Thursday, April 2, 2020
Sunday, March 8, 2020
How To Use Your Blog To Tell A Story
How To Use Your Blog To Tell A Story A story can prick a conscience. A story can motivate into action. A story can cause outrage or empathy. A story can take a reader off of her sofa and on an adventure across the world. We often talk about using story in content marketing as a way to tell about our brand, our team, our product, or our service. We discuss how to use storytelling for businesses as a way to make themselves more human. We give pointers on how to write copyà in a story-like manner that would make it interesting to read. But what about telling a genuine story, free of the responsibility of overtly furthering your brand? In an age of long form content, it makes sense to delve into telling stories online. Our brains like stories. It makes them active, and if the story uses the right words, it causes our brain to respond as if what we were reading was really happening to us. Words that speak of action make our motor cortex buzz. Words that speak of textures get our sensory cortex alight. In other words, when we read a story, our brains light up like a meteor shower on a dark winter night. Our brain, on a diet of stories, is intense. The Plays the Thing, wherein Ill catch the conscience of the King. Hamlet What Makes A Good Story No one will agree on what makes a good story completely. We all have our own tastes that dictates which kinds of stories we are drawn to, and the kind of language we prefer to read. But there are a few ways to consider good story as you create your own. There are also a few generalizations that can tentatively be applied across the board, no matter which approach to story you take. 1. Simplicity is best. A simple plot is ideal. It is the convoluted plot that allows a soap opera to go on endlessly for 30 years. A simple plot, with simple motivations, will always be easier for you to write and a reader to follow. A simple plot can be deceptively complex, depending upon how you tell the story. Unique and conflicting points of view, jumping back and forth in timeââ¬âthese all make a simple plot compelling and deep. Can you sum up the plot in a sentence or two? Simple language that is clear and concise is also best. 2. Boring words dont work. Clichesà donââ¬â¢t work. Phrases that have become common donââ¬â¢t work. Our brain skips over phrases it is used to seeing without registering them as anything special. Common phrases (tough as nails) dont light up our brain. This isnt a license to write purple prose that is extravagant and excessive.à In his 10 Rules Of Writing, author Elmore Leonard ended his list with this: Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. Leonard understood how people read books, whizzing by solid paragraphs of purple prose to get to the dialogue. The dialogue, after all, is where the characters develop, where they interact, where the action happens. Avoid cliches, but dont turn to purple prose to do so. Look for concise and unusual word pairings that readers brains havent become accustomed to yet. 3. Get familiar with literary devices. When telling a story, you cant avoid using literary elements, even if you wanted to. These include things likeà plot, dialog, setting, narrative, characters, mood, theme, and so on. Without them, there is no story. You could, however, avoid using literary techniques, though that would be a shame. These include things like allegory, irony, personification, metaphor, etc. They make your story richer. Even the simplest story becomes a real story when you use literary techniques. In The Old Man And The Sea, the plot could be summed up as an unlucky fisherman finally catches a marlin. Of course, Hemingway made that simple idea into much more than that, using conflict and allegory and imagery to tell something completely different. Use classicà literary devicesà in your story if youre not sure how to make a boring story interesting. Once you realize how manyà literary techniquesà you can use to tell the same story, you wont suffer from the I dont have a story to tell syndrome that keeps you from giving storytelling a try. 4. There must be conflict. Without conflict, your story is not a story. It is an article. A listing of facts. It is informative but not dramatic, readable but not eminently so. Conflict is what propels and pushes a story forward, what keeps a reader guessing and reading. Though there has been disagreement on what kinds of conflicts are truly legitimate (depending upon your philosophy), here is a list of possibleà narrative conflictsà you might use in a story: Man against man. Man against society/institution. Man against nature. Man against machine. Man against self. Man against God. Even a superhero cannot be so super that there is no conflict, no thing that could stand in the way. There must at least be Kryptonite. Conflict, in stories, is the engine that keeps them going forward.5. Have characters your readers can cheer for. Along with having conflict, you need characters that your readers can cheer for. Ever read a book and disliked the main character? You end up disliking the book, even if the story was good. Its tough to be sympathetic with characters we dont like. Readers want to be able to root for someone. They want a character that at some point is a fill-in for the heroic or the noble or the daring or the adventurousââ¬âthe things they dont experience in daily life. Sometimes the best way to tell your reader about a character is to create another character who acts as aà foil. A foil contrasts another