Psalm one portrays the world in black and white: two types of people, good guys and bad guys. Old westerns portrayed them with white hats and black hats. Jesus’ Parable of the Weeds and Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) echoes a similar reality. On the last day, people are judged as [...]
Stories are one of the most important, insightful, and inspiring means of getting your point across in a speech. People relate to and remember stories. A story can be about you, a famous person, someone known or even unknown to the audience. With even fewer words, the right quote can [...]
George Orwell, in his book 1984, coined the word doublethink. Emma Baldwin (Newspeak in 1984 Explained - Book Analysis) defines it this way, “It refers to a type of cognitive dissonance where one is capable of bailing two things at once. These two things should, if one’s reasoning is clear, [...]
As with several of the previous topics on parenting, this is one of the suggestions given by Leanord Sax in an article, “Don’t Ask the Kids,” in First Things, October 2016. His book on parenting is The Collapse of Parenting. Though I have adopted some of his subjects, I have [...]
Wartime speeches aren’t business-as-usual speeches. They aren’t meant to be. Were we to examine the speeches of Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, or other dignitaries whose sole job was to give meaning and courage to those struggling with conflict and fear, their words might not be relevant for a business conference. [...]
The family is the incubator of attitudes that children carry throughout their lives. Respect for others begins with respect for family members. Don’t Dismiss, Discuss Condescending language and attitudes should never be a part of conversations, and dismissing another’s viewpoint without at least hearing them out creates resentment. Even if [...]
I've heard it said that people fear public speaking more than dying. I'm inclined to think that is a bit of hyperbole . . . maybe a lot of hyperbole. At the same time, when people are asked to speak, it isn’t uncommon for palms to sweat, hearts to race, [...]
My first inclination was to title this post, “Schedule Quality Time.” Several things demanded that I rethink that. First, busy parents sometimes justify being too busy by thinking they can schedule quality time. With children, you can’t schedule when quality time will occur. Second, although I preserved the idea of [...]
Aristotle defined rhetoric as using all the available means of persuasion. Although not every speech is designed to persuade, let's examine the rhetorical devices of a persuasive speech that has played a foundational role in our American experience: Patrick Henry's “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death." He spoke to [...]
The exercise of authority, whether in business, politics, or at home, is a difficult task, at least for those who wish to exercise it for the benefit of others and not merely for self-aggrandizement and the raw use of power. People in authority are in positions of service no less [...]
