkId=69814d106e2e9707b2ce3e6c1a1fd806" target="_blank">my public speaking textbook</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">I will do this in two parts. This first part is focused on you. The second part will be focused on your tools (think visual aids).</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Here's this post in video form, if you'd rather:</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PTYZc2C-dmo" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">In my video presentation of this, I organized this based on the Beatles' 1965 hit, "HELP." It's a gimmick, sure. And we used to make fun of these, a bit, when I first started teaching public speaking in the 90s, when we assumed people could and would pay more attention and found this kind of thing insulting. We've done a lot more research on attention and processing since then, plus Buzzfeed happened, so, you know, especially in an electronic, frazzled environment, any aid to memory and attention will be good.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZu_OWrroJW75WTow82zJmtD_MRWdKjnu7LNKYLmPaDTC1og2vdrwTcCxWoy2dbfE619k8Hq1lFDobR3HzbMnL61FD_tT31Wn9ZdLuUnxU9J83N5xZbOKIZlyzWo5z6ObmK3_8yG10XTa/s1600/23021430842_b2f636dc24_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZu_OWrroJW75WTow82zJmtD_MRWdKjnu7LNKYLmPaDTC1og2vdrwTcCxWoy2dbfE619k8Hq1lFDobR3HzbMnL61FD_tT31Wn9ZdLuUnxU9J83N5xZbOKIZlyzWo5z6ObmK3_8yG10XTa/s400/23021430842_b2f636dc24_o.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Photo by "<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/locosteve/23021430842" target="_blank">Loco Steve</a>," and that's not me, btw</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">And if there's an authentic connection, well that makes us forgive things that might otherwise have seemed cheesy. In this case, you can see a video performance by The Beatles of "HELP" where they nail all the tips I'm going to outline below. You can skip to the end of this piece to watch if you are impatient.</span></div>
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H. Honesty</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">I have seen it thousands of times while evaluating student speeches. The student gets lost in the outline or has a brain freeze and they just stand there, silent, awkward, staring at the outline. In some number of seconds they recover and start up again <i><u>as if nothing had happened!</u></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">But, look, we all just sat there and saw that. We were uncomfortable with you, wondering if you'd make it or not. Just barreling on next is fundamentally dishonest. It violates our shared experience by asking us all to pretend it didn't happen. We all just clam up like the English gentry in a stuffy BBC production and move along, nothing to see here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">But that marks them as forever fragile, a person who we need to focus on as someone with an always-possible weakness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">If, instead, the student were to manage to do what I teach, which is to just honestly, and with some self-deprecation, reference what just happened like an adult, it would not only be just fine, but it would mark them as the opposite, as someone resilient in the face of difficult times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">This is even more true in live video speaking. You will probably edit it out if you are recording, but when we are live, this kind of thing happens a lot. If you can honestly note moments where you get lost in your notes or the interface or if your cat just bit you in the toe, it has an almost incalculably large effect on your credibility. You are committed to authenticity, even in difficult circumstances, and you are not offloading your difficulties onto the other people in the conversation, left to wonder if the video just lagged or what.</span><br /><br />
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E. Eyes</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">I have had a small cottage industry of helping friends and alumni nail distance interviews for jobs. This is my number one tip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Look at the camera.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">You all now have enough experience with teleconferencing things by now to notice how offputting it is when people are not looking at the camera. If you are sitting in a long meeting or class, I get it. You can't always manage this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">But I'm not talking about audiences. I'm talking about talkers. Most of us have cameras on top off our phones or laptops and we look at the big bright screen underneath. We are never precisely looking at the people on the other side. We think we are. We are looking at their pictures in the little windows, but it is not the same. And you can tell. Try this out next time you are Facetiming a family member. Have them look at your face and then the camera, back and forth. You can tell, even though on their device it will seem a matter of inches.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOsZwh8R02X-4a_ofrdmkzioWMKC_ce5EqZzBUhMr3vNxzQGeMyclSK3jJt_VV06_PJJCziuO1TEculnTh251c4ZcY6925IzB0bRHa14ISNu3XHUuQMR_2CmRDLXFoSIh8knb9RwD0Pts/s1600/IMG_20200406_181204_895.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOsZwh8R02X-4a_ofrdmkzioWMKC_ce5EqZzBUhMr3vNxzQGeMyclSK3jJt_VV06_PJJCziuO1TEculnTh251c4ZcY6925IzB0bRHa14ISNu3XHUuQMR_2CmRDLXFoSIh8knb9RwD0Pts/s640/IMG_20200406_181204_895.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see my cat is getting this advice better then me at just this moment!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Especially for a high stakes moment like an interview, if you can manage to increase the amount of time you look at faces by increasing the amount of time you are looking right at the camera, it will have a demonstrable impact on your effectiveness and all the intangible bits, like their judgments or your likability, empathy, passion, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">My protip for most software is to shrink the video window if you are doing this work on a computer. You are only looking at them to gauge their responses. If you find yourself looking at their dog pawing at the door or the design of their ceiling fan, you are doing too much wandering around in your attention to their video feed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">So shrink those windows from fullscreen and drag them up to right next to the camera. The last time I had to nail a Google Hangouts interview, I actually moved the window up so high it cut off their forehead. I had eyes as close to the camera as I could so it would feel, as much as possible, like I was looking right at them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">It mattered. The interview was a success.</span><br /><br />
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L. Large-ness, Large-osity?, Large-itude?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Okay, this is normally "energy," but I made sacrifices to the acronym gimmick!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Having big energy has always been a central tip of mine for public speaking. You need a lot. However much you think is a lot, well, for most people, triple it and you almost have enough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Energy is not the same as volume. So DO NOT do the "infomercial delivery." Ew. Instead, think of the energy that comes from your favorite YouTubers. There is a kind of generous, intense connection that draws you to them as they ask you to "like, subscribe and comment below!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Be you, but larger. Authentic, but more the person you hoped you'd be today rather than the frazzled, exhausted person who might have actually showed up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">We have all been doing this remote work thing for a few weeks. And we are already tired of it, yes? So we owe each other more energy, more human connection is a world of social distancing and masks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Don't social distance online, as well as in the "real" world.</span><br /><br />
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P. Practice</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Yes, of course we should practice our presentations and lectures and prep interview questions and meetings, even back in the "old days" of in-person things. And you should keep that up now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">But we have a bad habit of under-practicing the more technology we add, and since technology adds more opportunities for error, this is a recipe for disaster. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Just think of the ubiquity of the <i>slideument</i>, to use Garr Reynolds' term. Most PowerPoints are horrible messes of dense nonsense, not because that is what makes for a good visual aid, but because we smash our own speaking outline, the in-the-moment visual aids PowerPoint should be, and the takeaway document we might want people to have afterwards, all into one thing. But those are three VERY different needs, and trying to make as kludgy a piece a software as a slidedeck maker do all that well is just a recipe for speakers reading words off their slides to bored audiences who will download them later and never look at them again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">All of that mess also leads to under-practice. I can always turn around and read the slides, so why bother with a run-through?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Now we are here in the world of dystopia. And we are not practicing enough. I know we are busy, but we read your Facebook updates. You loudly celebrated your busyness before as if you were competing for a place ranking, and now we see you sharing every chain letter of ritualized boredom and Ina Garten's latest planet-sized cocktail, so how are we to think about that?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Here's the clearest lesson about practice: At the very least know your marks. Know where you can sit or stand and be fully in frame. Tape off the floor if you are mobile with a selfie stick or whatnot. Know what you can do and gesture, with head and shoulders or arms, and still be in frame.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Also, know what else is going to be in frame, eh?</span><br /><br />
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HELP</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">When we were younger, so much younger than today, even though we kept reading listicles giving us #lifegoals and #protips on Buzzfeed or Inc or, God forbid, Medium, we really felt, at heart, that we never needed anybody's help in any way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">But now those days are gone, and we're not so self assured.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">So change your mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Get your feet back on the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">By the way, just in case you want to see all of this in action, look at the way John and company are able to manage all of the tasks I've noted in this piece in this recording, especially when the camera cuts to the front view.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Q_ZzBGPdqE" width="560"></iframe> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"></span><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif"><br /></font>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Stay safe, everyone.</span><br />
<br /></div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-85456050280417556892020-01-21T17:02:00.001-06:002020-01-21T17:35:59.128-06:00Facilitating Classroom Discussion 101<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: MathPackOne; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">“Leading
productive classroom discussions is di</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: MacmillanMixed1; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">ffi</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: MathPackOne; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">cult, as any one knows who has tried.
Teaching future teachers to lead them is doubly di</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: MacmillanMixed1; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">ffi</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: MathPackOne; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">cult”
(Parker & Hess, 2001, p. 273).</span></i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYr7IdWyIx68iXiITnQ9ve5zxCeZZWPee_kueOricqwCWfYCf7VXENVnIKB1mSEAl9LFhOuCjTZedy2UII6n0pALwIJgpcL6YvghTHz4ABU51vBhQbQq68hYEpSyuLou716nGagNgMY7h/s1600/Steven+Vrooman+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYr7IdWyIx68iXiITnQ9ve5zxCeZZWPee_kueOricqwCWfYCf7VXENVnIKB1mSEAl9LFhOuCjTZedy2UII6n0pALwIJgpcL6YvghTHz4ABU51vBhQbQq68hYEpSyuLou716nGagNgMY7h/s400/Steven+Vrooman+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Me leading discussion at CalSAE 2019. I generally don't have photographers in my classrooms, so here's me at an educational session at a conference instead. <i>Photo by <a href="https://spn-photography.smugmug.com/" target="_blank">Steve Pate-Newberry</a></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Discussion-based teaching has repeatedly been demonstrated to
achieve better learning outcomes than lecture or lecture + slidedecks (as
typically measured as scores on exams), and we have known this pretty clearly
since the 1950s (Gall & Gillett, 1980). For each university discipline, you
can usually find research studies that show this for their content and learning
objectives; for example in medicine (Costa, van Rensberg & Rushton, 2007)
and nursing (Johnson & Mighten, 2005).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">But it can be hard to do, and many instructors are a bit anxious
about the method, as it seems to give over a lot of control of the classroom to
the students. Plus, how do you know when you are prepared? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">This document is intended to be an introduction to the method,
with some tips for how to do it effectively. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Introduction to the
discussion method<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The
idea is that you keep the discussion focused on your learning outcomes while
not stifling the participants, especially because they might just go beyond
your preparatory thinking. In the best cases both you and the participants can
learn something new. You also want to help participants feel supported and
valued at the same time as they are intellectually challenged. Here are some
key things to think about in that:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The structure<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The overview<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">My favorite professor in college,
Dr. Hanink, would be writing his lecture notes on the board while we walked in.
When class started, he’d perch on an empty student desk near the front and give
us a short overview lecture or never more than 5 minutes. Then he’d turn to
discussion. It is imperative that you keep any introductory lecture material as
short as possible, so as to keep student energy up for discussion. We’ve all
been in a “discussion” class where the instructor took the first half of the
class on a lecture and then broke to “what do you think?” It’s never quite as
good. That means you will often have to leave off important information or
reflection for throwing in as the discussion goes on or in pre-planned
mini-lectures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Mini-lectures<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">These
should be about 2-3 minutes and should ideally be placed right when the
conversation in class seems to need them, to help “deepen the focus” (Jacobs,
Schimmel, Masson, & Harvill, 2016, p. 173). For example, there may be a
historical or research example that will help clarify an issue the class is
discussing. If you’ve planned and lead the interaction well, you will know you
will need to give this information to the participants, but you are giving it “just
in time,” instead of dumping it all out at the beginning of the session.
Careful! Too many of these or if you go on too long and the participants will
begin to think the discussion is just a sham to “decorate” a pre-planned lecture.
There should always be a place for shared feelings of discovery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">iii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Summation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">It
is important to help pull together the important ideas that came up in class at
the end to 1) reinforce the content and 2) demonstrate to the students that you
really were listening and that their ideas mattered. How do you remember all of
this? You can take notes yourself as the discussion goes on (helps if you are
sitting down, which is great way to shift the visual environment of the class
to one of collaboration). I’ve also done it where you write the big ideas on
the chalkboard as the discussion goes. This serves to really reinforce students
who make the board, but it can also be demoralizing for others, so this is a
riskier approach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">How to listen<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Nonverbals & verbals<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Look and seem interested. It helps to do
this if you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> interested!
Nonverbals like head nodding, eye contact and quick verbals cues like “hmm” or “yes”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Decentering
yourself<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Sometimes
you want the group to just discuss on without you. It is a great moment when
they take control of the discussion and ownership of the ideas and begin to
respond to each other. To get there, you have to avoid the habit of chiming in
a comment or a summary after each participant speaks. If you can’t do that, Dr.
Hanink’s approach was to shift the duty of response to another in class he knew
would have something to say about it based on their previous comments: “Steve,
you argued for a different explanation of xxxxx a few minutes ago. What do you
think of Tiffiny’s comments just now?” This had the added benefits of 1)
demonstrating that he was listening to everyone closely and 2) keeping the
students on their toes (you never knew when you’d be called upon to comment on
someone’s idea!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">iii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Silence<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">If
it’s not awkward, it’s not learning. Students very quickly, like within a few
minutes, learn whether or not you are serious about their participation. If you
ask a question, look around the room a bit and then answer it, they will get
the timing down. They will know how long they need to wait to make it so that
you will just ramble on. Use looooong silences. Like it begins to feel like no
one will ever talk again. Don’t break it. Someone will say something. Usually, “What
was the question again?” Then you can tell them that you will not answer your
own questions, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Summary and
reflection<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">In
a few cases, though, you need to intervene in a conversation. Two common
reasons are 1) If it is going off the rails in terms of content, or 2) if
people are beginning to feel uncomfortable, perhaps because conflict or
argument is developing. The first step in these cases is to begin summarizing
people’s contributions and then reflecting them back to the participants who
said them. As Jacobs, Schimmel, Masson, & Harvill (2016) point out, this is
often to help people become more aware of what they are saying as well as the
impact that is having on the room. I have often had moments in class when I do
this and the student immediately says something like “I didn’t say that . . .”,
to which the class often gently laughs or corrects. That’s when you can chime
in, “Sometimes it is easy for a comment to get away from us, right? Let’s
backtrack a bit and clarify what we really want to say…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Questioning<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Sometimes
we need to prod students for more. Perhaps they just said something awesome and
we want them to say a bit more. Perhaps they said something terrible or wrong
and we need to mark that as such and move on. Perhaps something is confusing,
either in terms of “What did that person just say?” or in terms of the ideas (remember,
sometimes discussions will go beyond the realm of what you know, and you might
need to ask a question to keep up and to learn, as well). Perhaps you see this
as the opportunity for a great segue into something you really wanted to talk
about. A specific question is sometimes really helpful. Here’s a few things to
try to liven up your Q&A game (all taken from Spradley, 1979):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Example/experience
questions</span></i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">.
“Can you give me an example of that in real life?” “Can anyone tell me about an
experience like that for them?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Language questions</span></i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">. “Steve just
called something ‘lit.’ Can someone define that for me?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Cover term/included
term questions</span></i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">.
“Are there different kinds of ‘trolling’?” “Are ‘defensiveness’ and ‘passive aggressivness’
the same kind of thing, or not?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Managing difficulty<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Silent participants<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The
fear of being called on is real. Many of us have it. As a discussion leader, we
often overaccomodate this kind of thing. Some research which has escaped my
memory is that turn-taking is often the primary fear for nervous students.
Getting the bravery to talk in class and making sure you know the material <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> what you are going to say is hard
enough, but figuring out how and when to raise your hand and take your turn and
think of how it relates to what came before is sometimes paralyzing. Calling on
a quit student helps with this. Additionally, “cold-calling” students,
especially when you establish that precedent early, students all begin to
participate more voluntarily over time and report greater comfort with class
discussion over time (Dallimore, Hertenstein & Platt, 2013). Those authors’
further work (2019) indicates that cold-calling helps the instructor level the
playing field in classroom discussions that are dominated by straight white men,
by both purposefully calling on underrepresented folks in the discussion and by
the impact of that, that everyone feels more emboldened to own the space.
Because we’ve all seen what’s next…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Quieting the stage
hogs<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I once had a straight white male student
who always was the first with something to say. One day, toward the end of the
semester, his girlfriend, who sat next to him, elbowed him in the middle of one
of his comments and said, loud enough for the whole class, “Quiet, you haven’t
read or even picked up the book since Ferbruary.” How do you shut down a
student in such a way that they keep wanting to participate and don’t feel
attacked? It’s hard. You have to base it on your relationship with the student.
Something like an email or a conversation after class can work with some.
Actually interrupting them works for others. One of my old professors, Dr.
Olsen, who taught us to teach in grad school, told us to always walk away from
students who are speaking. Our tendency is to walk toward them, unconsciously,
and this does encourage people to speak a bit more, but we usually should fight
this and start walking away. And if we can walk away very close to students who
are not talking right at the moment, especially if we know they will want to
comment on what is being said when the stage hog quiets, it emboldens them to
step up and interrupt. Obviously this doesn’t work if you are all sitting in a
circle, but this is such an effective technique it is one of the key reasons I
don’t use the circle thing in my classes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">iii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Handling the
horrible<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">This
is when someone says something sexist or racist or homophobic or etc., etc.,
etc. Sometimes the class will respond. Sometimes it leads to conflict, which is
the next section. But, often, students will get silent and all look up at you,
the discussion leader, like “So what are you gonna do about that?” You should
prepare students for this in a syllabus, that you might have to shut a person
down for the good of the class if it gets disruptive. Hopefully you have the
kind of environment where you could say things like, “You can see how people
might think that sounds racist, right? How would you respond?” But that is hard
to get to. I find it helpful to tell stories at that moment about how I said
something awful in a class, but not everyone is comfortable with that. What is
important, though, is that if the students aren’t stepping up, you have to
handle it on your own. I once saw a teacher in a high school setting turn and
ask the women in the class what they thought when a student said something
misogynistic. That is not okay! These are the moments when you need to assert
your control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">iv.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Managing conflict<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Often
things will work out if you are applying a good dose of the previously outlined
techniques. But sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes you have to shut things
down. Keep in your mind the idea that you might shut down a conversation and
lecture through the rest or just dismiss class early for everyone to cool down
before we continue. If you know you are ready to do those things, you actually
rarely have to do them. After the 2016 election, I had some heated exchanges
happen between my students in a class when politics came up. At a certain point
I had to raise my voice to be heard and said, “Stop! Xxxxx, I need you to stop interrupting
and shouting over people. What are you trying to do here? I just did the same
thing to you. I’m sure you don’t like how this feels. This is a class, not
Twitter, and I know you can make your point a little differently. I then emailed
the student after class to try to mend fences. These are hard moments. But I
have been teaching for 25 years and only have had to do this 3 or 4 times, so
don’t let the specter of this haunt you. That student and I are still in
contact, and that moment and how we talked afterwards were real learning
experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">How to prepare
topics/questions for discussion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">There
are no easy steps to this. It depends on the material you are covering from the
reading. My typical version of this is to use the opening small lecture to
remind them of a key idea or two and then to give them 1) an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">interesting story or example, </i>2) a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">debate or controversy, </i>or 3) an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">object </i>and ask them to respond. Your
stories can be personal or come from your research and preparation. *This* is
what you are doing to prep for class instead of making a 137 slide PowerPoint.
Examples can be pop culture or social media and you can use slides for those.
Debates are an easy way to start a class, but you can’t just stay in that mode,
which is about argument and conflict. You have to use that to break the ice and
then move on. Objects. I have used all kinds of weird toys and things from my
office. I have used really old books. Anything that relates to the matter at
hand. Your goal is just to get them started. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">In
any case, even if you have a list of learning outcomes or questions in front of
you, you never want them to just feel like you are burning through an agenda
and they have to be along for the ride. They will begin to shut down so you can
get through your list faster. It is never fun to feel pulled on the tide of an
instructor’s goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Reporting <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo7; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Ideas<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">If
you are to be evaluated for your discussion work, it is useful to return to
your questions or goals, though, and to be able to give a quick representative
summary of how it went. For example:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“On the question of
how social media feeds are like scrapbooks of old and of their 1998-2008
revival, they noted ways that we were like the old, and bit how we were
different. But no one had enough experience with the later scrapbooks, so we
will need to get back to that with some examples to help.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo7; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Process<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">You should also be able to describe
how it went on the above detailed elements, “b. How to listen” and “c. Managing
difficulty,” as well as their sub-parts. For example:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
was good on nonverbals and decentering and silence, but I talked too long in
summary/reflection and questioning, which I then used to spring into
mini-lectures that went on too long. I need to bring out more student
participation next time by talking less. For the other stuff, very little bad
happened, although I did have a few more silent students than usual, probably
because *I* was the stage hog! I just need to work a bit harder to get better
discussion going. It was good, but not great. We needed more depth.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The discussion
method of teaching is one of the most effective, most rewarding pedagogies we
can use. But it is scary. In a lecture, especially with PowerPoint, it is hard
to tell whether or not they are really learning. They may be taking notes, but
how do you know what that means?!? But in a discussion you can tell how it is
going almost all the time, and when it is not great, it is hard to deal with.
But I’d rather know now than find out after the exam that they weren’t paying
attention!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">You will make
mistakes. And they will see them. So you have to have some humanity, some
humility and a decent approximation of a sense of humor. Good luck!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Costa,
M. L., van Rensberg, L., & Rushton, N.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(2007). Does teaching style matter? A randomized trial of group
discussion versus lectures in orthopaedic undergraduate teaching. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medical Education, 41</i>, 214-217. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02677.x</span><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Dallimore,
E. J., Hertenstein, J. H., & Platt, M. B. (2013). Impact of cold-calling on
student voluntary participation. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal
of Management Education, 37</i>, 305-341. </span><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; padding: 0in;">http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1052562912446067</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Dallimore,
E. J., Hertenstein, J. H., & Platt, M. B. (2019). Leveling the playing
field: How cold-calling affects class discussion gender equity. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Education and Learning, 8</i>(2),
12-24. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1207291.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Gall,
M. D., & Gillett, M. (1980). The discussion method in classroom teaching. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Theory Into Practice, 19</i>(20), 98-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405848009542881.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Jacobs,
E. E., Schimmel, C. J., Masson, R. L., & Harvill, R. L. (2016). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Group counseling: Strategies and skills</i>.
Boston, MA: Cengage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Johnson,
J. P., & Mighten, A. (2005). A comparison of teaching strategies: Lecture notes
combined with structured group discussion versus discussion only. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Nursing Education, 44</i>,
319-322. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16094791. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Parker,
W. C., & Hess, D. (2001). Teaching with and for discussion. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teaching and Teacher Education, 17</i>,
273-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(00)00057-3.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Spradley,
J. P. (1979). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The ethnographic interview.</i>
Fort Worth: Harcourt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-43822972571145568562019-10-21T13:31:00.000-05:002020-03-19T09:51:15.404-05:00A Guide to Civil and Productive Online Discussions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><em style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This guide has taken on special relevance now that so much education has been moved online in the wake of COVID-19. This guide is is not an intro. It is designed to help you manage discussions that work better and more productively to achieve your pedagogical aims. Threaded discussion, either in courseware or a social media platform, can be a great substitute for face-to-face interactions. And for student whose class was just converted to online, who didn't choose it and thus might not have the bandwidth or data availability at their homes to process a video-heavy synchronous class experience, building richer text-based discussions is a key tool in your educator's toolbox.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><em style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></em></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Last week I was invited to speak to a middle school class via Zoom about how to have great discussions via social media.</span></div>
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Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/MoreBrainz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MoreBrainz</a> for the digital visit with <a href="https://twitter.com/NISDRoss?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NISDRoss</a> 8th grade! Our minds are officially blown 🤯 thanks for the help <a href="https://twitter.com/sulrossreads?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sulrossreads</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/susanfreeves?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@susanfreeves</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/the_hoff_too?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@the_hoff_too</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NISDLib?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NISDLib</a> <a href="https://t.co/GbITqXgHBW">pic.twitter.com/GbITqXgHBW</a></div>
— Lizette Gallardo (@lgallardoNISD) <a href="https://twitter.com/lgallardoNISD/status/1185268042420367362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was a very fun experience, but the week that followed was eerie. It seemed like all sorts of things were synergistically converging around this topic for me. It felt like this:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitySekw1AqW4UWpccafVTJVg-SAtVHP_iRqJPmaWLV6GehWxplWqYWgRju-_KXCbTYfDIpeF6k0XznWKp1UWLs-cyOVZiEasXu3eu_Zb9SULJ1Jkme2mxKR7ztk2xQlO9zQFgVF-76GbdL/s1600/vrooman-zoom-social-media-civility-discussion-online-argument.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitySekw1AqW4UWpccafVTJVg-SAtVHP_iRqJPmaWLV6GehWxplWqYWgRju-_KXCbTYfDIpeF6k0XznWKp1UWLs-cyOVZiEasXu3eu_Zb9SULJ1Jkme2mxKR7ztk2xQlO9zQFgVF-76GbdL/s1600/vrooman-zoom-social-media-civility-discussion-online-argument.png" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The space "virtual background" on Zoom. When you click it the software immediately warns you against using it, and I can see why. But the week did feel a lot like this, as my brain merged with the expanding universe.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It all made me want to write this blog post to present a few key takeaways for you.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To be sure, this was not the first time this has come up. I have <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xw36RiwiS05p0IaRd4S-J9BfcvoRYadB/view" target="_blank">published</a> and <a href="https://register.tcea.org/2019/profile.cfm?profile_name=session&master_key=75811D83-F04D-A206-2B64-DF89075FAEA4&page_key=8822F67D-940A-449F-B77F-B9D6080B914E&xtemplate&userLGNKEY=0" target="_blank">presented</a> on this question of social media in education before. And I have been <a href="https://stevenvrooman.com/keynotes" target="_blank">talking about</a> and <a href="https://www.theexecutive-digital.com/cses/0519_september_october_2019/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=12#pg12" target="_blank">writing</a> about social media strategy in keynotes and workshops since I did <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6c5eeOCZ7E" target="_blank">my TEDx talk on Twitter</a> (the 5-year anniversary of which was the exact day that I spoke to the students -- like I said, a lot of stuff all piling on at the same time!).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But it became clear, within days, that I needed to take the lessons that these middle schoolers were learning to prepare for taking their class to a Twitter conversation that included their parents (!), to adults (perhaps also their parents?!?).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">First, when I shared this on Instagram, one of the comments was: "<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">I am glad someone is addressing this. Will you be talking to adults next?😂😂 and then our politicians?😂." </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Second, almost the exact hour that I got that comment, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/news/economists-we-need-english-majors-4453819/" target="_blank">one of my posts on LinkedIn became the top post on a LinkedIn News feature</a>, where they take popular articles that are shared from the news that day and drop some posts they select to give a kind of crowdsourced LinkedIn community reaction to the news. I didn't even know this was a feature of LinkedIn! Well, that was yesterday morning, and I am still getting a flood of reactions and comments, which has never really happened for me on that platform. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Needless to say, I was unprepared for the comments. Some are what I'd expect from the platform, you know, the sort of shameless self-promotion hijacking of other peoples' posts? But there were some clear moments of pure trolling, and the debate, which was about the need for more Liberal Arts majors, devolved for quite a few commenters into the kind of angry, blustery, evidence-free screeds that I associate with gun control fights on Facebook. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was a bit shocked by this. I probably shouldn't have been, but, you know, LinkedIn is about work right? Some of these people are hunting for contacts or jobs? What are people thinking?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I told myself not to feed the trolls, which is part of the reason I do little with Facebook these days, but I couldn't help one last dip into the pool of old habits. I commented: </span><span style="background-color: white;">"<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I confess to being a bit disappointed in the quality of discourse on LinkedIn today (in many comments below). Perhaps evidence, argument and civility have gone out of fashion in favor of bluster, trolling, and generalities? If only there were a group of majors that taught such much-needed skills! Let me think.... 😉"</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me give you the tips I developed for the students, and you can tell me if I violated any of them.</span></span></span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Always Add Value</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have taught summer courses online for years, but for the past 5 summers, I have started using Facebook as the place for class discussion. This allows me to loop in alumni who have an interest (and perhaps a bit of nostalgia for Dr. Vrooman's courses), colleagues, friends and other interested contacts, and even, in a few cases, the authors of books or articles we are reading for the class. In my research on this, I've concluded that public discussions like these are generally more civil and helpful than private conversations locked behind courseware.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">But one of the key things participants need to have in mind is this first rule. Add value. This means that some classic, semi-lurky social media behavior has to stop when we are trying to build effective civil discourse in a social media setting.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">So no <span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>click level reactions</i></b></span> can replace a valuable comment. In other words. No simple likes or upvotes or hearts or angry faces or whatever. Giving a comment <u>only</u> that small bit of public acclaim does nothing to move the conversation forward. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, that social proof of a comment's popularity has a bit of chilling effect for people who think about posting, just like creepy cool kids lurking along the row of lockers in middle school. Nerds like me might just take another hallway. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I've seen it dozens of times before in my courses and in everyday non-course social media interaction. The first comment gets 20 likes. Very few comments come later. It's as if we all decided that comment was good enough to stand for our perspective and so we liked it, and we then groupthink signaled that the conversation was over.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But if those first "likers" instead did something else, "<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>like and</i></b></span>" to adapt the improv mantra of "yes and," and then gave a real comment of some kind, well, when I see that kind of behavior, it generally produces a lot more comments all around.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The other idea here is that comments that are <span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">likes in disguise</span> are also part of the same problem. A like in disguise is a comment of this kind: "I totally agree. Good idea." or "Thanks for posting that." </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">None of those comments add any value to the conversation. As such, they also chill real comments and a more robust debate. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is a social media like an anti-democratic act? </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sounds silly at first glance, I know, but let's try an experiment. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What if that statement/question, "</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is a social media like an anti-democratic act?" dropped into the comments on a share of this blog post to Facebook (assuming I never used the phrase here in the blog post itself) and then had, say, 3x more likes than comments normally get on the page or profile that shared this (which you'd kind of know if you were dedicated reader of a certain person or page's stuff), as well as three or four likes in disguise: "Yep!", "I never thought of that, but yes.", and "I think that could be right."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There. That's what you see. Do you bother to comment?</span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. Avoid Drive-By Linking</span></h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a phrase I previously borrowed from my colleague Dr. Margaret Gonzales for thechapter on citations in speeches in <a href="https://amzn.to/2MZln2T" target="_blank">my public speaking textbook</a>. A drive-by quoter, for Gonzales, is a person who just drops a block quote into a paper and then "elaborates" on it by just paraphrasing it pointlessly, sometimes even with the tone deaf "What this quote is saying . . . " as a lead in. You quote and move on as fast as possible. This is bad writing, but it is often a good way to pass high school level writing assessments because it is easy for exhausted, overcaffeinated teachers crammed into a room for 8 hours two weeks after the school year is over to mark as "meets expectations."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You all know the drive-by linker. Often this happens in the throes of a political debate that has gone a bit too far. Someone gives up and comments with something like, "Look, you are just not reading enough outside of your own, sad, narrow, pathetic echo chamber politics, so here's some truth I'm gonna drop on you!" And then you see a blizzard of links to content that supports their views.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Look, I will admit that I have done this before. I feel bad about it now, but to be honest, I usually only had two reasons for this, both of which are antithethical to developing good discussion online.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">First, sometimes I had, you know, work or life or a pot boiling over and I just needed to get off the social media time suck train wreck. I was purposefully trying to end the conversation by <i><b><span style="font-size: large;">dropping a lot of mics in link form</span></b></i>. Then, if the person continued the conversation that I wanted stopped (but apparently had too much invested in to just walk away like the adult I usually try hard to be!), I could drop one more mic with "If you are not going to read the evidence, we can't really continue this productively, so I'm going to sign out of this conversation."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I know, right? What a jerk!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second reason I'd do this is because I actually wanted to make the conversation so muddy and horrible and painful that everyone would want to leave it because someone I was arguing with was a troll or such an extreme true-believer that I knew the conversation would go nowhere. And I was pretty sure they thought the same of me. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So dropping a pile of links was a <b><i><span style="font-size: large;">face-saving move</span></i></b> which signaled I was giving up on a person but still wanted them to know I still thought I was right. It also meant I was trying to punish a person who was annoying me by giving them a bunch of unwanted homework.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Again, what a jerk!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Evidence is useful in a debate, for sure. It can elevate discourse and help us all to learn and connect. But if you are going to use a link in a discussion of this kind, it is important for you to explain why you are linking to it and how and why you expect us to go and click on it. Ideally you will make the arguments yourself in a comment and then use that link as maybe a sub level comment where people can go if they want more context for what you are saying, but they don't need to.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">3. Tone Is a Collective Responsibility</span></span></h2>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">My very <a href="http://www.commstudy.com/Vrooman_2001.pdf" target="_blank">first published academic article</a> was on the ways that an online community preserved tone in its discussion (on a listserv, just so you know how old that article is!).</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This idea is a key finding of that study. The only way to shut down negativity, aggression, flaming, trolling and the like in your online community is if <b><i><span style="font-size: large;">people besides the victims speak out</span></i></b>. Kind of like real life, eh?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Letting a terrible comment just sit there in the feed, even for an hour, is poisonous to the group and to the overall experience of the discussion. Sometimes the comment was a mistake or a typo or something that wasn't meant in that particular way. Whatever the story behind the comment, marking it as a problem quickly helps the commenter and others move forward. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The longer the person who feels victimized by a comment must sit and feel it without any word from the rest of the group, the longer the idea that there is no real group here and you just have to fend for yourself sinks in. And that is bad for everything. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So what do we do? The lessons I observed in that community 20 years ago still hold true. </span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">First, what I called "<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">restrained group-invoking admonition</span></b></i>" is a great tool for a first responder. "Hey, I don't think those kinds of comments are really what this group is about." Highlighting the needs of the group helps take the pressure off continuing to treat the attacked person as a victim, which is a problem.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Second, <b><i><span style="font-size: large;">highlighting one's own emotional response</span></i></b>. "If this group is going to have this kind of comment show up here, I'm going to have to bail out. I don't like reddit, and I don't want that here." Someone besides the victim of an online attack needs to bring up some emotional context as soon as possible in order to avoid the classic trolling (or, to use the language of 20 years ago, "warlording") tactic of labeling yourself as just a truth-teller and the other people as just too emotional, too sensitive, maybe not able to handle and adult world where difficult things are said. It's best that such a move has to be directed at the group, not the victim.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Third, <b><i><span style="font-size: large;">overtures of forgiveness</span></i></b> are important. Crushing offenders to silence rhetorically is not a help. From a troll's perspective, that is a goal, to reduce the discourse of the group to incoherent anger. And for an innocent mistake, you don't want a person to feel attacked forever. After some comments of the first two types show up, a bit of "Hey, I think Steve gets the point. We've all done something like that before in other places online, and now we all know we don't want to be that kind of place, so maybe we can move on?"</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These kinds of comments sometimes happen accidentally, but if you are a leader of a discussion group or have a lot invested in the quality of the discussion, you have to have a plan for what to do when this kind of thing comes up. Groups with moderators have guidelines and procedures. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I made sure to tell the middle schoolers that they could not just rely on their teachers to do this for them. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It doesn't feel the same.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you've read this far, perhaps you could use some this this time-tested wisdom to think about developing your own response repertoire? It might seem weird to prepare like that, but it works. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Online discussion can be better than face to face discussion if it is well-developed and if people who know what they are doing help model and monitor for others. Online education is only increasing its footprint across all of our experiences, and we all spend, for better or worse, more time on social media than we would like. Managing that environment is imperative.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">As to my comment on LinkedIn, now that you've read all of this, what do you think? Old habits or a good idea?</span></span><br />
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-73811666912845255342019-08-30T12:07:00.000-05:002019-10-25T13:49:58.521-05:00The Zombie Guide to Public Speaking: Teachers' Activity Guide<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by <a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Some of the original art for the textbook created by my son back when he was in 9th grade.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">More and more people are adopting <i>The Zombie Guide to Public Speaking</i>, my public speaking class textbook, either <a href="https://amzn.to/2s4VQeT" target="_blank">the college and professional edition</a> or <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZxkxyB" target="_blank">the high school edition</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2s4VQeT" target="_blank">Low price! Paperback and Kindle!</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I recently got a message from a high school teacher wanting to know whether or not I have a teacher's guide for the book. Good question.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And yes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't have lectures or test questions because. . . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't lecture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't test.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I mean, I do, in other classes, but in speaking classes the goal is speaking, so all their points come from speeches. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And instead of lecture, I often make them either lecture for me or do small group work followed by in-class presentations where they explore and demonstrate the material. It usually goes well and it allows me to point out what they might be doing wrong in their application of ideas like transitions or citations. I will say that I do spend a bit of time exploring argument and PowerPoint software issues in lecture form, but I do not yet have my notes for that in blog-able form (maybe soon, though!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I thought in lieu of a traditional teacher's guide I would drop descriptions of the activities I do for each set of chapters to help. Feel free to ransack this for ideas.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 1: Failing</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 2: Anxiety</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 3: Depression</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Introductory
Speech<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(1/2-1 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">You will introduce yourself to the class based on criteria I provide that
day. If you complete the speech you get all the points.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Re-Introductory
Speech<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(1/2-1 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You will introduce another person to the class based on criteria I
provide that day. If you complete the speech you get all the points.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Elocutionary
Speech<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(1/2-1 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I will give you a
selection of text and a series of elocutionary diagrams. Your task is to
deliver the text with the emotion and gesture appropriate to the diagrams. Your
grade will be based on your energy and commitment to what will be very silly.</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Teachers, here is the SlideShare for that: </span><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/svrooman/elocutionary-exercises-a-humorous-activity-for-reducing-public-speaking-anxiety-when-teaching-oral-communication">https://www.slideshare.net/svrooman/elocutionary-exercises-a-humorous-activity-for-reducing-public-speaking-anxiety-when-teaching-oral-communication</a></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Impromptu
Speech <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(1/2-1 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is, by definition, a speech without preparation. I will have a bucket of topics (each of you will right now contribute 3 topics to the bucket, please). You will
receive time signals. If your speech is too short or too long, you will lose 1
point. Otherwise, if you complete the speech you get all the points.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 4: Ditch Your Speech</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 5: Organization</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 3: Introductions and Conclusion</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Transitional Objects Speech <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(1-3 min.)</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Your group will be given
five items. Your task will be to create accurate and creative transitions
between the items as if they were going to be analyzed in the body of a speech.
