Introducing … public speaking.

I think I just found the new intro for next fall’s lecture.

Ask the Esquire Guy’s Unconventional Guide to Public Speaking

Leadership Study | Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO

Interesting that Sheryl Sandberg is a trending meme on women, leadership, and high tech, at least according to a NYT Business Day story last week. She is making the case for gender equality even as she is poised to become a billionaire at Facebook where she was hired after meeting Mark Zuckerberg in 2007 at a Christmas party.

She makes her case at TED Women in a presentation titled Why we have too few women leaders, but even more useful is this short on “authentic communication.” (Her style helps explain why she has become such a star.)

In case you wondered about her bio?  Harvard and HBS, McKinsey, economist at the World Bank and later chief of staff for Lawrence H. Summers, where she proved herself.

 

 

Best Apps for Diplomats 2011

What are the apps that will help diplomats as well as international relations majors alike in understanding the world?  (Hint:  They don’t come from the State Dept, at least not yet.)

We’ll assume that you are already reading feeds and mags on Flipboard, watching documentaries and important films on Netflix, and reading longform articles on Instapaper and keeping track of things on Evernote.  Also, you should store and share via Dropbox.  Other expected installs:  Skype, Kindle Reader, Facebook, Yelp, and Twitter.

With an eye toward the iPad as a power tool for content consumption, analysis, and even now more involved in production–here are some picks:

1. Word Lens: [free, iTunes Preview] You can’t negotiate if you can’t understand what someone is saying and this app uses the camera’s lens to capture and translate text sans net connection.  This type of app will only get better, but for now this is a useful tool for occasional use.  (Also, consider Google Translate for heavy lifting).
2. Google Earth: [free, iTunes Preview] An obvious choice because you can’t cover the world if you don’t know your Kyrgistan form your Kazakhstan.
3. GoodReader: [$5] Turn your tablet into a document workhorse as you file, annotate, and get work done from first drafts to final markups.  This app is one of the best for working with PDFs.
4. Press Reader:  [free, iTunes Preview] With 95 countries in 51 languages, keep up on foreign press coverage with over 2,000 full-content papers.  According to Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh of the Patterson School in Kentucky, “PressReader gives the students access to more than 1,700 daily papers on their iPad and we have already explored how to use this app to enhance classroom instruction and the program overall. In the classroom, this will be tied to sharpening student’s analytic skills.” via The iPad Apps That Diplomats Will Use | WebProNews.
5. Teleprompt+:  [$14.99, iTunes Preview] Industry standard and an important tool for formal public speaking.
6. FlightTrackPro: [$10] A favorite of the NYT technology guru David Pogue, this app gives you everything you need to know about a flight–and if there is one thing globetrotters need to master it would be international travel.
7. TED for iPad [free, iTunes Preview] Keep up on the latest, greatest ideas, trends, and talks from the place that curates the best of ‘em dealing with politics, economics, society, culture, art, technology, and more.
8. Words With Friends:  [$.99, iTunes Preview]  Your job involves building trust with strangers and you are definitely a word person–working on demarches, speeches, and treaties, to mention a few examples.  So what better way to blow off steam than to play the online game that isn’t Scrabble–but looks a lot like it–online.  Just don’t forget to obey the flight attendant’s instructions when on board to stay out of trouble.

Gingrich and Huntsman Long Form Debate.

The long shot and the current front runner square off in Lincoln Douglas-style debate in New Hampshire.  Here’s to more discussions like this:

The former Ambassador to China played well-informed pundit on the future of Chinese politics, arguing that the next generation of Chinese leaders who will be taking power are “a hubristic nationalistic generation” who had no experience of earlier decades of political turmoil. “They’ve been terribly informed by 30 years of massive economic growth,” he said.

And here’s a great Huntsman thought for all teachers of AP Comparative Politics courses crafting essay questions. The Chinese, he said, are “the greatest long-term strategic thinkers in the world.” Americans “are the best short-term tactical thinkers in the world.” Discuss.

via Gingrich and Huntsman ‘debate’ in New Hampshire – PostPartisan – The Washington Post.

On Speech Puts the US Government on Defense in Durban

This is how a single speech–by a youthful member of a non-governmental organization–can frame an issue and challenge the power of an entire government.  Forget the concern that small states may not have as much relative power; in a multilateral forum, even a simple representative can shape the narrative and thus influence the outcome.

A Middlebury College junior confronts the chief American envoy at the global climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, demanding an “urgent path” to a legally binding treaty. She draws a standing ovation but is then ejected from the room.

via Energy and Environment – Green Blog – NYTimes.com.

Undergraduate Research Breakthrough on MLK Speech

It’s not every day that an undergraduate makes a scholarly discovery—especially about a prominent historic figure like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But that’s what happened two years ago when William Murphy, then a freshman at Wake Forest University, stumbled upon a little-known speech by the young civil-rights leader during John Llewellyn’s “Great American Speeches” class. Now, as the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial is dedicated in Washington, The Chronicle talked with Mr. Murphy about what he found.

via 5 Minutes With a Student Who Made a Surprising Discovery About the ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech – People – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The perception that we know the ‘famous’ speeches of the past is constantly being challenged and revisited.

Do Good Debaters Make Good Presidents? – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com

 

 

Great question for the season of debates.  Listen to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, David Gergen, Jon Meacham, and others weigh in for Do Good Debaters Make Good Presidents? – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com.

The third-party stump speech we need – The Washington Post

If you were the candidate from a third party, here are seven suggestions embedded in  the speech you should give to address the United States’ major problems in a solutions-oriented way.  (Think of this as a position paper for a US politician):

We can make this an era of opportunities, not threats. But only if we think differently. When the changes reshaping the global economy are dramatic, incremental responses won’t suffice. We need a bold agenda equal to the scale of our challenges.

I believe that it will take seven big domestic initiatives to get America back on track. Bear with me if I go a little deep on the details, because that’s the only way for you to see what I mean.

via The third-party stump speech we need – The Washington Post.

Public Speaking – LDS General Conference Edition

The most important semi-annual meetings where Latter-day Saints learn from the church’s highest leaders melds an oral presentation style in what will be later reviewed by its members–both aurally and in written form.  Using the public speaking rubric which talks were more effective in communicating these key messages? What aspects of organization, delivery, and non-verbal oratory seem to work?
(Admittedly, this may be a new way to think about these meetings–and are likely not the most important takeaway. Even so, use of a TelePrompTer, language translation and broadcasting requirements ensure that prior practice will be part of most talks.  Also, this question is more for your own personal thinking–and doesn’t count as your required course post for the week.)

Tune in to the General Assembly 66th Session

Skip Modern Family and get your geopolitical fix by watching the UN General Assembly, ongoing this week.  Ongoing speeches, important global issues, and the latest negotiation drama.   Your guide to ongoing GA events here, and all of the UN here.

Live streams via UN Webcast, ABC News, HuffPo.  Also, the UN News Centre produces “Backstage buzz” with some behind-the-scenes look to give you a better sense of being there.

And from The Lede, what kind of movie would the UN GA session be?  Action thriller? (Only the clips over 50+ years) Drama? (Rarely).  C-Span sponsored presentations? (Yep).  But still, the importance is elevated by the drum pounding in this GA short, produced by a couple of 20-something junior staffers, including one from Columbia School of Journalism: