A final thought!

One concept from this chapter which I felt needed further discussion was that of Group Communication. If you think of your daily routine, communication is inherently Group Communication. Whether it be your family, roommates, or colleagues, you are almost always engaged in some sort of Group Communication. Therefore it is important to know and understand the rules and relationships that go along with Group Communication. Table 7.1 in the Trenholm book highlights the Characteristics of Groups and was a great resource to look at what constitutes a group, how they form and how they behave. What is most important, I believe, is to understand the shared behavioral standards of the different groups you are a part of. For example, the way in which most friends speak to each other would most likely not translate to how you would speak to your parents. For this reason, our speech behavior changes automatically from group to group, most of the time without conscious effort. In this way, by taking the time to study Group Communication and our own behavioral patterns within our personal groups, we can better understand how to adapt to the ever-changing environments.  

A list of bests about this class!

The biggest thing I have learned through this class honestly, is how a virtual class is run. Since many of the concepts I have previously studied at Cal Poly, the refresher was very helpful and interesting, however the new territory I encountered was the virtual environment of the class. Since I have never taken an online course before, it was very different for me to become accustomed to taking tests and communicating with the professor and fellow classmates exclusively online. For this reason, I found it was useful to include as much detail in my posts as possible since this was basically the only interpretation my classmates and teacher would have of me. In a way this aspect was also my least favorite thing about the class.  Though the online nature made the course convenient since I am a full-time employee, I still prefer the classroom environment. With that being said, I thought the class was very well structured, the professor stayed in constant communication with her students via email and her blog. The only thing I would change, if possible, would be to have a classroom meeting at least once a week where personal interaction could be fostered.

Language and Culture

One concept that I found exceedingly interesting in this class was that of Language and Communication. As I discussed in a post back in June, the relationship between language, communication and even cultural or social constructs is fascinating especially given my areas of interest and minors in Spanish and Latin American Studies. The way in which a culture identifies with a language, helps to shape the culture and vice versa. The immersion of language and culture in the way in which we communicate is specific to each culture and helps distinguish cultures from one another. For this reason, my interest is spiked whenever the three are combined: language, culture and communication. As we read in the Trenholm text, “a concept that is central to the language of one culture may be translated into another language only with difficulty,” (Trenholm, p.337) and therefore makes the study of these differences even more interesting. As we have learned from the text, and my own personal experiences from studying abroad, part of the communication process is learning these language and cultural differences, and being able to appreciate the differences.

Models

An interesting idea discussed in Chapter 2 of Trenholm is that of the model and how it can sometimes give us a skewed perception of reality instead of a true likeness. Though tempting, I will not go into the “model” debate in the fashion sense, but rather use an example that recently came up from work. We are to move to a new office in November and this past Monday, our CEO came to visit our office from Taiwan. While here, our CEO was only shown a model of our new office since he couldn’t make the trip to go and see it in person. Immediately he took issue with the front entrance of the model, due to the fact we will be sharing our reception area with another company. In this way, the representation we had created for our CEO brought about a miscommunication that caused controversy within our company. Luckily we were able to rearrange our plans and take our CEO to see the new office in person and completely resolve the issue, however I thought the books description of the miscommunications which can arise from models was valid and highly relevant to my work.

The games we play

After reading in the text about the pragmatic perspective, it makes sense to think of communication as, “a system of interlocking, interdependent behaviors that become patterned over time,” however I feel that to apply this concept, cultural and environmental differences must be accounted for to generalize to all communication contexts. For those who have grown up, or assimilated to cultural norms can will have assumed communication norms which dictate a pattern of conversation. It gets a bit tricky to generalize this idea, since so many communication circumstances can arise between all the possible situations you might encounter. For example, my family is a very loud, over-bearing Italian(ish) family which has its own set of communication norms; just like in a game we all know and understand the rules of communication and therefore we all know how to play the “game”. However, these rules that we’ve established that work particularly for my family cannot, and maybe should not, be generalized to other families, or communication situations. For this reason, it would be like a gymnast trying to play a game of golf at the US Open-not nearly the same rules, skill sets or scoring system.

