Christian Communication Training
Celine Dion’s voice is rich and her rendition of O Holy Night is about the best I’ve heard. It’s spectacular. Enjoy!
Music is a powerful form of communication. It uses several of your senses and it’s fun. For more information on fun ways to learn communication skills for preschoolers through adults, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
I pray you have been blessed so far by this year’s Video Countdown to CHRISTmas. This is the second year on the countdown for Enya’s hauntingly beautiful version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Enjoy!
Music videos are a powerful form of communication. They appeal to several of your senses and are fun. For more information on fun ways to learn communication skills for preschoolers through adults, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
This is the second time on the countdown for George Winston’s The Carol of the Bells. I found this last year!
Music is a powerful form of communication. It uses several of your senses and it’s fun. For more information on fun ways to learn communication skills for preschoolers through adults, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
Always a favorite here on the countdown is Celtic Woman’s Silent Night.
Music is a powerful form of communication. It uses several of your senses and it’s fun. For more information on fun ways to learn communication skills for preschoolers through adults, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
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Gee, you only had to pay a quarter in the old days! Things sure “our” getting expensive!
For more communication fun, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
(Pretend you hear old fashioned news media typing here.)
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FLASH: The Homeschool Post has just announced this year’s Homeschool Blog Awards!
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The Homeschool Post is a community of homeschooling parents and students. Once a year, they hold a contest to recognize and encourage blogs that are run by homeschoolers. I am honored and humbled to find that Art of Eloquence’s own, Communication FUNdamentals, has been nominated and you’ll probably laugh when you hear in what category: Funniest Homeschool Blog!
There are many categories of blogs run by homeschool moms, dads and students (12 and over) who have varied interests. Some of the categories include: Best Nature Blog; Best Encourager; Best Current Events, Opinions or Politics Blog; and Best Homemaking Blog.
There is even a category for Best Family or Group Blog which includes On the Company Porch, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s blog where I am a contributing author.
If my blog has blessed you by tickling your funnybone (or your fancy), I’d be honored if you would vote for Art of Eloquence! Voting ends at midnight CST on November 18th.
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This has been a conTEST. If this had been an actual humor emergency, a Rutabaga Man in funny nose and glasses would have appeared on your screen with instructions on where to turn for further hilarious instruction.
Ooops…
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I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog…
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It’s Nostalgia Week here on Communication FUNdamentals. Art of Eloquence will be eight years old in just a few days. Looking back at how I started out, I began reminiscing about the “Good Old Days.”
Remember when manners were in style? When parents taught us that if we didn’t have anything nice to say, we shouldn’t say anything at all? Remember when saying “please” and “thank you” was not just nice, but customary? Remember when strangers were kind and we could…disagree in grace?
10 Quick Rules for Disagreeing in Grace
By JoJo Tabares
So how should we object? What’s the best way to disagree? How can we voice our opposition when someone presents us with something that goes against what we believe? How can we discuss and share instead of antagonize and frustrate? How? Just the way you would wish someone else would disagree with YOU!
Here are 10 quick rules for disagreeing so that it will open a door to discussion instead of slamming it shut on your relationship:
1. Don’t Accuse
Instead of coming out and saying someone is wrong, just share what you know. Nobody wants to hear they are wrong and if they hear it, they are likely not listening to anything else you say. They may indeed be wrong, but you need to ask yourself if you want to be right or if you want to be heard!
2. Listening Without Interrupting
It doesn’t look like you are anxious to share your views if you interrupt. To them, it feels like you aren’t giving due attention to their arguments. If you are not willing to listen to others, they will not be willing to listen to you!
3. Be Calm
The best way to share your views with anyone is in a calm and rational manner. The more passionate you are about a topic, the harder that will be. When you give a speech, being passionate about it is beneficial, but when you are trying to change someone’s mind or heart, it is a deterrent. Nobody wants to be forced into accepting something. They want to come to their own conclusions after hearing all the facts.
4. Don’t Condemn the Person; Question the Issues
Remember always that the Lord loves His children. It’s the sin He hates. Keep in mind that people are not machines. We don’t switch our sin on and off. Ask questions. Share. Condemn the action if you must, but never condemn the person that Jesus loves!
5. Give new Christians a Chance
Before I ever came to accept Jesus, I didn’t know His Word. I cannot accept what I do not know. I had to spend time reading the Bible before I could grow in my faith. As I grew closer to the Lord, the more I wanted to live my life for Him. I didn’t start off witnessing. It wasn’t until later that I decided not to participate in things like Santa and the Easter Bunny. Be sure not to stumble a fairly new Christian because he is not yet ready or willing to make a change.
6. Address their Concerns
If they ask you a question, by all means answer! Sometimes people may not come out and ask but you can tell they have a concern by their body language or their facial expression. If they object, by all means address it. Calmly share what you know about their concerns.
7. Say “I Dunno”
When you don’t know the answer someone needs, the most intelligent thing to say is “I dunno.” The quickest way to lose credibility with someone is to speak too quickly. If someone asks you something about the Bible and you can’t remember where the scripture is, tell them you will find it for them. You don’t need to have all of the Bible memorized and categorized in your head to share the Gospel. People appreciate honesty!
