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Currently viewing the tag: "communication"
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“What a Fuller Man did was virtuosic. ‘The Fuller art of opening doors was regarded by connoisseurs of cold-turkey peddling in somewhat the same way that balletomanes esteem a performance of the Bolshoi — as pure poetry,’ American Heritage wrote. ‘In the hands of a deft Fuller dealer, brushes became not homely commodities but specialized tools obtainable nowhere else.’ Yet he was also virtuous, his constant presence in neighborhoods turning him neighborly. ‘Fuller Brush Men pulled teeth, massaged headaches, delivered babies, gave emetics for poison, prevented suicides, discovered murders, helped arrange funerals, and drove patients to hospitals.’ ” -Daniel H. Pink, To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, poem, or haiku involving a door-to-door salesman.
Journaling Prompt: How do you react to sales tactics? What works and what doesn’t if someone is trying to sell you something? Why do you react the way you do?
Art Prompt: Fuller Brush Man
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Tell your audience how they can become better at sales through studying the example of the Fuller Brush Man.
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We were getting nowhere talking about women. Both of us had plenty of education on the subject and neither had ever passed the course. It had not stopped us from continuing to enroll for more class work, semester after semester. -Eric Wilder, Big Easy
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a dialogue between two men trying to decipher the behavior of women.
Journaling Prompt: Write about any confusion you feel about how people of the opposite sex act.
Art Prompt: Gender Gap
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write a humorous piece about how difficult it is to understand the opposite sex. Include self-deprecating humor.
Photo Credit: Kurt Magoon on Flickr
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Research done by University of Wisconsin-Madison doctoral student Emily Cramer and professor of communication Edward Mabry indicates that families in which open conversation is encouraged tend to use “richer” technologies, such as Facebook and Skype, to keep in touch with each other, while families who prefer to avoid conflict and enforce conformity stick with e-mail, texting, and phone calls. -Kecia Lynn
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your protagonist’s character sketch. How did his or her family of origin communicate? How does his or her current family communicate?
Journaling Prompt: What is your family’s electronic communication style?
Art Prompt: Electronic family communication styles
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about your family’s communication style.
Photo Credit: khalid Albaih on Flickr
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Teams can execute better and faster than traditional hierarchies. They have the power to increase productivity and morale or destroy it. Working effectively, a team can make better decisions, solve more complex problems, and do more to enhance creativity and build skills than individuals working alone. The team is the only unit that has the flexibility and resources to respond quickly to changes that have become commonplace in today’s world. -Ken Blanchard, Leading at a Higher Level
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write an inspiring story or scene about team work.
Journaling Prompt: Write about your best experience as part of a team.
Art Prompt: The Power of Teams
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inspire your audience to join a team.
Photo Credit: lumaxart on Flickr
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…he held up the finished paper airplane. He went to the living room window, blew softly on the plane, and launched it out over the alley. “You thought I was joking, didn’t you?” he grinned.
“When you said you got messages by paper airplane? Of course I did.” The plane was a scrap of white, spiraling over the next roof in the updraft—and then it was gone. Not carried out of sight, but vanished between one moment and the next.
The phouka came and leaned on the other post of the doorframe, so that their hips barely brushed. “Of course, the very idea is a joke of sorts. We’re fond of children’s toys and games. The best of them have the power of symbol and ritual, polished and perfected through years of repetition.” -Emma Bull, War for the Oaks
Fiction Writing Prompt: Create a unique means of communication using toys and use it in a story or scene.
Journaling Prompt: What is your favorite magical being and why?
Art Prompt: Paper airplanes
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the difficulties of communication that is not face to face. Give your audience information on how to avoid misunderstandings.
Photo Credit: Minhimalism on Flickr
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Researchers wrote that “making amends can facilitative forgiveness, but not all amends can fully compensate for offenses.” Apology may be needed to repair damage fully, but it may be a “silent forgiveness,” while restitution without apology may lead to a “hollow forgiveness” in which the offenders are treated better but not necessarily forgiven.