You don’t have to complete that analysis in this speech. Just show the items and
give the transitions. You also need to develop a thesis, preview and summary
for this phantom speech. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Shared grade. Points
earned based on accuracy and quality of transitions.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teachers: This is literally a stack of random items from my desk drawer.</span></i></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Magic Feathers Speech</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">(1-3 min.)</span></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your group will be given
three topics. You will generate a good thesis and a good set of magic
feathers-style main points for the thesis to the specific audiences for each
topic that are specified for you.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teachers, here's some details: </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">For magic feathers I give simple topics. "Squirrels are awesome" etc. They get 3. Then I give two audiences. Usually their class and then something like a college class or a business public speaking retreat class, something that gets them thinking about age.</span></i><br />
<div dir="auto" style="font-family: sans-serif; hyphens: auto; line-height: normal !important; word-break: break-word;">
<i><br style="line-height: normal !important;" /></i></div>
<div dir="auto" style="font-family: sans-serif; hyphens: auto; line-height: normal !important; word-break: break-word;">
<i>Then they have to develop the main points and set them up as magic feathers types of points.</i></div>
<div dir="auto" style="font-family: sans-serif; hyphens: auto; line-height: normal !important; word-break: break-word;">
<i>Maybe 1. Gryffindor 2. Hufflepuff 3. Slytherin and the squirrel aspects that fit those for the high school class and maybe a different metaphor for adults with the same points of brave, hard-working and sneaky.</i></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In-Attention-Getters
Speech </span></span></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(3-4 min.)</span></i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your group will be
given a topic and must create one of each of the seven types of
attention-getters for it and present them to the class. Grade will be based on
how effective they are.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Closing
Time Speech </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(3-4 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your group will be
given 4 topics/outlines/arguments. You will need to develop an effective
conclusion for each. Grade will be based on how effective they are.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shell
Game Speech </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(3-5 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You will be given a thesis
and a short outline of main points. You will have less than 1 minute, as a
group, to prepare the full introduction, body and conclusion of the speech,
including supporting material (which you may have to look up right then, on
your phone, on the way up).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">GrImEx Speech</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(?)</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a surprise.
You will get all the points unless 1) Someone goes out of order, or 2) a piece
of the speech, as directed, is missing or in error.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teachers: This is a hard one to explain. I make the students actually be all the parts of a speech. I adapt the numbers of point, supporting material, etc. to the numbers of students in the class. One group is the Introduction, group, for example, and if there are 4 they are the parts in yellow in the picture below. The Transitions group actually has to physically go to the other groups and find out the content and then go tell the Intro and Conclusion groups, etc. They do the speech in order, standing in a long snaky line at the front. They each only get like 15 seconds. They have to go in order and they tag (tap of the hand, like wrestling tag-team) the next person to go. It is a lot to put together, but they LOVE getting it right.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljMXWGRdDENoF17uubbzCVbBJ9_nq146rJyj2aJm1wXrrKV12CV6Bt7eDGkYKnzNqbI40FMHcs4fDyjR1NlA3H6aqjrhviA0izC0PmeHXCDZitoNAqG1qGaFc4eYbuV8VMqFhMbWc_1hO/s1600/grimex+or+Group+Impromptu+Extemporaneous+Speech+to+Teach+Organization+in+Public+Speaking.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljMXWGRdDENoF17uubbzCVbBJ9_nq146rJyj2aJm1wXrrKV12CV6Bt7eDGkYKnzNqbI40FMHcs4fDyjR1NlA3H6aqjrhviA0izC0PmeHXCDZitoNAqG1qGaFc4eYbuV8VMqFhMbWc_1hO/s320/grimex+or+Group+Impromptu+Extemporaneous+Speech+to+Teach+Organization+in+Public+Speaking.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 7: Visual Aid Architecture</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 13: Slideworks</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">PowerPoint
Less Speech </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(2-3 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This will be a
surprise. You will get full credit as long as you do not give up or “break
character.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teachers: I go to Slideshare and find and save a bunch of random PowerPoints on subjects they don't know about. Rename them on the computer desktop "1", "2", etc. or crop bits into one large PowerPoint with blank slides in between so they know when they are done. They have to get up there and fake it.It's ridiculous and fun and exposes them to a lot of overly texty bad PowerPoint design.</span></i></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">VisOr
Speech<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(3-4 min.)</span></i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your task is to design
the basics of a Power Point according to the dictates of the readings that will
teach some or all of the elements of those readings. Your group will make it in
class and then display the idea for us – but you can only use the supplies I
provide (hint: pen and paper). Grade is based on the quality and effectiveness
of the idea for the engagement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teachers: They make slides using pen and paper and hold them up for their speech. Again, it reinforces decentralizing slides from their presentation.</span></i></span></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Group TED Speech</span></span></b><br />
<i style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(3-4 min.)</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You will be assigned
a TED talk from the previous class for homework. As a group you will evaluate
it using the rubric for this class. You will then present a group speech of
less than 10 minutes (I will stop you at 10 and you will sit down, unfinished,
if needed) where you explain the grade. You should be judicious in spending
your time to not show us too much of the TED Talk during your time. Everyone
has to speak at least one sentence. Be sure the speech has an introduction,
transitions, etc. You will be graded on your accuracy and the quality of your
overall speech.</span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 8: The Uses and Abuses of Sources</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 9: Narrative</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 10: Numbers</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 11: Humor</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 12: Figurative Language</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Group
Story/Humor Speeches<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(3-4 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your group will talk
until you figure out a true story for each person that they can each tell that
all have some connective thread. You will perform a group speech (with intro,
transitions, etc.) where you present and tell these stories. So you will need a
theme or reason for them. Additionally, half of the stories <i>must</i> be humorous.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Group
Numbers Speeches<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(3-4 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your group will be
given one or more sources of numerical information. Your job is to generate a
speech where you use the numbers to explain/argue 1 thing for each group member
and link them into a group speech (with intro, transitions, etc.). You must use
the numbers correctly.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Group
Figurative Language Speeches </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(3-4 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your group will be
given a topic. You will use the poetry resources on page 207 to find 1 example
of figurative language for each member of your group on the topic and then
explain how it might work (in what context, for what kind of argument or
audience, etc.). Link it all into a group speech (with intro, transitions,
etc.).</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 14: Argument Basics</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 15: Double Hierarchy</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Group Presence
Speeches<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>(3-4 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You will be given a set of basic arguments on an issue or a small blog post/newspaper article. Your task will be to figure out what the key arguments are and then figure out at least two ways you could add presence to the grounds or warrants of those arguments that the author did not use. Then use your phones to look that up and present both to the class.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Group Mystery
Food Debate<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>(3-4 min.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You will have a surprise debate. Details TBA</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Teachers: You will break them up into sides on a debate of which is better, pie or cake. You will give them time to discuss and various moments where the group must come up with their best arguments. The trick is to help them break down the arguments as you go and focus on the ways they are trying to "win" the debate, not actually try to convince the other side. If all goes well, you might allow people the chance to switch sides and see, literally, what arguments "moved" them.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Group Argument Speeches<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(3-4 min.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You will be given a set of text with an argument. Your group will have to generate a correct Toulmin diagram, put it on the board and then present/explain that to the class.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teachers: You will need to be able to help them correct the arguments and maybe try again.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chapter 16: Delivery & Credibility</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Delivery Speech</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(1-2 min.)</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I will project a minute
of a speech. You will watch and take notes. You will be given an additional 20
seconds to prepare. Then you must give an evaluation and grade of the delivery
of the speaker you saw using the criteria we develop in class. 5 points of your
grade will be your own delivery and 5 points will be the accuracy and depth of
your analysis.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teachers: This activity is really good, but it is harder now that YouTube has disallowed embedding of Internet video in PowerPoints. The best answer is to search for speeches online (lots of people post for their online public speaking classes) and make a playlist you run from the podium.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Storytime
Speech <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">(1-3 min.)</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Find a children’s book
(the illustrated kind work the best; no “chapter books”) and read it to us.
Read it to us with energy and intensity, like a children’s librarian to
restless 4 year olds, not softly like you used to read your little sister to
sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You may choose any book (<u>except</u> <i>Go
the F*$% to Sleep</i>), but your reading cannot be more than 3 minutes in
length.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At 3 minutes, I will
simply stop you and you will sit down. Don’t let this happen to you. For most
children’s books, this will cause you to miss the best part, the end, when your
delivery will probably be at its best. It is acceptable to edit down a favorite
book into 3 minute form. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You must also pick a book
that lasts at least a minute. If you don’t then you will read it again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Your grade will be entirely based on delivery. Obviously, this speech
won’t be extemporaneous, but you will be graded on a number of other delivery
criteria. Additional, children’s book-only elements of this delivery grade: 1)
You need the huge energy of a children’s librarian entertaining the multitudes,
not a weary parent trying to make us fall asleep with the awful book, <i>Goodnight Moon</i>. 2) Show us the PICTURES!</span></span></span></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Wrap Up</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I hope these activities are successful for you. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments if you use these in class or need some help. Go to <a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">stevenvrooman.com</a> to find various ways of connecting.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd share these activities with colleagues who teach public speaking. I have been developing these for many years and I think they add to the experience of a speaking classroom, whatever book you are using.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">More than most classes where we might do things like this that some people call a "flipped classroom," public speaking really needs this kind of approach. People are soooooooo nervous to get up there. But in my class they get up and speak almost every day in this way. Low-stakes speeches, often with buddies, really help them slowly work through their nerves.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Good luck!</span></span></span></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-67628632306781308302019-08-15T16:44:00.001-05:002019-10-25T13:24:35.311-05:00SIFTing Out the CRAAP: Warrants, Dragons, Togas, and "Alaska"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by <a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a world of fake stuff,
perhaps we should spend some time figuring out how to figure things out. Here goes.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Toga!</span></h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We tend to teach a concept called warrants to help students understand how arguments build assumptions from evidence. I have a whole blog series that explains how this works. It starts <a href="https://morebrainz.blogspot.com/2014/09/santa-claus-star-wars-t-shirts-argument.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That generally helps with arguments made in some degree of good faith. They
even help us with paranoid and outlandish claims. But we need a bit more to help
us figure out how to critically read in a world where social media exposes us
to a lot of manipulative trickery based on evidence selection. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is hard, which is why we all tend to fail at it. I can take your evidence at face value and then explore the nature of your claims and how you might be using your evidence inappropriately. Even given what's been happening recently, I still think that this is far more common than simply making up evidence, and it gives us some defense against so called fake news.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Think of that this way, If I made up a damaging argument about Person X: "Person X is, in fact, A SECRET AGENT OF THE NEVER-COLLAPSED ROMAN EMPIRE, OPERATING IN SECRET FOR MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS TO DESTABILIZE SOCIETY AND BRING US BACK TO NERO'S RULE!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay. Yeah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Evidence A, that Person X, say, wears togas at home, only gets us to the claim that they are a Neroian agent if we have the warrant that links the evidence to the claim that in this case has to be "Only Neroian agents wear togas, ever." Well, that person has never been to a toga party or Halloween or who knows what else. Perhaps togas are terribly comfortable, as the Dread Pirate Roberts suggests in this clip from <i>The Princess Bride</i>:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6inEWnnIlEk" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So the warrant analysis shows us that the evidence, whether true or not, doesn't justify the claim. That shields us from some kinds of bad/fake argument. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The hard part is that we may already be committed, because of our political party or religion or pop culture fandoms to the notion that togas are super bad. We won't see, as easily, the flaws of a warrant we have been trained to believe since we were kids. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Evidence B would have to be something that helps us believe that the Roman Spy Network still exists. I don't know what that could be. Latin on our coins. Roman style pillars on government buildings around the world? Olive oil on EVERY. SINGLE. SALAD!!!!</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Again, warrant analysis should help.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But it doesn't do the whole job here. Warrants are still best at analyzing arguments the rhetor is making in good faith. They may be wrong or bizarre or mendacious, but the rhetor's stance of belief helps us to figure out what they are all about and whether or not we can believe them. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What do we do about lies?</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, some lies are clearly for a purpose, like the political fake news circulating in the 2016 US Presidential Election. Warrants can help us there.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But what about lies designed for no clear purpose other than the get you to believe?</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dragons!</span></h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think about this because I
used to teach a class called "Ghosts, Aliens, & Monsters" about
how we should decide what counts as evidence for things we might believe but
have ambiguous or controversial evidence for that we often believe in (God,
love, "Alaska" <i><-- have you been there? what evidence do you have for it? maybe it's all a ruse!!</i>) and that we usually don't (UFOs, cryptids like
bigfoot, ghosts). Do we treat evidences for these things the same or not? Should
we? How would we know if we were making a mistake?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anyway, one day in class I
showed this fake documentary thing where Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard,
Professor X) took us through the evidence for dragons. Here's 5 minutes of
excerpts:</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Ly6fgfTMTk" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It had some sequences where it takes you through a fictional researcher finding
a a dragon and then explores questions of belief from there, the same approach
I had for the class. A student came late to the screening and sat down and
watched. She got wide-eyed and then stepped over to ask me in a whisper when
the show had the "researcher" finding a "dragon carcass",
"Dr. Vrooman, when did they find that?" I tried to break it to her
that it was fake gently, but half the class heard her. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Think of it. She was IN a class
ALL ABOUT what to do with fake reports, and just a few minutes of video and she
totally bought it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Aha! Those of you who actually read the warrant section are on me here. How do you know she bought it (the claim) based on the evidence (her question)? Maybe she thought the whole thing was crap and didn't quite know how to bring that up to a professor who was showing this fake science to his class? Could be. </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So what about us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Most of you likely learned the
CRAAP test in high school: <a href="https://libguides.cmich.edu/web_research/craap">https://libguides.cmich.edu/web_research/craap</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Students-Fall-for/246190" target="_blank">Mike Caulfield</a>,
though, notes that the test fails on this example: <a href="https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/">https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">His solution is the SIFT
test: <a href="https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/">https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Check it all out and see if the
SIFT test helps with the tree octopus.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Insufficient Conclusion </span></h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Look, I know you want me to pull this together and tell you what to think about the SIFT test. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Do you really want that, though?</i></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I'm not going to do that because this blog post is designed for my students, and they are going to have to figure that out as part of their homework. I will update this post in a few weeks with an analysis of their collected answers to the problem of the SIFT test and the tree octopus.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Until then....</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-56025375623189358912019-02-10T16:45:00.000-06:002019-10-25T13:25:09.866-05:00Me and Henry B.: Returning to the Scene of a Failure and Finding Success<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxU09ahLVs5YTJfCWtR_LLxocxtD0cFRBwtRhUpBmBrQPiOa7vk0oIyHdD7LefM2OAzY_pPnX8b5nd-FljWDp7Sm9CO9beXg0moWPBE73cEVOVgUfG66TnmefyyDy7x6y7-FnjCWR_XfU/s1600/tc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxU09ahLVs5YTJfCWtR_LLxocxtD0cFRBwtRhUpBmBrQPiOa7vk0oIyHdD7LefM2OAzY_pPnX8b5nd-FljWDp7Sm9CO9beXg0moWPBE73cEVOVgUfG66TnmefyyDy7x6y7-FnjCWR_XfU/s400/tc.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79;">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I was driving in to San Antonio the morning of my IAEE presentation in November 2017, I passed under a jumper perched on the edge of a bridge over the I-10. She had climbed over the wall/barrier and has holding herself up by grabbing the top of it. It looked like she could let go at any moment. The police had closed the bridge up top, and I was one of the last cars through before they closed down that side of the freeway.</span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I found someone else from Seguin at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TCEA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TCEA</a>....<a href="https://twitter.com/MoreBrainz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MoreBrainz</a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TLU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TLU</a>. "Integrating Social Media and E-Learning." I went in thinking no way can I use social media with 8th graders but he made me think of ways to possibly integrate it. <a href="https://twitter.com/matadoredtech?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@matadoredtech</a> <a href="https://t.co/LwxJ6c0Zfx">pic.twitter.com/LwxJ6c0Zfx</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Max Brandenberger (@mr_b_science) <a href="https://twitter.com/mr_b_science/status/1093230813964046337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2019</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That is me giving a good presentation on using social media in e-learning at <a href="https://tcea.org/"><span style="color: blue;">TCEA</span></a> 14 months later. (I am borrowing this photo from my friend Max
Brandenberger, who came to my presentation and snapped a pic).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />I did not give a great presentation in 2017. And I could feel the weight of that last week as I spoke at Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio for the first time since 2017. But I made it through what haunted me, and this post will take you through that journey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>An Unexpected Event</b></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
My <a href="https://www.eventscribe.com/2017/expoexpo/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presenterInfo&PresenterID=345648"><span style="color: blue;">presentation at IAEE</span></a> was a great opportunity for me, and I was not pleased with the
result. I didn't have the energy or focus I needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was pretty shaken that whole morning, and in my head during my talk, the
image of her up there would flood back to me, as did the thought, "I don't
think that bridge is high enough." The morbidity of that thought seemed to
keep it sticking in my brain. I talk about what this felt like in the final
episode of my public speaking podcast, in a conversation with fellow keynote
speaker Strother Gaines:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true" src="https://www.podomatic.com/embed/html5/episode/8993392?style=normal&autoplay=false" style="height: 208px; width: 504px;"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After the presentation, pacing in the hallways outside the speakers' lounge, I called my partner, </span><a href="https://havecolorwilltravel.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Michelle</span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, and told her I blew it. (I had two presentations at IAEE, and on the second day I ran an escape room style workshop, and </span><a href="https://stevenvrooman.com/workshops" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">that worked out very well</span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, but that kind of workshop thing feels different than you at the front with a PowerPoint, and it was easier to get through).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I looked all day for news of her, and I couldn't find any,
so it seems like she got down off the bridge safely. I hope, anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
Yesterday, I found myself paying attention to the bridges as I drove in to
town. But all was well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I Admit that the Word "Dongle" Still Makes Me
Giggle</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was pretty nervous heading into the building, and if you know Henry B, you
know it is absolutely enormous, so much so that TCEA did this to the floors:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Someone has a sense of humor. 😂<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TCEA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TCEA</a> <a href="https://t.co/BY41LfRrGj">pic.twitter.com/BY41LfRrGj</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Melissa Bartlett (@bartletm) <a href="https://twitter.com/bartletm/status/1092536394357112833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2019</a></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I had a looooonnnnngggggg time to think about it while I
tried to find my room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
There I discovered a bare HDMI cable. I had forgotten that I was supposed to
have brought my own laptop to project from. After a moment of panic, I
remembered that I was prepared for this. I have been teaching class with a
thing called <a href="https://amzn.to/2BrQX4m" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">a WiFi display dongle</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
It works well, and the name makes my inner 13-year old (never far below the
surface anyway) giggle. I had been using this for teaching in an
the old, haunted theater where I teach most of my classes at TLU. I can walk
around the room and use the web. I like both the Internet and pacing, so this
is a good tool for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
Thankfully, I also had <a href="https://amzn.to/2I0FdeX" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">the right adapter</span></a>, so I
plugged it all in and crossed my fingers:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BtjIBrNnLOp/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="background: #FFFFFF; line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank">
</a> </span><br />
<div style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;">
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BtjIBrNnLOp/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm presenting at #TCEA in 90 minutes. I'm going to be projecting my PowerPoint using my phone, which leads to awesome effects like this! You can even see the processing delay between my smile and when it gets to the succeeding images! #edtech #creepy #publicspeaking</span></a></div>
<div style="color: #c9c8cd; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/morebrainz/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Steven Vrooman, PhD</a> (@morebrainz) on <time datetime="2019-02-06T17:32:32+00:00" style="line-height: 17px;">Feb 6, 2019 at 9:32am PST</time></span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It worked so well I had time for some selfie shenanigans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Friendly Face Phenomenon</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As I always do right before a presentation starts, while the
audience files in, I try to talk to people and get the feel for what they are
about. It helps me adapt my material to their needs. This time, that was
harder. I think I was letting the memories creep back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
But then I found my friend Max and my former student Megan in the audience, and
that relaxed me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
In my textbook, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Guide-Public-Speaking-ition-ebook-dp-B01CDN51S2/dp/B01CDN51S2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1546451081&linkCode=sl1&tag=morebrainz-20&linkId=4548dcd2d242820d8da7c1f059dbb29c&language=en_US" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Zombie Guide to Public Speaking</span></a>,
I point out that you should use the "friendly face phenomenon" when
you have anxiety. Find a person in the room who looks friendly, maybe the first
person to laugh when you risk a joke, and look at them a lot. Well, when you
have actual friendly faces in the audience, it's even better! Afterwards I
joked with Megan that it was just like old times. She'd scowl at me and look at
me like I was nuts while I was speaking, but that was exactly what it was like
to have her in the classroom, so it worked perfectly!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
I was able to keep my attention for a hard task in this talk, where I was
asking them to consider using social media in the classroom, and at every point
I had to work with the three parts of the audience, college, high school and
middle school, each of whom tends to have different types of concerns when it
comes to using social media for their class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
For example, many in the audience knew their administration would never go for
it, so I had to make sure I emphasized other takeaways for them. Middle school
teachers worried about bullying, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
In November 2017, I had a hard time even keeping one idea on track. But this time, I think I was able to stay on all three tracks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is Failure the Right Word to Use?</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am a big fan of learning from failure, as you can see from <a href="https://morebrainz.blogspot.com/search/label/Failure" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">the many posts on the issue in this blog</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
But how should we think about levels here, as professionals? <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
There are small errors and big catastrophes. Neither encapsulates my time at
IAEE. My presentation was good. I got some additional speaking gigs from
audience members, which wouldn't have happened if I'd blown it. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
One of those gigs, at the <a href="https://www.tsae.org/education-events/tech-talks-education" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">TSAE Tech Talks</span></a> the
following March, went so well I got almost universal positive feedback on the
audience evaluation forms. One guy in the audience recommended me to his
father's business as a speaker. He forwarded me the email he sent, which had
the phrase "the best keynote speaker I have ever seen," so I'm going
to take that as a clear win.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
But that IAEE talk still grated on me. I could feel all the issues that were
there in my focus and energy. I can imagine how I would have graded it using <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8adCWyLz1WkaDN2NUdiMWgyRzQ" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">my 55-point grading rubric for speeches</span></a>.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
And that's the thing. I push students out of the A or F mentality all of the
time. I want them to see what they can do with a B and to see it simply as a
"not A."<br />
But I was having a hard time doing that myself. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
There's a lot more to unpack here about the ways that failure is a set of
nuances or degrees, not the either-or that seems to be how we talk about it as
we build a motivational mythology of failing forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I wrote a conclusion to this post that grappled with all of
that, but I guess I failed to pull it together. I will need to think more on it
and a sense of what we might call micro-failures, but which we used to just
call errors, and how we process error in the midst of the BIG WIN! and FAILING
TO SUCCEED! cultural moment.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
</h2>
</div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-65499744547867134762018-12-23T15:54:00.000-06:002018-12-24T14:13:04.441-06:00Rattling Chains and Hyzering Around Memory: Disc Golf, Lost Things, and the Camp Fire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by <a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S.
Vrooman</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>I just started writing <a href="https://udisc.com/blog/author/steven-vrooman" target="_blank">a blog
series at UDisc</a>, a disc golf scoring app. My role at the UDisc blog is to
write data analysis of amateur and professional stats. So the following piece, a personal tale, is not exactly in the focal area of the UDisc blog, much less my part in it.
But sometimes pieces of writing just have to come out, and this is one of those
pieces, so I'm publishing it here. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>If you are not a disc golfer, the first few paragraphs will be a bit
dodgy with terminology. I could stop and explain it, but I feel like maybe
you won't really care enough to figure out what an anhyzer is in order to read
a piece about my sports relationship with my Dad and my son? Instead,
imagine that I am talking about wizards, maybe, casting discs like spells
through tree-lined courses. You don't have to know how we cast the spells, just
that the words are magic and that eventually brightly colored discs clang into a basket. I think you will still find the piece worth the read. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">* * *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Disc golf is a game of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So many practice drives need to be thrown to break 400 feet.