character in such a way that it highlights qualities that you could otherwise not reveal. For example, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. You learn more about these two characters by how different they are when contrasted with each other. How To Approach Storytelling Lets look at a few different approaches that people have used to understand story, a kind of crash course on some storytelling basics. The 7 Basic Plots In 2006, after 34 years of writing, Christopher Booker publishedà The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. In it, he proposed that all stories can fit into one of seven basic plots: Overcoming the monster. Protagonist vs. antagonist. The antagonist is threatening the protagonist and all that the protagonist holds dear. Rags to riches. Poor protagonist acquires vast wealth, loses it, then finally gets it back when he/she has grown as a person. The quest. Protagonist (and friends) set out to find something, facing many challenges along the way. Voyage and return. Protagonist travels to a strange place, faces challenges, and returns with nothing but valuable experience. Comedy. Protagonists are destined to be together, but something keeps getting in the way. By the end, it is all resolved. Tragedy. The protagonist becomes the villain, falling from grace. His/her death at the end is a good thing. Rebirth. The protagonist is a villain or unlikeable. By storys end, though, has completely turned around. Others have come up with their own efforts to diagram story in a similar manner to Booker. Ronald Tobias wrote 20 Master Plots And How to Build Them, coming to a different conclusion than Booker and going into more detail (get a PDF checklist of these plots).à Georges Polti created a list of 36 Dramatic Situations in which he came up with every possible situation that might occur in a story. These are not quite the same as categorizing an overall plot; they could be used in many combinations within one of Bookers plots. Whether you agree with Booker or Tobias understanding of plot, the key is to be able to familiarize yourself with available plots.à Understanding these plots may help you tell your story better just by knowing how you are approaching what you are trying to say. Brands can alsoà use these basic plots as a way to understand how to tell a story about themselves (and maybe understand they are not relegated to just being funny and inane). The Heros Journey In 1949, Joseph Campbell wrote a book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, that proposed that almost all mythical stories across culture followed a similar pattern. This monomyth was known as The Heros Journey. Everyone from musicians, video game makers, writers, and movie makers have used The Heros Journet as a model for their stories. Blogger Lisa Paitz Spindler has done an excellent job explaining and illustrating The Heros Journey. While Campbells theory on how to interpret myths has come under fire as being an oversimplification of complex myths, many writers still turn to his theory for their stories. You can see several of Bookers seven plots as possibly fitting into The Heros Journey (quest, rags to riches, monster, etc.) Modern mythology, such as Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, reflect elements of this Heros Journey.à If youre a Star Wars fan, youll recognize the plot almost immediately. George Lucas all but followed Campbells approach to monomyth to the letter.à Movies have further refined and simplified The Heros Journey into a formula of sorts; you are likely quite familiar with the pattern you see here, even if in a simpler form. The Inverted Pyramid The Inverted Pyramid method of telling a story is most commonly associated with journalists and news articles. In it, you tell the most important part of your story right at the beginning and then gradually break it down with details as the story progresses. This is because people might not read the full news story, but instead rely on the headline and the first paragraph or two to get a summary of the story. It is also a way to play your hand up front, trusting that the dramatic and explosive beginning will securely hook a reader and keep them reading. Pennsylvania State University, Newsletter, January 2011 The important questionsââ¬âwho, what, when, where, howââ¬âget answered in the first paragraph. The why is explained later in the article, as less important details and backstory trickle out. Letting Readers Decide Do you remember the delightful Choose Your Own Adventure books? As a kid, I loved reading them. A while back, I attempted a kind of CYOA on the Todaymade blog in the form of a social media adventure. A bit corny, yes, but readers had fun with it. When you let the reader decide how the story unfolds, you get to write several alternate endings (a bit of fun) but have to keep everything organized (a bit tricky). Youll write several types of plots, conflicts, and endings with the same characters, which can be a challenge. You will also write so that the main character is the reader. There are other ways to make your story interactive. Michael Lutzs story My fathers long, long legs is clever as a story and incredibly creative in how interactive it is for the reader (follow it through all the way to the end). Lutz uses methods you could only use in online storytelling. Recommended Reading: The Hero With A Thousand Facesà by Joseph Campbell Save The Cat!à by Blake Snyder The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Storiesà by Christopher Booker 20 Master Plots And How to Build Themà by Ronald Tobias 10 Rules Of Writingà by Elmore Leonard Putting Story To Work: Snowfall Snowfall.