Siesta

When trying to think of examples of a social construction, the first that came to my mind was of a Spanish siesta. When I was living in Barcelona, every afternoon from anytime between 2-6pm, the busy streets would calm down, store fronts would close up, and life literally stood still. During this time, nothing was scheduled-no class, no meetings, nothing mandatory was desired of you by the Spanish. Instead they invited you to relax in the afternoon with a siesta, or afternoon nap, or any other kind of leisurely activity. Though most people don’t take the entire afternoon off every day, there is no scheduled time for this “siesta”. Offices close on a whim, when the manager feels like leaving, so business hours are never posted on store fronts and it’s always TBD. This lifestyle, and idea of a siesta, is a way of living life that doesn’t exist in American culture. We have a very rigid idea of time and scheduling, especially in the business world; something the Spanish could never adhere to. For this reason, I love living in Barcelona for the 5, almost 6 months I was there. Every afternoon, I was able to be free from school and walk around the city, enjoying friends, sights and more often than not, wine or sangria. In a sense the Spanish have a much more open and free interpretation on how to live life, and taught me how to slow down. Deadlines and schedules were replaced with meaningful conversations and friendships which understood delayed deadlines and worked around schedules instead of dictating them. It is hard to say which culture has a happier lifestyle, but one thing I know for sure is I do sincerely miss my afternoon siesta.

Here's a glimpse at what I would find on my afternoon explorations in Spain when most were taking a siesta:

Suvery's

One interesting topic from Chapter 13 that invades my daily life, is Surveying. At work, as an HR Specialist, I often create, implement and disseminate surveys to my company in an attempt to receive object and honest feedback to better serve my company. The interesting I have learned from creating surveys for my company, is how hard it actually is to write a good survey, and also, how hard it is to get a good response from that survey. Since we do not want to force people to take our surveys (that would create a bias) we normally list the surveys in the lunchroom or in our company-wide newsletter, using free sites such as SurveyMonkey. The problem herein lies with response rate. Since we are such a small company, even if half of our employees respond, to generalize the date to all employees would be hard to do. Also, when writing a survey about health and nutrition (I’m about to launch a Fitness Campaign at work) for the company, it is difficult to come up with questions that are not leading or manipulative to compile the information I wish in order to shape the Fitness Campaign in the direction I want. In addition, with such a sensitive topic, it was difficult to write questions which would not cross boundaries at work, such as weight and exercise, which in other settings would be appropriate. For this reason, the section in Chapter 13 on survey research was valuable and interesting to read since it pertains to what I do at work.

Culture Shock: The case of the unflushable toilet paper

The point of ethnographic study is to immerse yourself in another’s culture, putting aside all prejudices and biases to better understand a culture different than your own. What is unique about this study is that the researcher actually plays an active role in the research process; they live, breathe, eat and sleep with the subjects. For this reason the data that can be discovered is far richer and more intense than any other type of research process (arguably) however often times, morals, values and beliefs of the researcher can come into conflict with the study. Since we can never rid ourselves of all preconceived notions, if partaking in ethnographic studies, we must know what morals, values and beliefs are strongest in our own mind in order to try and suppress our desire to change that of others, and be able to instead, watch and observe. As the example in Chapter 13 of Trenholm’s text shows, the meaning and significance behind gang symbols and acronyms was a secret and cherished part of the gang’s inner workings; sharing of that inner information was a violation of their moral standards. However to the researcher, it was evidence for his study which showed the unique and meaningful side of gang life. If I were to complete an ethnographic study, I would need to first consider the environment in which I was to submerse myself in, and try to foresee what differences could arise.

To highlight a small problem that happened to me when I lived in Peru, I will share an example of a culture shocks, which is still, to this day, hilarious to me. Since I lived in Cuzco, Peru, the sewage system of this particular city (and most of the country I might add) is not comparable to that of our American system. While we are used to using toilet paper in restrooms, and flushing it, Peruvians are not. I discovered this fact the hard way. Upon arriving to my new home with my new host family, after traveling for quite some time in an airplane and bus, my family had prepared a wonderful welcome meal. Before sitting down to eat however, I needed to use the facilities. After using in a normal American fashion (toilet paper in toiletàflush) immediately my stomach started to sink when I saw the water rising in the toilet and the paper coming back up. Flustered, and a little embarrassed, I ran out to my brand new host family and explained my plight in Spanish to them. Lucky for me, they had a great sense of humor and we were able to laugh about the cultural difference over our meal when they explained to me how they use the garbage bin to dispose of toilet paper.