Many hours + a bag of putters is often just the ticket to getting decent. The
rounds add up as the year goes by and we watch our average strokes decline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And there are other kinds of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We move from summer shorts to whatever cold weather gear we
can still X-step in by the time daylight shrinks enough to summon the glow
discs. One day, eventually, that Z plastic will start to turn over. Small trees
get larger and reach farther onto the edges of fairways. The big oak in
middle loses its fight with winter storms one December, although we often still
catch ourselves hyzering around its memory. Big rips that used to be easy get
less so, and perhaps we grudgingly admit we're on the back nine of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Disc golf is a game of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And time comes with loss. Today I'd like to write about
three lost things while I tell you a bit of a story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hole 8</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On the brisk morning of November 8th, I was beginning work
on my first post for UDisc, <a href="https://udisc.com/blog/post/the-most-popular-course-in-every-state">the
list of the most popular courses in the United States</a>, trying to figure out
the right colors and sizes of dots to use on the map. Visualization always
takes longer than you think it will, so I had to stop, eventually, to walk
across campus to teach class to first-year students. Plato's cave. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That walk always takes me right past the basket
for Hole 8 on our university's’ disc golf course:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="624" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/aWY_9MkaEvbtuYTt5thhAHGETHh0E5oiQYJdQcTHuE9cMgX4Z8Tt4rxOsazWCDJAfpL-Vv4fVf5zqB2TVxDzo9kquGEQSq_gZC9m3me_1FJsiwoOtklycir9wfUc9mKcQW9qMCX4" style="border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="624" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, Texas. Photo by author.)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ef4724aa-7fff-a1ba-f692-3caef1608218"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s a 554 foot par 4 right down the middle of campus with
ceilings so low some days you have to duck. But we are redesigning the course
to get the fairways away from the middle of the campus before a student gets
hit by a loose Destroyer. So Hole 8 will disappear forever this winter. It’s
for the best, but I will miss passing it on the way to class and having the
chance to practice putts 100 feet from my office.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That day I was waxing nostalgic, and I thought
about teaching my son to play right here on campus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“S” Driver</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On a whim, years before, during the dark times in which I’d sort of forgotten about disc golf, I bought two of these
orange discs for a dollar apiece in a bin someplace:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="624" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/0pWkyOsC5EGzcqUFp-kDUG46A_s_7GvrRQ4SqfXLB6RiGB88kvJtqu1p3YETvd3j3nzfS-wFvnG1fLoWTn76ng0flHcuD2hl704AfOKap_BIcuCVC6VbfSybiNAt9hrak2LGGmlY" style="border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="624" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(Photo by author.)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-f92e5d43-7fff-481f-7acc-1cdff7af5884"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You can see this one is worse for wear, including an
enormous gouge on the bottom from when I drove it right into a NO PARKING sign
on Hole 18. I taught my son to play with this disc, or perhaps its identical
twin, which was lost this summer on another course, perhaps forever, as so many
discs are in Texas, on a runaway roller into a swamp.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It got me thinking back to when my Dad taught me to play, at
Twila Reid Park in southern California. I remember constantly missing the curve
around a mandatory light pole. I remember watching my Dad's drives sailing on
to forever. And I remember what the chains sounded like when I made my first
putt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I taught my class, and as I walked back to my office past
Hole 8, nostalgia hit again. I remembered the big numbers in the center of my
Uncle Leo’s Midnite Flyers, but I didn’t remember what my Dad’s Wham-O discs
looked like. I texted him at 12:31 CST to see if he could find them in the
garage and take a picture for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have never once in my life asked my Dad to go take a
picture of something for me in his garage.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wham-O World Class</span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">31 minutes later my sister in Oregon messaged me this: “I don’t
know if mom called you or not but everyone is evacuating there is a fire.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the exact moment of my text, my parents had just
finishing a panicked stuffing of essentials into their cars and had started a
journey that would take them 8 hours to drive 25 miles off the ridge. The Camp
Fire had arrived in Magalia, California, “Just North of Paradise!” as the old
motto went, and as you’ve probably seen, it was a monster of a fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After an hour just to drive out of their neighborhood, they
reached a crossroads. To the right was what my Mom described as “a dragon of
fire” roaring through the pine trees. They turned left, which saved their
lives, but were out of cell contact until that evening, because the fire
destroyed cell service as well as everything else. We all waited and waited and
waited to hear from them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My Dad did not get my text to take pictures of his discs
until well after the garage and its contents had been obliterated, along with
the house and generations of memories inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My folks are fine now, physically at least. They have an
apartment. My Mom, just today, sent me a picture of the first beautiful,
precious thing she’s allowed herself to buy since the fire. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My son and I were
about to drive on Hole 2 at the time she sent its image, so I sent her back a
pic of him waving with his yellow Defender. She sent me back a picture of my
Dad’s hands as he scrubbed ash off the few scorched ceramics they were able to
salvage from the wreckage. I don’t think his back could take a round of golf
these days, and their local course, Lava Creek, has “Fire damage. Closed until
further notice” as its last UDisc course conditions update. But in that image
it looked, while I was standing on a fairway listening to my son hit the
chains, like Dad was holding a disc, not what was left of the china cabinet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They wished Sam luck in the round and told him to beat the
socks off of me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We tied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Real Talk</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Listen to me now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Someone taught you how to play this fantastic sport. Someone
showed you how to splay your fingers on the putter, how to ease off on that
natural hyzer, how to get more distance by not trying so hard. Someone out
there was with you when you first nailed a putt.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Or, reader, if you don't play disc golf, you have similar memories about something important someone introduced you to along the way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am lucky enough that that my someone is still here. If you
are also so lucky, give them a call. Let them know what it means to you that
they shared this game that is still a part of your life. And let them know the
other things, too, the things you don’t usually tell them out loud. The
holidays are coming up. It’s a good time for such things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s also a good time for some rounds of disc golf. I’ve got
some nieces and nephews to visit and a bag of old discs. It's time to pass down
a family tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Disc golf is a game of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s time to rattle some chains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>There are lots of ways to help the thousands of newly
homeless people from Butte County as Christmas approaches, if you are so
inclined. There are the traditional routes like the <a href="https://www.redcross.org/about-us/our-work/disaster-relief/wildfire-relief/2018-california-wildfires-relief-information.html" target="_blank">Red Cross</a> or <a href="https://deloro.salvationarmy.org/del_oro/camp-fire-response/" target="_blank">Salvation Army,</a> a number of <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/cause/californiafires" target="_blank">GoFundMe
pages</a>, and local brewery <a href="https://sierranevada.com/resilience-butte-county-proud-ipa" target="_blank">Sierra Nevada is brewing up a Butte County Resilience IPA</a>
and donating 100% of sales.<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRS4v0HdpU39Bn_B4fUd8c4Axkl1nAuSgQFdsM7lojQtMh_-vZ9Tc4HiEFyyI0siRrtrBJFJlnBsGw2o4RaNebzs_TXIYhzaZ1wnR3JM9VgPoI1M2d2mkTgh7WvH6ri9ibQZUM6dH9vld/s1600/20181224_131039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1575" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRS4v0HdpU39Bn_B4fUd8c4Axkl1nAuSgQFdsM7lojQtMh_-vZ9Tc4HiEFyyI0siRrtrBJFJlnBsGw2o4RaNebzs_TXIYhzaZ1wnR3JM9VgPoI1M2d2mkTgh7WvH6ri9ibQZUM6dH9vld/s640/20181224_131039.jpg" width="628" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Resilience! Photo by author)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-45969532347741293792018-11-04T16:20:00.001-06:002019-10-25T13:27:04.787-05:00The Speaker's Plight: What We Think When You Tell Us Your Event Will Give Us "Exposure"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQfB8yrkCPaF4fk_kqGMbu-wY8UJgWjYydmS4q671PKuRt25d6nfgCCRc2lF6t68fR7aLld5Vl_Zn5N1F-U8s-T2MAuPCm9aPfmNBcH44q6-4fhN3yatRJDkPvqz9Tggw39xswTKPN8dU/s1600/Networking%252C+I+Suppose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQfB8yrkCPaF4fk_kqGMbu-wY8UJgWjYydmS4q671PKuRt25d6nfgCCRc2lF6t68fR7aLld5Vl_Zn5N1F-U8s-T2MAuPCm9aPfmNBcH44q6-4fhN3yatRJDkPvqz9Tggw39xswTKPN8dU/s640/Networking%252C+I+Suppose.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A real quote from multiple speaker calls in various states. <br />
<br />
It seems like conference organizers who are looking for "polite" ways to get free labor are *lifting this* from each other's websites! Usually the quote ends with "...a purpose for which _____ was founded."<br />
<br />
You know, maybe they are not stealing this after all. Maybe they all got this in the pdf notes from a presentation at an association meeting they all went to. I wonder if *that speaker* was paid?<br />
<br />
Original image borrowed from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/banquet-hall-conference-room-meeting-room-seating-807780/" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Let’s say you are a branch of an industry association or a community group. Perhaps you are a charity or an educational institution. Maybe you are a smallish business.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>You have an event. You’d like a speaker or a workshop facilitator. Maybe you even need a short course for continuing education or certification credits for your members. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>You have had some trouble getting speakers in the past. Maybe you can get plenty of speakers, but rarely good ones? Maybe you have had success and are reading this blog post out of morbid curiosity. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All of that sets the stage for what this post is really about:</span><br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What Speakers Are Thinking</span></h2>
</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let’s do this in translation format. Each numbered bit below is what you are thinking/saying as the meeting or event organizer, and each section within is a window into your speaker pool's minds.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These are not <i>always</i> the things your speakers are thinking when you call them, but I talk to speakers all the time at events. I speak across the country and have interviewed them for my podcast. The complaints below are fairly ubiquitous in the speaking community. The images in this blog post are direct quotes from the kinds of speaker calls we see every day. People telling us our services are not worth what we think they are whilst simultaneously telling us that their event's experience is worth far more than we might think it is -- that is our norm. </span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Maybe this will help you empathize with </span><b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;"><i>The Speaker's Plight</i></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">.</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1) We have a limited budget/no budget for speakers...</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWbXWgwuj1gV7gAQRnIIn13ESTs1NJZDKiW2HmmN33BezFo6Qb5WFDLFa5Aa8FsVFa8slXK1YdgYzWcyKcRzZZLCVGdJ7mBkZuKkBOVq2OsH2N7a8-4ZNzNq9DLCb3mZROVfYYF87kPp1/s1600/Is+labor+a+subsidy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1028" data-original-width="1600" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWbXWgwuj1gV7gAQRnIIn13ESTs1NJZDKiW2HmmN33BezFo6Qb5WFDLFa5Aa8FsVFa8slXK1YdgYzWcyKcRzZZLCVGdJ7mBkZuKkBOVq2OsH2N7a8-4ZNzNq9DLCb3mZROVfYYF87kPp1/s400/Is+labor+a+subsidy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-orange-chairs-722708/" target="_blank">image</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So you want me to do this for free. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I see. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why, exactly? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I understand that your organization is a nonprofit, but, as you can imagine, I am not. You might even be volunteering your time for this organization and not be getting paid yourself. Of course, this is *your* organization and you value its mission and place in the world. I may very well have never heard of you before I got your call/email or found the call on your website, so asking me to immediately share your vision enough to provide free labor is kind of puzzling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I understand that money doesn’t grow on trees. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I know some things. I've been to conference and trade show floors. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For example, I know that the logoed pens you are putting in the little plastic swag bags for the members are not the bottom tier of utensils like Bic pens. I know those cost more like 50 cents apiece, plus setup and shipping. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those lanyards we are going to get with the charger cable embedded? I know it's a thousand bucks to get 300 of those with your logo. I have three of those hanging on my hook where I keep my conference lanyards. I have never once charged a device with any of them. I also have a few of the badge holders with the cheap elastic cords. 300 of those will run you $800 less. Non-electronic woven lanyards? Sensible, but not extravagant? Those split the price difference. There are choices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And, of course, the nicer lunch options and all the prizes and gag gifts for the membership. Maybe I even know the facility rental charge at the venue you picked, and I know there were cheaper options. I know, if I could see the state of the carpets at those cheaper facilities…</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are just talking on the phone for the first time, and I don’t know if your organization goes in for all that, but I have never been to a meeting of this kind that doesn’t have at least a little bit of this swag, so this is what I am thinking of while we speak. You are telling me that a custom pen order is more valuable than my work. That may very well be the case for you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">People love the logoed notepads and fidget spinners but always complain about the speakers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Maybe if you weren’t filling your events with speakers who will say yes to free they would be able to budget the time to make something new for you? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(Remember, this is what the speaker on the other side of the phone is thinking. You got them excited about an opportunity and now they are disappointed. It happens).</span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2) Your session is just going to be an hour...</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I see. So that offer of <span class="m_6549855287513339365money">$100 which you dropped just before you said that is supposed to make me think I'm getting paid $100 an hour and feel okay about the rate, right?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, of course, my hourly rate is, in fact, quite higher than that for consulting, thanks. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUsoLKFmp4vjBNx1dQZNPVD3OGUT_6mlSnOq90CqTgRBpWUDt6zEWLaY9wAG6FsFsbQA9jOdOxHzGhUBqBEBfeORVoUQFfKH_Bz7gHBl3lFljVKoBlDQhc-ZorCwN9d1wD920r6DQb9dz/s1600/In+return+you+don%2527t+have+to+pay+to+attend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1055" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUsoLKFmp4vjBNx1dQZNPVD3OGUT_6mlSnOq90CqTgRBpWUDt6zEWLaY9wAG6FsFsbQA9jOdOxHzGhUBqBEBfeORVoUQFfKH_Bz7gHBl3lFljVKoBlDQhc-ZorCwN9d1wD920r6DQb9dz/s400/In+return+you+don%2527t+have+to+pay+to+attend.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/banquet-banquet-room-dining-dining-room-703854/" target="_blank">image</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And you are not really asking for an hour. We won't talk about driving to Dallas or air travel here. Assuming you are local, there’s the 30 minutes of travel both ways, the hour early arrival for technical setup, not to mention all the time we’ve already spent on the phone, the building of the PowerPoint or the editing of it to fit your time constraints and your custom template and your desired focus and adaptations, the practice time to make sure I hit your time limits correctly, and maybe some additional industry research so that I am not blaring on with generic platitudes of the kind that make audiences say, “I wish we could bring in speakers who understand who we really are.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But, that one time you had a speaker who obviously just threw up an ancient PowerPoint that hadn't been edited in years, so I guess you expect us all to have that same lack of care for our craft? Specifically, right now, talking to me live, you are suggesting that I have that lack of care?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Plus, since your meeting is on a Tuesday morning and I would speak at 10:30, I am going to have to pay for this one way or another with my full-time job, which I need to keep for all sorts of reasons, one of which is that so many speaking “opportunities” are unpaid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Aaaannnndddd I know that you’re going to ask me to make a pdf of takeaways for folks *after* we agree on a fee, anyway.</span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3) It’s a great networking opportunity...</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I’m sure all sorts of people in the room might want me to speak at their next event, which would be fine, but what are the chances they will pay any better than this <span class="il">gig</span>? After all, they know I must come cheap if I am speaking here today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still, networking<i> is</i> a great opportunity to meet people. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQPG53HP6BL7xqqBsjQVEZsPnjfTQkVHsZvo7YLIEhNXOXKCHmkQmBpW1SIvgXb98mPGWVhwpnbkCSl3XY2GmUgnFd1LzPjoFtJM5I-K_-Pbxz1FTnA4bQCMJoax9gN3Hjifgj-2zmXGb/s1600/The+more+you+know.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQPG53HP6BL7xqqBsjQVEZsPnjfTQkVHsZvo7YLIEhNXOXKCHmkQmBpW1SIvgXb98mPGWVhwpnbkCSl3XY2GmUgnFd1LzPjoFtJM5I-K_-Pbxz1FTnA4bQCMJoax9gN3Hjifgj-2zmXGb/s400/The+more+you+know.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-people-photo-705792/" target="_blank">image</a>.</td></tr>
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's what that looks like at events like yours:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have four or five conversations immediately after the speech. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am thinking, "I wonder which of these people is looking for a speaker for their event?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They are thinking, "I wonder if he will answer very, very specific questions about my business/organization that normally I'd have to pay a consultant to provide, but which now I can grab for free while I charge my phone using my swag-tastic lanyard."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The really cynical operators know how to dangle the "Can I have your card to give to ____ who is planning our next meeting and might be looking for a speaker?" in order to increase my willingness to undertake further unpaid consulting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes this great networking opportunity stretches for hours, maybe the whole afternoon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Maybe this all happens over the table you provided me so that I could sell my book. This allows people to pick up my book and look at it while asking for live consulting. When I tell them what they came for, they generally put it down while saying "Thanks!" and walking away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Some people do buy my book, though!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A good three or four sales at my conference price. That works out to, what, forty bucks? Cool!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At that rate, I almost hit minimum wage this time around. </span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Takeaway Here</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I get it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's a lot I don't understand about your organization/business/nonprofit/association. If you are a big deal, I know you have tracks where members submit breakouts because they have to (like professors) or want to (they are professionals who have to attend for continuing education credit/certification so a free conference badge is a real draw). If you are a small deal, you would have a bit more for speakers if event attendance wasn't down, etc. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I know your resources are limited. Trust us. We know *exactly* what that feels like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But here's what we also know: You can make a difference here, conference organizer/education director. You have a budget. It has lines on it. Some of those lines and their sizes you decided upon. Some were decided for you by a predecessor or your supervisor or the board. You can advocate to alter those lines. When they first came out with pop sockets for phones and fidget spinners you might have had to pitch those to get permission to buy some. Maybe a few years ago you had to pitch leadership on the idea of springing for a full color logo instead of just two colors on your conference folders? Maybe everyone hated the food last year and you knew you had to push for a bigger catering budget this time around. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you can do those things, you can push to treat the people who are literally center stage at your event a tiny bit better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I say this because I have worked with some outstanding conference organizers and education directors who were able to have conversations with me about compensation that were respectful, fair and completely human. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And sometimes, when I felt respected and empathized with their situation, I agreed to speak for free.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X5a0qnr_WwAbrgvLXSJ2mjkXnpi6PsDIXJ-yQ7E_sZMQXZ_PhTCKe3y3Z-0LSIuadr7FQBbUxCjGRvkicB3Uc641Lk-NjiZ9mgoAVGPZH9GnyeufDHxq4Bcd1VYRQDM7OVoE2hEM3NSU/s1600/Does+sold+out+mean+you+made+money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1015" data-original-width="1600" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X5a0qnr_WwAbrgvLXSJ2mjkXnpi6PsDIXJ-yQ7E_sZMQXZ_PhTCKe3y3Z-0LSIuadr7FQBbUxCjGRvkicB3Uc641Lk-NjiZ9mgoAVGPZH9GnyeufDHxq4Bcd1VYRQDM7OVoE2hEM3NSU/s640/Does+sold+out+mean+you+made+money.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/low-angle-photography-of-pile-of-stainless-steel-chairs-with-hanging-projector-canvas-691485/" target="_blank">image</a>.</td></tr>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-57634949389295281842018-05-10T13:43:00.000-05:002019-10-25T13:28:08.920-05:00A Networking How-to for College Students<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tracy Fossum and I have been friends for a long time. You can see us below back in 5th grade competing on a local cable access game show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In one of the few examples I have of a Facebook debate turning into something good, I was complaining about the vagueness of a trending (Okay, LinkedIn trending, at least. Is that a thing?)blog post on networking. It promised specifics but didn't give any. After taking me to task as a be-suspendered curmudgeon for sharing something to social media I was only going to complain about, she wrote a few comments on how she saw networking. They were great! I asked her to write it up for me to put on this blog. I got this in my email.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsvChIiyy9pU6jgHvE0fWkfEg7s4w2suFn_lGSBIaqAyH1UKEaXV4JBmKba97eT4RwLth8P4jk-QeqpJt4EdWccAJTAFZDcaHBgZEiJx6-Hc2oqnsJ53woQkESLcCF4e9gkrl14HNLNaSM/s1600/10633630_10203888051416152_1696990827635465060_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1136" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsvChIiyy9pU6jgHvE0fWkfEg7s4w2suFn_lGSBIaqAyH1UKEaXV4JBmKba97eT4RwLth8P4jk-QeqpJt4EdWccAJTAFZDcaHBgZEiJx6-Hc2oqnsJ53woQkESLcCF4e9gkrl14HNLNaSM/s640/10633630_10203888051416152_1696990827635465060_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyfossum/">Tracy Fossum</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We all know what networking is.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s an ill-fitting business suit paired with shoes that have turned your foot into one big blister. It’s standing by yourself in the middle of a room, nervously stirring your diet tonic (sans vodka or gin) with those ridiculously skinny bar straws. It’s you surrounded by loud Baby Boomer/Gen X salespeople who have done so much glad-handing that their fingers are swollen. It’s you trying so, so hard to collect business cards, knowing full well that you will never, ever contact any of these people – ever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s you, alone, in the car, head on the steering wheel, choking back tears, wondering how you found yourself in this position, and looking into the black void that feels like your future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nope.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Networking is NOT that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Networking is you being you and looking for authentic ways to show up in the world to create connections that lead to opportunities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let’s agree on the following axioms:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You are brilliant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You have at least one thing to offer the world that no one else has.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You have at least one connection to one other human being on the planet – no matter how tangential it might be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While we’re at it, let’s agree on this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>People will not pound down your door to bask in your brilliance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>People won’t know what you can offer unless you tell them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>That one human being you know also knows people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hey, we’re on a roll – let’s take this idea for a spin:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">***You’re networking (being real) every damn day. Just up your game. ***</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Get out of your dorm room and attend an event on campus that interests you: department guest speaker book signing, bonfire, theater production, underwater basket weaving demonstration. Whatever. If you go to something YOU like, assume other attendees are there because THEY like it too. You have an instant connection and natural reason to talk to someone at the event and afterwards. (Think casual conversation at the dining hall about what you liked and didn’t like about your shared experience.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join a club or sport. I know a girl who is joining the badminton team even though she doesn’t know how to play badminton. It looks interesting and fun and she wants to get to know different people outside her circle. It doesn’t have to be varsity football, maybe just IM Ultimate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>TALK TO ALUMNI! GO TO ALUMNI EVENTS! I can’t stress this enough. They’re just like you – just older. These are the real people in the real world who have spent years in their careers. They want to help students and recent grads from their alma mater find internships, jobs, connections, etc. It gives their degree more street cred if they can demonstrate to their peers that their school turns out high-quality graduates. I know that sounds dumb. But it’s not. Trust me. I’ve seen it. Anyway, our career center is turning away alumni volunteers because not enough students are asking for help. Don’t be stupid and ignore people who are begging to help you. Asking for help is being real. As a corollary, if your school has a robust reunion program and is looking for student/recent grad employees to help, APPLY! The alumni will see you at your best: helpful, attentive, energetic, fun, and hard-working. These are the qualities that someone wants from members of their professional team. And you don’t have to do anything but be the real you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Social media. I’m sorry, but old people with jobs to offer actually do use LinkedIn. A lot. You have to be on it -so just get over it. Use a profile picture that looks at least semi-professional. No one wants to see you at a kegger. Even a well-done selfie would do the trick. (But don’t purse your lips or tilt your head like Kim Kardashian. That’s just lame.) As far as the rest of the profile, I’m assuming you did something to get into college. Distill those activities into something tangible. No one will care if you just say you were president of the Drama Club. Who cares? However, they WILL care if you helped plan an event, ran cabinet meetings, and worked as a liaison between the club and the overarching student body association to secure funds for materials for productions. See what I mean? Show that you’re relevant. You’re still being real because you really do have those skill and talents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>More social media. For God’s sake, if you’re entering the job market, clean up your Facebook page. People you’re connecting with check you out after they’ve talked to you. No nekked pictures. No partisan reposts from Russian bots. Clean up the language. Presenting the best version of you isn’t selling out – it’s growing up, which is something you really, really have to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>More e-advice. If your email address is sexychick123@aol.com, change it right now. Picture that at the top of a resume or giving it out to a potential contact. Then picture yourself never being taken seriously. Then picture yourself unemployed forever. There’s nothing wrong with name.lastname@gmail.com. That’s your real name. Use it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Volunteer and be active in the community. Your college is located in a town. Go be a part of it. There are students at this campus (which is on Second Street) who have never been to the local coffee shop on Third Street. What a wasted opportunity. That coffee shop is where EVERYONE in town goes. Every flier for every activity in town is posted on the walls. Why wouldn’t you go there? And how hard is it to drink latte and read the Times? If you’re there frequently enough, you’ll get to know the proprietor on a first-name basis. And remember, she knows EVERYBODY. Volunteer at a local Habitat for Humanity build site. Be a mentor. Do some community theater. Lead tours at the local Historical Society museum. This is all you showing up in the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And it’s all networking. Better yet, it’s being real. We’re social animals and when we authentically and meaningfully forge new connections, we feel good. Also remember that this isn’t a one-sided transaction. You’re giving as much as you’re getting. For instance, you might find yourself chatting with someone who has always wanted to talk to your roommate’s dad about his landscaping business. Hallelujah! You just networked!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I know that sometimes being the real you is a little scary. You might not even know quite who the real you is. It’s OK. We’re all just sort of flailing around on this planet. But it’s fun being present in it. So take a chance, stretch out your hand and I think you’ll find another hand waiting for you…</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD24FlJa3yh8MRym-l6IQpKDjVA1P9JjoJXb5-FMF3mp2kyi7aV6SDZkapRZQF-ohJRcDGsQPESV3HsF0snvVQq7SoaAH4fcFj4pAW51zRDTZNVPS_j5jsPF2U-sYrapF9wF52dDG3JckB/s1600/tracy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="1121" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD24FlJa3yh8MRym-l6IQpKDjVA1P9JjoJXb5-FMF3mp2kyi7aV6SDZkapRZQF-ohJRcDGsQPESV3HsF0snvVQq7SoaAH4fcFj4pAW51zRDTZNVPS_j5jsPF2U-sYrapF9wF52dDG3JckB/s200/tracy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by: <br /><a href="http://brandyourselfconsulting.com/">Tami Enfield, Brand Yourself Consulting</a></span>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">About Tracy Fossum:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tracy
has had a varied career, spanning 20 years and two continents, with a majority
of it spent in higher ed fundraising and financial services. She has recently
plunged into books, and spends her days nose-deep in texts, helping
students find their purpose in life, keeping faculty happy, and listening to
alumni reminisce. When she's not giving unsolicited,
brilliant advice, she is being real as a wife, mother, and all-around
upstanding citizen in her idyllic Midwestern hometown.</span></div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-72024147363765119692018-03-21T09:56:00.000-05:002019-10-25T13:27:45.477-05:004 Keys to Facilitating Group Discussion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by <a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My colleague, Dr. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-bollinger-1b627982/">Chris Bollinger</a>, asked me to come to his Facilitation and Negotiation class the other day to talk about how I facilitate group discussion and debate, especially in the context of my role as Director of General Education at TLU. The old joke is that faculty meetings can be so tense because so little is at stake. Of course, discussions about what goes into the General Education curriculum can indeed be tense, and no one would really suggest that the philosophical discussions about what belongs in a Liberal Arts curriculum, the practical discussions about what happens to major programs when we add or subtract courses, and the pedagogical discussions about what students actually take away from any given combination of courses are trivial things! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was a bit challenging to say "Yes" to Dr. Bollinger, as, although I agreed that I had gotten a lot better at group facilitation since I first started as a TLU professor, I could not really have said what it was that I did differently with any kind of reasonable specificity. I asked him to interview me instead of give a lecture, with the hopes that he would figure out what I was really saying if I got lost and then he could gloss it for me. I figured I might leave the session understanding what it was I did, and hopefully the students wouldn't leave more confused than when they started.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think I did learn some things about what I do when it goes well. And, of course, it doesn't always go well, but I have also found that these approaches lend themselves to managing those days and laying a foundation for further conversations. That is important. Faculty never "finish" and rest on one model for General Education, for example, even if everyone is in agreement for now. And every organization has an equivalent neverending issue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, here's what we figured out about my process:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. Pick up those mics.</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Either out of interest in sabotaging a discussion process from the start or as a result of the conversation not going their way, people will find all sorts of ways to not only disengage from a discussion, but also to raze the framework for the others while they are at it. They usually hit the group with the kind of rhetorical flourish I imagine them practicing in the shower (because, well, I have done that myself!). I think of these as mic drop moments.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Robert Bejil, <a href="https://flic.kr/p/6bun5f">https://flic.kr/p/6bun5f</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As a facilitator, your job is to pick up the mic. Make it clear that no one will be able to stop the process. Depending on what they do and say, it might be as simple as a decompressing, "Thank you for that. _____ clearly has very strong reactions to this idea. What are other people thinking about this right now?" <b>Decouple the process, the idea, the reaction, and the person</b>. Their strong reaction is NOT, in spite of their probable intent (and perhaps in spite of, you know, <i>reality</i>), a rejection of the meeting framework or yourself or others, but it is a principled stance on an issue, one you are glad the format allowed to be said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your basic leveled-off support and engagement shouldn't waver, even if they say something awful. "That was strongly worded, which speaks to the depth of feeling all around the room right now. Let me see if I can get to the core of that concern." You want to try to short-circuit the shouting match with their opponents if you can. If they say something offensive, others may be frustrated that you are kind of normalizing their discourse, but assuming you all work together, you're going to have to figure out how to build a future, and you might as well start. Plus, if your process is such that people know they can destroy it with a well-timed just-offensive-enough-to-throw-a-wrench-in-the-works-but-not-enough-to-get-officially-reprimanded comment, then you don't really have a process. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This assumes they didn't just say something fire-able. It's a bit harder to get fired in tenured academia, but it can still happen. Offensive language, insults, invective, epithets, all of these can be handled if you choose. "Whoa! I think we can all agree that such language is a problem, and I'd like for everyone to monitor themselves a bit better, if we can. But that speaks to how hard this is to come together on . . . "</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Again, I'm assuming problems within the normal range of what we can absorb in civil discourse, not setting up the room for people to be harassed or victimized. If it tips into that area, something like "I think we need to stop the meeting after that. I am not comfortable with what is happening here, and I think we need to come at this question another time. When we next meet, I'd ask for people to think further about the damages their communication choices can cause." Then you have to individually process that with everyone, including the offender. It's a lot of work, but it is how you set it up so the bullies don't win. We just keep talking. Maybe without you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let me make it clear that although I've had to use those approaches in other contexts, I never had to take these steps in my role as GenEd Director at TLU, but you've got to have that possibility in your head just in case. </span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. Just keep swimming.</span></h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by looyaa, <a href="https://flic.kr/p/ead3TR">https://flic.kr/p/ead3TR</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a part of the larger philosophy of facilitation. It is *never* all about <i>that</i> day. This is not a high pressure 11th-hour negotiation. If you are doing *that*, well that is another blog post entirely. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I joke sometimes that I exhaust people into submission. That's not really the case, but my marker is that when the majority of the group juuuussstttt begins to get tired of how many meetings we're having, people who have been quieter in the process up until now might just get up the motivation to speak. In some cases, in my experience, they have been waiting for exactly this time. If the majority is against you and if they have some structural power on their side, wouldn't you want to save your comment for when it has the most amount of leverage? Well, this is that time, it seems! Once the majority is ready to be done with the process, that feeling begins to pull them, potentially, to the same side of the table as you, the minority voice on the question. <i>"Everything is soooo close! Maybe we can make a concession here . . ."</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I did two years' worth of faculty forums before our latest GenEd revision. And after the second-to-last meeting is when we got a huge counter-proposal. It happens every time when people are talking about things that matter to them! I have been the source of quite a few last-minute proposals myself in the past! Your task, as facilitator, is to expect that and to help the group process its options going forward. "We're just going to keep talking until we get this," is the vibe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Time has added benefits, as it is easier to trust the process then, especially for people who only marginally care and might be easily swayed by bullying voices from either side at the end. I heard quite a few statements of support that ran along the lines of, "We've been working on this for so long now..." It is hard to argue that anyone got left out of the process or was railroaded or was overruled by some kind of secret group if it all so openly takes so long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Another element of this is that you don't try to pull together a fragile consensus. If people aren't clearly coming together, you keep talking until they do. Time itself will begin to induce people into agreement, just to be finished with the neverending process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of course, all of this is harder when you run up against something urgent or a hard deadline. You do less facilitation and more management when you run out of time. And that's not good. So start it all earlier than you think you need to. Like, much, much, much, much earlier. </span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. The big pile of bad ideas</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You've got to do two things to have a successful facilitation, and they are connected. They are both things we hate to do: brainstorming and failure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's really hard to blame people on the brainstorming thing. When you take group communication class or training, you learn the importance of this process, where you just toss out all ideas with no judgment. But this is fake and it feels fake (just look <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=brainstorming&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiflY-khOrZAhWm1IMKHc7jDaIQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=504&dpr=1.5">here</a> at the corporate graphic/stock photo sadness that happens when you image search it). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No, let's try that sentence again -- it feels fake in direct proportion to the amount of tension in the room. You are asking people to play in a space of trust. Annie Dillard talked about <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/08/09/annie-dillard-on-writing/">her writing as her desk floating in the air</a>. When you ask a group of people embedded in real arguments that have structural implications that have been going on for a while to sit down in a facilitation session, they often can't or won't play such games.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So we teach them how to play. Someone else will suggest that their own idea might not be right or is "probably bad" or "most likely wrong" or some other polite turn-taking statement we use in potentially tense situations. If they don't, you try it once. Then take that moment at face value and run with it. "Great! I want to hear a lot more bad ideas. Let's just get them out there. If you have a good idea, that's okay, too. You might make the rest of us feel bad, but we'll manage. I want bad ideas. I've always found that something that seems terrible at the beginning of the process finds a way to get polished up by the group and work." Or something like that, depending on the group and how many times you've tried this before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now you are all floating on Annie Dillard's desk together, and people's skepticism about the process has been pulled into the process itself. It really works too get things moving.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second part of this is that you are then giving people experience of failure and disappointment in a safer space. If all the ideas are coded as bad, well, then, we're going to have to bail on a lot of them. And probably yours, too. I will make sure I toss out a purposefully bad idea and then sacrifice it to model this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the end of the meeting, no matter the outcome, someone will go away disappointed. If this is a really a meeting that seems like a group forum but is really just a shadow negotiation between two opposite parties and everyone knows it and some people came to the meeting just to see the sparks fly (a fairly common structure in my experience), well, that will be big disappointment. If the structure is less clouded with conflict so there is a larger diversity of ideas expressed, well, lots more people will be disappointed with the inevitable if they liked their own ideas (I work with university faculty a lot, and, well, duh!).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNGaIYJUjPj0pr1cwIZg4u_vNf_JhXINQ6X9r2BfM8Yb1GDrGuC7eILqgGbGEJhpCyQDbBS2gzjd4zAelXuv13AGjnOpQe_BGIfVSdUaTOq-MiCV2vYqR8J-Lh_If02SQvqovpnojpch3/s1600/34449739043_258cce6e74_k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1600" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNGaIYJUjPj0pr1cwIZg4u_vNf_JhXINQ6X9r2BfM8Yb1GDrGuC7eILqgGbGEJhpCyQDbBS2gzjd4zAelXuv13AGjnOpQe_BGIfVSdUaTOq-MiCV2vYqR8J-Lh_If02SQvqovpnojpch3/s640/34449739043_258cce6e74_k.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Bad Alley (Cat), <a href="https://flic.kr/p/UucVcZ">https://flic.kr/p/UucVcZ</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A field of bad ideas helps people practice failing in a public space before the end of the session. We have to learn how to be voted down or ruled out in a group of our peers eventually. And who exactly is training us in that? If your organization is large enough, each meeting has a totally different structure of interests, and so we kinda have to learn it all over again each time for a while.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I know this section has been going on for a bit, but that's because this is the fulcrum of the whole thing. If a pile of bad ideas doesn't fit your vibe, okay. But you've got to come up with some other game that gets the brainstorming and failure practice you will need to get to the end.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And, finally, to answer the inevitable question, yes they will get tired of this sort of thing. But if you do it with good energy enough times, they will take it from you and play the game without you directing the traffic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4. Now play with the ideas</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In <a href="https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Gladding-Groups-A-Counseling-Specialty-7th-Edition/PGM112381.html">Gladding's classic text</a> on facilitation in a counseling context, we learn that these are the things you do as a leader to get the process working: active listening, reflection, clarification and questioning, summarizing, linking and tone setting. Do all those things. But my personal version of this was based on one of the best professors I ever had, Dr. James Hanink, a philosophy professor I had twice as an undergraduate at Loyola Marymount University. I have never met another person as good as he is at pulling everyone's voices into discussion. It always felt like he meant it, you know? Really, really good teachers can pull all the voices out, but sometimes you can see behind the wizard's curtain and can tell that they are just talking now to try to figure out a way to pull everyone in, because that's their goal. But it's a job, then, not a conversation.</span><br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBWAbPLCnFtp006XuzGwPnlC9ezhs3cBmrY8W1xPHZGuUk2J4HbwF5Ej_OxcRj6P4h0ETbO4UsBPCHrrsLU01GkR7vGWvxYhAre5lubC1TWcBPt6dcw2FPansIUQkKsxVF9MYxLvhswVw/s1600/6880669820_75026c8a9b_o.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1381" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBWAbPLCnFtp006XuzGwPnlC9ezhs3cBmrY8W1xPHZGuUk2J4HbwF5Ej_OxcRj6P4h0ETbO4UsBPCHrrsLU01GkR7vGWvxYhAre5lubC1TWcBPt6dcw2FPansIUQkKsxVF9MYxLvhswVw/s640/6880669820_75026c8a9b_o.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Frederick Magle Music, <a href="https://flic.kr/p/bu2eqh">https://flic.kr/p/bu2eqh</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Dr. Hanink would perch on a desk in the middle of the front row and conduct the class like a symphony. He didn't call what we were doing "bad ideas," the way I do in facilitation (but never in my classes, so I guess I learned some things from him), but he made sure we understood the particular conversational game of an upper division philosophy classroom. All ideas needed to be looked at further. We've been doing this for thousands of years, and since we are still debating, what is the likelihood that any of us have it all figured out?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wait.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That does sound like a forest of bad ideas! Thanks again, Dr. Hanink!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Instead of the kind of brute "reflection" you see from facilitators, where they pause and nod and say things straight out of the group comm textbooks like, "What I hear you saying is . . . ", he would give a partial paraphrase of your idea, with a kind of RCA dog head bend while he maintained eye contact until you nodded that he'd gotten it right or restated because he was just looking at you and you kinda wanted that to stop. When you nodded, he would turn and gesture over to another part of the class, the French horn section, say, and give that raise-in-volume conductor gesture and ask a person over there to chime in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The reason this worked for him is that he remembered everything you'd ever said. I'm sure it wasn't *everything*, but was merely the biggest whoppers or what you'd been saying the past week or so, and so he could easily do things like, "Steve seems to be saying that in certain cases the factors are too complex to use utilitarian logic, which reminds me of what Michelle said last week when arguing for the categorical imperative. Michelle, what do you think about that connection?" Or he would elicit an argument.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">His classes were so much fun.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I want that to happen in facilitation settings. I want people to leave having felt like a conversation they were dreading turned out to be great. I'll take that it was just less painful than they'd feared, but you gotta aim high.</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></h2>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those four steps are probably enough, really. I'm sure it's easy to have too many steps and overthink it. Your job is to get people pretending, gaming, imagining, and maybe even failing, for an extended period of time. It asks a lot of people. But any process designed to create agreement in a situation of a disagreement or conflict will always ask a lot of people. From my perspective, if you're going to ask for so much, be sure it works.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One final note. If your process as a facilitator is fair, you should be able to write about your process in a public forum, like, saaayyyyy, a blog post, knowing that your colleagues may very well read it, and it won't be trouble for anyone going forward. No secret techniques or secret agendas. And if one of them reads it with suggestions for how you can improve, so much the better! </span><br />
<br /></div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-70185434357098182322018-03-09T14:11:00.000-06:002019-10-25T13:28:57.475-05:00Social Media as a Destination, Not a Road: Forgetting Hacks, Clicks, and Analytics to Create Engaging Content for Your Association<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by <a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a piece I wrote which was published in <a href="https://www.associationleadershipmagazine.com/2018/03/08/social-media-as-a-destination-not-a-road/">the March/April 2018 issue of <i>Association Leadership Magazine</i></a>. It is the companion piece to my upcoming keynote at their <a href="https://www.tsae.org/education-events/tech-talks">Tech Talks</a> conference.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/TSES/TSES0218/index.php#/0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1233" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lx4HRudICh_a30qcncv7DvGxJNernoQIDlB-VHxQ5uzARXOl-9hhvhAHzupa2TxLagoYunwlrv2cvcS0faRM5KaS31f8LPRJegHhO215TUvecM88Ocp7vnN1GZhOATRYj4gxxxq9teGU/s400/cover.png" width="307" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Facebook
has changed its feed algorithm 17 times since the beginning of 2017. Twitter
rolled out a new algorithm over the summer of 2017 only to scrap it months
later. Snapchat removed its Stories page in November. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Instagram
makes its changes more silently. When it started “shadow banning” users for
overusing the same hashtags repeatedly, users didn’t necessarily know this. If
they suspected something based on their shrinking numbers of “likes” on their
posts they might have investigated. If so, they might have found out what was
going on and adjusted their practices. Or, they might just continue right on
with the hashtag spew they’d been trained to do, perhaps just assuming that
things were changing in what people wanted to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Why
all these changes? At least part of the reason is money. These are high-flying
tech stocks. They make money from ads. Facebook, especially, keeps changing in
order to thwart our attempts to “hack” the algorithms in order to get more
views or engagements with non-paid content. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And
thus we get another round of blog posts and speakers and books peddling all the
“hacks” you might use to beat the system, things around the number or length or
repetition of posts, the hashtags, the times posted, pictures or not, keywords
in posts that will make people click, etc. Social media marketers end up
chasing these tactics, hoping that eventually their Analytics will help them
figure out which of these hacks work and how to repeat that hack <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">juuuuust</i> enough to work but not annoy
the users. Then it all changes again and we start the Sisyphean cycle anew.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How
accurate is this picture of our practice in social media marketing? Are we
really mostly making content to drive people to more content . . . which exists
to drive people to more content . . . which exists to . . . ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let’s
hop off that tactical train to talk about strategy. Think, if you will, about
your association’s last social media post. Don’t think about the hashtags or
the click rate or the metrics. Imagine a person who has just found your
organization reading that post. What are their impressions? We keep building
roads for people to induce them into seeing our stuff. But are we building a
destination for them when they get there? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So
much chatter about social media marketing has been done in order to convince
marketers that they can be smarter than enormous corporate technology machines
and just get stuff for free. If you can’t, in the end, sustainably beat the
algorithms, then we are obviously wasting our time. But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">even if we can</i>, when people like me or you, who do this stuff and
listen to the same keynotes and read the same blog posts, when people like us
see a post, we can see what is really says: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our
organization’s social media content is nothing but advertising attempting to
manipulate the system for free. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You
might cringe upon reading that. You might reject the idea that your public
looks at your attempts to hack the system to get results for free makes us,
well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">freeloaders</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Okay.