à Youââ¬â¢ll either think of this as something from winter, or youââ¬â¢ll think of an avalanche and a 2012 online article from the New York Times. With Snowfall, the Times put forth an amazing effort to tell a story online like no one else had done before. They followed up their Pulitizer Prize-winning Snowfall with The Jockey and A Game Of Shark And Minnow; other publishers followed suit, covering stories about Greenland and the Iditarod. Big and flashy stories seemed to be the direction the web was heading. Dissecting How Snowfall Worked Lets take a look at Snowfall. In this classic man vs. nature true story, the Times started with the climactic moment of the avalanche. They got you hooked because you met characters in danger and distress and would hopefully keep reading to know what happened to them. Next, they filled in the backstory, introducing new characters and telling us more about all of the characters in a personal way so that we could identify with their humanity. After revealing the climax, they started back at the beginning so that the reader could put what they just read in context. They broke the story up into chapters, which helped keep the reader from getting confused. Snowfall is a long piece, and chapters help guide the reader through it. The Times used interactive maps and graphics, pull quotes, photos, and video to flesh out the story in an attempt to create extra content that was related, but not necessary, to reading the story. Readers could plow on through the text and read just the story, or they could venture into these extra elements and learn a bit more. This was no article. It was a story,à a true one, and the Times meant to put you right there, on the mountainside, to experience it.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Joan of Arc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1
Joan of Arc - Essay Example This clearly shows that she was set up and convicted of the offence of heresy (Halsall, 2013). The trial shows that Joan was merely set up by the religious leaders who were merely after political power who organized how she could be sentenced on trumped-up charges. The bishop had also made sure that he chose biased and timid assessors who misquoted the defense of Joan with the sole aim of finding her guilty (Halsall, n.d).. This also included the falsification of evidence and the threatening of the assessors, which just led to her conviction despite her pleas to be tried by an unbiased tribunal headed by the pope. After being found guilty, the court further prepared for her execution through burning at the market place. Joan therefore died a martyr as recorded on May 30 by Maugier Leparmentier who writes... ââ¬Å"And in the fire she cried more than six times "Jesus,". The usher Jean Massieu also weighed in that Joan had died to ââ¬Å"proclaim and confess aloud the holy name of Jesusâ⬠. This clearly shows the conviction that Joan had in whatever she had carried out as t hat bordering on martyrdom. Therefore, it can be seen from the trial that it was carried out through intimidation and putting her under duress in order to swear allegiance to the church as it was then constituted. It is also important to note that the trial of Joan of Arc was mainly inspired by the interests of the English to claim that the coronation of Charles as king had been under the guidance of the devil and so they convicted her of witchcraft. This development in the trial process was also informed by the desire of the English troops to demoralize the French troops who had made some victories in some wars while at the same time curtail the dwindling fortunes of the English troops (Halsall, 2013). These were confirmed by the confirmation of Joan as a saint as an inquiry ordered by the Pope found that the sentence made by Cauchon
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Brain Structure and Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Brain Structure and Smoking - Essay Example Scientists discovered that a chain smoker suddenly lost all his interest in smoking because he suffered some damage to the brain, which altered the structure of the brain. This led scientists to believe that a brain structure deep in the brain was primarily responsible for the habit of smoking and if this can be treated the habit could be kicked very easily because then the smoker would loose all interest in smoking just as the person mentioned above lost all interest because of the stroke that altered his brain structure. Smoking is one of the highest causes of death which is preventable because most people are hooked to the highly addictive nicotine. This is just one example of how physical activities affect the brain or how the brain affects the activities of human beings, it is very vital to understand that addiction is due to structures in the brain that actually cause the addiction to nicotine, the respective brain structures will also be mentioned in the paper. Most people that are hooked on to smoking say that they want to quit smoking but do not know how to do so; this research would be very helpful in making people realize how they can quit their smoking habits and patterns to lead a much more healthy life. There are manStructures of the Brain There are many structures in the brain that affect the habits of human being, as mentioned before the brain has back up resources so some functions might be carried out by other parts if some damage occurs but if any part does get damaged then some habits are affected because there is not a back up resource for it. The insula in the brain is one such part because researchers have found out that any damage to the insula would cause people to quit smoking, they found this out by studying a man who smoked 40 cigarettes per day and he suffered a deep stroke which altered, to an extent, the brain structure and after the stroke the man felt no need to smoke at all. Smoking also has some affects on the brain which tend to damage the brain but the most damaged areas are those of the parietal and the temporal lobes, as mentioned before these lobes tend to the functions of feel and problem solving, once damage has been done to these lobes the problem solving ability decreases and also lowers t he resolve to quit smoking. There are hereditary causes of smoking as well because in a research it was indicated that there were certain receptors known as 'alpha-4, beta-2' are responsible for the 'head rush' that smokers feel when they smoke and it is believed that parents who smoke may transfer these recipients in large quantities to their children and hence this might be a cause of smoking when they children grow up and it is also thought that the initial smoking habits and patterns reflect those of the parents. The reasons for smoking in teenagers and young adults are mostly peer pressure and academic related concerns that cause them to smoke, the top most reason is not the lack of knowledge because every one knows how smoking is a cause of concern to their health's but the problem lies in how are they informed Are they just told the facts and figures or are they showed, how badly smoking can really hurt them They should be told that peer pressure is a daily phenomenon and also should be told how to
Monday, January 27, 2020
Analysis of Desirees Baby By Kate Chopin
Analysis of Desirees Baby By Kate Chopin Desirees Baby has been set in the days before the abolition of slavery in the big farms/plantations owned by whites and tendered by black slaves in the Southern State of Texas. Monsieur Valmonde finds an abandoned baby by the wayside. His wife, Madam Valmonde, does not have a child of her own thus; she takes the baby and names her Desiree. Madam Valmonde and her husband, Monsieur Valmonde raise the child, until she turns 18 years-an age considered ripe for courtship and marriage (Chopin). Her beauty, elegance, and white skin attract Monsieur Aubigny, a plantation owner and widower who just returned from burying his wife in France. This essay provides an insight into alienation in relationships, the consequences of mans evil institutions like slavery and racism. Aubigny, the main character, feels a strong sense of alienation in his relationship with black slaves, a people that he greatly despises. They are an inferior race, generally a non-people in his eyes. Aubigny a rich white landowner is endowed with wealth and the right color. In the society that all the characters live, white is deemed acceptable and good. Anybody with a black skin is a social outcast, and they should be rejected to live the cursed life, that of slavery. Aubignys parents were white, and they instilled into him the right color that an endowed person should have or associate. His family is one of the initial sources of alienation. His upbringing constantly placed him on top of blacks, and this is why he denies his baby because it is turning black. Madam Valmonde also exclaimed that Desirees baby was not the baby implying that the babys origin and color will not be accepted by society as that of Aubignys. The society, immediate family, and close friends shape the status of an individual. The way people behave is largely affected by; how they perceive themselves and what society will think about them. Madam Valmonde refuses that Desirees baby is not the kind of child that society will accept. Society cannot accept that both Augbiny and Desiree, both white can have a black offspring, the cursed race. Augbiny cannot accept living with a woman who has given birth to an inferior being (Chopin). He cannot imagine what his close friends, family, and society will think about him. This is why he decides to alienate himself from both wife and child before society judges his behavior. His actions are dictated by society and not by self-worth. If society does not accept blacks, then he too cannot accept them. He burns everything that belongs to Desiree and her baby to get rid of any information that links his private life to blacks. This shows that he cannot outdo the code of conduct in his white dominated society. Desire too cannot imagine what society will think of her black baby and she chose to drown with him in a swamp. Madam Valmonde plays the role of society. She knows that the real father, Aubigny, will not accept the baby. She tries to express this to Desiree although she does not understand. She also plays the part of society that will accept the rejected. She willingly takes her daughter and grandson back. This shows her motherly love and concern for the unhappy daughter. Failure to accept her adopted daughter and grandson may cause her to be labeled as selfish and inhuman by society. The letter from Augbinys mother to his father serves the role of a wakeup call into reality. It jerks Augbiny into knowing that whatever he has rejected (black) is in his blood and in fact the source of his life (mother) (Chopin). A popular culture metaphor taken from the story is the one that describes Armand Aubignys features. He is described as a having a dark and handsome face that had not