8. Let it Go
In order to avoid an argument, when they are no longer listening, stop talking! As soon as someone is giving off signals that they are not accepting your views, it’s usually best not to press the issue and begin an argument. Remember that the Lord may use you simply to plant a seed. Someone else may be sent to water it. Only God can change a heart and you may have already done your part. Don’t mess up God’s work! ROFL
9. Don’t Argue
Art of Eloquence offers a Tshirt Transfer and Puzzle Download with a very powerful saying on it. “Don’t argue with a fool. Someone watching might not be able to tell the difference” -Author Unknown Arguing only inflames the other party and renders them incapable of really listening to what you have to say. Arguing never persuades anyone and if it does, they certainly would never admit it!
10. Agree to Disagree
Tis better to agree to disagree and live to discuss another day than to fight for your right to be a pest! Sometimes people are not ready to hear or accept what you have to say. Sometimes you are only one in a long line of people the Lord will use to share Jesus with this person. Share and discuss in love and grace and then let it go. God is in control. Let Him work.
We have not been commanded to make Christians. We have merely been called to share God’s love and grace and mercies with those who would listen and pray for those who don’t.
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JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com
In November, Art of Eloquence will be eight years old! We’ve been having a great time with our visitors/customers with our birthday celebration and we’ve been giving away prizes! So far we gave away prizes for finding all eight FIMMs that are hiding throughout our site, for playing Communication BINGO over on our Facebook fan page, and we have tons of folks who have earned Birthday Bash Points toward our Grand Prize by either posting a link to any page of our site (and letting us know) or by purchasing any of our speech communication eProducts!
But the Art of Eloquence Birthday Bash is coming to an end this month! There are only a few more weeks left to enter for your chance to win a prize package of EIGHT Art of Eloquence products or product packages! One lucky winner with the most points by the end of this month is going to win a HUGE package of prizes! Check our Birthday Bash page for details on how to enter, but today I’d like to give everyone ANOTHER way to earn points toward the Grand Prize Package!
Come have some communication word fun! Solve this word scramble and earn 8 points toward our Birthday Bash Contest Grand Prize! Every single person who posts the correct answer will receive 8 more points toward the Birthday Bash Grand Prize! Ready? Here we go!
Which Art of Eloquence Speech and Debate eBook does this represent?
I’ll give you a hint: This study helps you understand what the Lord teaches us in His Word about how to communicate with each other and is the ONLY Art of Eloquence eStudy that adds even more content (through a secret page) every two months or so!
Everyone who posts the correct answer wins 8 points toward the Birthday Bash Grand Prize!
Wanna earn even more points? Post this blog post link on your Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Group, Blog or email group telling them about the challenge and email us with the link where you posted it and you’ll get 8 more points for each and every group you post it to!
According to Merriam Webster:
irony, noun
Definition of IRONY
1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other’s false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony
2 a : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning”
According to Friday Funnies:
see more Friends of Irony
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see more Friends of Irony
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see more Friends of Irony
For more Communication FUNdamentals, check out Art of Eloquence.com!
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I have a lot of fun pictures, videos and articles to share here on Communication FUNadamentals. What you may not know, is that you can get even more free articles packed with communication tips as well as free gifts and exclusive offers if you subscribe to our What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter!
We give away free gifts and products, usually for, but not limited to, the major holidays. Two weeks ago, we gave away a free copy of my very first JoJoisms eBook on Communication to ALL of our newsletter subscribers–no strings attached!
We also provide our Art of Eloquence newsletter subscribers with exclusive offers we do not offer ANYONE else! Last week we had a One Day Only Sale. It was a buy one HALF OFF; get one FREE sale! No special occasion, we just picked a date. We know times are tough out there and we just wanted to bless our subscribers with something we had never done before. By the way, we’d like to thank all of you who sent emails thanking us for the opportunity to purchase all the ePackages and individual eBooks you’ve been wanting at this amazing low rate. And a special thank you for each of you who shared with us how Art of Eloquence products have blessed your life and that of your children!
Another perk of being a What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter subscriber is that you get a free monthly article packed with tips for effective communication in your daily life. We’ve had many an article series come through the newsletter that eventually was incorporated into a book we now sell on the Art of Eloquence website. Our newsletter subscribers got the info for free ahead of time! We just finished a series on conflict and one on email. I just started a brand new series last month that will be about a year long on common communication myths. Last week I shared why communication isn’t just important for making speeches, but for every day life. Tomorrow, I am going to share an article I just finished on myth number 2: Communication is Easy. I’ll share how everyone is NOT born knowing how to communicate effectively and this is why so many misunderstandings occur. PLUS I’ll give subscribers tips and links to free resources to help you study this vital skill.
Another advantage to What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter is my new Ask JoJo segment that comes out the second Tuesday of each month. That’s where YOU get to ask me ANY communication question you like and I’ll answer it complete with tips and techniques. Since many of our subscribers face the same issues, it’s nice to be able to benefit from someone else’s questions! I try to answer 2-4 questions each month.
Aside from these things, What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter subscribers also get first notice of new products and a chance to pre-order upcoming new products at a HUGE discount! I’ll be releasing my brand new, expanded eCourse on Conflicts soon and ONLY our newsletter subscribers will get the opportunity to pre-order this expanded eBook on how to avoid, reduce and resolve conflicts.
If you are not already as subscriber, you can subscribe here! If you know others who’d like to benefit from all of this creative and fun information on effective communication, post a link to this blog post on your Twitter, Facebook, blog, Yahoo group, or website.
Don’t forget that if you DO post a link to any page on our site before November 1st, email us jojo@artofeloquence.com (with “BB Links” in the subject line) to let us know and we’ll give you 8 points toward our Birthday Bash Grand Prize! Check out the details here!
Most of what we offer is free! Don’t miss out on all the fun!