So let’s take a step back. Once we get those eyeballs, what are we doing with
them? What are their impressions of your last social media post? If you knew,
for sure, that someone right now was looking at your last post and that was as
far as they were going to go in their “research” on your organization, how
would you feel about what it is they saw?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let’s
say that post is this one: “<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">Your email marketing shouldn't take Sunday off.” And there’s
a link to a very short blog post glossing some recent findings on click rates
on emails sent on different days of the week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Okay. How do I,
the person holding my phone, feel about this association I’ve just met in this
way? Here’s a few reasonably likely impressions:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">They are really interested in email marketing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">But not enough to write a longer piece giving me any
takeaways beyond the obvious. Like, what is the second-highest day, for
example?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">Maybe they think I am interested in email marketing and can
use this information.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">But why is this the only marketing post in their feed in the
last month or so?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">Even though they tell us “Sunday” and not clickbaity “You
won’t believe what day is the WORST to skip in your email marketing . . .” this
still feels a bit like they just want me to click it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">What does it mean if I “like” this post?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">And it is bad if I do, since this post has so many less likes
than their other posts?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">Is there any way to comment on this besides saying “Yes” or
arguing with them?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">If I share this post, what will people think when they see my
share? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps people
will just move along so fast and those kinds of thoughts will remain implicit.
Whatever happens, it seems like your organization has blown it with this social
media user. Your first impression, even if it doesn’t drive me away, certainly
doesn’t solicit my continued attention to your social media content. If this is
the first time I found your Facebook page, would this kind of post make me
“like” your page? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What would it
take for me to stay for a bit, to interact, to return? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">How about a
recent Instagram post: “</span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">#TBT<span style="color: black;"> to the trade show floor! What we </span></span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none; color: black; padding: 0in;">❤</span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none; color: black; padding: 0in;"> about </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">[it]<span style="color: black;"> is that you'll see smiles
and hugging each day! How many smiles and hugs can you see in this picture?”
that is accompanied by a picture of the event? Am I going to look for smiles
and hugs? If I see them am I going to like the image? Here are some additional
things I might think, if I pause to look at the smiles:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">This organization seems to like their event.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">The people at this event seem to like their event.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">In fact, some of those smiles and hugs are awkward. This is
not staged.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">Someone at this organization is spending the time to create
original content.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">This original content does not drive me immediately to
something that will measure my click rate. It just exists for me here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">There’s a lot of people liking this post. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We need to stop
building roads and actually build the destinations at the end. We have to stop
designing only for clicks and not people. The first post we looked at is a road
(except for the small number of people who happen to be passionate about email
marketing and who found themselves on an association which has nothing to do
with that’s page). The second is a destination. It expresses who the
association is, and just a bit of its mission and values, while also offering
something a bit entertaining (just a bit, but it stands out in a social media
stream of roads asking for clicks) but also a touch goofy and awkward. Human.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are humans
on the other side of one of these posts. There are robots behind the other.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">None of this is
to say that candids from the show floor are the next gold mine in association
social media. And none of this is to say we can’t have roads (sometimes we have
to advertise our blogs or deadlines or whatnot). What it does say is that we
should take stock of who our social media presence says we are to people
meeting us for the first time. You wouldn’t be reading this if social media
wasn’t a critical vector for your association in making new connections
(otherwise we’d just rely on our membership email lists we now know we should
ping on Sundays!). Pictures? Humor? Video? Behind-the-scenes? Inspiring
thoughts? Data? Controversies? There are plenty more potential ingredients. But
the final mix is a marketing and public relations decision that should be
respected as an outcome, not merely as a vehicle for getting people to click to
the “real” marketing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Many of us have
overdone the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">media</i> part of social
media. We need to remember the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">social</i>.
And in the world of associations, isn’t that notion even more fundamental to
our goals and missions?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.tsae.org/education-events/tech-talks" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="579" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh35EE9rurCetlWsIbG4M0pYv_fT8c1nAFg1UvaOmLvAxZz08zHT2LBNlWL-s9MxP0zqlC0vCm2_GmUwoL1jYoBWsEif5PCuaK81gd-g8QYUMhRpd34PKwcVHd7KvlNsRZ3oOcQ-tO-ueL/s320/DVdq5vfVMAEYwrl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-85266534427499656162018-01-20T12:05:00.001-06:002019-10-25T13:29:13.669-05:00The 15 Social Media Posts that Work, with Examples from Whataburger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by <a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In my IAEE ExpoExpo <a href="https://www.eventscribe.com/2017/expoexpo/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presenterInfo&PresenterID=345648">talk on social media strategy</a> (bonus: you can see some of the data analysis from that presentation <a href="http://morebrainz.blogspot.com/2017/12/social-media-tactics-and-strategy-what.html">here</a>!), I showed a list of 15 types of posts that my accumulated social media research since <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6c5eeOCZ7E">my TEDx talk</a> on the subject have shown work best to drive audience engagement. In this blog post, I will show them all to you, with an example from the fantastic social media team behind Whataburger's social media.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A quick note, first: engagement is not the same as reach. If you only want reach, you will want to read things like the post I saw on LinkedIn yesterday that suggested finding your competitor's most liked and shared posts and just stealing them. Change the picture and the specific text, but basically just crib your social media content, hashtags and all. I'm sure that will get you reach. If all you want is numbers of eyeballs (so the dashboard you show your boss to keep your job looks good every month), well, I guess that stuff might work. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But, I've been railing against plagiarism as a college professor for years. Eventually you get caught, you know (in case your personal ethics aren't robust enough to get you to abstain from this). And then you get burned. Someone will see that you are doing this. All it takes it one tweet filled with the comparative screenshots and you're done. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And is this really your strategy???!!??? Is THIS the story of your organization or personal brand? Is this why you get up in the morning? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Engagement IS more important than reach. You can see <a href="http://morebrainz.blogspot.com/2017/12/social-media-tactics-and-strategy-what.html">my last post</a> or <a href="https://morebrainz.simplecast.fm/inbound17">listen to my INBOUND17 talk</a> if you need to hear my arguments on that. I'll assume if you're still reading you agree. Here's what works:</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=15%20Social%20Media%20Posts%20that%20Work%20with%20examples%20from%20Whataburger%20bit.ly/15poststhatwork%20pic.twitter.com/jPN34PPaAm" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="1077" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaToTnqYP6FIB6DygINB9sH6c91HITgwi3WKUZ9Dbq42yERD3zCVzYoGCwQFVhHPnTSuHM2PTWuXTBee634cW-d8nF_AnURBf4HhdF8uX42G9jbCtp0LsbnVNLtK9IgcOO4vj90LK8HX9/s640/15+posts+that+drive+engaggement.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wanna be a pal and <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=15%20Social%20Media%20Posts%20that%20Work%20with%20examples%20from%20Whataburger%20bit.ly/15poststhatwork%20pic.twitter.com/jPN34PPaAm" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">click HERE to tweet this</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: left;"> for me?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Again, the links up above are for the <i>why</i>. Here's the <i>how</i>. These are examples of what it looks like using my recent favorite, Whataburger</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Gave proof through the night</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That our flag was still there.....<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Whataburger?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Whataburger</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GodBlessTexas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GodBlessTexas</a> <a href="https://t.co/qxmz4mP9ir">pic.twitter.com/qxmz4mP9ir</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Mary Clarke (@MaryClarke19) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryClarke19/status/901923447823114240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">See? That works.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Funny</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I know, this is "professional" social media. We're not supposed to do this, are we?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Notre Dame can still get a win by stopping by Whataburger on the way out of Texas</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/772642682669641728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2016</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Y'all out here complaining about the Twitter update when there's people out there that don't even have a Whataburger near them</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/875383243582918659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is Whataburger's central social media style. It works for them. They like to do it. But even if it is not your go-to style, it will work sometimes. Before you tell me humor isn't professional think back on the history of marketing and advertising for just a second . . . . okay, good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Personal</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Make it about you or your team. We want to see this more than you think. Doubt it? If you can tell me what color turtleneck Steve Jobs always wore, I'm right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Celebrities get thousands of retweets, how many for our heroes who work the overnight at Whataburger? <a href="https://t.co/10vhGHoMwa">pic.twitter.com/10vhGHoMwa</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/806525880415690752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2016</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fandom</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the Internet. Nerds live here. Be one of us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We all eat Patty Melts down here <a href="https://t.co/afpBhTJOVB">pic.twitter.com/afpBhTJOVB</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/922930606564085760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. <a href="https://t.co/EJdi0VrYFl">pic.twitter.com/EJdi0VrYFl</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/852216922804559872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those are <i>It</i> and <i>Harry Potter</i> references, muggles.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Deep</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a bit of a stretch with Whataburger tweets, sure. I'll give you better examples in a later post using my other favorite social media content lately, art museum Snaps.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you're reading this, I care about you a lot and want you to bring me Whataburger</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/895659764872392705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you have a friend who will drop everything to bring you Whataburger you've got a good life🙌🙌🙌</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/897577147015057409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Don't ever let anyone make you feel like you don't deserve Whataburger because you do</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/895735770757029888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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Inspiring</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you don't have this content, it's a bit of a red flag for your organization. *Nothing* I post gets as much attention as this kind of thing on LinkedIn, which is supposed to be the boring, self-promotey, personally remote social media platform. So imagine how well it works for other venues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We're always here and proud to serve you <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HoustonStrong?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HoustonStrong</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ilovehoustonsomuch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ilovehoustonsomuch</a> <a href="https://t.co/hWl75LBAne">pic.twitter.com/hWl75LBAne</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/905836322182627329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Images</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pictures, folks. We love pictures. This is usually the part of a keynote someone queries me about afterwards. "Like, funny cat pictures?" Well, no. It should be relevant. But funny pictures of your cat at your office? Maybe. How about pictures like those in the rest of these Whataburger posts? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">People. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Doing people things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In your space. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you have a place on your website where you allow us to "Meet the Team!" with boring headshots, then you need to show us pictures of those people looking at the eclipse or bowling or working a soup kitchen or setting up the trade booth, etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We want a picture of real things. Not memes. Not quotes. Not cats. Maybe dogs, though:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How does this dog have more self-control than I do with Whataburger😂😂😂 <a href="https://t.co/6NOwerk4fF">pic.twitter.com/6NOwerk4fF</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/940994155593027584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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Games</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Look, this stuff works with college students. For a time. Then they get tired of it and move on. Their Boomer and GenX elders hate this stuff. Don't you? So don't do this too much. The last game/contest from Whataburger was 3 months ago. And it worked in its context:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Visit us at Barton Springs Rd for a chance at an ACL 3-day VIP ticket. Must answer trivia question right! <a href="https://t.co/pdY0LkhXN2">https://t.co/pdY0LkhXN2</a> <a href="https://t.co/l72fDwcDiX">pic.twitter.com/l72fDwcDiX</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/916708466500165633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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Hacks</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Food hacks, like the one below, are easy. In other contexts, yes, this is harder. But when I've done research on college students and twentysomethings in general, this kind of thing works. They share these posts, too. What can you offer as hack-worthy wisdom in your world?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm shook <a href="https://t.co/yte61NxZoC">pic.twitter.com/yte61NxZoC</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/913121641042935809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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Videos </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Videos are pictures that move, eh? See above. Whataburger actually needs more video, I'd say. Especially given their snarky tone, a bit of something that moves besides ironic GIFs while you scroll through their tweets would be a nice touch. Like this next example...</span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
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Behind-the-Scenes</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is usually going to be pictures and videos, but there are other elements here. Successful social media presences like <a href="http://thebloggess.com/">The Blogess</a> give us that backstage pass all the time. It's our reason to tune into your livestream early. It's how you humanize yourself without resorting to funny cat memes. It makes everything look less slick, less like soulless marketing cranked out by bots. There's a reason we watched <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm25vSWtk7yt5KKUPJ0zBoWkMGqgqI_vD">Mr. Rogers</a></i> or <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v89Fh-LF26Q&list=PLTK3k7NSRXiA04ds25aVXX_Bzt1zjje94">Unwrapped</a></i> or <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ERulAlz1xU">Dirty Jobs</a></i> or <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/show/behindthemusic">Behind the Music</a> </i>or any celebrity gossip blog<i>. </i>Every time I post behind-the-scenes stuff it gets double the eyeballs of regular posts. Here, check out the feels:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While serving first responders we ran into a NYer who got his first sweet taste of Whataburger <a href="https://t.co/AzYbryw8cn">pic.twitter.com/AzYbryw8cn</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/904092979278864385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
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Connect Locally</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You should have a friendly and collaborative social media relationships with important, allied local businesses and organizations. Likely you have this in real, non social media life, so why not reflect that online? Do you sponsor the local Little League team? Are you rooting for the HS volleyball team to make State? Are you excited for the county fair?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Remember that we're supposed to share and play nicely. If you have concerns about retweeting, make your own content and tag them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Good luck this weekend Lufkin, TX All-Stars! Win or lose, we have a table waiting for you when you get home. <a href="https://t.co/oOGEnF9rst">pic.twitter.com/oOGEnF9rst</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/901464260655501312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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Interactions</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This will usually flow organically from connecting locally, but it also comes from interactions with clients and consumers. Whataburger is pretty great at this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My grandpa goes to <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Whataburger</a> everyday for breakfast so the local workers surprised him today with a cake&balloons for his birthday. <a href="https://t.co/hZkW3VPfrH">pic.twitter.com/hZkW3VPfrH</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— ems (@_emcarr) <a href="https://twitter.com/_emcarr/status/889528661338193922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only thing better than getting Whataburger is getting it served by <a href="https://twitter.com/astros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@astros</a> World Champion <a href="https://twitter.com/BradPeacock41?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BradPeacock41</a> <a href="https://t.co/C46bTKwgVc">pic.twitter.com/C46bTKwgVc</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/951578689850036229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2018</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">you're the one that left us in the first place <a href="https://t.co/QluPabu7kh">pic.twitter.com/QluPabu7kh</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) <a href="https://twitter.com/Whataburger/status/921380418703650816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2017</a></span></blockquote>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Social Proof</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Social proof" is the idea that our opinions are formed by interacting with others. Sometimes even when it doesn't really make sense. Just look at <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=fashion+history+of+pants&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ2pixw-zYAhUNd6wKHSSUD-QQ_AUICygC&biw=1910&bih=929">the fashion history of pants</a>. In social media this generally means that when we see posts with zero or few likes and shares and comments, we assume the content is not as valuable as posts that are heavily marked as popular. We DO judge books by their covers and tweets by the small bits of metrics that we can see just below them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you're Whataburger, you get a lot of social proof on your stuff without worrying too much about it. You're a beloved local fixture and your brand of humor in social media is well-known and generally well-received. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But this is for the people or organizations or businesses with lots of content that passes by in the scroll with big 0s on the metrics. If you've connected locally, make an effort to acknowledge and like each other's content. Proactive work here will lift all boats. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The best example of this is with sub-units of organizations, like universities. Most schools have different social media accounts for their divisions or groups, from admissions to the campus police to the mascot to student groups to sports teams to campus dining. Schools that are successful in getting student eyeballs on their content tend to have those units pay attention and like/share/comment on each other's stuff. It passes the initial social proof filter for scrolling students. Sure, if you click to see who has liked it, you might notice that every sports team on campus liked the new jersey sold by the bookstore. But . . . aren't you still going to like it anyway?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'l bet Whataburger gets a lot more social media attention than most us us, and still I think they have a few things they could do better (more video, more local connections). So there's no shame in having some work to do. Hopefully this post helps to spur thoughts and generate some new possibilities for your social media practice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a win-win. It makes the social media landscape more interesting and it will improve engagements with your content. Good luck!</span></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-9658636111843801542017-12-05T15:37:00.001-06:002019-10-25T13:29:37.781-05:00Social Media Tactics and Strategy: What We Can Learn from Chess and Nonprofit Association Social Media Data<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; line-height: 18.48px;">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When <a href="https://www.eventscribe.com/2017/expoexpo/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=304874">I spoke on social media at the IAEE #expoexpo</a>, I tried to emphasize strategy. My thinking on this was informed by my love of chess and by the sayings of one of my all-time favorite players:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlKu3FIGnjBLcnTuklFj6i3slYloVWD9r589Sh6pFwQoTCDyDiBqmGO76Cl2JsvLfjBEobIAhBeSVURcSTMwQiSkDggsTwYFh0rYwoesCEL_c8QBl6q5ACOAoTua-UjxwfE9xaixzY0nJ/s1600/tartakower.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlKu3FIGnjBLcnTuklFj6i3slYloVWD9r589Sh6pFwQoTCDyDiBqmGO76Cl2JsvLfjBEobIAhBeSVURcSTMwQiSkDggsTwYFh0rYwoesCEL_c8QBl6q5ACOAoTua-UjxwfE9xaixzY0nJ/s400/tartakower.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The problem with an Analytics approach to social media is that it is tactical and reactive. You spew content into the world, measure what works, and then try to make more of it. That's okay, I guess, but it speaks to a lack of vision or mission and a lack of understanding of your audience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To put it another way, there is a price to pay for outsourcing our social media strategy to your followers. When you use them as live guinea pigs for user testing, by the time you've figured out your message, they've moved on. How can you be sure they will bother coming back if you are not a celebrity? You can't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In Tartakower's version of things, what he is talking about really is responsive versus generative thinking. If you hang a knight in a chess game or the other player hangs a knight, well, you respond to that. That's the baseline of chess competence. You respond to the needs of the position. There is something to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Strategy is what do do when there is nothing obvious. You need to push the position, to create imbalances you can take advantage of, to set the stage for some later tactical fireworks. You plan. You generate vision. Purpose. Meaning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Social media to me often feels like chess in this way. And there are other similarities. It feels, occasionally, like a competition for eyeballs. You are responding to the shifting nature of the communication landscape and hoping to move first into an opportunity, maybe even to create a new opportunity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I am interested in strategy. I will outline some of that thinking in my next blog post, but you can also get a taste of it in my podcast episode of my talk at INBOUND 17:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><iframe frameborder="0" height="200px" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://embed.simplecast.com/19e15c40?color=f5f5f5" width="100%"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm tired of the blog posts and conference breakout sessions devoted to tactical-only considerations, as if that is the only way to deal with social media. So we run from meeting to meeting or reading to reading, desperately trying to outcompete Facebook's feed algorithms, perhaps hoping to be lone wolf Bobby Fisher against the collective Cold War era Soviet chess machine?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still, tactics can't be ignored. And I spent some time in some tactical analysis of 10 social media presences of associations attending the IAEE Expo (which is like an association of associations). They remain nameless in this analysis, save for a few examples below of good practice. I figured they'd be okay if someone saw what they were doing right. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The rest of this post will take you through a lot of that tactical material. But you will find sneaky bits of strategy in here, as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To start with, here's the coding system I worked out to help you interpret what will be a set of heat tables:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPGOzDfWjxcllsZWL-tA4UJZyB7EK7quGVGcB7jYrMsFSxBPuCZz1KsscFioD9jTQbcoUggsJ2P_HRg6dsaRLS8QfoBNprZAbkh6hLq8vKfsqHC0sMSsXapVoGzN9ksRXiMP5bxSxeH8g/s1600/Slide149.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPGOzDfWjxcllsZWL-tA4UJZyB7EK7quGVGcB7jYrMsFSxBPuCZz1KsscFioD9jTQbcoUggsJ2P_HRg6dsaRLS8QfoBNprZAbkh6hLq8vKfsqHC0sMSsXapVoGzN9ksRXiMP5bxSxeH8g/s640/Slide149.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I developed this coding scheme iteratively, and some of it is very idiosyncratic to this particular data set. For example, pdfs are not commonly tweeted, but they were in this selection. There are many other bad practices that would go into the red category, and a few more good practices that would go in the green, but this is a start. I have been developing this general structure of analysis of good and bad social media work over the past few years as I present on social media and develop custom analyses for the groups I speak to. New things come up and surprise, but the things that work generally remain constant, and that is what this chart is based upon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let's move through a few key lessons learned from this data.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Should I Post the Same Content Across Platforms? Yes (Sorta).</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's the overall picture of the 10 associations on the right. All have Facebook and Twitter presences. 6 also have Instagram, as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMfEJC7b00TBDIO8CEU69E1Nw4aVm8KHZUPa5rIdJcfwU8A4B_GQlW4TZQl0y3GGCew8YpNvzTa8x_I2dMZLpmD62zHQSVf7ePBcObIUZ3-fP_wHkctJLFYoKDzve_WBZfyzZTSZ-vy7R/s1600/Slide159.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="289" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMfEJC7b00TBDIO8CEU69E1Nw4aVm8KHZUPa5rIdJcfwU8A4B_GQlW4TZQl0y3GGCew8YpNvzTa8x_I2dMZLpmD62zHQSVf7ePBcObIUZ3-fP_wHkctJLFYoKDzve_WBZfyzZTSZ-vy7R/s400/Slide159.png" width="173" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Just looking at this image, which has been coded according to the scheme noted above, you can see at least one thing very clearly:</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> no one is using a consistent strategy across all the platforms. This is interesting for a variety of reasons, but primarily, I get the sense that this was not done strategically or even tactically. The 3rd through 5th associations on the left have a vague pattern of similarity between Facebook and Twitter, but then Instagram is a totally different animal. This is a reflection of how easy it is to automate dual postings on Twitter and Facebook with services like Buffer, but how hard it is to do that on Instagram.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After my IAEE talk, one of the questions in the mass of people who came up to talk afterwards was this question of whether or not they should repeat content across platforms. It's a good question, as we've all probably seen those moments on Facebook when people asked each other to stop cross-posting tweets and then later, Instagrams, onto Facebook, since we all are connected with each other on all platforms and are tired of redundancy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had two responses to that. First, looking at the pattern of response when the same content is used across platforms in the sample above reveals no clear difference in terms of effectiveness, which is especially important given the data above, where it looks like the Instagram accounts above are filled with more personal pictures and memes than the other platforms. In the following example, which was par for the course across this data set, you can see that the patterns of interaction are similar across platforms. It looks like the pictures get more traction on Instagram, but in comparing these two posts with the platform averages (the numbers below) for this association's posts, you can see that it is not THAT much better on that platform.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1HQB1cxLlUI3304n9ukhZ6ELOEQzlMqDZICNPi9D_8L536l53hY-CN74kCDlOoXYECLOSh6FMiJfdlc6F03t-UYCVueNQz6U9Z0yu6sjsuoVvLf-JJdUXgX6Ogpc_g52973Jg_oluL2a/s1600/Slide154.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1HQB1cxLlUI3304n9ukhZ6ELOEQzlMqDZICNPi9D_8L536l53hY-CN74kCDlOoXYECLOSh6FMiJfdlc6F03t-UYCVueNQz6U9Z0yu6sjsuoVvLf-JJdUXgX6Ogpc_g52973Jg_oluL2a/s1600/Slide154.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In fact, the pattern of responses here is really quite similar. The dark green bar is a contest put on by the association which was advertised by a child's crayon drawing. The lighter green bar is a picture with a minor celebrity at one of the association's events. Although I coded the child's drawing as more effective with the dark green, in general, in this case the celeb won the day to about the same degree across the platforms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thus, my second response to the repetition question, if response structures are the same across platforms, is about that redundancy and fatigue issue. I suggested that if they are posting, say, a picture of the association staff looking at the eclipse outside their headquarters (I saw a lot of these, and I generally like that idea), that a) they should repeat that across the platforms, but b) they should use a slightly different shot for each platform, and c) they should cross advertise platforms in the post contents or comments. For example, "Here's Maria and Kim using their eclipse glasses for safety. We put a picture of Steve on Twitter doing the same thing, but his glasses are upside-down. Shh. Don't tell anyone." This gives value in seeking out the full story across platforms, and it reduces redundancy exhaustion. Let's face it -- if you are taking events pictures, you have more than you will use. You already have the resources to do this, perhaps even at this exact minute on your phone.</span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Should Our Content Always Be "Professional"? No. (Sorta).</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This was a key issue. In fact, a lot of people came up afterwards and told me they agreed with what I was arguing but that they'd never convince the C-suite to go along with it. The people in charge wanted it "professional" and no cat pictures. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I hear this a lot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a false dichotomy. I know I wear cat suspenders to these events, but that doesn't mean everything has to be GIFs of cats jumping in boxes or conference schedule PDFs. There is an in-between.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="568" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fspeakwithbrainz%2Fvideos%2F679797048843735%2F&show_text=1&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I showed this example in the presentation. I was doing <a href="https://youtu.be/_uVmlRQMf7M?t=1m30s">a webinar on game design and play</a> in the classroom and did this Facebook live bit. I also did one later, showing the camera setup and other things in the studio. I told some jokes and had some fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Doubled my audience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Have fun. But have "serious fun"? Don't waste people's time, but, on the other hand, your social media stream should not look like copy from the back of the brochures you have sitting on the endtables in your waiting room, either. This is advertising people are opting into. <i>Reward them for opting in</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's how that works. This post crushed it for the IAAPA:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRkySwKoo4CYWMarAgxFO9DBYC46yc3qv-4rbSjLNe3-o9hyoscDTFHbI1KotKzYMigd9NkBbPNNr5xD0xjxG5yzJWNxXdIvVrbU3QrQVVvLTAHao4rmOl8fP0t2ZekmNdERlHzHukghc/s1600/fbd.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="499" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRkySwKoo4CYWMarAgxFO9DBYC46yc3qv-4rbSjLNe3-o9hyoscDTFHbI1KotKzYMigd9NkBbPNNr5xD0xjxG5yzJWNxXdIvVrbU3QrQVVvLTAHao4rmOl8fP0t2ZekmNdERlHzHukghc/s640/fbd.png" width="434" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They took a popular meme image, memed it up and then dropped their logo onto it. Here's how the likes (red), shares (orange) and replies (yellow) fared in comparison to their typical results:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADyD18j72kkB8Sx2OrYfsa0QhqhVCQjbJfUUI2NvFHZNQ6EcV7z7RqhO3XumtO60oFX-51g3qBZYn2WjjybjYMXL6RGkeWunM-1DI5euV58lNi9-D21s0ZM7f1Qcuu2k-QQVA3jZrCx1E/s1600/Slide158.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="635" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADyD18j72kkB8Sx2OrYfsa0QhqhVCQjbJfUUI2NvFHZNQ6EcV7z7RqhO3XumtO60oFX-51g3qBZYn2WjjybjYMXL6RGkeWunM-1DI5euV58lNi9-D21s0ZM7f1Qcuu2k-QQVA3jZrCx1E/s640/Slide158.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Big bars. I think the shape of the graphs for Facebook and Twitter are also interestingly congruent. Yet another piece of evidence that there is less of a magic formula of certain content for certain media than we tend to think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Another way of thinking about this question of "the professional" vibe is demonstrated below on this table of Instagram likes and replies for another association:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihc1tYPZVrXV1U6_5XoTsKxf8BpInMfohaeDdRQu3WojC7f8dey-sgzMGTJoc6JtSpRevW2BhqvJcUitZsoc24Ha2AMmbJWi4q2TNChnqA7cTdxukqhVtpEkuW1nqQY363RkiOQ5jW9Iet/s1600/blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="367" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihc1tYPZVrXV1U6_5XoTsKxf8BpInMfohaeDdRQu3WojC7f8dey-sgzMGTJoc6JtSpRevW2BhqvJcUitZsoc24Ha2AMmbJWi4q2TNChnqA7cTdxukqhVtpEkuW1nqQY363RkiOQ5jW9Iet/s640/blog.png" width="368" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You might think the polished (posed, poised) celebrity pictures (highlighted in purple for this moment of analysis) or the professional looking finished booth on the trade show floor (You know how this post goes, on the conference hashtag: "Come visit us in booth ### today!"), which is the yellow line, would do better. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nope. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">People would rather see pictures of regular people from the conference or backstage images (the one dark green line), in the aggregate, than the more polished ones. These conference pics, by the way, for this account, were very very casual. These were not pics of speakers on stage. These were clusters of people talking around the coffee service, etc. Those are the things we want to see. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I want you to put the <i>social</i> back in the social media.</span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Should I Draw a Line Between My Professional and Personal Accounts? No. (Sorta).</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is hard. If I am right about all of this, it puts a lot of pressure on work-life balance issues. Well, it <i>can</i>, but only with a certain set of assumptions in mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you assume you need to post frequently and at regular intervals because some other social media guru told you that was best practice, well, the idea that you need to arrange some sort of funny but relevant personal and quasi-behind-the-scenes peek at the organization sounds like a bit of a nightmare to do, especially when you are the one person on marketing/advertising/public relations/social media in your small nonprofit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But do you really need to post so often?