been disfigured by frowns. This metaphor implies that black is handsome although society does not accept people of color (Chopin).This metaphor shows the irony in societys code of acceptance. A person can be black and handsome and yet society had rather accept white and ugly because the later comes from a superior race while the earlier originates from an inferior race. Aubigny lacks a complete sense of direction. He knows that the origin of Desirees parents is not know and yet drinks into her beauty. He cannot accept the color of slaves thus results to deceit and wickedness to save his face in society. He is very ignorant of his looks and denies his looks. The fact that he does not acknowledge his ignorance, wants to satisfy the code of acceptance of society makes him ruin his relationship with his family. Ironically, He begins to treat the slaves fairly because he realizes that he has a black baby! Aubignys chooses the wrong path of letting go of his family because of the color of the baby. The baby just like his parents did not choose where to be born and in what color. Desiree also chooses the wrong path of killing herself and son. This because she feels that society cannot accept her and they may label her as a failure. She does not understand that one cannot satisfy the demands of society and being black is human. My sympathy goes to the baby who dies because of something that he does not have any power over. As for the married couple, they deserve what they get; they let society dictate everything that they believe in without realizing that nothing is perfect in the eyes of man. Society and its representatives like race, marriage, and slavery are faulted in this story. During the pre-colonial times, a slave could only marry a slave and a white to a white. However, whites could have sex with slaves with or without their consent. This resulted to colored people who could not be accepted because of their mixed heritage and the act of a white male siring with a black slave (one of the lowly acts). This story highlights racism, its effects on people who are victims and cannot accept it like Desiree and Augbiny. In this story, there is a great conflict between reality and fantasy. Augbiny fantasizes that he should get a girl instead of a boy. He further fantasizes that the beauty and fair skin of Desiree will help him to get a purebred white child who does not have any black flaws. Madam Valmonde also fantasizes that the child should have been white she says that openly à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦this is not the child (Chopin). She knows that if the child is not white, then there is nothing foe Desiree. This is why she accepts both daughter and grandson. Women/girls are victims of their own making. They fail to understand that beauty or color alone cannot lead to a happy life. They do not comprehend their needs and the reason to live. Desiree argues with Augbiny that she is whiter than Augbinys. She writes a letter to her mother telling her that she is unhappy because of the mistreatment from her husband. This shows that she cannot accept to live as black, with a black child in a society that labels black as bad and cursed. In a case like these, men like Augbiny take advantage of misunderstandings and capitalize on them making women unhappy. They strain their relationship because they feel that they are following the code of acceptance of society. Women are also victims of societal demands. Desiree cannot be happy without a man and she does not want to imagine how society will see her. This makes her end her life and that of her baby in a tragic manner. A man like Augbiny is a victim of society and its institutions like slavery. Man spends so much time building racism and slavery and in the end, these two things swallow their lives into the unknown. Racism and slavery are meant to serve the interest of whites but it is ironical that they again destroy him especially when Augbiny discovers that he too is black. Augbiny expects his fantasies to be true thus lays all his hopes in color. If it is now white, he does not want anything to do with it. He falsely expects that society will accept him now that he has done away with family only to discover that he too is black. The moral issues that arise in this story are wickedness, deception, and misunderstanding. People shudder at the thought of being black or even being associated with the cursed race. Augbiny does not understand that color and origin of a human being can neither be changed nor be discarded. Desiree discards her color, that of her son and her origin in death. This implies that slavery and racism are things that are very evil in society and should be discarded or they will eat into the human soul. Blacks are human beings and color is only skin-deep and is dictated by their genes; things that none can suppress or change (Schneider). Madam Valmonde accepts her daughter and son. She is that part of society that embraces what the elites have rejected. Madam Valmondes letter to her daughter show the humanity, acceptance that can be found in the heart of the human race. The wickedness of the institution of slavery and racism is clearly depicted in this story. Augbinys mother prays that his son should never discover that he has a black mother. It clearly shows the way whites deny that blacks are human beings and a part of society. Death is very wicked because it embraces even the innocent like Desirees baby. It does not discriminate between the ignorant, rich or color. It just takes everything that comes on its way.