“The results suggest that if transgressors seek both psychological and interpersonal forgiveness from their victims, they must pair their apologies with restitution,” they wrote. “Apparently, actions and words speak loudest in concert.” -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene between characters who have both offended against each other who struggle to find forgiveness.
Journaling Prompt: Write about your experience with forgiveness, apologies, and restitution.
Art Prompt: Forgiveness
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about how to apologize.
Photo Credit: Sherif Salama on Flickr
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But when it came to the Princess’s turn to give an acid drop to the dragon, he smiled a very wide smile, and wagged his tail to the very last long inch of it, as much as to say, “Oh, you nice, kind, pretty little Princess.” But deep down in his wicked purple heart he was saying, “Oh, you nice, fat, pretty little Princess, I should like to eat you instead of these silly acid drops.” But of course nobody heard him except the Princess’s uncle, and he was a magician, and accustomed to listening at doors. It was part of his trade. -Edith Nesbitt, The Book of Dragons (free Kindle book)NOTE: an acid drop is a old fashioned boiled sweet with a sharp taste
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or poem about a princess who tries to befriend a dragon.
Journaling Prompt: How do you flirt with danger?
Art Prompt: The Princess, the Dragon, and the Magician
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about how we try to allay our fears by placating them. Give your audience a better solution.
Photo Credit: thejbird on Flickr
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Research by Kniffin and Wansink measured the amount of jealousy reported by current romantic partners if one of them were contacted by an ex lover and subsequently engaged in several food- and drink-based activities.
“We consistently found that meals elicit more jealousy than face-to-face interactions that do not involve eating — such as having coffee,” Kniffin said. “These results are consistent for both men and women.”
For couples who are attuned to relationship risks, this study suggests that men and women who “do lunch” run the risk of a jealous spouse or partner at home.
“It’s key to remember that from your spouse’s perspective, it’s not ‘just lunch.’ While meals can strengthen social relationships, they can also destroy them,” Wansink said. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write an arugment between two characters after one of them has had lunch with an ex.
Journaling Prompt: If you have an ex, write about how you balance that relationship with your current relationship.
Art Prompt: Lunch with an Ex
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about strategies for balancing past and present relationships.
Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon on Flickr
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The four culture types identified, which together comprised 89 percent of families surveyed, are:
- The Faithful: These parents base their moral compass on religion and seek to maintain traditions within their homes and through their children.
- The Engaged Progressives: These parents view morality through a lens of personal responsibility and freedom and strive to raise “responsible choosers.”
- The Detached: These parents don’t feel very close to their children and tend to adopt a “let kids be kids and let the cards fall where they may” attitude.
- The American Dreamers: These parents are very optimistic about their children’s future and focus heavily on giving them every possible advantage while also protecting them from negative influences. -Kecia Lynn
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene about something that happens in within a family. Re-write the same scene for each of the family types.
Journaling Prompt: Where does your family fall in this list? Write about how you feel about your family type.
Art Prompt: Families
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about the four American family types.
Photo Credit: normalityrelief on Flickr
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Whenever we do not learn from our mistakes, it is often because we are attacked for those mistakes. We are called names and generally downgraded by other people who discover our mistakes—good old seagull managers. When our self-concept is under attack, we feel the need to defend ourselves and our actions, even to the extent of distorting the facts. When people become defensive, they never hear the feedback they are getting. As a result, little learning takes place. -Ken Blanchard, Leading at a Higher Level
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story about an employee at an office run by a seagull manager.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a boss you have not enjoyed working for.
Art Prompt: Seagull Management
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about management styles, focusing on seagull management and why it is not effective.
Photo Credit: indiamos on Flickr
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I believe that the most important thing about writing is to HAVE FUN! You can worry about things like commas, point of view, tenses, etc., later. Right now, just start writing!
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