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I know, you can throw a zillion blog posts at me by people who will tell you otherwise. You know . . . . I think the likelihood that someone who is telling you that's how to do social media ALSO happens to have a financial stake in your doing just that is high. They have a subscription/consulting service or an app or a template or a book or a keynote to sell. Look, I get it, so do I. There is no way in an all-marketing world to avoid this kind of problem, but I am skeptical of an approach that tells us best practice is beyond our reach to do it alone. I think we should use extra scrutiny in such cases.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What if, instead, we built social media content for a different, and more durable and strategic purpose? If you weren't desperately trying to push quantity out of a vaguely understood sense of how this puts you into people's feeds, how much would you post? A lot less. If you only posted when you had something good to share, well, how often does that happen? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Relax. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Below I will explain why that is okay. For now, if you ultimately believe it is okay to do less to get better results, isn't that relaxing on its face? And doesn't that take some of the sting out of time stresses of getting more personal?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am telling you you can do it alone. In much less time. I know lots of social media professionals that do. Here's what that looks like:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie89eCuRg6lxB-C8P9oLx5YrmoAHlVEqpyRydU4foeXkPR83hBj689I-qgYHU-JEVGB81fmLTuKBSlL49QU3LSRDO_6WbzzFBBMHvXQzfgBeAnJirJTYSbmdpA5BGl9USQsadlfTQ11DW5/s1600/Slide183.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="138" data-original-width="831" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie89eCuRg6lxB-C8P9oLx5YrmoAHlVEqpyRydU4foeXkPR83hBj689I-qgYHU-JEVGB81fmLTuKBSlL49QU3LSRDO_6WbzzFBBMHvXQzfgBeAnJirJTYSbmdpA5BGl9USQsadlfTQ11DW5/s640/Slide183.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let's take these in order. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Notice</u>? Look, you can't beat the algorithms. I always get versions of this meme looking back at me when I say this to a room of professionals who have been trying to do just that for years (and who may have had some moments of viral success):</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbHOZ5EQuRF5tMgCZN23wdPd8_gOxNb9UtbjIJAU7JJB9TpaI-Ju1gLHZT0wQeuqU3YA7IZP_ztUMxL6RUX5acMmKSSscBhXfieuMekpNXqL1gWIpDlxAf-piM_7htNPAWlFjEZBmKm1O/s1600/57e0321daf1868aabfc2742c2b83ffbb--tech-humor-humor-memes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbHOZ5EQuRF5tMgCZN23wdPd8_gOxNb9UtbjIJAU7JJB9TpaI-Ju1gLHZT0wQeuqU3YA7IZP_ztUMxL6RUX5acMmKSSscBhXfieuMekpNXqL1gWIpDlxAf-piM_7htNPAWlFjEZBmKm1O/s320/57e0321daf1868aabfc2742c2b83ffbb--tech-humor-humor-memes.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Everyone I know whose job it has been these past 8 or 9 years to beat the system has crashed into diminishing returns. Facebook is a rich FAANG company because it hires lots of people to beat you at this game. They profit when you fail to program your content to show up on a lot of screens without resorting to paid ads. So they will beat you. Now they own Instagram. They will beat you there, too. Too many hashtags to do what used to work to get views? Shadow banned. Twitter is a bit more wild west, but in the firehose of Twitter data, do you really think the old Guy Kawasaki tip to repeat each of your posts 9 times is really going to make that big a difference in getting new eyeballs before it alienates your quality followers, your "whales" (<a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2017/08/the-management-of-whales.html">thanks, Seth Godin</a>), who put you into a curated list and will lose patience with your shenanigans? I just dropped 8 people from my own main Twitter list for just such behavior, even though I usually liked their stuff. It crowded everything else out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had this conversation with about a dozen people at the IAEE Expo and asked how long their patience extends for such things. The first thing to know is that they needed no explanation here. They knew EXACTLY what this kind of posting looked like. The second thing to know is that, although I suggested my patience wore thin and I unfollowed in a few weeks, not one of these dozen gave me more than an hour or two before they unfollowed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Back to basics, eh? Do no harm! Don't alienate people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thus, make "destination pages." Make your social media stream "sticky," to use the words of web designers. When I finally get to it, I will stick with it. Don't make social media posts which advertise themselves. Make posts which drive people back to your collected stream of posts. A scroll-by liker doesn't do you much good. You want someone to go and find your Instagram and look at all of your stuff. And stay. And comment. And tell someone else. Quality of interaction over quantity of epiphenomenal browsing is what we want. Here are some examples of social media feeds that are destinations: <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBloggess">this</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/doodledblooms/">this</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/prattprattpratt/?hl=en">this</a> and check out the San Antonio Museum of Art on Snapchat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Engage</u>? That's what we've already done. We've done some simple analytics designed to show us patterns of what people engage with and what people don't. The other thing I spend time on in these keynotes is that there is no such thing as quality content. We have shifting needs and are generally bad at processing information. We want to build a relationship on social media so that we don't feel like total waste-of-time failures when we are scrolling through our feeds on our phones. So there is no way to know whether you've made "good stuff" until you find out, tactically, and then build a strategy for deepening those connections with your followers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of course, maybe you always had a vision, a strategy, and you just kept working away at building an organic following. So now, when you do analytics, you are not surprised. You know them well enough to know what will work. There's a good metric for you: <i>The quality of social media strategy is inversely related to the number of surprises in your analytics data.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Share</u>? Here's the key to this whole section. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Make every post shareable and ad-worthy. In other words, make each post awesome enough (based on what you found out above) that people will want to share it. Maybe you strike viral gold and you feel good about your views and connections. Maybe not. But then, once you have some social proof (likes and shares are not sad 0s staring at us, telling us the content is not worth our attention), you can then make that content into a paid ad. Most platforms, including LinkedIn, push you to build ads based on posts you promote. You don't want to promote content with a small number of likes and hope people will add likes via their exposure to the ad. Yeah, right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you can't beat the algorithms you will need to turn to ads. Your ad strategy should be built out of what works organically with your fans in this way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In case your eyes are blurring with this longish blog post, here's the general set of of things years of analysis in various audience and industry contexts has shown tend to work. You can hold onto this at the end of this post and feel like a winner even if you spaced out a bit at the end there. In my next post I will detail this list with examples of what this looks like and by connecting it to a larger strategy discussion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Good luck out there!</span><br />
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-4253420809822329452017-11-24T17:14:00.002-06:002019-10-25T13:30:00.289-05:00Puzzle Boxes at the IAEE Expo! -- "At First It Was Hard, Then It Was Easy"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Does a blog still exist when you don't write a post for months? This, my friends, has been the busiest semester I've had in almost twenty years. Things seemed like they would balance when I agreed to speak at </span><a href="https://morebrainz.simplecast.fm/inbound17" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">INBOUND17</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> and the </span><a href="https://www.eventscribe.com/2017/expoexpo/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presenterInfo&PresenterID=345648" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">IAEE ExpoExpo!</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Then we fast-tracked the </span><a href="http://www.tlu.edu/academics/programs/data-analytics/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Data Analytics Master's Program at TLU</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. That meant I had to overload with an additional class, a new prep at the graduate level, Data Visualization. Then some staffing shuffles meant I needed to step in as Interim Student Media Advisor at TLU, in which role I am in the process of leading the students in a strategic planning process for the future of their student media. All good projects, but when I started sinking in the swamp, I put </span><a href="https://morebrainz.simplecast.fm/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">my podcast</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> and this blog on hiatus to catch up with my grading.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, I am finally writing a small post, mostly in service to the people who come to my "Can You Escape This Session?" program at ExpoExpo!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I ran the puzzle boxes workshop for the biggest group yet, and I did so in order to teach the participants how to do this themselves. For background on this project, which I do for education and professional settings, see <a href="http://morebrainz.blogspot.com/search/label/Puzzle%20Boxes" target="_blank">my other posts here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The session was great, as you can see above in the video segment IAEE TV did on the session! Awesome participation and some really interesting decompression discussion afterwards. I asked groups what was easy and what was hard, and that's where the title quote came from. One participant said "At first it was hard, then it was easy." Isn't that perfect? That's what ALL education feels like. That's what all group communication things feel like, from small groups and teams up to whole conferences!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In response to their comments, I am developing ideas for a conference-wide escape/puzzle experience as well as either exhibit room wide or individual exhibitor experiences that would bridge the gap and enable more fun conversations in those spaces, which often live in between "Hey, don't take my pens/candy/logo merch without talking to me; I'm sitting right here!" and "Seriously, I can't do this right now; stop pressuring me to give you my email for a pencil." A few more ideas are percolating as a result of those conversations, so stay tuned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Below you will find two things of use. First is the takeaway document I made for them. While you read it, how about </span><a href="http://bit.ly/vroomanexpo4" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">taking my quiz</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> on it, which would give you a combination code output for correct answers you can use to open the next lock. Second is a set of two templates for how to construct the boxes. These are real live versions of boxes I have in use, so, you know, SPOILER ALERT!!! To build your own, you need to keep track of everything and be able to answer questions from the floor. This is how I do that.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">IAEE’s Annual Meeting Take-A-Way</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Topic:</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can You Escape from this Session?</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Presenter(s) Information:</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Steven Vrooman, Professor of Communication, Texas Lutheran University</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time: 9:00am-10:00am</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This session will show you how to make modular, portable puzzle rooms in the form of puzzle boxes, while you solve a box in a small group yourself. What you learn here could be scaled up to a full-on escape room at your next conference, but a locked box on a table provides quite a bit of fun, as well.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, the spine</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the thing:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have a clear learning objective. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tactile, puzzle-based learning is some of the best learning we have. Use these opportunities to get participants involved in interesting ideas.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create a takeaway text.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Well, just like this one, really. They should have a bit of something to read and explore.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Build a quiz or two online.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Using Google Forms or some other service, make them use their knowledge of the takeaway text to finish a quiz which gives them a clue.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second, the construction</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the boxes:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think Russian dolls</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Nest layers inside each other. Each layer is locked, but it should take some thinking to get through it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Delay gratification.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Key locks have keys hidden in the outer layers of the box structure that you can only use later. Combination locks work the same, with clues hidden in plain sight (like cards, books or thematic artifacts), as outputs from your quizzes, or with tricks (code, invisible ink they get a blacklight for later, etc.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Map it out!</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Have one structure for all of the boxes, even if the theme of each (carry-on, briefcase, tackle box) changes, so you can help them when they get stuck. Put that map on paper or spreadsheet so you know what opens what lock. Because they will get stuck and text you. And you want to be confident about your answer.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-90a3bd60-f04e-26fb-7cdd-80f1569f7423"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, the results!</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Association meetings and conferences and expos can be exhausting. So many slidedecks, so many business cards and pitches and logoed pens. Your schedule needs more fun. This is fun, with a hard-to-forget Tootsie Roll center of learning inside. I’ve never met a person who regretted attending a session like this.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now for the templates. The idea is that a column is a level of the box, a sense of what is accessible at any given time in the experience. A row delves into subsequent levels and what is inside. Although these are small boxes, if you've ever done a big escape room, you will see the similarity in structure in the levels of puzzle. So this should provide a reasonable guide to scaling this kind of project [or, you know, hint, hint, you can always hire me to do it for you :) ]. Good luck, and please send me any questions you might have if you are ready to try this yourself.</span></span><br />
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-50567792985711455102017-07-06T10:37:00.000-05:002019-10-25T13:30:26.137-05:00Puzzle Boxes in a Professional Workshop Context, An Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A month ago, <a href="http://morebrainz.blogspot.com/2017/05/escape-rooms-for-education-portable.html">I wrote about creating escape room style puzzle boxes to teach communication skills</a>. <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently adapted this method to work with adults in a professional training context as part of my </span><a href="http://www.stevenvrooman.com/workshops.html" target="_blank">One-Day Communication Reset Workshop</a>. I wondered, as I was building the experience for college students, whether or not it would work with non-students. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">t did.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's good, because I am going to be rolling out a bigger version of this experience at the </span><a href="http://www.myexpoexpo.com/ExpoExpo2017/public/enter.aspx" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">IAEE ExpoExpo!</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"> this fall, and it's nice to know that I have a fighting chance of getting some people who might enjoy this activity at my session.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They were *super* intense about it and were in it to win it. I thought there was a chance they would disengage, especially when they got to the hard parts, like reading and taking online quizzes, but they all really wanted to get those locks open.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Graphic created by Patricia Stelter</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of course, it was time for revision.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I improved on the method from the last time, generating a spreadsheet to keep track of the boxes and lock levels. No more confusion!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I also created some Google Forms quizzes that gave lock code outputs for successful completion. This <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfebLnFUC9qdTP87K2x_P9uOTM285FRNHfuHmtlgJ1GSt7Iug/viewform">shorter quiz</a> worked well, but <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaGwCyx72PM8mCC2GBNiVZ2L3BRWSuARFmxVFsxCOcSX3x-Q/viewform">the longer one</a> was a problem. I set it up so they had to retake the quiz instead of individual questions, which led to a frustrating time for some during that part. I will work on that. But the online quizzes meant they didn't have to report to me to get clues. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That was good, because it changed our relationship during the activity. I was the hint-giver only, not a necessary interactant. Obviously I created the puzzles, so they might have directed frustration with them toward me, but I had primed them with the idea that I would give each group a limited number of hints. They couldn't know the number, so at a certain point they couldn't know, their hints would be exhausted. They had some discussions, when faced with difficulty, about whether or not to use me as a "phone-a-friend." It displaced some of the negativity they might have had about the process in a way that improved my interactions with them during the activity.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's a few of the things I saw:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">Learning:</span></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They had two quizzes they had to complete to get codes for locks. One was on material that we had already gone over together. The other was new material they had to read and work through for the first time. Although they told me that they only learned the new material in small pieces to ace the quiz, this wasn't true. We applied those skills, on group facilitation, immediately after a break, and they definitely knew what to do. Do we under-report our learning when an activity is interesting and engaging?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Groupthink:</span></h4>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They continued to show the kinds of groupthink barriers I saw the first time around. It was SOOOOOOO helpful to have them experience that, as it is groupthink that actually makes a physical barrier to success in this case! It is visceral, and we usually like to deny that we suffer from groupthink! One example of this is with the code to a text-based combination lock. One group got this combination on some tiles and had to figure out the order of the letters on the lock. They could NOT got any combination of M, D or I to work. I had to come and flip that M over to make a W. Two of them literally facepalmed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Win Conditions":</span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Groups began creating fictional "win conditions," very assertively, after a group finished first and crowed that they were in first place. One group suggested that they were the first group to have finished the longer quiz, etc. This proved an exceptionally interesting finding for our session on negotiation that would come after lunch.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">I utilized this activity to prime them with failure. Games like this provide a fun experience of failure that gets subsumed into eventual success. We used some ideas from </span><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/">a recent <i>Atlantic Monthly</i> research review, "Power Causes Brain Damage,"</a><span style="color: #222222;"> to talk about asymmetrical negotiation sessions. The article, by Jerry Useem, reports that merely priming people by asking them to remember a success, makes people less effective at things like accurately reading other people. So we practiced a bit with priming our failures. I'm not sure we did it systematically enough to draw conclusions from, as we had many other goals for the day, but it is interesting!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm still processing some of what I saw. (I still have boxes of open locks to sort through!). But I think this is a positive experience in the development of this method.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">S</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">tay tuned for more reports, especially after I use these boxes in a session at <a href="http://www.myexpoexpo.com/ExpoExpo2017/public/enter.aspx" target="_blank">#EXPOEXPO</a> in the fall. I have done it with pre-existing groups only thus far, students and now a team at a nonprofit. In my upcoming session, there will be a lot of strangers coming together to experience this. Should be interesting!</span></span></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-18660478941267964222017-06-29T08:13:00.001-05:002019-10-25T13:30:43.431-05:00Can We Start Treating Social Media Professionals Like, Well, PROFESSIONALS, Please????<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kristina Alexanderson: <a href="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8142/7588800922_b7abff2da3_b.jpg">https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8142/7588800922_b7abff2da3_b.jpg</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We treat our social media professionals extremely poorly, as
a whole. Underpaid, overworked, and often *just* under full time. I know a lot
of people work under those conditions, not just social media folks, but I only
know a BARE HANDFUL of people who work in social media who are fairly
compensated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We all pay the price for having our collective social media
environment compiled by the angry, overworked and disrespected. Can you not
feel it sometimes when you scroll? Do you think the inhuman spew of repeated
and recycled content just shows up there because of strategy? Because Guy
Kawasaki said to repeat things nine times? Or is it because we refuse to pay
social media workers a living wage yet still demand the magic of increasing
metrics?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Below is a Facebook post from a few days ago on this
subject, with the names of people and businesses redacted. It struck quite a
nerve. I hope it will strike a nerve with you. If it does, please share this.
We need to shift this conversation and our expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">🔴</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⚫⭕⚫🔴</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The ______ people should be ashamed of themselves! Read this
job ad and tell me how you do all this as a part-time only position? And then
you are gonna ask applicants to apply by revealing their current salary? These
are the kinds of jobs my students and graduates want, so you know how low that
number is working the school mailroom or at Sonic. I am appalled by how poorly
social media workers are treated in this part of Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a department chair, I get calls all year from people who
want a student to come do this for free. They actually pitch it to me as
something like "They love social media, so this will be a fun environment
for them." Yeah. Totes. Surrounded by old people who won't pay you and
think what you do is crap, but, unfortunately, needed. Sounds super fun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here's a tip local employers: your social media person could
very quickly have more work to do in a week than your manager. And for a
smaller business, they are sometimes your entire
communication/marketing/PR/advertising/customer service department. In other
words, in many instances they are the hardest working and most important person
in your company. But, yeah. Being stuck to your phone at 1am to up your
Facebook response metric while you figure out how to meet your performance
goals while not, once again, working too many hours this week, yep. That's the
life, right there. It's great to know you work harder than everyone but get the
least respect or compensation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As Mr. Knightly says to Emma, "Badly done."</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">🔴</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⚫⭕⚫🔴</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here are a few of the responses I got to this, all within a
half hour of posting:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Finally, someone who isn't a millennial gets it.” ➖</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Fernando Rover<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“I have this conversation all the time with fellow
marketing/comm/PR colleagues. We really think it's because people don't value
creative work or see these types of jobs as actual work. It's the same reason
people don't want to pay $5 to listen to a band or are under the impression
design work is free. For some reason, everyone thinks they're creative or a
writer. It's very frustrating.” </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">➖</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ashlie Ford</span></blockquote>
</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“This is all too familiar, all too close to home for me😐
And, this type of job is NOT a recent grad grunge job - as it clearly states,
this person is responsible for the brand of the company, they are the front
door of customer service and the creative marketer behind the company. They
want genius for nothing, they want art for nothing, they want passion for
nothing, they want experience for nothing, they want intuitive creativity for
nothing. This ad is the epitome of how businesses large and small perceive
online engagement - "we know we need to do it, but we think it's for
chumps." And, fyi, most recent college grads have no concept of how to
WORK in social media. A social media professional is needed to TEACH them how.”</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">➖</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Michelle Johnson<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's as frustrated by
stuff like this..."</span> <o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">➖</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Haley Hannon</span></blockquote>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“This is terrible. Others have said it more eloquently than
I, but yeah. This is stupid.”</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">➖</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Connor Dillon<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Connor followed up with: </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"The commonality of the
problem? Enormous. I look at job boards almost every day, and quite a few
places hire for the more creative roles as managers, put them on a part time
salary (so they don't have to pay overtime) and call it good. It's a business
tactic I've seen a lot.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“This is spot on. Administrating a good and effective
Facebook page is VERY time consuming and requires almost constant monitoring.
Well said!”</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">➖</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Mary Shahan</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This comment got the following follow-up:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Not including Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Messenger, and
managing communities like Yelp, TripAdvisor...I could go on and on but what
for.”</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">➖</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Angelica Mata</span></blockquote>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And then there was this amazingly epic rant from an old friend
who extended the issue to all sorts of people who do creative work online:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“You have no idea...being a professional artist is devastating...your
friends and family and half the people on your social media think since you
have a "fun" job you shouldn't be paid for it, because it's fun and
you’re already good at it so why pay. Even worse I crossed over into graphics
and media to find the perception is even worse, because they don't use
"real tools and art type things so it's not like they have to do the work
of a real artist."</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Except the "real" artist like me doesn't have a "real" job
because it's fun so I'm not really working because anyone can paint right?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
It's just mind boggling because as the PR social media "Marketing
Manager" you’re just playing on a computer like you would be at home
anyhow...right, an intern should be doing this so they get practice...but you’re
right that student will take over everything, bring up the sales, numbers
exposure and get a following and then the boss usually thinks "Cool, we
did you a favor and gave you a great portfolio piece" then they let you go
because your job is "done" right...you got us what we needed so now
Harry the new intern can take over your hard work and totally change the social
media program for his portfolio....right? Making your work completely unusable
for your portfolio and when you mention to the next company that you didn't get
a salary for it...the problem then carries on to the next guy...</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
As a mural artist running my own business on my own for 15 years I was given a
few responses while trying to even be considered for a "normal" job
when the housing crash happened...my favorite most common response was "
why do you want to work for us if you can paint like this?"</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Apparently the roles reverse when you actually try to get the "real job"
everyone tells you to grow up and get...</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
And yet I still continue to ask myself...how did the perspective not
change over the years...how is it possible that artists of all kinds who are
good at their craft are perceived as not worth paying for the skills they have
sweated for and painfully learned over the years, but not qualify for being
capable of learning to be a phone rep, a burger tosser or an inventory clerk
for side money? Successful artists, especially musicians, don't even get paid
what they should have, yet everyone thinks they are rich...</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Now get to the millenials who are real good at social media, marketing and they
call it socializing....yet it actually runs and becomes the core of their
business....but they want a student to do it for free...</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Seriously you get to where you just want to stab yourself or someone else in
the eyes with a fork when this cycle starts...no wonder why many talented and
skilled professionals have no desire to offer their services....</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">” </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">➖ </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Amber Dawn, from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MuralsbyAmberDawn/">Murals by Amber Dawn</a></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">🔴</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⚫⭕⚫🔴</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I did have one person whose comment was like “Boo hoo, that
first job out of college sucks.” But the people who commented above range in
age from 22 to north of 65. This is not about college, really. This is about
how we treat people with skills that are central to our business while we
create the sense that bros with MBAs get sweet gigs in offices and immediately
drive down productivity numbers. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The social media workers you string along think you, in your
office, writing job ads like this one, asking for 5 years of experience on
software that has only existed for 2 years, are exactly the source of data that
the “average” office worker has only 45 minutes of productivity a day.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Does it bother you at all that the people who are the public
face of your company hate you? Don’t you think we are careening toward an
enormous downside?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One of the comments mentioned that if this company knew
anything at all it would have contacted me to take down my rant. But no one
noticed. So more bad PR . . . <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> . . . or did they?
They still have posts going up on social media. The person who is leaving the
job is still there, waiting out the last weeks before their better opportunity.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Did they look at my post and laugh? Did they, knowing the
boss doesn’t know anything and wasn’t going to look, simply look at the
comments and smile knowingly, leaving it alone, <i>caveat emptor</i>? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If we keep treating people like this, there will be
consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-40250117606824168682017-05-30T13:20:00.003-05:002019-10-25T13:30:59.775-05:00My Answer to the Nine Dots Prompt, "Are Digital Technologies Making Politics Impossible:" -- “We Are the Unembraced: Technology Gave Us Captial P Politics, and Now It Takes It Away” <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqRnsPaWih8rglb9QXgS2PtsqTGMn4h63z5Qm3IwdzWwt6bojcqARyhK5eSgOxrq-5FUv_MIeAakKawAz_3cnT4eT6CWJhyphenhyphenzohqNatEeNQgYJtoTNMNdXA3i-7fMo1yf89fER3BDxCpK0/s1600/9dots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="670" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqRnsPaWih8rglb9QXgS2PtsqTGMn4h63z5Qm3IwdzWwt6bojcqARyhK5eSgOxrq-5FUv_MIeAakKawAz_3cnT4eT6CWJhyphenhyphenzohqNatEeNQgYJtoTNMNdXA3i-7fMo1yf89fER3BDxCpK0/s1600/9dots.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I submitted an entry for the <a href="http://ninedotsprize.org/">Nine Dots Prize</a> on their inaugural theme: "Are Digital Technologies Making Politics Impossible?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Looking at it now, months later, I am trying wayyyyyy too hard to squeeze way too much into the word count. The idea that mass media gave us a small window of "mass" politics in the middle of the 20th century which we now mourn the passing of is still something I think is interesting and correct. But I approach this question with a style that seesaws a bit too much from a casual lit review to quick pop culture references. In my defense, I could not tell whether they wanted a more or less academic text, even after researching the organization and the people behind it. If I were to do it again, I think I would choose more pop culture and less theory, but I write these words two hours before the prize winner is announced. We'll see if my prediction of what they want is true.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay, the results were just announced. Looking at some <a href="http://ninedotsprize.org/extracts-stand-light-freedom-persuasion-attention-economy/">excerpt's of winner James Williams' submission</a>, it sounds like they wanted academic after all. Ah well, it is better to make a choice than try to do it all, as I did. If it's wrong, well, then, next time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So what you see below is a sandstone of approaches that may not, ultimately, be structurally sufficient. I hope to return to this idea in the future. In which case this post will stand as an early, failed form of these ideas. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the core of writing: failing and then revising.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“We Are
the Unembraced: Technology Gave Us Captial P Politics, and Now It Takes It
Away” </span></h3>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Politics
is impossible. Not the brute Laswellian mechanic of who gets what when why how.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What
has long been impossible is the inevitability of the embrace, the optimistic
Aristolean entelechial dream of the enormous, affirming group hug of
civilization. Aristotle suggests that such an outcome is logically inevitable,
as we might expect of a thinker fulsome with the sameness of his Athenian
tribe, here at the beginning of his<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.html">Politics</a></i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and its dream, where he is three mere
paragraphs away from an insulting discourse differentiating women and slaves
and bees: “But, if all communities aim at some good, the state <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="14"></a>or
political community, which is the highest of all, and which embraces <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="15"></a>all the rest, aims at good in a greater degree than any other, and
at the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="16"></a>highest good.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This
faith that goods are additive into a magic Emerald City polis is, as are so
many of Aristotle’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas/#ThoAri">ultimately cloistered
Aquinian faiths</a>, cute. This faith is not simple. It involves conflict and
compromise, but it sees inevitable “harmony” resulting from that, unlike the
single beat or foot of music he critiques in Socrates’ political ideas in Book
Two. While he awaits the final swell of a Garlandian thematic reprise in Victor
Fleming’s musical, we live in a world of more complex harmonics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/In_Defence_of_Politics.html?id=tASVLbC0Q5cC">Bernard
Crick</a>, who has come to represent a battered postwar version of a faith in
the telos of politics, writes in an age in which the devil’s tritone has been
pulled from satanic dissonance into Baroque harmonies and bebop improvisation.