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Developing Leaders Essay -- Business Management
Peter F. Drucker once said, ââ¬Å"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right thingsâ⬠(Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, n. d.). Leading is a key function of management. Without leadership, valuable time spent on planning, organizing, and controlling can be lost with no productive end result. Because leadership is the core of management, a great deal of focus must be placed on its key components. ââ¬Å"Leading means influencing other people to get the job done, maintaining morale, molding company structure and managing conflicts and communicationâ⬠(Dessler, 2004, p. 3). à à à à à Effective leadership is the foundation for any business. Developing leaders, leading strategic planning, overcoming obstacles, and motivating and inspiring employees are major components of leadership. Many articles and publications have been devoted to these four components. In selecting the articles to be summarized, emphasis was placed on articles that discussed universal methods utilized by businesses, along with recommendations for promoting successful leadership. Developing Leaders From front-line employees to mid-level managers, expectations of employees in todayââ¬â¢s organizations have become more demanding. ââ¬Å"Today, employees are given leadership titles and expected to figure out how to handle their new roles, but arenââ¬â¢t effectively trainedâ⬠(Gale, 2002, p.1). Companies benefit when they have leaders positioned throughout the organization. This positioning distributes knowledgeable and skilled employees to benefit all aspects of the organization. In the past, leadership development was limited to executive employees. This training process must change as companies strive to become more adaptive to the competitive world. With the downsizing of staff, additional work responsibility with less guidance is becoming the norm. The need for leadership must evolve as the organization grows. A great manager may not be a great leader. Great leaders must be able to communicate as well as motivate employees. ââ¬Å"The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager imitates; the leader initiatesâ⬠(Bennis, 1994). Jon Katzenbach best described leadership ââ¬Å"as a mind set of adaptive responsivenessâ⬠(Gale, 2002, p.2). Some will argue that leaders are born, while others will say leaders are trained. In either case, a qualified well-rounded leader must be found. Sourcing and rec... ...d tend to lead in smaller, more informal ways throughout the company. This natural progression allows them to gain the experience they need to become future leaders (Kotter, 1990). Conclusion à à à à à There are a myriad of publications available to assist with leadership issues. Most consistently refer to the specialized skills and traits needed to be an effective leader. Choosing a leader with these specialized skills is only part of the challenge facing organizations today. Providing effective training for new and existing leaders is becoming increasingly important. Such training should include recommendations on how to plan for and address real-world scenarios as well as examples of situations that may occur in order to strengthen comprehension. Leadership training should be viewed as a process, not a one-time event. Training leaders on how to plan and deal with obstacles, as well as how to motivate and inspire employees is critical to organizational success. Leadership should be a focus at all levels of the company whether it would be individual, departmental, or organizational. The key to successful leadership is to create a sense of belonging by getting a ll parties involved. Developing Leaders Essay -- Business Management Peter F. Drucker once said, ââ¬Å"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right thingsâ⬠(Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, n. d.). Leading is a key function of management. Without leadership, valuable time spent on planning, organizing, and controlling can be lost with no productive end result. Because leadership is the core of management, a great deal of focus must be placed on its key components. ââ¬Å"Leading means influencing other people to get the job done, maintaining morale, molding company structure and managing conflicts and communicationâ⬠(Dessler, 2004, p. 3). à à à à à Effective leadership is the foundation for any business. Developing leaders, leading strategic planning, overcoming obstacles, and motivating and inspiring employees are major components of leadership. Many articles and publications have been devoted to these four components. In selecting the articles to be summarized, emphasis was placed on articles that discussed universal methods utilized by businesses, along with recommendations for promoting successful leadership. Developing Leaders From front-line employees to mid-level managers, expectations of employees in todayââ¬â¢s organizations have become more demanding. ââ¬Å"Today, employees are given leadership titles and expected to figure out how to handle their new roles, but arenââ¬â¢t effectively trainedâ⬠(Gale, 2002, p.1). Companies benefit when they have leaders positioned throughout the organization. This positioning distributes knowledgeable and skilled employees to benefit all aspects of the organization. In the past, leadership development was limited to executive employees. This training process must change as companies strive to become more adaptive to the competitive world. With the downsizing of staff, additional work responsibility with less guidance is becoming the norm. The need for leadership must evolve as the organization grows. A great manager may not be a great leader. Great leaders