Posts

Etiquette and communication

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Here's a wonderful brief post on etiquette and communication. A neat summary of some essential rules.. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-timeless-rules-of-etiquette-to-live-by_us_5a81b99ee4b0c6726e15bff4

Making Choices

Here is a Word file of an article published in Etc: A Review of General Semantics , vol. 73, no 2, April 2016, pp. 173-179. The journal is a bit behind its normal publication schedule so this was just published. Making Choices* Living is a process of making choices. Much as you cannot not communicate, you cannot not make choices. Making choices is inevitable--even, as William James noted “When you have to make a choice and don’t make it that is in itself a choice.” You make choices constantly—you chose what to wear, where to shop, what to eat, whom to call, what to read, what websites to access. Some choices are easy to make and some are difficult. Selecting a shirt or the way you want your eggs is an easy decision, largely because your ultimate choice doesn’t make much difference. But, some choices are extremely significant—where to go to college, what person to marry, what type of medical treatment to undergo, or what profession to enter. And, of course, these are the choices that ar...

Conversational Analysis

Tools to analyze and ultimately improve conversation and communication generally have traditionally come in the form of suggestions or guidelines written in a textbook or a how-to-do-it trade book. But, recently, software programs such as Cogito have been developed. These programs are based on an extremely thorough analysis of all sorts of communication signals, especially nonverbal signals, for example, varied or consistent emphasis, mimicking or mirroring, and vocal-cord tension. They read these signals as you are speaking and they offer guidance (don’t vary your emphasis too much, you’re not mirroring the other person’s nonverbals, the person is getting agitated). The target audience for such tools is vast and is currently being tested with and in use with some health care providers and call-in centers.  Here are a few references that might prove helpful. http://www.cogitocorp.com/ Bercovici, J. (2017, July/August). The machine that makes you human. Inc. 76-82. Zarya, V. (2017, ...
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Here's a good example of the importance of using appropriate and inappropriate cultural identifiers. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/06/03/bill-maher-hbo-host-slammed-for-use-n-word.html

Prosocial Communication

This discussion of prosocial communication is a preliminary version of a section I'm considering adding to the new edition of The Interpersonal Communication Book . It would be the final section of the last chapter. I'd be very interested in hearing what you think of this section. Any comments, positive or negative, will be greatly appreciated. Prosocial Communication    In Chapter 10 we looked at the dark side of interpersonal relationships (jealousy and relationship violence) and, in this chapter, we looked at the misuses of power (sexual harassment, bullying, and power plays), other “dark” sides. As a counterpoint to these “dark” sides we need also to highlight the more positive sides of interpersonal communication and relationships or what we might call prosocial communication . Here we consider the nature of prosocial communication, the factors that influence or inhibit such communication, some examples of prosocial communication, and some of its potential effects. The Na...
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Here is something I'm very proud of. Thank you Champ Ravirath. Champ Ravirath Yesterday at 2:00am  ·  Bangkok, Thailand  ·  การพัฒนาความสามารถในการสื่อสารระหว่างบุคคลโดยใช้โปรแกรมฝึกอบรมเชิงจิตวิทยา • Thesis • 267 pages •  Joseph DeVito  Your IC approach was published in Thailand as training methodology! See Translation
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Cultural Identifiers Here's a good example of the value of learning the appropriate cultural identifiers and the embarrassment that follows from not learning/using them from the Olympics. In brief: the announcer said:  “She gives a hug to Lili,” Marlowe [the sports announcer] said. “That is her husband. She married Lili in 2013.”