Unlike Aristotle, he sees political good as an axiological commitment, not an
ontological inevitability, embracing, as many did in a century of fascists,
political process as a bulwark against horror. 20<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century dissonance, as in jazz,
resolves into something approaching harmony only with “tolerance and diversity”
for Crick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Crick
understands that group hugs are awkward. They are work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although
Crick talks “compromise” fifty years ago, he really seems to be after what the
business school gurus will eventually call win-win problem solving. In a
compromise we both feel like we lose. And in a world where, as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Why_Americans_Hate_Politics.html?id=pQMAsT7HlEsC">E.
J. Dionne</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>writes, we “hate
politics,” and, as polls continue to show, distrust it, so many seem willing to
Brexit and Trump their way past politics to something that looks an awful lot
like win-lose problem-solving, as they vote to protect their tribe, their
community, their family, their race, their dream, their illusion, their jobs,
their nostalgic picture of a better time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So
much for the grand, “big tent” wins of the coalition-builders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Does
that kind of politics no longer exist?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It
might be more prudent to ask if it ever existed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have
we abandoned the big tent group hug Emerald City major chord politics of
yesteryear in a digital stream of narrowcasting, fake news echo chambers and
unfollows? Or was Crick always peddling an illusion he knew we needed as a
motivator whilst Stalinism rose on ballistic plumes in the east and Blitzed
buildings went on to a second decade of unrepair?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ah.
Now we’re talking rhetoric, another Aristotelan passion which Crick departs
from, unfortunately equating it with vapidity and sophistry, exactly the things
Plato wished to rescue it from, by, well, writing to defend “truth” in
dialogues where he made up dumb things for his sophisitic opponents to say
before they recognized that he was right, like classical age wish-fulfillment
fanfiction, complete with a “yes” at the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If
we are to suggest, for a moment, that Aristo-Crickian politics is impossible,
we are left with a definition of politics as the art of achieving the least-bad
outcome for your tribe. Big tent group hug coalitions happen when those
least-bad outcomes dovetail. Candidates win when they can narrowcast least-bads
to a governing preponderance of groups. Get out the vote is more reliable than
convincing the other side. Which sounds like a departure from a rhetoric that
might involve persuading someone who thinks differently than you do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Instead,
we’ll shift past Aristotle’s rational, conscious, mental, calculation-heavy,
try-hard formula of the “use of the available means of persuasion in any given
case” to a post-Freud<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/kenneth_burke_-_a_rhetoric_of_motives_1950.pdf">Kenneth
Burke</a>, who posits that persuasion happens via the magic of identification
in a quasi-mystical commingling. It is hard to say when it happens, which is
fair, as if you, reader, were to list all the times you changed your mind about
something important as an audience member, I imagine the list would be shorter
than that for your weekly groceries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It
is a shift to the “you can’t not communicate” era of unconscious complexity
given to us by ethnographers of ritual like<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://nomadicartsfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Gregory-Bateson-Ecology-of-Mind.pdf">Gregory
Bateson</a>, who suggests that our words and gestures sound a lot more like
animal noises, the very differentiator Aristotle used to justify his
entelechial faith at the beginning of his<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Politics</i>.
For Bateson, people just kinda suck at information-processing. Most of what we
say is ritualized friendship messaging. We, like Democratic candidate Al Gore
in his AME church event, simply and awkwardly continually try to communicate
fealty. I am here. I care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We
have, then, always lived in small echo chambers of friendship since we dropped
from the trees and needed another set of eyes to look for big cats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Politics
and Rhetoric should not be separate books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Does
Martin Luther King convince white America with his ideas, or does he simply use
enough religious code words to convince the Bible belt that he is part of that
tribe, as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/4075">Selby</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>seems to suggest? Is social change the
result of cognitive dissonance in tribal identities as much as it is anything?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">One
more moment for rational faith in rhetoric comes from the optimistically
monikered “new rhetoric” of postwar argument theory.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://johnnywalters.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/3/5/13358288/toulmin-the-uses-of-argument_1.pdf">Stephen
Toulmin</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>adds markers of
uncertainty and calculation to syllogistic reasoning, suggesting, for example,
that in a world of diverse audiences and complex knowledge, arguments have a
“modal” qualifier which signifies a level of certainty. Practical argument in
an uncertain world, I guess, requires us to diagram that the claim “Kanye West
is a genius,” is, even for its proponents, not at all meant with anything
approaching certainty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Better
work in the new rhetorical school comes from<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://undpress.nd.edu/books/P00294">Chaim Perelman and Lucie
Olbrechts-Tyteca</a>, who catalog every form of argument they can find in a
rather exhaustive reading list of Western discourse. Perelman, who remembers
being unpersuaded, not believing the Holocaust was possible when first told of
it in his office in Belgium, is an enthusiastic student of the impediments to
persuasion. His catalog of argument spends more time stripping the logic out of
argument, calling it, at best, quasi-logical, a general form that looks like
math, maybe, perhaps, if you are bad at math and don’t really know much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perelman,
for example, finds that most argument seems to proceed from example or cause,
with more paradoxes and errors in both topoi than you’d think. He emphasizes
the impossibility of a universal audience to respond to the premises of
argument, which Toumlin, for his part, reduces from “major premise” to the
accurately and inevitably ambiguous notion of a “warrant,” which, like the legal
document, simply authorizes us to move to the claim, to the end, inside the
door to search for contraband. For Perelman, premises must be given “presence”
like “Caesar’s bloody tunic” and he spends the end of the book dithering into
how we more readily break philosophical pairings than build them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">All
of this adds to a world where reasoning, the kind of thing you’d need to
compromise, is fraught, mistaken and rare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We
return, again, to Aristotle. He suggests that there is such a thing as an enthymeme,
an incomplete argument. This could be a persuasive tool, as when you suggest
the two premises that have only one logical outcome and let the audience say it
themselves: “All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. So….?” But the dark side
enthymeme, which we would expect to be triumphant in a world beyond
Aristo-Crickian politics, is fantastically common. In this case we drop a piece
of evidence and barrel on to the claim, because, you know, we are preaching to
a narrowcasted choir. We rely on the old saws (loci, for Perelman) of our tribe
and expect them to be able to provide the chamber’s echo. When Fox News
suggests a candidate might raise taxes, for example, there is no need to remind
the tribal hordes of the major premise/warrant that “Taxes are bad.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So
is technology free of the burden of its contribution to making this kind of
politics a dodgy business at best, the kind of thing that exists most clearly
in Aaron Sorkin programs and heavily-advanced political autobiographies? Are we
all choirs to our chosen preachers, clicking our ruby slippers to go home when
confronted with another opinion, whether we are on Facebook or in the donut
shop?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not
entirely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
dream of technology, since<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/">Howard Rheingold</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>coined the term “virtual community” in
books he wrote in the pre-web 90s with pictures of himself wearing pajama pants
on the back covers, was to foster connections of ideas. If you are a brony or
lover of bar graphs or Blue Note LPs or late 19<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century US presidential facial hair or
long discussions of which Shoshtakovich symphonies count as art, the Internet
is the place for those conversations, as they usually don’t fly between frames
at the bowling alley. The unabashed optimism of the early days of the Internet
was that it meant that someone out there, somewhere, dug the same obscure shit
you did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And
this isn’t new. Since even before Paul innovated new uses of a distributed
communication technology, the publicly performed letter, to expand and cement
an enormously successful tribal identity, the early Christian church, since
before Virgil piggybacked on the Homeric poetic invention of Troy to
remythologize Rome, since the beginnings of writing and song and myth, we use
communication technology to craft tribes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although
lazy enthymemes and choir-preaching are inevitable rhetorical habits in a world
built of communities and tribes, the act of seeking out, riskily, additional
connections with a new tribe based on a new interest or secret passion is
structurally different than the passive replication of the memes of your clan
over Sunday dinner or football halftime or happy hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That
kind of entry into a pre-internet irl wizarding world has so many nostalgic
paeans that it is hard to imagine 20<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century popular culture without this
story: the smoky jazz club luring you with its horn riffs, the underground
record store smelling of pot, the surfers rolling in the swells after dawn, the
mysterious colors and textures of yarn on the craft store shelves, the nerds
fighting with swords in the park in the afternoon, the folded party flyer
you’re sure most people don’t know about, the hushed up Bible study in that 3<sup>rd<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></sup>floor dorm room, the older kids
who hang out in the back of the comic book store with Crumb comics and quiet
when you walk by, the Tupperware party at the end of the cul-de-sac you finally
got an invite to, the like-minded political meeting at 6pm in the conference
room in the back of the library.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We
have always been, just a bit, the Gore Vidals of our lives, looking for what we
can archly appreciate as an inside joke, even though the rival 70s icon, George
Plimpton, autoethnographically finding a way to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>do<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>everything and then ruining it by
writing a tell-all, just<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>sounds</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>more real, even though the opposite
seems like the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In
Internet makes the search for the smoky rooms easier, and it also makes it
easier to crowd out everything else. I’m looking at you, Tumblr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So
it should make our tribal-style politics easier, too, while at the same time
reducing Crick’s axiological bridge-building.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Maybe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But
was it really that hard before?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or
have we just recently popped what felt like the new normal bubble of 20<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century collective broadcasting, when
we all watched the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and Walter Cronkite crying when we
landed on the moon and all read the same papers that pretended we were all
duped by Welles’<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>War of the
Worlds</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>until we believed it
was true?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Was
the group hug moment of political life across the world a temporary function of
the big media monopoly bubble that lived on in our memories as the
way-it-should-be even if it was no longer the-way-it-is when the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Paramount<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>decision and new TV channels
Howard Bealed the media into market shares?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When
exactly, in fact, did this Technicolor dream of politics exist, this
foundational historic moment of better times, this Golden Age fallacy which, as
in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Simulacra_and_Simulation.html?id=9Z9biHaoLZIC">Baudrillard</a>,
is a simulacra, a vision of visions, a text of texts, a medium of media which
represents what we wish it was as much as anything else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Politics
and education, even amongst academics who might know better, share this
tendency to believe that students and voters of the past were smarter, paid
more attention, and probably ate more fiber.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Giddens
suggests a reason for this pervasive Yellow-Brick Age fallacy in another
context, when he suggests that the complexities of modern life and its abstract
and expert structures, technologies and discourses which proliferate but which
we don’t get, induce both increased states of trust and faith in buildings and
vehicles and institutions and discourses which we don’t understand but which
require magical fealty in order to satisfice our ways though life and something
like<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=DQmGQgAACAAJ&dq=kroker+panic+encyclopedia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu8oqm95fUAhULyoMKHRfQA68Q6AEIKjAB">Kroker’s
panicky concern</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>at the lack
of the grounded Real that Baudrillard and other salty postmoderns keep swiping
out from under us. We wish for a simpler time while we enjoy all the channels
and apps. We don’t understand the simpler time either, the jazz tritones, how
Fallingwater’s cantilevers stay in the air, how three strips of Technicolor
come together into one film, whether or not TV pictures break apart into pieces
and fly through air over Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka hair, how the little
rectangles on the punch cards worked in the mainframes, what the difference was
between the superchargers and the turbochargers installed in the Pony cars that
boomer dads raced past Rydell High. But we all know someone who says they did,
even if they are just bullshitting us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They
tell us that back in the day they could take apart their VW engine on the lawn
and have it working again by the end of the day but now mechanics work by
popping a thumbdrive dongle into the slot under the dash, which seems improper
even without the symbolic overtones. They tell us that back in the day the
polls were never surprised. They tell us that back in the day, as my
grandfather swore, that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Gone
with the Wind</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>somehow got
colorized later and everyone just lied about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We
know that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Ozzie and Harriet</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Anne
of Green Gables</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Upstairs Downstairs</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and even<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Godzilla</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>were always already nostalgia bombs,
but we want to believe that big<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>P</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>politics hasn’t always already been an
impossible game we built on the endorphinned memories of the war correspondents
who built the network news.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In
the 70s, Anselm Strauss was exploring the constant segmentation of our social
worlds across geographic and interest boundaries, with the inevitable battles
of legitimation and authenticity, and Dick Hebdige was exploring exploding
subcultures as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star Trek</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>fans were finding ways to share
mimeographed erotic fan fiction via mail-order catalogs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Technology
is the fever dream of unity, the CRT LCD glow of electrified human connection,
but the deep structure of that connection is the ham radio after midnight “Can
anyone hear me?” you drop after your callsign, or the phone number you found in
the back pages of the local free paper from the head which you call on your
Hayes Micromodem II to connect to a MUD, or the new local show about the surf
at your beach you found on a 3-digit channel on a cable box you didn’t know
went up that high, or the pimped-out MySpace page of the sweet new band your
friend from history class said the flute player in the marching band her cousin
was drum major for said was going to be the next big thing on<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>TRL</i>, or the new trending
subreddit that was the community that you always wanted to find but doubted
existed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Politics
is the fever dream of humanity. But its deep structure is of people finding
their tribes and cooperating just enough to defend them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our
task is to study the textures by which technology and politics haunt each
other, structure and move each other while we burst the cynical histories that
suggest that something is, in fact, different about now. Every now feels like a
surprise, like a discontinuity with the mythology we have been weaving around
ourselves. That feeling, which feels like wisdom, is in fact the oldest
mistake. It is a grit of sand which we always seem to use to spitball ourselves
another pearl we can inevitably spit upon the shore of the new world on which
we will inevitably land, a beach of millions of grains of sand which always
seem to be just too much to swallow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If
we study those textures, those eddies, those magical currents, those surprises,
if we can work through this history while resisting the lure of myth, if we can
turn to the technological rhetoric of politics, and if we can use this
different pearl-less faith, perhaps we can grab a more secure hold on the house
as its spins, one more time, through the twister. And when we leave our
yellow-bricked golden age behind, perhaps we can learn to love living as the
people behind the curtain, people who see the wizard on the screen as what he
really is, a flawed sideshow that still brings us all together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-87826899317170938832017-05-23T09:13:00.002-05:002019-10-25T13:31:12.261-05:00Escape Rooms for Education: Portable Puzzle Boxes in a College Communication Class<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I did an Escape Room class. Well, okay, no matter how much they wanted to they could never escape class, so instead I built Puzzle Boxes they had to get into. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsO93sJu4Qwgo0d8kqg6I4ZWUtcDcvTrOKCk1pxuxsl37qA77XrcLpQAEPI2AbMDFiA9iPS3ZSKfRM4az6WAOaYgVljiLR_TZuJCVKDPwcrdbVeggPcwbnFvTHRr1WmnOHEmFXr7pfILT1/s1600/IMAG3546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsO93sJu4Qwgo0d8kqg6I4ZWUtcDcvTrOKCk1pxuxsl37qA77XrcLpQAEPI2AbMDFiA9iPS3ZSKfRM4az6WAOaYgVljiLR_TZuJCVKDPwcrdbVeggPcwbnFvTHRr1WmnOHEmFXr7pfILT1/s640/IMAG3546.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The thermos is just for my tea. Only I could earn the caffeinated treasure inside that.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There was a pirate doubloon somewhere inside each one. Get it to get the points.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was motivated to try this based on </span><a href="http://schedule.sxswedu.com/events/event_PP95924" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">a session I attended at SXSWedu</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, where we worked in interdisciplinary groups to figure out how to build Escape Rooms for education. I wanted to make it more portable and containable, so I tried to build Puzzle Boxes instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It turns out that an actual Escape Room is easier to plan than this kind of thing. For one thing, you can just set things out all over the room, which makes it a bit easier to manage the puzzles. I have been hunting for ever smaller and smaller boxes and locks for a month now to prep for this. I am reminded of this scene in that ridiculous genius, Flann O'Brien's, crazy novel, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Policeman">The Third Policeman</a></i>:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj657rCapdCmceYbeA9Sr87-Y-1q7fHkT7amoovOfy1RhTPD2ACLL4GxUKwUu_q_7mCmrwGCKFDchVkxhohs085grfJ24k2Ssfdi2XhBw5Bs5zxfER2JDA6zeMkZVFLZNJieczfIB_PVGb6/s1600/IMAG3583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj657rCapdCmceYbeA9Sr87-Y-1q7fHkT7amoovOfy1RhTPD2ACLL4GxUKwUu_q_7mCmrwGCKFDchVkxhohs085grfJ24k2Ssfdi2XhBw5Bs5zxfER2JDA6zeMkZVFLZNJieczfIB_PVGb6/s1600/IMAG3583.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And making the boxes fit a narrative is harder than if I can lay down bear rugs and have a saloon with a player piano: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Each box I use has a theme, like what's inside the carry-on or the pink backpack or the boat emergency box. Sometimes it is easier to carry off the idea as things get smaller, and sometimes not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Also, you also don't have to have so many things embedded inside other things in full room. I was constantly convinced I had locked the combination clue which opened the key bag inside the box the key in the bag opened, and such. That kind of thing gets easier as you do it more, but it was still nerve-wracking. My colleague and partner in crime, </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-bollinger-1b627982/" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dr. Chris Bollinger</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, kept track of it all by taping keys or combinations to papers with the boxes labelled:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wJyszTBx6psYve74KrtTKoKQFTvFVpbJ9slIESTi5uZUCXDBcvcPToctLShByqsKkLcxyWK9MeKg9AVgCYKDoSdS2mCNQJD_fBt9VO8GEB9brLP1fnfbqT69qtg6-CVCCCJqWN-NiZUI/s1600/IMAG3584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wJyszTBx6psYve74KrtTKoKQFTvFVpbJ9slIESTi5uZUCXDBcvcPToctLShByqsKkLcxyWK9MeKg9AVgCYKDoSdS2mCNQJD_fBt9VO8GEB9brLP1fnfbqT69qtg6-CVCCCJqWN-NiZUI/s400/IMAG3584.jpg" width="286" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think we'll get something more like a key-sorting tackle box for that for next time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anyway, they solved the puzzles in about 40 minutes, which included doing an online quiz on the reading content, a small scavenger hunt in the room to get more of the Escape Room feel, and a bit where they had to demonstrate their application of concepts from the reading to a case study to one of us, "The Wizard."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These were the easiest puzzles we could do and still have 3 or 4 layers deep of boxes/bags, with some "here's a key, but it doesn't fit any of your locks yet" sorts of moments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had hoped to make them harder puzzles and to make the students utilize more content to solve them, but I ran out of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is an activity I plan on using in my classes going forward, and I also hope to be bringing this to association meetings and corporate retreat sorts of things, so this was a test of prep time, administration challenges, how well adding learning objectives to these puzzles works, and whether or not an Escape Box is actually as fun as I thought it would be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The short evaluation is that it worked well. The students had quite a bit of fun. Here they are figuring our how to use the black-light one of their boxes provided to find invisible messages on a case of business cards from the briefcase that had simply seemed like "flavor items":</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I know this is revealing secrets to the puzzle, but if you've ever done an Escape Room, you've used the black-light trick.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hearing them get excited to open a box and then groan when they see two locked bags inside was pretty great. The first group to hold up the doubloon was really stoked. I think amping up the between-group speed competition in the future will be a good thing. That will be interesting, since I also want to build puzzles where they have to trade keys to finish, either as a surprise they have to figure out without prompting, or as a negotiation bit to add more communication learning outcomes, or as an artificial way to even the timing of completion out so one group doesn't get too far ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They were *really* motivated to perform on the online quiz, which they had to get 100% on in order to get the key, and the performance task. That's the kind of engagement we want.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We were also able to take the content, in this case group dynamics and leadership, and really debrief using the things that happened during the activity itself, as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that was one of the great takeaways from this, for me, for the class, and perhaps looking ahead to working with this kind of thing in the future: The groupthink was very strong. The boat box group, for example, after they opened the main locked compartment, were stuck:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They had two brands of locks which shared a key size. In other words, the key went in but didn't turn. That was as it should be for the puzzle, but they were convinced I had messed up the puzzle, even through the key had a different brand etched on it than the lock's brand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had to give them a hint and I tired to talk them out of the hint. I said, "You guys are gonna feel pretty dumb when I show you." But they were desperate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I closed the lid of the box.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still nothing. I gave them a bit of time. I had to open this compartment for them:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They were LOOKING RIGHT AT IT, BUT THEY COULD NOT SEE IT. Their groupthink had literally led their culture to write over reality. In fact, they convinced Dr. Bollinger and myself, for a second, that there had been some mistake. We had been primed for this, as we were a bit uncertain whether or not we'd made a locking error, but they still convinced us, PEOPLE NOT IN THEIR GROUP, that their groupthink version of reality was true. #FakeNews. That was a really important takeaway. Each group had their own moments of this, just a bit less intense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On the whole, they learned a huge amount from the process elements, which in a communication class or first-year experience class or a corporate or teacher retreat or something would be really valuable. I think in other contexts, where those lessons were not so key, that their deep engagement with the puzzles really had them learning the content they were using to unlock things. If I were a math teacher, for example, I would do this kind of thing a lot. Numerical answers are perfect for this sort of thing, especially with so many programmable combination locks out there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The downside is the time it takes in planning. And you can't really have them put the puzzles back together how they found them, since they don't actually always remember how. I think I will try to incentivize that as part of the next time I try this out and see if I can do that to save myself prep time. (You need master keys and a combination cheat sheet to do that so they don't lock something away forever by mistake!). I think leading them to design their own puzzles for each other or for future groups would also be a nice exercise, especially for certain classes (communication, education, leadership, etc.). I certainly benefited from that at SXSWedu.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am also going to take pictures and create a visual guide for myself for each puzzle next time so they are easy to make again. Obviously if I do this more than once a class I will need to develop more than one option for each box to reduce boredom, but I did this with five groups of five people, so I could rotate all 5 puzzles and get extra mileage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last thing I really want to do is to deepen the narrative a bit more. I already have some flair on the carry-on, especially, to make it seem real. I need to do more with the other boxes and have non-puzzle flavor text and objects to build a story they can unravel for deeper engagement. Maybe all these people disappeared or something? They solve a mystery of some kind? Gotta think further. If I make it engaging like that on multiple vectors (puzzle, story, etc.), I can capture more interest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think then I can make really hard boxes they can't finish in time. They leave class and need to do some homework to be able to finish? Because they are in boxes we can have them put it all away and then have another crack at it next session? This was part of my thinking in making Puzzle Boxes instead of Escape Rooms. I am a college professor and do not have the luxury of my "own" classroom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think this all has a lot of promise. I will update with future blog posts on this. If you do this kind of stuff, yourself, please let me know and we can compare notes!</span></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-76373719450977511842017-05-17T12:01:00.003-05:002019-10-25T13:31:22.122-05:00Diversifying Rhetorical Methods, Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Hubris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="http://stevenvrooman.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "roboto slab";">Presented at the Engaging
Pedagogy Conference, Seguin, TX, May 17, 2017</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Aristotle’s three modes of rhetoric
were ethos, pathos and logos, but these are, with apologies, inexact. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Although rhetorical criticism has
often been taught as an application of various “methods,” these tend to
produce, in the words of my doctoral advisor, Cheree Carlson, “cookie-cutter”
projects that stamp the pentad or Symbolic Convergence Theory. This is not the
same as what Janesick (1994) calls <i>methodolatry</i>,
but it is in the same family. Janesick is talking about the kinds of specific
methodological practices in ethnography, which, in contrast to most rhetorical
criticism articles, is usually far more honest about how it does its work.
Rhetoric, by erasing the conditions of practice by which a piece of criticism
is undertaken, shifts its methodolatric burden onto its theorists, who become
magic totem words that are supposed to tell us exactly what is happening. You
know the words. Burke. Bohrmann, Fisher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">We diversify this list, when we do
so, by carting over loads of ideological criticism, which, to be fair, people
like Burke were doing on the sly anyway, but this leaves us with a decidedly
problematic set of methodolatries. As Grossberg (1997) argued years ago, in
between NCA panels where he wondered why so much cultural studies work was “so
fucking boring,” we typically just find domination and resistance exactly where
we expect to find them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">What is the epistemological status
of a Burkean critic who sees the world as ripe for slicing with Burke’s box of
knives? We can build an alternative rhetoric using, say, Anzaldua, but all of
these approaches verge on hagiography. Anzaldua at least has cool words we can
use to label our practices for us and allow us to explain to advisers what our
“method” is. But what of lesser-known scholars, who don’t have five keywords to
bold before the abstract? We risk the possibility that there is “real”
rhetoric, with systems and models and names for things, and “fake” rhetoric,
which is clearly an attempt to open up the canon, but seems to carry a
different standard for how much it can lift. If it were good, wouldn’t there be
steps like this other stuff we see in the Foss books, a student might ask?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">And they will ask that even more in
my class, which has, by this time, already taken students through a set of
detailed tables of options for exploring and applying schemes, figures and
tropes, as well as argument structure and fallacy (see the vast charts at </span><a href="file:///F:/Google%20Drive/projects/ctl/2017/faculty.tlu.edu/svrooman"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">faculty.tlu.edu/svrooman</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">). I do find that students
experience everything to follow in the class as less intellectually rigorous
than what they’ve worked through in the tables. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">So I feel it my task in this to
generate those tables. There is something to struggling with Butler or West or
Irigaray and then leaving them to float in a pool of confusion when asked to
pick a method out of the bunch. And Stacey Waite’s (2016) hilarious account of
reading passages from Judith Butler with her students shows that struggling
through those moments with them can be pretty great. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">This semester I played both sides by
doing this intellectual kick into the deep end of the pool that reminds us all
so fondly of graduate school seminars but then moving to the clearer set of
charts. I know. I know. Butler’s approach cannot be reduced to such blankety
blankety schemes, and it just reifies the kind of blankety blankety privilege
her work stands against by reducing it in this way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Does it, though? How do you teach
Butler? Make them read? They don’t, btw. You give them some ideas before they
start to guide their reading? Critical guiding questions? Then you do reading groups
or pull the class into a circle for a discussion? Maybe you eventually are
dramatically compelled to rise to the chalkboard in a moment of transcendent
joy which you will use as your Facebook status about how wonderful your
students are later that afternoon. You grasp the chalk and begin to . . . what?
Write words. Then more words. Now you have a spatial diagram. Perhaps you use
an arrow or two. Maybe you even number some concepts for them so that you have
an answer when they tell you, “I’m still not sure exactly what we are supposed
to do for this project.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">See what you did, with all the haze
of constructivist and dialogic and postmodern and decentered teaching? You
faked it. You made it look, to the students, like they did the work. But, you
know, they don’t buy it. Either you explained it clearly enough that they think
you are a genius and are so glad for the privilege of taking courses with you,
or, worse, that you are a bore and they left confused. Rarely, as a classroom
body, do they think they did this or could do it again without you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">This drives me nuts. This is fake
pedagogy. Fake democratization. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">I would prefer to cut out that bit,
read the hard texts for them, process it into outline form and provide it to
them in a form that they can immediately begin applying. I see that as far more
empowering. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">And I regularly see nonmajors in my
introductory rhetorical methods class do better work with these tools than what
I see in the journals or in conferences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Back to Aristotle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">I break the pieces of rhetoric into
interlocking funnels:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilemMN9Iz_gRSpbWnnKKw6oWp2WmxMv5cmu6HLogqAF1IkcVZBQQh05N_VR7AYmT0QGQDvHQtfIHlSBjxJtv_9MCArelOaXzZUfvjcwW0OhXgxht07expdP1UT0Afi73Kvg-LjNNKwU9_6/s1600/diagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilemMN9Iz_gRSpbWnnKKw6oWp2WmxMv5cmu6HLogqAF1IkcVZBQQh05N_VR7AYmT0QGQDvHQtfIHlSBjxJtv_9MCArelOaXzZUfvjcwW0OhXgxht07expdP1UT0Afi73Kvg-LjNNKwU9_6/s1600/diagram.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Schemes build structure (think
Michael Leff). Narratives build genre. Arguments build ideology. Okay. But we
know that’s not the whole story. Ideology, for example, is composed of, well,
everything. So that’s what the grey circles are for. We start the class with
schemes and they figure out how to do original research to analyze a structure.
Same for arguments, although their theses tend to be of fairly small scope. All
the rest of rhetorical criticism builds accounts of how all of this fits
together, but so often it seems a kind of narrative + genre + ideology +
structure question.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">In the bad old days I used Burke and
a social movements rhetoric textbook to explore these issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">To build a version of the good new days,
I, as I indicated, first just gave them articles or chapters and we struggled,
disingenuously, as a class, to develop methods from them. Plenty were about
being excluded from the rhetorical canon or even from public discourse, so that
helped to process the perceived problem of “Why don’t we have these in chart
form if they are so great?” We built methods with them:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQfKpRH0_lUmMohj5TvhCqxzYmnEVNlcT2gRUCmfXB6zADgDZfOLTDwyGm5oYm2As4vEKYk729dPrr1JIuwDNlkIkIqW9izwa78ufuinwJMZ8w4w7pgr_6Ls6PXcl-I9uRDmbdYdONvA9R/s1600/IMAG3335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQfKpRH0_lUmMohj5TvhCqxzYmnEVNlcT2gRUCmfXB6zADgDZfOLTDwyGm5oYm2As4vEKYk729dPrr1JIuwDNlkIkIqW9izwa78ufuinwJMZ8w4w7pgr_6Ls6PXcl-I9uRDmbdYdONvA9R/s640/IMAG3335.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">For
their final project they simply had to choose one of the 9 articles to use for
what we were calling the MashUp section of the course. The project, which is
course cumulative, used schemes, Perelman’s argument typology, fallacies, the
material which used to be Burke (now MashUp) and the social movements book.
This had, in the past, been a different social movement for each student. This
time, all students had Black Lives Matter. Each student selected a different
set of data (some social media content, some video content and some press
coverage). They did a final presentation and paper, which they uploaded to a
shared class blog (</span><a href="http://comm274.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">http://comm274.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">) for potential aggregation into a
larger project.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">At a basic level, given that before
100% of the students used Burke, a dead straight white male theorist, this time
around only 12.5% did. I included a Burke reading as part of the diverse
MashUp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">A more complex analysis of these
results requires a bit of understanding about Burke, Burke’s connection to
social movement theory, and the unique structure of the Black Lives Matter
movement. Burkean analysis has many parts, but given his dramatistic framework,
the typical elements used for the final project are either his frames or his
notion of perspective by incongruity and its relationship to rhetorical
bureaucracy. A quick and vaguely inaccurate version of these ideas is that
Burke values either tragic framed movements (like the peace movement of the
1960s, morally rejecting the evil Establishment) or the comic (Gandhi, MLK,
etc., which use civil disobedience to educate the foolish, not evil, system). Perspective
by incongruity is akin to Gramscian hegemony analysis, which is interested in
how power-laden discourses are stretched by power structures and cracked by
resistance. In Burke’s case, he highlights the use of irony and satire in such
cases. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">This all connects with social
movement theory largely built on a Burkean framework that privileges clear
moral conflict. Other, non-Burkean elements of social movement theory involve
clear leadership structures, internal communication rituals, etc. When it is
all put together, the ideal movement is almost exactly the opposite of the
less-structured, social media-driven, just name their names style of BLM, what
my students called “hashtag salad”:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Let's not forget the mothers of: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscar?src=hash">#Oscar</a> Grant<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrayvonMartin?src=hash">#TrayvonMartin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MichaelBrown?src=hash">#MichaelBrown</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TamirRice?src=hash">#TamirRice</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SandraBland?src=hash">#SandraBland</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash">#BlackLivesMatter</a></div>
— Libby Edwards-Warner (@LibbyEdwards100) <a href="https://twitter.com/LibbyEdwards100/status/863843578174349312">May 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">I had a feeling that if I had
assigned this kind of movement using Burkean analysis, as usual, the result
would have been just like the two previous times individual students chose BLM
or three times they chose similar less-structured movements (WTO, Occupy Wall
Street) for their final project – they suggested the movement was unclear and
disorganized and thus would not be successful. In this case, the results were
more mixed, with 5 students concluding that BLM was making errors that were in
keeping with Burkean judgments, 6 suggesting that their different structure was
an asset and the other 5 members of class arguing more complex theses like: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">There is a boomer-millennial divide
in terms of strategy, and suspicion of old leadership style, “respectability
politics,” is important, because those models led to civil rights settling for
not enough. They are stuck in mestizaje stage in connections between
generations, but are struggling to develop nepantla.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">or <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">BLM and others use fallacies, and
their unorganized hierarchy allows them to exploit fallacies that are popular
and funny enough to get attention but to be able to deny the ineffective or
things that cross lines, which is a kind of turn to <i>mdw nfr</i> instead of Aristotle, which helps to pull in people who see
news and just get angry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">In
these kinds of examples, students were able to use the MashUp article concepts
not just as an alternative to the traditional 60s-fetishizing vibe of classic
rhetorical social movement theory, but as a key lever in mediating a more
complex conversation between that and BLM, and, in many cases, other methods in
the class, like fallacies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Okay. All good. But….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">In talking with other faculty
interested in diversifying readings and ideas in their classes, there was some
resistance to my idea of simplifying these texts down into a set of tools in a
table. So I sought to open the class process and let them develop it. I remain
skeptical of both the honesty of that approach and the relative lack of agency
it gives the students. Although my more top-down table method has problems, it
is the better option, all the things considered, I think. My plan is, for
Spring 2018, to give the students the table and some of the readings and
problematize the whole concept with them. The idea is that I admit that my
readings and table entries are simplifications and the class is based on
testing them out as much as using them, with the students rewarded for what
they can read or generate for the readings that are new. This style can work
exceptionally well if the instructor is committed to it. Let them know that all
of this is contingent and incomplete. There is always more to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">I am going to produce a draft of a
table below here for you, but I struggle with all the things that I think you’d
hope I’d be struggling with here:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Does he have sufficient training to
represent these ideas with any degree of fidelity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">2.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Especially given that his embodied
experience in the world has been one of vast rafts of privilege.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">3.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">And the hubris of this table is
EXACTLY the sort of reductive thing we’d expect in that case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Let me take these totally legit
criticisms in turn. Not to dispute them, but to explore their implications a
bit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">One. I have had a lot of training.