must be able to communicate as well as motivate employees. ââ¬Å"The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager imitates; the leader initiatesâ⬠(Bennis, 1994). Jon Katzenbach best described leadership ââ¬Å"as a mind set of adaptive responsivenessâ⬠(Gale, 2002, p.2). Some will argue that leaders are born, while others will say leaders are trained. In either case, a qualified well-rounded leader must be found. Sourcing and rec... ...d tend to lead in smaller, more informal ways throughout the company. This natural progression allows them to gain the experience they need to become future leaders (Kotter, 1990). Conclusion à à à à à There are a myriad of publications available to assist with leadership issues. Most consistently refer to the specialized skills and traits needed to be an effective leader. Choosing a leader with these specialized skills is only part of the challenge facing organizations today. Providing effective training for new and existing leaders is becoming increasingly important. Such training should include recommendations on how to plan for and address real-world scenarios as well as examples of situations that may occur in order to strengthen comprehension. Leadership training should be viewed as a process, not a one-time event. Training leaders on how to plan and deal with obstacles, as well as how to motivate and inspire employees is critical to organizational success. Leadership should be a focus at all levels of the company whether it would be individual, departmental, or organizational. The key to successful leadership is to create a sense of belonging by getting a ll parties involved.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Rhetorical device Project on Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation Essay
The Japanese Empire bombarded Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 it was a surprise attack to the United States. This event caused the loss of many innocent people as well as material destruction to the country. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the president during that time, his duty was to address both, the nation and the Congress to inform them about what had happened he did this through his speech ââ¬Å"Pearl Harbor Address to the Nationâ⬠. The speech was extremely important, not only because of how delicate was the subject, but also because he had the challenge to inform two very different audiences about the occurred. His first audience was Congress which was important because in the end they would determine whether or not to go to war. Also the nation would listen to this speech, while Congress got to see and hear him during the speech Americans would only hear the speech through radio, which made this an even harder task to accomplish. However, Franklin D. Roosevelt did a truly amazing job addressing both the nation and Congress because he did not focus on only one audience. He clearly addresses both audiences when he says, ââ¬Å"I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the peopleâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ he takes both opinions into consideration. By doing this Roosevelt gives equal importance to the nation and to Congress, which helps him get a positive response from both audiences. This shows that he successfully informed the nation and Congress about the war and both audiences understood. He accomplished two things at once because by addressing both audiences in one speech he shows that he had them both in mind. He did not include the kind of language that the nation would not understand just because he was talking to congress. Also he did not deliver the speech on a manner that would not be appropriate for Congress he used just the right language that would be understood by both audiences. Another important aspect of this speech that made it so successful is the way that he delivered the speech. He knew that the nation would be listening to the speech and he obviously knew that Congress would be present when he would be delivering the speech. Therefore he had to use a tone that would accomplish the purpose of the speech. This had two purposes first to inform his audience about the occurred and second and most important to keep theà nation calmed and assure them safety. He does this when he informs the audience that, ââ¬Å"the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attackedâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ although this was something very shocking he managed to stay calmed and transmit that to others. He also assures safety, ââ¬Å"I have directed that all measures be taken for our defenseâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ which gives the nation some kind of tranquility knowing that things are being taken care of. Rooseveltââ¬â¢s tone was very calm yet very powerful as it is shown in Fig. 1, when he is presenting his speech to Congress and the nation. As a result of Rooseveltââ¬â¢s capability to address two audiences at once and to deliver the speech with an appropriate and effective tone the speech was very successful. He successfully informed the audience about what happened without causing confusing in neither of them. He used the appropriate language to address both the Congress and the nation. Roosevelt was also aware that his speech would be presented to the audience in two forms, via radio for the nation and in person to the Congress. This played a big role in how he delivered the speech but he managed it very well and used a tone that projected confidence in providing safety for the nation and was powerful enough to ensure that things would be taken care of. Roosevelt delivered this speech very well and the outcome was good.
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