I share this somewhat embarrassing story (in case any of you ever travel to a South American country) and to highlight not a moral, but cultural difference/potential problem which can arise when you immerse yourself in a new culture.

My awesome family from Peru who helped explain the cultural differences of Peru!

Research Methods that come to life

While studying Communication at Cal Poly, I took a class entirely dedicated to Rhetorical Criticism. This was one of my favorite classes since it actually put to use the skills we were developing as COMM majors. What made this course particularity interesting, and hence why Rhetorical Criticism is so interesting, was due to the written assignment in which I used Rhetorical Criticism to analyze the “Status update” on Facebook as a new form of communication.  This allowed me to apply the lessons to a real life, and modern day communication medium, which is arguably one of the most popular forms of social media out there.

In response to the latter part of the question, if I were to study an aspect of deception I would use a mixed method approach in which I utilized Conversation Analysis, Ethnography and Unobtrusive Methods. By doing so I would be able to tract an aspect of deception through the sender/receiver relationship using Conversation Analysis, then experience it (if I were following a particular type of person who used deception) with Ethnography, and finally construct or study a pattern that emerges through Unobtrusive methods.

A word of advice!

Chapter 8 was stock-full of great topics to discuss, and being that I am currently employed in HR, most of them applied to my life exceptionally, thus making choosing one to discuss very difficult. However I was able to narrow down my selection based on what peaked my interest due to my job. In HR, I am in charge of everything from recruiting to the new hire process, among many other things. For this reason the section that starts with, “Fitting in: Entering New Organizational Cultures,” (Trenholm, 2010) caught my attention. This section explains the culture shock which occurs when a new employee enters a new work environment. From an HR point of view, this is something I am very in touch with, and continuously concerned with. Knowing, understanding, relating and integrating a company culture is a task which I monitor, primarily when we bring in new employees. I just recently did a research project for my company even, looking at the top 100 companies to work for (based on Forbes list) and put together a presentation of the top companies’ corporate values. Though my company has our own set of values, I tracked the trending values throughout the top companies, to gain insight on what makes them so successful. From this research I learned that most companies (that are happy and productive) strive towards creating a “family environment” at the workplace by working on “teams” instead of with “coworkers” and providing a healthy and stable work environment. All of this pertains to not only what Trenholm was explaining in her text, but what most employees look for when they begin the search for a company.  For this reason, a word of advice to all college students looking for first-time employment: PLEASE DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Research the company you’re interviewing with before the interview not only so you can speak knowledgably about them, but to make sure you will like the work environment. Not every company will be the right fit for your personality and vice versa, so take the time to look up the company’s corporate values, message and mission statement; it will make you a happier employee in the long run!

Brainwashed?

In response to McLuhan’s idea, I do agree that the medium is as important as the message. The way in which we hear or digest a message can dramatically change the way we react to it. The example in the book, of FDR’s “fireside chats” was successful because FDR used a new medium, the radio, to reach his audience in a personal manner which in that time, had never been done before. On the other hand however, I do not know if I completely agree with McLuhan’s idea of television as a cool medium. The book describes this idea of television as something we have to fill in detail, and use our minds to break down the information. I tend to disagree in this section. Studies have shown that television changes angles more often than every 30 seconds. For this reason, and the advancement of technology, HD, and special effects, I tend to believe that through this enhancement television helps to create an alternate reality in which the message is already crafted for us. Television advertisements work, mainly because they use the medium, the T.V., to make us believe we need a new car, or if we eat Carl’s Jr. Hamburgers in a bathing suit on top of a car, we’ll magically look like Paris Hilton (probably not the message for that commercial, but it’s just so ridiculous I couldn’t help but use it).  For this reason, though we must use cognitive appraisal to decompress a message through the medium of television, I believe most times that message is already created and we do not need to “fill in detail” as Trenholm’s book claims.