My coursework, teaching and research in Cultural Studies, Women’s Studies and
African American studies have helped me here. Of course, I’ve been doing Burke
stuff for 25 years, so I will likely reduce him to table form far more
accurately, so this is a fair point. However, I’d like to underline that this
is just not my problem alone. Part of the reason I want to do this project is
that NO ONE has the right training for this if we entertain the possibility,
even for a bit, that critical academic work does not have to exist in
non-step-oriented postmodern form. We have to give it form for the students. We
also hope we teach them to supercede our training wheels. And we put those
wheels on for other methods. The Foss textbook give plenty of steps to even
such mush as “genre criticism.” Why does the Burgchardt textbook give us a
history piece and a cultural studies/ideological criticism piece as 2/3 of the
“feminist criticism” section? When we strip diverse critical practices of the
possibility of being abstracted into method, we reify something terrible. All
our postmodern huffing and puffing will not blow down the methodological parts
catalog of positivism. Thus we have “real” rhetoric on the one hand and
something squishier on the other. It’s what we heard about feminist theory in
an unfortunate graduate seminar years ago. The prof suggested that it would be
more accurate to call feminist theory poetry or something instead, since it
didn’t have the specificity and rigor one would expect of “real” academic work.
I swear Kristin Hibler actually had steam come out of her ears, like in the
cartoons, in response to this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">All of which reminds me that we are
also putting an enormous burden on young faculty and graduate students to
prepare, anew, every time, this stack of methods that swirl in their heads and
experiences, this orbit of complexly written text that they need to sift and
choose to help students to sift and choose. Of course, they also have other
things they’d like to apply their skills and consciousness to, as well, in
their departments, schools, communities, the world. Maybe they need to have a
bigger voice in the union or faculty governance or a community organization.
Maybe they need to have more time to write and publish and compete in a
positivist model of scholarly presentationpublicationproduction that unfairly
allocates privilege. Maybe they need to, as my friend was told at a Research
One school, “spend less time with his students” in order to get tenure. He
didn’t. So he didn’t. What if we could be better about not policing our own
reductivism in the extended form of ideological purity texts we like to inflict
on each other in the left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Two. My privilege has been a titanic
raft. This is true. Thus, it is entirely likely that I will get the nuances of <i>nepantla </i>wrong. But EVERYONE gets
Burke’s Pentad wrong. Everyone. I have never seen or heard a piece of pentadic
criticism that doesn’t have giant howlers of errors in the method. We just
don’t care about that as much, I guess, although old Burkeans will read you the
riot act if you happen to define “division” in a new-ish way, so maybe I’m
wrong. This critique is true. But only someone with my unique combination of
hubris and privilege would try this thing. Most others out there diversifying
rhetoric kind of abandon the systematization gig in their syllabi. I think this
is a waiting game. Eventually all the ancient Burkeans will die off, leaving
their lumbering reptilian methods to the fossil record. But that ultimately
abandons rhetoric to cultural studies and ideological criticism. And I don’t
like that. I find so much of that work just dishonest enough to be grating. It
lacks methodological openness while preaching openness and thus Grossberg’s
twin critiques tend to be true: it’s boring and predictable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Three. Look, tables, right? It’s not
ideal. I can only speak for my students. Know how many people learn Perelman in
their classes besides me? I am not all-seeing, but there are almost no other
examples. He’s, as Dr. Carlson said back in the day, quaint and too hard. Ha!
Aristotle is quaint but we still teach that stuff. Perelman is too hard to make
accessible so we don’t try. We turn to methods that we can easier gloss for our
students. It’s why we still use psychoanalysis in feminist cultural criticism.
It’s wrong. But it has clear methods. And if we know how wrong it is going in,
we can use that as a helpful lever even as the method illuminates stuff for use
to critique. We are building a toolbox of methods, as another old prof of mine,
Dr. Hasian, used to say. Except, it’s not enough to know when to use a wrench
and when a hammer. We have to know that the whole box is a problem at the
outset. But, really, don’t you already think that about EVERYTHING anyway?
Anyway, I turned Perelman into method and am preserving the Mishnaic tradition
of Judaic argument analysis for the WASPish world of most rhetorical method,
with some error. Always some error. Tables work. They help students to do work
faster. Our job is to help them process the implications of what the tables
leave out. But remember, they are NOT reading for your classes. You are doing
that with chalk daily anyway. Or on a PowerPoint. This version gives the
students more power in the equation. And, to bring the shibboleth of assessment
to critical scholarship, aren’t student outcomes the things that matter most
here? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">My old philosophy prof, Jasper
Blystone, who taught a class called “Postmodernism,” gave us Lechte’s <i>50 Key Contemporary Thinkers</i> book. It’s
like a Cliff’s Notes to current theorists. He admitted, sheepinshly, that this
wasn’t the same as reading, say, all of Foucault, but, who does that anyway if
they are also reading all of Derrida and Freud and Haraway, etc. He argued that
that’s what the European model of graduate education does. The ideas are more
important than struggling with every text. He might have been right. But he
taught postmodernism, so we will never know </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Plus, this only works if we give
them the texts. I’ve got hyperlinks below. These usually exist on the
interwebs. The students get a quick summary from me and if they want to use a
method they have to drop in on the full, complex text and have a longer visit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Thus, the table, in its current form
is below. It is not at all complete. It will, honestly, never be complete. But
it’s a start. Note that we could throw the usual suspects like Burke and
Bohrmann and Fischer on here, too, and I will, but we already know what that
looks like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Biesekcer’s
<i>techne<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">“by
scrupulously working within and against the grain of the the word's
historically constituted semantic field, techne can be used to refer to a
kind of "getting through" or ad hoc "making do" by a
subject whose resources are necessarily located in and circumscribed by the
field within which she operates, but whose enunciation, in always and already
exceeding and falling short of its intending subject, harbors within it the
possibility of disrupting, fragmenting, and altering the horizon of human
action out of which it emerges.” (p. 155)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<a href="http://public.wsu.edu/~arola/597/fall08/biesecker.pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Barbara Biesecker</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Camp<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Perfomative
queer sensibility with special focus on:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">1)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Irony<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">2)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Aestheticism<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">3)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Theatricality<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">4)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Humor <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://comm350queercinema.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/camp-and-the-gay-sensibility.pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Jack Babuscio</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Cyborg
theory<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">We are
cyborgs, multiple and contested. Look for:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">1)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Places where boundaries bleed.
Infections. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">2)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Signs of excess. Appendages. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">3)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Trickster narratives of flows of
control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Haraway-CyborgManifesto-1.pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Donna Haraway</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Double
jeopardy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If
oppressions multiply effects instead of add effects, how do those play out?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://intellhisblackamerica.voices.wooster.edu/files/2012/03/Frances-Beale_Double-Jeopardy-To-Be-Black-and-Female1.pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Frances Beale</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Gossip<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">The queer
practice of “illicit imagination” involves reading into texts, between the
lines, etc., for things that could not be said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07350198.2016.1142845"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Pamela VanHaistmsa</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Hauntology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">We live
with “complex personhood” and are haunted by contradictions. The ghost is the
mostly hidden visitation of organized structures of power that work to be removed from
memory<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<a href="http://irwgs.columbia.edu/files/irwag2/content/gordon_ghostly_matters_34.pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Avery Gordon</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Medu nefer<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Ancient
Egyptian “good speech” suggests that ethics and truth are, unlike Aristotle,
not separable – rhetorical effectiveenss and ethics are inseperable<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6rpvqE7drA0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA211&dq=%22nommo,+kawaida,+and+communicative+practice%22&ots=EYlmIVEMym&sig=zQnbEUeR_HX9njFQmdTQRysN3dY#v=onepage&q=%22nommo%2C%20kawaida%2C%20and%20communicative%20practice%22&f=false"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Maulana Karenga</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Mestizaje<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Multiplicity
is a new subjectivity – a synthesis of structures of oppression and freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/509663/pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Gloria
Anzaldua</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Multiple
definition<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Persuasion
requires definition of concepts mutually acceptable to all before further
proceeding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED125021.pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Meng-K’o (Menicius)</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Nepantla</span></i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Mestizaje
identity pivoted to critique all categories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/509663/pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Gloria
Anzaldua</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Nommo<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Vocal
speech in the African tradition creates worlds, and both build community
while also delivering imperative to it, call and response. It is not
separable from the concepts “behind” the word, as in the European tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<a href="http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/500_reg.html"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Molefi Kete Asante</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Rhetorical
conversation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 265.25pt;" valign="top" width="354"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Women,
excluded from the public sphere, developed a particular rhetoric which
expands the values of good private conversation to public discourse directed
to “gaining the audience,” not “gaining the applause.” Key values are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">1)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Wit</span></i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">: Gentle humor allows strategic,
planned communication to enter with goodwill and spontaneity<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">2)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Elocution</span></i><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">: Attention to politeness and
truthfulness matching idea, voice and body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Madame
de Scudery via </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8adCWyLz1WkWFRkVXcwcjBMUVk/view"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Jane Donawerth</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Ruthless
critique<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 265.25pt;" valign="top" width="354"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“</span><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvMinion-R; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Radicalism is therefore the epistemological
work of shattering the political<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvMinion-R; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">unconscious of terror that structures the
boundaries of common sense and consensus.” (p. 182)</span><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10570314.2011.553874"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Frederick Douglass via Omedi
Ochieng</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">shame
paradox<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 265.25pt;" valign="top" width="354"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Decreasing
visibility from others serves to actually increase visibility of self/acts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbulldogs.tlu.edu%3A2048%2Flogin%3Furl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fbulldogs.tlu.edu%3A2048%2Flogin%3Furl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebscohost.com%2Flogin.aspx%3Fdirect%3Dtrue%26db%3Dufh%26AN%3D121414146%26site%3Dehost-live%26scope%3Dsite&sa=D&ust=1494882459454000&usg=AFQjCNEC5sNEUN-iK6-we1jxT-mccYGkFA"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Heather Adams</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.25in;" valign="top" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">The ethic
of caring<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 265.25pt;" valign="top" width="354"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Black
feminist wisdom offers these three things for us to care about in interacting
with the world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">1)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Individual uniqueness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">2)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Emotion-laden dialogue<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tw Cen MT"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tw Cen MT";">3)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Empathy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" valign="top" width="144"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<a href="https://uniteyouthdublin.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/black-feminist-though-by-patricia-hill-collins.pdf"><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">Patricia Hill Collins</span></a><span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">I
know. It’s not nearly good enough. Wanna give me a hand? I am feeling a
textbook in this.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif;">References<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Grossberg,
L. (1997). <i>Dancing in spite of myself:
Essays on popular culture</i>. Durham: Duke University Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Grossberg, L. (2005, Nov.).
Comments. In J. Hay (Chair), Critical and cultural studies now – A forum. Panel
conducted at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Boston,
MA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Janesick, V. J. (1994). The dance of
qualitative research design: Metaphor, methodolatry, and meaning. In. N. K.
Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.) <i>Handbook
of qualitative research</i> (pp. 209-219). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tw cen mt" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Waite, S. (2016). The unavailable
means of persuasion: A queer ethos for feminist writers and teachers. In K. J.
Ryan, N. Meyers, and R. James (Eds), Rethinking ethos: A feminist ecological
approach to rhetoric (pp. 71-88). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University
Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-4526283258070301072017-04-18T14:51:00.000-05:002019-10-25T13:32:09.373-05:00Inbound or Outbound?: Automated “Thanks for the Follow” Messages Are Terrible<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="https://plus.google.com/102073938757502929608?rel=author" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As I develop <a href="http://www.inbound.com/inbound17/speakers">my breakout session for INBOUND17</a>, I am working
to hone my critical judgments about the vast field of marketing social media phenomena down to some of the
technical practices involved in inbound marketing. Outbound marketing is making
ads and pushing them, whether on Facebook or TV or a blimp. Inbound marketing
is making content that pulls people to your stuff. You don’t go them, they come
to you, is <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/inbound-marketing">the idea</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMu8Yd5FdN4sILaAl_gyzyF_wruDjZ4hzSUWrrYfqKdlCQN6xBFnVYEEi46NaB0fn5Ui_JkoM63VDu4hS0C_hizHJwd_sTnrNlcSXzaB9isikmkcWy2_BjVhKis4wPkdl75u-Uq0PoVwZ1/s1600/3565287899_c70ce6e470_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMu8Yd5FdN4sILaAl_gyzyF_wruDjZ4hzSUWrrYfqKdlCQN6xBFnVYEEi46NaB0fn5Ui_JkoM63VDu4hS0C_hizHJwd_sTnrNlcSXzaB9isikmkcWy2_BjVhKis4wPkdl75u-Uq0PoVwZ1/s400/3565287899_c70ce6e470_b.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastermaq/3565287899">Mack Male</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">First, this is not new. Anyone who does local marketing or
customer retention does this kind of stuff and has for decades. You build a trustworthy (Washington landmark!) presence (since 1958!) and they come to you when they need you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Second, I’m not sure I buy that there is much a distinction.
Hubspot’s page, linked above, suggests that blogging, keywording and social
publishing are the opening steps in inbounding. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ooooookkkkkkaaayyyyy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And festooning an Instagram post with two dozen hashtags or
SEO keywording your content to death or buzzfeeding your titles (You know,
“You’ve Got to See These 7 Amazing Marketing Techniques from Successful Gurus”
and you share with “Number 4 blew my mind!”), exactly how is this not really
just outbound marketing? A hashtag pushes your content to new eyes. So does SEO.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I’m not saying that the difference between inbound and
outbound marketing is a lie. I’m saying it’s fuzzy and mixed up, at best. The
reason this matters is that I think we do all kinds of inauthentic crap in our
work when we believe in this dichotomy. I think we feel like we can be more
manipulative when they “choose” to seek our content. “Well, they opted in . . .
."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Just because I subscribe to your email list to download your
free book chapter (ahem) doesn’t mean I want to get spammed. Just because I use
your free app doesn’t mean I want updates from 12 different email addresses
(“Kim from ______.com” and “Dave from _____.com”) so that I can’t unroll.me
them or spam filter them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are lots of examples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blech.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If I choose to connect with your content, shouldn’t you
treat me better? There’s a reason why we get so few “conversions,” to use
inbound marketing speak. If I don’t like you, I won’t stay. My next blog post
in this series will explore the ways we co-create those narratives, in case you
are curious (See? That statement would be considered inbound marketing, but doesn’t it feel
as yucky as watching a commercial if you are one of the vast majority of
readers not interested enough in this topic to try to find a way to read my
next post?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To focus on the thing I hate the most, let’s talk about
automatic “Thanks for the follow” messages, usually on Twitter. Crowdfire,
Commun.it, justunfollow, unfollowers.me, statusbrew, etc. all offer this
service. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I hate these so much I did a small Instagram series on it (inbound pitch alert!):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style="background: #fff; border-radius: 3px; border: 0; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.5) , 0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: 99.375%;">
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<div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 50.0% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOFDsZmDgVX/" style="color: black; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Are you also annoyed by preprogrammed Twitter "Thanks for the follow"DMs? Well, then, these next three posts are for you. #twitter #dm #robot #annoying #tribiani #howyoudoin #follow #thanks #stahp #authenticity</span></a></div>
<div style="color: #c9c8cd; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A post shared by Steven Vrooman, PhD (@morebrainz) on <time datetime="2016-12-16T13:04:15+00:00" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 16, 2016 at 5:04am PST</time></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOKgkc5jUJt/" style="color: black; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's another Twitter robo-DM #thanksforthefollow message I got. I won't post too many of these because ick, but they are really annoying me this week, because they represent the OPPOSITE of what social media should be doing to work! Authenticity is more important than volume, spammers! #twitter #dm #spam #robo #authenticity #socialmedia #engagement #follow #follower #fake #annoying #fail</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A post shared by Steven Vrooman, PhD (@morebrainz) on <time datetime="2016-12-18T15:52:46+00:00" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 18, 2016 at 7:52am PST</time></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOQCyscB5LG/" style="color: black; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Last Twitter robo DM #fail before I let this kick go :) #twitter #robot #spam #dm #thanksforthefollow #meta #automation</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A post shared by Steven Vrooman, PhD (@morebrainz) on <time datetime="2016-12-20T19:28:01+00:00" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 20, 2016 at 11:28am PST</time></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I also created my own performatively contradictory robot DM:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">“Ha! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">You expected a "Thanks for Following . . . oh, yeah
CLICK MY LINKS!!!" message. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Don’t those stink? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I know, making an auto message that critiques auto messages
feels a bit like hypocrisy. Fine, I get that. But I'm not offering something
for FREE (lol) or a reminder to check out my
websiteblogfacebookinstgramgooglestoreyoutubechannel or wishing you a happy
Thursday, or whatever, to give you a microsecond illusion that I am actually
connecting with you for real.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We can do better than this.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If you are going to bother people with spammy DMs like this,
maybe say something real about you that doesn't fit into your bio? Give people
a bit more of your story. They followed you for a reason. Remind them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Use this space for good.”</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvSpQ5rOZisjARu4EmERF8KuazonUZaO1sKhx6JV-5oiWngZu59uI59DJPt9bM-TrtT6SnPqH82cY2gK9O9_7v43aXqUbDo4uGT4OJHroGIizTrthhGMZPM1izE-Ri1YSqGZ8YdrhmYss/s1600/weight.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvSpQ5rOZisjARu4EmERF8KuazonUZaO1sKhx6JV-5oiWngZu59uI59DJPt9bM-TrtT6SnPqH82cY2gK9O9_7v43aXqUbDo4uGT4OJHroGIizTrthhGMZPM1izE-Ri1YSqGZ8YdrhmYss/s200/weight.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=What%20are%20the%20implications%20of%20constant%20self-marketing?%20%20http://morebrainz.blogspot.com/2017/04/inbound-or-outbound-automated-thanks.html%20%20pic.twitter.com/aKl3azvnwS">Click here</a> to tweet this</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I still have mixed feelings about it. But really, if you work
in social media, don’t you usually fee at least half-bad about almost all of
your practices? We bear a weight from all becoming explicit and constant marketers of
ourselves. We have not yet reckoned with what that is going to
mean.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To keyword/buzzfeed/clickbait this up, let’s call what happens next </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“The 5
Surprising Ways You Are Being Manipulated by Twitter!”</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">See? Blech!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These are all robo DMs
I’ve received over the past two years, sorted using my extreme, PhD-level
qualitative data sorting skills (no, really, that’s what I do). I’ve pulled
good examples in each section for you. I’ve replaced actual links with “…” in
order to protect the quasi-innocent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.25in;">1.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: 0.25in;">The
Basic Link Pitch</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay, this is simple enough. You drive people to a link, no
rhetoric, just a plain old simple sell. You might tell yourself that since they
followed you on Twitter they probably want this. Yeah, no. Your links are all
over your feed, dude, and IN YOUR BIO. I think we will not get lost trying to
find the rest of your content you are pushing. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for the follow! Like my Facebook Page …”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Welcome! Subscribe to our YouTube channel …”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for taking the time to show some love and follow us
on twitter. Check out our Instagram…”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for following. If you're interested in learning more
about …, please visit …(website)…”.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for following. Have you played our new game …”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for the follow! Check us out on LinkedIn…”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for the follow - if you get a minute - well 90 or 180 plz check out …"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"</span>Thanks for following! Feel free to like our Facebook page as well! … :)"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, one of them was funny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last one is my favorite. I read this in a snooty Maggie Smith voice: "Although our Facebook page is quite exclusive and filled with the best followers, I hereby grant you permission to soil it with your 'like' since you have thus far proved not too disappointing." Maybe we are supposed to restrain ourselves from liking business pages that exist only to be liked by as many people as possible?? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I always wonder about the calculus of how many links to try.
And the arrangement. Facebook and LinkedIn plus the website. Your blog and
Instagram? All of that? At what point, when adding more links, do you begin to
feel like a bad person? The most I’ve seen in my DM inbox is 5. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of course, that competes with the personal attempt.
Sometimes people try their best to make the inbound link pitch sound personal,
like a favor or an invite:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2. </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The “Personal” Link Push</span></span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for the follow please support me … don't be a
stranger :)”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Hey thanks for following me. I'd love you to check out my …
podcast and let me know what you think.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for connecting on Twitter! I also blog on LinkedIn,
so let's also connect there if you like: …”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“I'm glad we're connected. Hope you have a … day! For ways to
… with joy, visit my site…”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Thanks for following! Let's chat sometime & introduce
ourselves!? My focus is ….”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Hi ya! How you doing? I hope your well, let me know if i
can help you out? I generally reply in 24-48hrs, if you need any design
thinking, creative work, off the wall ideas, or strategy take a look at my work
…”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Hi, thanks for connecting! My name is …and I'd love to help
you tap into the power of social media marketing for your business or personal
brand. Learn more at…”</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm just not sure the force of those greetings is quite enough to make me bite. It's like the person who comes to your door with a sample case and just wants to say "Hi" and talk about the weather. I'm not sure you can do enough smiling and nodding on my porch to make me forget why you are there.</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. The “Just Personal”</span></span></h2>
<div>
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I figure people think this is either ethical or slick (OR BOTH! #ftw!!). They are spamming DMs that DON'T spew links, so that means they are cool, right, and thus not so much spam. But they are inviting a relationship (cue inbound rhetoric), so that's cool, too. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I guess.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But then you add in the creepy auto call-out to exactly what day it is and these DMs just blow over the uncanny valley toward robopocalypse. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for following me"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for the follow. Regards, …"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Hello thanks for following."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thank you for the follow! Have a fabulous day."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks for following me! Much appreciated!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for recent follow, have a great Sunday :)"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Hey - thanks for the follow! Have a great Tuesday :)"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for the recent follow. Much appreciated! Have a great Wednesday :)"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not feeling it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4. The Quid Pro Quo, Agent Starling</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This one is a straight-up trade. I like the honesty of this approach, but I still hate seeing these in my inbox. It makes me feel like we are making a deal in the back of an alley:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Cheers for the follow! Feel free to tweet me your thoughts about … I'll gladly RT if it's reasonable."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thank you so much for following! If you would retweet me, I will do the same for you!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for following me, check out my yt … pls sub and i'll return :)"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Looking forward to staying connected! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Happy?src=hash">#Happy</a> to follow you. On <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/instagram?src=hash">#instagram</a>? More… pics here: …"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for following me,automatically followed back"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for connecting! I look forward to our discussions. What would you say is the biggest obstacle in your business?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for following me! I look forward to your Tweets!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last one is my favorite. Their DM robot says they will be paying close attention to my tweets, so . . . . . (hint, hint).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second-to-last is interesting, too. I'm sure a business strategy consultant is offering you a FREE conversation here and not a pitch. Surely...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">5. The Bribe</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is fun. "Here's something for FREE that is in no way content I created just for inbound marketing, which I am, now that I am pushing spammy DMs, outbounding. I swear it is valuable in its own right and not just a simple shill for my paid services."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still, free is okay. I guess. But in an information overloaded world sometimes FREE is just too expensive:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for the follow. Here's a link to 2 chapters of my
novel …"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks so much for the follow. Check out our latest super
bundle of… for ONLY $29"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for the add! Visit our website for a chance to win a
free shirt! … Our app is coming in May!"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Hi MoreBrainz, Pleased we've connected, look forward to your tweets, Andy PS, Grab FREE Book on …."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks MoreBrainz 4 the follow! We'll keep you posted on everything you need to know to stand out from your competition with the best branding and marketing strategies. Reserve a free strategy session. :) …"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thx for joining me, I'm looking forward to learning more about you. If you're wondering how to access the ….(no charge) and our other resources for authors click here: ….You can also ask me questions on that site... just click the button in the navigation menu on my website that says "Ask." I only answer questions through my website because I can reply more thoughtfully there... and I can include links to helpful articles and other resources if/when needed (Twitter often blocks me when I try to do it in a DM)! …."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I am offering 60% off … TODAY ONLY. Order TODAY, then use your Order at ANY TIME, there is NO TIME LIMIT to when you want to use your Order! Click the link NOW to Guarantee your 60% Discount Order…."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last one kills me with its coupon. A coupon?? Really? "TODAY ONLY"!! You're not even gonna wish me a "fabulous Tuesday" first to demonstrate that your DM robot actually knows what day it is?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">6. The Sell</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes people just rob-pitch in these DMs. Seems unlikely to work, but it also seems like almost all of these are fake Twitter accounts that only exist to firehose pitches into the ether and hope for a .000000001% hit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Hi friend, are you want to be a ROCk on Social Media? View
my cheap services: …"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Discover an easy … system to make money online. Watch this
Video..."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Increase profits with expert web development, website design
& online marketing solutions."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks for following me! If you need the assistance of a
virtual administrator or social media manager or know anyone that needs help
managing their business please get in touch. Thanks!"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Hello Increase your twitter 660 followers ||||-VISIT
SITE-|||| ...Thank you for following …."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"</span>Get more 619 free followers site Visit ⇒ …"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Thanks! If you ever want help creating inbound sales send me a note! What is your blog or website address? I would love to check it out!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"</span>Great to meet you. Let me know if you need any ….for you or your business. Thanks so much for the follow :)"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Hi ya! How you doing? I hope your well, let me know if i can help you out? I generally reply in 24-48hrs, if you need any design thinking, creative work, off the wall ideas, or strategy take a look at my work …"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why?</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
If you are reading this and do these kinds of DMs, tell me why. Maybe there is something I'm missing here? Maybe they work for you? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'll bet that for every nebulous lead they generate, though, you burn a number of possibles by being spammy and obnoxious. And you don't get that chance back. If I follow you because I look at your tweets and it seems worth it, that is the good essence of inbounding, yes? But you just ruined it with ham-handed outbounding.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We can do better.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Maybe actually look at some new follows and communicate with them for real? No time for that? Use interns for that, maybe, instead of for buffering a content queue when they don't fully know your story. They can't be as bad as your robot DMs, and they will learn the story quickly under those circumstances.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Or maybe, if you claim you are "PASSIONATE ABOUT CONNECTING" you should actually, um *connect*. It's like the recent graduate in their first interview who says, in answer to the "What's your greatest strength?" question, "I'm a people person," and then silently waits to be asked questions.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We are not buying it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-18109849422136499392017-04-03T13:59:00.000-05:002019-10-25T13:33:29.052-05:00"Every Speaker Has A Story" Podcast ShowNotes: Episode 6, "South by Nor'easter"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="https://plus.google.com/102073938757502929608?rel=author" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