Cyberspaceaphobia

I have never made a friendship/relationship that was strictly through cyberspace. I probably watch too much Law & Order: SVU, but I still get a little nervous about putting personal information on the web, or entering into any situation where I encounter strangers via the internet. I have however, used the internet to maintain a relationship which was formed in person. For example, my host family from Peru, who are too far to call, email me to this day. The reason I am so hesitant to begin any sort of communication in cyberspace with strangers (putting my fake SVU knowledge aside) is due to the types of miscommunication that can arise from complete cyber-interaction. As we have previously learned, Nonverbal Communication, as well as Duck’s Interpersonal Attraction Theory, are both dependent on the cues we pick up during an interaction with another human being. Though technology has made it easier to communicate, and even offers emoticons to help with nonverbal cues, there is still no comparison to face-to-face interaction. In my current role as a HR Specialist for AVer Information, one of our companies’ products is video conferencing. I have used this technology to conduct an interview with a candidate from out-of-state, and though the clarity and quality of the video interview was exceptional, there are still so many cues missed due to the “cyber” nature of the interview.

Are you in or out?

One idea from Chapter 7 that was very interesting to me was the idea of a group prototype, an idea produced from social identity theorists. This term conveys the idea that within a group, we have a mental idea of what type of person, mental, physical and psychological, fit into the group, and what type does not. This idea caught my interested because of my involvement in sports as well as Greek Life. In every organization, even work environments, there is a group prototype. Though prototypes can sometimes become detrimental to the group if they allow for no flexibility, there is reasoning behind having such structure. By creating a social norm within a group, you allow for shared values, beliefs and norms which leads to group cohesion. On a sports team this is necessary to build the trust necessary to be successful at your game. For Greek Life, having a group prototype helps people find the house that has people which they can relate to. In this way, it is interesting from a HR standpoint how people create group prototypes, and recognizing what they are so when hiring new employees, they are sure to fit in.

YES/NO

Duck’s theory definitely makes sense and is a great base to the reasoning behind our choices when getting close to someone. For me, the main characteristics that determine attractiveness are initial physical appearance and interaction cues. Though physical interaction, in the end, does not determine the potential for a romantic partner, I think it would be false to say that to some degree I do not base part of my first impression on their appearance. More importantly however, is the next stage in Duck’s theory, interaction cues. This is where the YES/NO factor lies for me, for it is during this stage that you learn whether you are cohesive with someone. If I feel that the interaction is “smooth and comfortable” as Trenholm describes in Chapter 6, then the next important steps can be taken to get to know someone. Sociological factors, especially distance between a relationships have definitely played a factor in my current relationship. Having had a bad experience in the past with an ex-boyfriend who lived far away, I was resistant to enter into another. However after maturing over the course of my college years, I gave into a friend who lives far away, but with whom I was able to connect with on a psychological level. Though these filters are important in helping us organize the way we determine relationships, it is important to remember, as this last questions begs us to consider, rules can always be broken.

Either/Or

The hardest pattern, in my opinion to break, would depend on the person and their personality type. I know the purpose of this question was to make us choose one in particular, however I would argue that a very aggressive and assertive person would have just as difficult a time changing from a rigid complementary pattern as a very submissive person would have changing from a submissive symmetrical relationship. I argue this only because changing a personality pattern to accommodate a relationship can only work if the parties involved are dedicated to keeping that change. Otherwise, in my opinion, the party which changed their pattern in order to accommodate would end up resenting the other party for making the change. However, I do feel that the most damaging is the rigid complementary pattern. In this one-up, one-down relationship pattern, tensions arise when the submissive becomes tired of always giving in. From personal experience with my parents, I can see how as you mature and grow, this sort of relationship cannot sustain productive communication. In terms of which type would be most damaging to self-esteem of the individuals involved, I would again have to argue for the personality type difference again. Perhaps those in a competitive symmetrical relationship will enjoy the pressure; however one partner might have a moment where they cannot take it anymore. On the other hand, in a submissive symmetrical relationship, one partner might pressure the other to be more opinioned and create tension. In any relationship there are variables, I feel, that make it unique and too intricate to label “hardest” or “most damaging”. Communication therefore, is the key to unlocking those variables and allowing people to work through their intricacies to produce a happy relationship.

Te amo?

To me, understanding language and how it was created in order to help humans communicate is beautiful. Having two minors from Cal Poly in Spanish and Latin American Studies, I have been able to study the differences between Spanish and Latin American uses of language with English. While living in Spain, I volunteered at an elderly retirement home, and practiced Spanish with the people who lived there. One of my favorites, Esperanza, was kind enough to speak mostly Spanish (not Catalan, the national dialect of Barcelona, which is a combination of Spanish, French and Basque, and a language so hard to understand, you have to be born there to understand it) with me and help me practice. During one of our conversations, I remember using the phrase “I love that”. She corrected me in Spanish by saying “me gusta”, reminding me that in Spanish, the term “to love” (amor) is not used in the context that we use it in America. While we can love anything from Dinosaurs, to chicken nuggets, in Spain, when you use the word “I love” it has an emotional attachment far beyond the capacity of an extinct creature, or inanimate object to reciprocate. For this reason, the topic I found extremely interesting in the book was on page 335, “Culture and Language Style”. The example given above highlights the idea the author talks about when saying, “a concept that is central to the language of one culture may be translated into another language only with difficulty,” (Trenholm, p.337).  To me this is a fascinating concept that people can create a tool, language, to help communicate, but have different uses for that tool. By this I mean, the culture, environment and language all shape the way people communicate, and discovering the differences in the way we communicate helps us not only to understand another’s language, but our own as well.  

Ponder this!

2. Do you believe in the rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises? What social institutions and practices are based on these beliefs?

This question was fun, and reminded me of my psyc class at Cal Poly, with my nutty-but highly intelligent-professor. In regards to the first part of the question, the rationality premise, which states that most people can and will use logic to find the truth, I must say I agree in part. The part that I agree with is that since we are human, logic is our mode to truth; the part I somewhat disagree with is defining “logic”. For me, I know that my “logic”, or the way I come to solve a problem, is or can be completely different than someone else’s. This is why I only partially agree. If logic can be defined in our own terms, and can vary from individual to individual, then yes I agree with the rationality premise. In terms of social institutions that are based on this belief, law, justice system, even politics can all be considered founded in this premise.

In regards to the perfectibility premise; the premise that we are all born in sin, but can overcome it with hard work and dedication, reminds me a little too much of puritanical teachings. I do believe that we all have the capability to overcome and adversity that’s set in front of us through hard work, however the whole, “born in sin” part is hard to believe. I prescribe more with the nurture belief than nature (though I think both play a part in how we’re shaped). Social institutions that are based on this belief of course are religion; perhaps one could even argue the “American Dream” has roots in this belief.

The final premise, the mutability premise, the belief that humans can be bettered by their environment, I do agree with. However my approval is also tied to the capability of humans to recognize their environment, and their capability to change it. There are so many situations in which an individual cannot change their physical environment, due to economic or political situations which inhibit their ability, however this does not exclude their mental environment. This is where the psyc class comes back to me, and makes me question the questions posed. If we are incapable of changing our physical environment, can we change our mental environment to improve ourselves and therefore apply to the mutability premise?

Food for thought!!

I absolutely agree with Ruth Benedict in her description of humans as products of our culture.  Having been lucky enough to have traveled to several countries, there is no doubt in my mind that our environment is a great factor in the way we turn out as human beings, not to mention how we communicate.

The greatest example I can offer was my time spent living with a family in Peru. While there, I had two younger brothers, Diego (5) and Fabio (3).

This is Diego!

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And this is Fabio and my Mom!

All of us on a family picnic!!

My Peruvian Parents were both tour guides and loving parents to these two little boys. However, in many Latin American cultures there is a term called, machismo, which is an attitude that ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism. Peruvians definitely fall into this category of Latin American countries that helped form the meaning of the word. For this reason, these two boys, my little brothers, were able to boss my Peruvian mother around like they were her husband. She catered to their every whim, and in return, helped to build the cultural identity of a Peruvian male.  

I do not share story as a negative part of my experience, but rather to show the vast difference in cultural identities which can help to form our opinions of our own sex. Though in the United States we’ve had a history of women’s’ suffrage and the fight for equality, women in comparison to Peruvian women, have immensely more rights and freedom. In this way, our culture has shaped how we communicate, as children (like my two little brothers in Peru),  to how we communicate as adults.

Emblems and Italian gestures

In Chapter five, the section on Emblems was highly interesting to me, especially in its relation to culture and communication. As we have already learned, everything about communication is relative; relative to the if we are the speaker, the receiver; relative to the manner in which we perceive the message; the country we live in; the way we were raised, along with numerous other factors. The same, as noted in Chapter Five, goes for nonverbal communication, and in this particular example, emblems. When traveling abroad, I learned the hard way which Italian hand gestures were derogatory or not. Coming from an Italian family, my grandmother is the source for my hand gestures which I thought would be fun to try when in Italy. However, I learned that not only do different countries use different emblems, but in fact different regions have particular meanings for emblems as well.