<br />
March 15th I was supposed to be <a href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/OE06517" target="_blank">podcasting live from SXSW</a>.<br />
<br />
I was in New York to see my son's high school band play at Carnegie Hall:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDk-D1hPRK9CX4V3AFvrxmV76LoKZNvyO1M-04xzKRWviE87PBroJ23dLuvW2tPAG-Nx4WFRXzSA-HZxIw4cO93wcQC-rNSBCc8mLL2zZeH1MWbTGDDNF0wxIhrK-kDEnBcfQ42_TYVjM/s1600/FB_IMG_1489527013588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDk-D1hPRK9CX4V3AFvrxmV76LoKZNvyO1M-04xzKRWviE87PBroJ23dLuvW2tPAG-Nx4WFRXzSA-HZxIw4cO93wcQC-rNSBCc8mLL2zZeH1MWbTGDDNF0wxIhrK-kDEnBcfQ42_TYVjM/s640/FB_IMG_1489527013588.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
Then this happened:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4EPJfSjuSz3VYReMC5aUYpKd15cgwgYrthafCvKMUHwMpu1LbfBzH0wS-_z8cEHDtmZTYH3-elmSuJ7eTqIOoxDdGrs2d9w4hgKA2dBt2PF3VOq_nRF3OjxmAd6E45Md8JqT1YVgNj5o/s1600/IMAG3173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4EPJfSjuSz3VYReMC5aUYpKd15cgwgYrthafCvKMUHwMpu1LbfBzH0wS-_z8cEHDtmZTYH3-elmSuJ7eTqIOoxDdGrs2d9w4hgKA2dBt2PF3VOq_nRF3OjxmAd6E45Md8JqT1YVgNj5o/s640/IMAG3173.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Which led to this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmP63Fq7M23TVCsMktUKs1gaScn1oqIIMjxMoLmlMavPwB3kXA83cGnH7qhKvllOiirbm0QNmTHeDIRU9ze5fODwX5xPgViX8dE545ESi1RnMvNjREpvYgPnC_1w2KpzFRF-1g3xPdBqwT/s1600/IMAG3165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmP63Fq7M23TVCsMktUKs1gaScn1oqIIMjxMoLmlMavPwB3kXA83cGnH7qhKvllOiirbm0QNmTHeDIRU9ze5fODwX5xPgViX8dE545ESi1RnMvNjREpvYgPnC_1w2KpzFRF-1g3xPdBqwT/s640/IMAG3165.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
And left me feeling like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDWYjiYsI_CbFYTWnMi7_q57T4eY8Up8KxjDmuY9UOTxR1vJCUxcN7sFGuLUcLBN4AxPo1ld9DId075Zmabt56dsxJw1E0Nx4zPZr7gpd0DYhE36I2A3bo-Ok9SQn1F4mCHGgOs6Bx2Oa/s1600/FB_IMG_1489548789935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDWYjiYsI_CbFYTWnMi7_q57T4eY8Up8KxjDmuY9UOTxR1vJCUxcN7sFGuLUcLBN4AxPo1ld9DId075Zmabt56dsxJw1E0Nx4zPZr7gpd0DYhE36I2A3bo-Ok9SQn1F4mCHGgOs6Bx2Oa/s640/FB_IMG_1489548789935.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
<br />
We were stranded in New York by the blizzard called Stella, and here are Michelle Johnson, aka <a href="https://www.instagram.com/doodledblooms/" target="_blank">@doodledblooms</a>, and I at the very minute my podcast was supposed to be starting back in Austin, Texas:<br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fspeakwithbrainz%2Fvideos%2F783215811835191%2F&show_text=0&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.sxsw.com/" target="_blank">SXSW</a> and all the interviewees I had to cancel with were all very cool about the whole thing, but it was still a disappointment.<br />
<br />
Still, I did have some audio from some rogue podcasting I was doing at <a href="http://sxswedu.com/" target="_blank">SXSWedu</a> the week before the Stella fiasco. I interviewed a few people and had like an hour of me monologuing into my microphone.<br />
<br />
I processed it all and made this episode, which I think is a lot of fun:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="94px" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://simplecast.com/e/64622?style=medium-light" width="100%"></iframe>
As is my tradition in these ShowNotes posts, I wanted to give you some information and links on my participants.<br />
<br />
But first, I wanted to give a shout-out to a free service that I REALLY relied on this time. Fellow podcaster <a href="http://www.songstuckerwrote.com/the-spark-and-the-art/" target="_blank">Tucker Harley</a> has suggested <a href="https://auphonic.com/engine/" target="_blank">Auphonic</a> to me a while ago. It is a sound-clean-up service. I had used it in episodes 4 and 5, but it wasn't an earth-shattering level of fix. I record pretty decent audio, usually. But at SXSWedu, I was podcasting from an echo-y, crowded space. I noise-reduced it myself in Audacity, but it all felt pretty thin in tone. Auphonic really helped a lot. If you are a podcaster and do less than 2 hours a month, it is worth checking out.<br />
<br />
Anyway, on to the stars of the show:<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
1. The Bystander</h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhrrilK2XY7W0cTyyMr0oGJ2kdQzDP9iVew2XFYIQlodQAa7OdI1MgKlfMM37UERZnEJK1Xs7EE30t9Hxm_YkB_IjUxAe-vdaGze-aEZ8moLOnk9K1KZMxghXW5XXSPCVnJHg2MgutrA-/s1600/RRQkh4V8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhrrilK2XY7W0cTyyMr0oGJ2kdQzDP9iVew2XFYIQlodQAa7OdI1MgKlfMM37UERZnEJK1Xs7EE30t9Hxm_YkB_IjUxAe-vdaGze-aEZ8moLOnk9K1KZMxghXW5XXSPCVnJHg2MgutrA-/s320/RRQkh4V8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Massie Ritsch</b> (<a href="https://twitter.com/MassieRitsch" target="_blank">@MassieRitsch</a>) walked by, saw me talking into a microphone, and came over to find out what was going on. He is brave and assertive and, it turns out, funny. He's worked for the Department of Education and Teach for America. Now he runs the strategic storytelling company 5e, which you can check out at <a href="http://engage5e.com/">engage5e.com</a>.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
2. The Robot</h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXXBIeT-XYpMHgQKWVz8TvDz68JeoEPiBbxAWuZOfs_DLiuEw1LGSJn6JR3_iBUdS182XJpsK-HQL7AYYgERoIfLuIq_yrdDRFig1ukK1SoRkpD0EuPlSm_wb4HT2V5svsDsjyS2kxzQ0/s1600/moli.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXXBIeT-XYpMHgQKWVz8TvDz68JeoEPiBbxAWuZOfs_DLiuEw1LGSJn6JR3_iBUdS182XJpsK-HQL7AYYgERoIfLuIq_yrdDRFig1ukK1SoRkpD0EuPlSm_wb4HT2V5svsDsjyS2kxzQ0/s640/moli.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I interviewed <b>Milo</b> (<a href="https://twitter.com/robokind" target="_blank">@robokind</a>), the autism education robot and his human designer, Richard Margolin (<a href="https://twitter.com/CarnivorousGnar" target="_blank">@CarnivorousGnar</a>). You can check out what they do at <a href="http://www.robokindrobots.com/">http://www.robokindrobots.com/</a>.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
3. The Caffeinated Man</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMXB4BAe1v0Ht-T7ODfkR4dgj6VmzDUUQZHxB4eCtCORt9WCntWHm-AVK7zafLlRzrxLUMSYpLe2Kl3kZuFTOlpJ07SPrGANz35SPSIeSjHzy2TVsSX6q5Eke-rTIJnwNy5jla3bibWdS/s1600/AMGpRmDB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMXB4BAe1v0Ht-T7ODfkR4dgj6VmzDUUQZHxB4eCtCORt9WCntWHm-AVK7zafLlRzrxLUMSYpLe2Kl3kZuFTOlpJ07SPrGANz35SPSIeSjHzy2TVsSX6q5Eke-rTIJnwNy5jla3bibWdS/s320/AMGpRmDB.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Reshan Richards</b> (<a href="https://twitter.com/reshanrichards" target="_blank">@reshanrichards</a>) arrived with a full cup of Starbucks. I could tell he meant business. He is a professor and the Chief Learning Officer at <a href="https://explaineverything.com/" target="_blank">Explain Everything</a>, a collaborative whiteboard app for educational settings. He's also a co-author of the book, <u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blending-Leadership-Simple-Beliefs-Leading/dp/1119222052/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1491245489&sr=8-1&keywords=reshan+richards&linkCode=ll1&tag=morebrainz-20&linkId=dcb11da914dac6d7ab1726aa0626dfdf" target="_blank">Blending Leadership: Six Simple Strategies for Leading Online and Off</a></u>.<br />
<br />
Here he is speaking at TEDx:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MDZ8sjCufDs?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
We all spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out why people are not more interactive when presenting at theoretically interactive events like SXSWedu. We all have a strong belief that that is important, and we were often surprised by what we saw at the conference.<br />
<br />
I also spent a lot of time arguing that khaki pants are a failure of the imagination. They exist only to be not-jeans and not-slacks. There is never a time when one actually *wants* to wear them.<br />
<br />
Thanks again to all my episode contributors.<br />
<br />
We'll try SXSW again next year :)<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-88034295713363062212017-02-14T14:23:00.000-06:002019-10-25T13:33:48.729-05:00"Tweet This" Links with Images: A Simpler Guide<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="https://plus.google.com/102073938757502929608?rel=author" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How important is a "TWEET THIS" bit in a blog?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't know, honestly. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But let's say you want to do that. There are lots of websites that will do this for you for free, and many have tracking and all sorts of things. But maybe you want to do this yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why? Well, perhaps you like control. Okay, sure. But the biggest reason is that if you want to be able to have people tweet an image that will show up as a <b>NATIVE TWITTER IMAGE</b>, which will pop right there under the tweet in people's feeds, you will need to learn how to take this process apart.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I learned this from the tutorials at onlinejournalismblog.com, the first on <a href="https://onlinejournalismblog.com/2015/02/09/how-to-learn-html-and-css-by-making-tweetable-quotes/">making clickable text tweets</a> and the second on <a href="https://onlinejournalismblog.com/2015/02/11/how-to-make-a-tweetable-image-in-your-blog-post/">making image tweets</a>. But, honestly, these are not NEARLY as easy to figure out as the writers think. I had to go to Twitter developer stuff (<a href="https://dev.twitter.com/web/intents">here</a> and <a href="https://dev.twitter.com/web/tweet-button/parameters">here</a>) to figure out the details. I have taken their lessons and repackaged it into an easier, image-laden, more step-by-step format.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here goes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For example, let's say I wanted to have this image have some kind of "tweet me" message next to it, or in a caption, or whatever (If you want to make the image itself something that will generate a tweet when you click it, go down to the bottom section of this post for that -- that is usually not what people want). Like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFEnNW6c3JzyzPm2HEEEprcuZWCcOizX9qGx2am57EZMjMFXQcwkrt2jq4wwryzfPkGmffYpB8aCrKo8DzgukNDxtpW5fPcAWCkGpqi8ojZSqYauUEVqW7UVgIKrnVoQytGG29kBsnqs7/s1600/acethis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFEnNW6c3JzyzPm2HEEEprcuZWCcOizX9qGx2am57EZMjMFXQcwkrt2jq4wwryzfPkGmffYpB8aCrKo8DzgukNDxtpW5fPcAWCkGpqi8ojZSqYauUEVqW7UVgIKrnVoQytGG29kBsnqs7/s400/acethis.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How%20to%20ACETHIS:%207%20keys%20to%20public%20speaking%20pic.twitter.com/s90qVND0Cc" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tweet this image!</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You can try it if you like, but no pressure, dude. If you did, you'd see a browser window open up with this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpi2lkxzjTSrNZMs2SayYnmqkJ5c4dU6sHsAeQeX0B9Ysd3Cu0XPJ_GiiJ2CugkHARiyXQmVkzY-EbE19buULWcPBM0tivwlQhyphenhyphenUkZGbuT_jMjIubG5CJ4lp-8n-DysE1UJsRVcd0u3ZV/s1600/howto1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpi2lkxzjTSrNZMs2SayYnmqkJ5c4dU6sHsAeQeX0B9Ysd3Cu0XPJ_GiiJ2CugkHARiyXQmVkzY-EbE19buULWcPBM0tivwlQhyphenhyphenUkZGbuT_jMjIubG5CJ4lp-8n-DysE1UJsRVcd0u3ZV/s640/howto1.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then, if you clicked the "Tweet" button, you'd make this tweet:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6-07R494PJKoh4Zn1hsGYpLBbK5HjvorCiZGWpEoWb6ljICLqzIyvcPSNgjy2cBtOU0Sk_6bD_4P9TAQIQgnca4K6SBDV_XFWUooe6y3m2IiauKCgjqbV_43j8xwS0dfnZPzg95UGGXk/s1600/howto2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6-07R494PJKoh4Zn1hsGYpLBbK5HjvorCiZGWpEoWb6ljICLqzIyvcPSNgjy2cBtOU0Sk_6bD_4P9TAQIQgnca4K6SBDV_XFWUooe6y3m2IiauKCgjqbV_43j8xwS0dfnZPzg95UGGXk/s640/howto2.png" width="618" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's the full monty version. Maybe you just want the picture and no additional weblink, or maybe you want the "via" @you gone. Easy enough. Let's take all this apart.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You are making a temporary webpage (that's the browser window that opens) that gives Twitter instructions to make the tweet once the person who clicked logs in. You will need to hyperlink to that place. If you are a blogger and can't make something into a hyperlink, well, um, there is usually a nice button on the top of your blogging software to do that for you, or you can program it with full on "<a href . . ." html to prove that you know some code, bro. #nojudgments</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You make this web destination with the "intent" command. Your code generates the webpage you need on the fly when they click on it, so all we have to do is work with the code.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let's take a look at that code:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?</span><span style="color: purple;">text=</span><span style="color: blue;">How%20to%20ACETHIS:%207%20keys%20to%20public%20speaking</span><span style="color: lime;">%20bit.ly/advicetiles</span><span style="color: cyan;">%20pic.twitter.com/s90qVND0Cc</span><span style="color: purple;">&via=</span><span style="color: orange;">morebrainz</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As we break this down, I will demonstrate how to customize the pieces you want and to remove the parts you don't (I find this easier than instructions for how to add things. I don't know why).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Intent Command</span></h2>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the basic setup that tells Twitter to make a page with a command to tweet. No matter what, you have to have this part, just as it is (Note that there are other "intent" commands besides "tweet," so you can <a href="https://dev.twitter.com/web/intents">knock yourself out and learn that</a>, but that is for different tasks than this post is about).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Parameters</span></h2>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These are additional instructions you can add to the instructed tweet. In this case, adding text to the tweet (I know, right, why would you NOT want this?) and adding the "via" username command:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">text=</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After this parameter, you input the text.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">&via=</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">To add the additional parameter, you need the ampersand ("&"). The via command allows you to basically @ yourself, so if you don't want to do this, just leave this command and your @ off. A</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">gain, there are more of these parameters if you want to go crazy with it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Tweet Text</span></span></h2>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">How%20to%20ACETHIS:%207%20keys%20to%20public%20speaking</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">These are your words, separated by the html replacement for a space (like, hitting the space bar once, you know?), which is that weird "%20". You can just write the words, drop it into a browser window and then copy the address of the new window, which your browser will convert to this form. I'd rather just program it correctly to start with.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">You can also add extra %20s in order to add extra spaces and stuff like that.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">A Web Address Destination</span></span></h2>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: lime; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: lime; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">%20bit.ly/advicetiles</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Do you want to make a clickable link in the text? You add that right away with a %20 immediately after the text of the tweet. You can have a super-long address if you like. Twitter will shorten it. But I like custom bitly links anyway, so I just put that in there.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">If you don't want a link, you leave this out.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Picture</span></span></h2>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: cyan; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: cyan; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">%20pic.twitter.com/s90qVND0Cc</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Okay. This is the hardest part. Make sure you have a beverage handy. Dehydration is a real danger when it comes to technology. You've been here awhile already.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The trick here is that you need to tweet the image first yourself to give Twitter a stable inside-of-Twitter destination to find your image for the person who clicks. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Tweet it and then see your tweet in your feed. Then you will want to click to open the tweet. An easy place to click to do this is the time stamp I circled in red here:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfK_twKA6VsTsZE3d18LYgnhP9B8BnkwhgQHHfMz9Z06tJeKYghEBihil8pUJVAXGwjUUc_KVCyM4eHKLZ8d7mMSoCVOq3t332L2WRjvXRTt2ANlGYxjdGDw7HP0x-v129mZPcY4r7_U-P/s1600/howto3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfK_twKA6VsTsZE3d18LYgnhP9B8BnkwhgQHHfMz9Z06tJeKYghEBihil8pUJVAXGwjUUc_KVCyM4eHKLZ8d7mMSoCVOq3t332L2WRjvXRTt2ANlGYxjdGDw7HP0x-v129mZPcY4r7_U-P/s1600/howto3.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">When you do that it will open up in a white subwindow on top of the greyed-out rest of the page. You will need to RIGHT-CLICK on the white space:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdH2yYrYawa4gdSopdzyu5k4qJB3sb0Qpc6cK1AzrqV1vfobvtKPNZOdKvNyxXde8rSzunLo4ECrV5dorslw6GLDuDBiMt4a-NC9v9GBdI6273W7jKKtNZbcIk4rpCYMBaWaiqlLSgD1b8/s1600/howto4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdH2yYrYawa4gdSopdzyu5k4qJB3sb0Qpc6cK1AzrqV1vfobvtKPNZOdKvNyxXde8rSzunLo4ECrV5dorslw6GLDuDBiMt4a-NC9v9GBdI6273W7jKKtNZbcIk4rpCYMBaWaiqlLSgD1b8/s640/howto4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then select "View page source" from the menu that will appear:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN7MlhfPmdA8Mq2tESwiFEo3esOvb9NJYxDk0tFnhub7TWtRicspDGKNzkd6tmLpo8kdQ2KHY45MJoFkYbeKVAxZUTmhYFQzlhIx-dY-xYIwQNt09k_r-cROcqvW4W44ih97-VuP3YlKP/s1600/howto5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN7MlhfPmdA8Mq2tESwiFEo3esOvb9NJYxDk0tFnhub7TWtRicspDGKNzkd6tmLpo8kdQ2KHY45MJoFkYbeKVAxZUTmhYFQzlhIx-dY-xYIwQNt09k_r-cROcqvW4W44ih97-VuP3YlKP/s640/howto5.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That will bring up a huge page full of the code that renders this tweet with this image. It will look horrible to most of you, with lots of text like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidr9Op_zg9hF1lcKr146PwlO-jZ5KZc3V5VyJAn3NmWGkQ4mwU4NP_BR3rjARhiMHPaSnSfj9jcjkxYJdyBEbV1XpSGc4z4NOQaW4QZjviot0xrWAFlKQtCq9RLYJcqgvL1oaJqv2mCx7d/s1600/howto6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidr9Op_zg9hF1lcKr146PwlO-jZ5KZc3V5VyJAn3NmWGkQ4mwU4NP_BR3rjARhiMHPaSnSfj9jcjkxYJdyBEbV1XpSGc4z4NOQaW4QZjviot0xrWAFlKQtCq9RLYJcqgvL1oaJqv2mCx7d/s640/howto6.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You are going to totally chill about this mess. Remember, you have that beverage. Sip it. Good. Sip again. Calm the hell down, now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You are doing all of this because this is the only place you can find the exact Twitter location for your image that you tweeted. The only place. If there was a friendlier place, I promise I would have sent you there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay, when you are on that page of the the page source text spew hit "Ctrl F" (that means holding the "Ctrl" button down [somewhere at the corner of your keyboard] an then hitting the letter "f" at the same time). This opens the "Find" menu. I'm using Chrome, so it looks like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiYd1wc6iAPrFPsCphSxEH6DAj1iQ6OR9scAQTgEPRAQ-IJgwSZpQWQMwCALJhi7rr2pc0xQREArono11NtzCGPNDIkniVMJnA7RfddjEBi-gWiUBzgHyGEusAc8MOTP9N8jYe_AWw46A/s1600/howto7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiYd1wc6iAPrFPsCphSxEH6DAj1iQ6OR9scAQTgEPRAQ-IJgwSZpQWQMwCALJhi7rr2pc0xQREArono11NtzCGPNDIkniVMJnA7RfddjEBi-gWiUBzgHyGEusAc8MOTP9N8jYe_AWw46A/s1600/howto7.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yours might look different.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You are going to search for "pic.twitter." Your browser might start highlighting things on the page as you type. That's okay. Wait until it gives you the full phrase. Then you will have that and a string of characters which end at the </a> tag for closing a link. In my case it looks like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">pic.twitter.com/s90qVND0Cc</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: monospace; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you remember what we are doing, you are going to highlight that and put it in our Twitter command:</span></span><br />
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: cyan; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">%20pic.twitter.com/s90qVND0Cc</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: cyan; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Of course, you will add that %20 at the beginning to make sure everything works right.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">If it does, it will attach the picture to the tweet they send. Their display on the webpage you created for them will have the "pic.twitter/etc" in their tweet window, but in their actually tweet, that command will convert to the image. You can see that again in the first three images in this post.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Hey, look at that! That was the hard part!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Via Command</span></span></h2>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: orange; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #999999; color: orange; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">morebrainz</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This is where you direct their ultimate tweet to @ you. The via command, which you learned how to append to this mess earlier, is followed by your Twitter username WITHOUT THE @. </span></span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Putting It All Together</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So there you have it. You can now recreate this feature.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #999999; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?</span><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">text=</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How%20to%20ACETHIS:%207%20keys%20to%20public%20speaking</span><span style="color: lime; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">%20bit.ly/advicetiles</span><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">%20pic.twitter.com/s90qVND0Cc</span><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">&via=</span><span style="color: orange; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">morebrainz</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999; font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I still can't guarantee anyone would actually click anything on your blog to tweet it, but that's a different sort of problem.</span></span></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Making the Image Itself Clickable</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Earlier I suggested you might not want to do this. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">How do your readers know that if you click the image it will tweet it out? You could have a text message next to it telling them to, but then you are not really adding anything to their experience. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I suppose you could establish a pattern in your blog that all pictures are tweetable? But do you really want them all to be tweetable? And how are new readers going to learn this pattern? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Anyway, if you want to do this, you have to do all the steps above and then you have to edit the html of your picture to make it into a link. Blogger or Wordpress do not do this on their regular "Compose" or "Visual" menus. You might use another blogging platform, but who are we kidding?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Each platform lets you go into html and you can change all of this. Here's the way Blogger made the html for my first image in this blog:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #999999; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><a href=</span><span style="color: yellow;">"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFEnNW6c3JzyzPm2HEEEprcuZWCcOizX9qGx2am57EZMjMFXQcwkrt2jq4wwryzfPkGmffYpB8aCrKo8DzgukNDxtpW5fPcAWCkGpqi8ojZSqYauUEVqW7UVgIKrnVoQytGG29kBsnqs7/s1600/acethis.png"</span> imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><</span><span style="color: purple;">img</span><span style="color: #ea9999;"> border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFEnNW6c3JzyzPm2HEEEprcuZWCcOizX9qGx2am57EZMjMFXQcwkrt2jq4wwryzfPkGmffYpB8aCrKo8DzgukNDxtpW5fPcAWCkGpqi8ojZSqYauUEVqW7UVgIKrnVoQytGG29kBsnqs7/s400/acethis.png" width="400" /></span></span><span style="color: red;"></a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #999999; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yeah, ok. Part of this is that Blogger makes images into links to the image itself. Weird, I know, but it means that when you click an image in a blogger blog it opens up that image full-screen, like opening a tweet. This way you can make the image smaller in your blog and they can click to blow it up. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yeah, I know. Whatever, right? Here's the thing: that coding makes it easier to turn an image into something that takes people somewhere else when they click it. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In this case, you want to replace the first instance of the web address in the code, the bit in </span><span style="background-color: #999999; color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">yellow</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, with the entire text of the customized web address you built earlier in this blog post. The yellow bit of the link code is the destination the user will go to when they click. The second time it shows up, the </span><span style="background-color: #999999; color: #ea9999; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">pink</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, is what the page displays that is clickable, which you don't want to change. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In Wordpress, an image is coded more simply, like this :</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #999999; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-18" src="https://comm339.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/acethis.png" alt="acethis" width="1987" height="1987" /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #999999; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That is the equivalent of the pink portion in the Blogger code. So you'd have to add all the rest: the red and the yellow (replaced with the other code you developed before).</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So here's how it turns out:</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How%20to%20CURB-IT:%20%206%20basics%20for%20slidedecks%20pic.twitter.com/DEMavc3ZSw" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyM1G30gX6UidNVISEVQiRBerf97QOkjgTQM2Fr7-AGctfL8ikhjfpMNet475lV0RIamG2qKTBC8LY39W8ITO-mg5522jGyTNK4AM_W07IFEP92xs3Z3ZG8gilnlcetPYnhDz9G5UN9Gn/s320/curbit.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Incidentally, all the rest of the code commands in these two examples, anchors, spans, classes and margins, are instructions for how to render the image on the screen. Being able to manipulate the code for that is not exactly fun if you don't like learning html and css, so probably just leave that stuff the way your blog made it for you.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I still don't know if any of this matters! But that's kind of like all of blogging and social media rolled up into one dilemma, right? You can try it and see.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Likely, you are here because you already think it is a good idea and, like me, you thought the other guides were too hard to get through correctly. Or perhaps someone at your newly acquired social media job or internship said, "Hey, could you make click-to-tweet stuff without using that website?" and you said "Yes I can," because that's how Sheryl Sandberg told us to roll. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Good luck.</span></span></span></div>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-25821191234301307342017-02-10T14:20:00.001-06:002019-10-25T13:35:42.981-05:00Communication Advice Tiles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="https://plus.google.com/102073938757502929608?rel=author" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have been working these up as a way to allow workshop audiences to have takeaways they don't have to write down or take a picture of a slide to get. I share them to the group via social media and my slidedeck does not have to cover this kind of information in a dump because they have it. They also have my social media contact for questions and they are in nice, tweetable or instagrammable form.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Feel free to share these freely if you find them helpful. Click to tweet each image if you like. Thanks!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1453218069"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfeOllckpZYr8wMtZnBkrbBDT7tLtwiwwXrDwQIhlyHnnAFlWax6J_I8F8vm9kTy2ihA5-DVbnrzptZtapN8VmoTIQ89RGlWV2GLkSRqZv3eQa4P6NSVUOt-5O42h81jOq3O_8a-BXD8O/s400/acethis.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20How%20to%20ACETHIS:%207%20keys%20to%20public%20speaking%20pic.twitter.com/s90qVND0Cc">Tweet this!</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20How%20to%20CURB-IT:%20%206%20basics%20for%20slidedecks%20pic.twitter.com/DEMavc3ZSw">Tweet this!</a></td></tr>
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-233141254829592400.post-57281513763974334892017-02-10T10:00:00.000-06:002019-10-25T13:36:10.369-05:00"Every Speaker Has A Story" Podcast ShowNotes: Episode 5, "My Greatest Success"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">by </span><a href="https://plus.google.com/102073938757502929608?rel=author" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;">Steven S. Vrooman</a><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="94px" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://simplecast.com/e/60604?style=medium-light" width="100%"></iframe>
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This episode is about how 8 speakers found their greatest success by (spoiler alert!) being able to read the situation and adapt. Like a manuscript from the Middle Ages, in the show I call each of these a <i>Tale</i>.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
1. The Tale of the Empty Room</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qXxf5QLt_f9hYrq8I7G5c5aDpNSb-5OqTkXQ2ycRQlt3_v79AKqqsuycngF7-2c5avKv471yhkao13NnSpTOp_9T9zPajJD96WJ_mPQnztVFV6zqKqUwnR2a8_OcwSQy5u8_KvpClr_Z/s1600/kathy_trapeze_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qXxf5QLt_f9hYrq8I7G5c5aDpNSb-5OqTkXQ2ycRQlt3_v79AKqqsuycngF7-2c5avKv471yhkao13NnSpTOp_9T9zPajJD96WJ_mPQnztVFV6zqKqUwnR2a8_OcwSQy5u8_KvpClr_Z/s320/kathy_trapeze_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Dr. Kathy Gruver</b> (<a href="http://twitter.com/KLGruver">@KLGruver</a>) is a speaker and writer on natural health and stress.<br />
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She is the author of multiple books, including <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Medicine-Cabinet-Kathy-Gruver/dp/0741459035/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=morebrainz-20&linkId=2909f817b6a345f65739158b1b3b3c23">The Alternative Medicine Cabinet</a></i>, and she is a trapeze artist. Yes. Trapeze!! See?<br />
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Her website is <a href="http://www.kathygruver.com/">www.kathygruver.com</a>.<br />
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2. The Tale of the Crowded Room</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeD2vuWygAgFZhoHtdmzgBsUX8pJ7eW6Hgu8wOUiFQRG9gLlwR0uesGbbIY5Y68sSYz4cArRMIQNjMpgv8tjAVjAi-0aZrdkbSelexcP_br4ui-dOwzf6_2s4WtA30a0baXvF8GYmD2ln/s1600/znYqi0d8_400x400.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeD2vuWygAgFZhoHtdmzgBsUX8pJ7eW6Hgu8wOUiFQRG9gLlwR0uesGbbIY5Y68sSYz4cArRMIQNjMpgv8tjAVjAi-0aZrdkbSelexcP_br4ui-dOwzf6_2s4WtA30a0baXvF8GYmD2ln/s320/znYqi0d8_400x400.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Beth Ziesenis </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">(</span><a href="https://twitter.com/NerdyBFF" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration: none;">@nerdybff</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">), is someone <a href="http://morebrainz.blogspot.com/2016/12/every-speaker-has-story-podcast.html">we've met before</a>. She reviews programs and apps and speaks on them all over the country. Here she is taking down one of my favorites (or at least it was until now) Evernote:</span><br />
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She<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/askbethz"> posts reviews to YouTube</a> all the time, her latest book is called <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Best-Apps-Work-How-Use/dp/0692453369/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486677199&sr=1-1&keywords=beth+ziesenis&linkCode=ll1&tag=morebrainz-20&linkId=4248186b6b63535e50a7f10962dacc08">Nerd Know-How</a></i>, and her website is <a href="http://www.yournerdybestfriend.com/">www.yournerdybestfriend.com</a>.<br />
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3. The Tale of the Sojourner</h2>
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<b>Billy Arcement </b>(<a href="https://twitter.com/BillyArcement">@BillyArcement</a>) speaks and consults on leadership:<br />
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He is the coauthor of <i><a href="http://journeyingonholyground.com/">Journeying on Holy Ground</a></i>, and his website is <a href="http://searchingforsuccess.com/">searchingforsuccess.com</a>.<br />
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4. The Tale of the School</h2>
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John Donahue-Grossman (<a href="https://twitter.com/DonahueGrossman">@DonahueGrossman</a>) presents at schools, service organizations, hospitals and churches. He speaks on bullying, self-esteem, wellness, sexuality, spirituality and parenting. In his signature talk he arrives at the school in his role as Ray, who is homeless, and slowly transforms:<br />
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His website is <a href="http://donahuegrossman.org/">donahuegrossman.org</a>.<br />
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5. The Tale of the Inventor</h2>
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<b>Julie Austin</b> (<a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerSponsor">@SpeakerSponsor</a>) is an inventor and entrepreneur who innovated a new business model for speakers to get compensated even for free speaking engagements at <a href="http://speakersponsor.com/">speakersponsor.com</a>. She speaks on innovation and creativity:<br />
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6. The Tale of the Shirt</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDE9e0v7KBLSPxFFkHPAiDDWVCzyQ7y9-jqf_uQXkk6frk1okQjCpAexfHmaKyDrf4Hl4PcRR29aKarOQU0dowGrNzpMoz8Nd7W9H348u7D0R3yHyZqSwx0rKdPtSHO24eB220pvfjloE/s1600/5882165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDE9e0v7KBLSPxFFkHPAiDDWVCzyQ7y9-jqf_uQXkk6frk1okQjCpAexfHmaKyDrf4Hl4PcRR29aKarOQU0dowGrNzpMoz8Nd7W9H348u7D0R3yHyZqSwx0rKdPtSHO24eB220pvfjloE/s1600/5882165.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>Wolfgang Wolf </b>speaks about disability and rehabilitation. After a stroke, he began his outreach as a speaker as as the founder of <a href="http://computersagainstisolation.weebly.com/">Computers Against Isolation</a>, which brings technological means of communication to disabled people. His website is <a href="http://thestrokementor.com/">thestrokementor.com</a>, and his book is called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Survive-after-Stroke-Wolfgang-Wolf-ebook/dp/B008A9S7R6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1486679534&sr=1-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=morebrainz-20&linkId=1843a934105645110f486ca991e9429e">How to Survive after a Stroke</a>.<br />
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7. The Tale of the Nerds</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5xW5vFDj4Tox1iTzjxhZcnmiy98TDS4lmlxE7H9zeJpBXoEkrf8hnSEO3xzEX_GOBPTcSRNzb2yhfbVRAtyIuHOngxweKty721N3MIQ7VVG7jHmRbdFHiPxpCLUqeesi5GMq3cFmoJ6M/s1600/Geli-Mata.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5xW5vFDj4Tox1iTzjxhZcnmiy98TDS4lmlxE7H9zeJpBXoEkrf8hnSEO3xzEX_GOBPTcSRNzb2yhfbVRAtyIuHOngxweKty721N3MIQ7VVG7jHmRbdFHiPxpCLUqeesi5GMq3cFmoJ6M/s320/Geli-Mata.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Angelica Mata</b> (<a href="https://twitter.com/matageli">@matageli</a>): "<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Quirky social media technophile. Pop culture junkie. Aspiring amateur cosmonaut and global revolutionary. Karaoke enthusiast. Angelica is a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Digital Marketing Specialist, filmmaker, and TEDxSanAntonio Programming Chair. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Every story is important. It’s her mission to help bring stories to life, visually captivate audiences, cultivate relationships, & express a vision that resonates well into the future."Find her at </span></span><a href="http://matageli.com/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">matageli.com</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. I met her at TEDxSanAntonio, where she was curating the best talk in our year, Eric Dorsa's "</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbeovM4RCh4&t=415s" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">How Dressing in Drag Made Me Uncover Myself</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">." </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfiYKqKJUnMEmG-HthBpBBTG1f8lUWbJsfFXp0Uaqqkkesl6coN6ivPHUDIfB30W7G7FkdtWygv-z7HbfkFwXbtIIY0plUFDQsJWkSlsyCRbLSGDCwJDyqs_TXp4hUdDdjBJxBMNcSm0o/s1600/Angelica-dance-bear.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfiYKqKJUnMEmG-HthBpBBTG1f8lUWbJsfFXp0Uaqqkkesl6coN6ivPHUDIfB30W7G7FkdtWygv-z7HbfkFwXbtIIY0plUFDQsJWkSlsyCRbLSGDCwJDyqs_TXp4hUdDdjBJxBMNcSm0o/s320/Angelica-dance-bear.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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8. The Tale of the Challenge</h2>
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Bryan Rutberg (<a href="https://twitter.com/BryanRutbergMe">@BryanRutbergMe</a>) is a communication and leadership facilitator, consultant and speaker with his firm 3C Communications. He's even a speechwriter! Here he is giving some great tips on how to handle Q&A, one of many sets of tips you'll find on <a href="https://3ccomms.com/3c-communications-blog/">his blog/vlog</a>:<br />
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His webiste is <a href="http://3ccomms.com/">3ccomms.com</a>.<br />
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Steven Vroomanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11087513850908608237noreply@blogger.com