While my family is from the Tuscan part of Italy, hand gestures from there are not interpreted the same way in the city of Torino. Learning this only helps to reinforce the need for open-mindedness and understanding, as well as tying back into an earlier post; learning to withhold judgment until we can make an objective decision.

Do you agree that men and women use language differently? In what areas? Give specific examples.

I definitely agree that men and women use and interpret language differently, due to the gender norms we adopt as we’re growing up. In the breakdown in Chapter four on page 89 of the “Conclusions Drawn from Research on Gender Differences in Communication,” there are many points which I agree with, but some I have trouble believing. For example, I do agree that men are less likely to share personal information in casual conversation than women, and stick to activities as their main form of “communicating” with other male friends. I also agree that women, unfortunately, use more disclaimers, tag questions and qualifiers than men do, especially in the workplace.

However there are some areas of communication I feel our generation has helped to change the status quo. For example, the research that shows that men successfully initiate topics more often than women, or that they offer more jokes and witticisms than women falls short in our generation. Though women still fight the uphill battle for perfect equality (we still make less money than men on average) I do not see gender as a great indicator of wit, humor or communication initiation. Instead I believe that the personality type as well as environment of surrounding the communication will predict which gender is more likely to initiate or use humor.

The next section in the reading was particularly interesting. The different schools of thought on whether our language is created by our gender, or our gender helps create the language we use, is an intriguing intellectual battle. I feel that both gender, culture and communication are all inextricably linked and therefore the order does not necessarily matter. It reminds me of the old adage, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” In this case, which influences which, GenderàLanguage or LanguageàGender?

Don't judge me!!

Is it possible to perceive others without in some way judging or categorizing them? If so, how? If not, how can we make the judgments we do make more fair?

It is never possible to perceive others without judging or categorizing them. Judgments are what help us make sense of the world; they’re how our brains categorize and understand all the stimuli we are faced with everyday. It is also impossible to enter into any interaction or communication without bringing in our prior knowledge and experience. These are what shape how we react in any situation. Since it is impossible to remain completely objective in any interaction, we have to be aware of our biases so that we may know when and how to use them. By this I mean that if we know we are predisposed to react to a situation due to prior experience, and we are aware of this predisposition, there are ways we can work around it.

For example, I currently work in Human Resources. Since I am the gatekeeper for my boss, the Human Resources Director, I am confronted multiple times a day with different questions and interruptions from coworkers. When I am working on an important project or deadline, I have a tendency to get agitated when interrupted by coworkers. However, knowing this, and knowing myself, I can remove myself from my desk and work elsewhere where I cannot be interrupted and therefore do not make rash judgments about my coworkers who interrupt me (such as being annoyed by their questions, or even thinking them rude or thoughtless).

In other situations, trying not to judge people presents a larger problem. As I mentioned above, I work in Human Resources and recruiting and interviewing make-up a large portion of my job. In this case, the judgments I make about people from the time I first speak to them up until our last interaction, are the judgments that decide whether that candidate is hired. To make my opinions and biases more fair, my company utilizes the team interview tactic. This means that many members of our team participate in the interview, and each takes turns talking to the interviewee. By doing this my judgments are equalized with others opinions which might not be the same. In this way, a well rounded opinion of the candidate can be formed.

Visual Aids

In Chapter 10, I found the section on Visual Aids (Trenholm, p.276). It is impossible to ignore in this day and age the added benefits that technology gives. This translates to the world of public speaking as well. As the book explained, visual effects can help your speech be more memorable, more enjoyable and more interactive. However, it is important to note the drawbacks of using technology in a speech. Technology should do no more than enhance a speech; not take over for it. This is one of the biggest pitfalls of many speakers I feel. For example, many teachers have included PowerPoint presentations in their classroom lectures. Relying on this technology, and using it to teach their information rather than putting the effort into the actual lecture is a pitfall I think most students have had to endure. This being said, PowerPoint can also enhance a presentation by a teacher if used properly. For these reasons, I believe the section on visual aids was highly interesting and valuable reminder for all public speaking occasions.