communication

Birthday Bash: 1:30pm-Elaine Cooper

November 1, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Elaine Cooper will be sharing on the Art of Eloquence Facebook fan page this Birthday Bash half hour. Here is what she is offering as a prize for this half hour’s contest:

The Promise of Deer Run America’s war for freedom from England has been over for seven years, but the wounds of that conflict still haunt the minds and hearts of the residents of Deer Run. Young American veteran Nathaniel Stearns has withdrawn to a life of isolation as he awaits his father who never returned from the war. A near-tragedy in the woods brings him face-to-face with nineteen-year-old Sarah Thomsen, someone he had long admired but he assumed had eyes for another. This chance encounter opens a crack into the door of his heart as mutual affection quickly blooms. But slander and lies soon mar the budding romance, rendering both Sarah and Nathaniel wounded and untrusting as their faith in both their God and each other is shattered. Set in 1790, this book continues the story of the Thomsen and Lowe families as they struggle to survive in the aftermath of the war that birthed the United States. The Promise of Deer Run is Book Two in the Deer Run Saga.

To win this prize, you will need to post a comment to this blog post answering this question: Name two of your favorite Bible quotes on communication listed on our Quotes and Scriptures page!

We’ll be picking a winner from among the correct answers and contacting you via email so make sure you leave your email address on your comment post.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for another chance to win a Birthday Bash prize from Art of Eloquence! And you might want to subscribe to the blog RSS feed so you don’t miss a contest today!

(DISCLAIMER: Communication FUNdamentals, our blog, normally only posts three times a week (MWF) but today we are having a new post/contest each half hour of the Birthday Bash.)

Congratulations to our winner: Katie!

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News, Contests Tagged With: communication, Deer Run Saga, Elaine Cooper, eloquence, Newsletter, Promise of Deer Run, quotes, scriptures

Birthday Bash: 12:30pm-CWAHM

November 1, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Jill Hart from CWAHM will be sharing on the Art of Eloquence Facebook fan page this Birthday Bash half hour. Here is what she is offering as a prize for this half hour’s contest:rom CWAHM.com

Button ad $60 Value!

Reach 22,000+ women every month!
* Placed in the Lower Right-Hand column on EVERY PAGE
* 4 weeks
* 125 x 125 graphic
* .gif or .jpg files only (No Flash files – .swf )
* Will include a link directly to your website.

To win this prize, you will need to post a comment to this blog post answering this question: Name two of your favorite Art of Eloquence studies listed on our Business Communication page!

We’ll be picking a winner from among the correct answers and contacting you via email so make sure you leave your email address on your comment post.

(DISCLAIMER: Communication FUNdamentals, our blog, normally only posts three times a week (MWF) but today we are having a new post/contest each half hour of the Birthday Bash.)

Congratulations to our Winner: Emily Sather!

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News, Contests Tagged With: Ad, business, button ad, communication, CWAHM, eloquence, Newsletter

Birthday Bash: 11:30am-Joan Rudder Ward

November 1, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Joan Rudder Ward will be sharing on the Art of Eloquence Facebook fan page this Birthday Bash half hour. Here is what she is offering as a prize for this half hour’s contest:

Wear Faith, Hope, Love, and Peace as a reminder of how much God loves you and desires you to possess these gifts.

This romantic pearl-link bracelet also has a reversible photo charm–a great place to carry two images , keeping with you faces of those you love. (20.00 value)

Congratulations to our winner: Bonita Ledzius!

And Inspirational Photo Art for your Visual Refreshment!
Visuals are powerful, and art has the power to set the mood and tone of the atmosphere in the places where it is displayed. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12, that the word of God is ‘alive and powerful’– therefore by combining visuals with scripture, our goal is to create power-packed pieces of art that set an atmosphere of inspiration and encouragement, by highlighting the goodness, promises, and care of a loving Creator.

Select an 8×10 traditional art piece of your choice at our site (value of $35)

Congratulations to our winner: Jenny Steward!

To win this prize, you will need to post a comment to this blog post answering this question: Name two ways you can search for Art of Eloquence value packageslisted on our Value Packages page! Name two of your favorite value packages for an extra chance to win!

We’ll be picking TWO Winners (one for each prize) from among the correct answers and contacting you via email so make sure you leave your email address on your comment post.

(DISCLAIMER: Communication FUNdamentals, our blog, normally only posts three times a week (MWF) but today we are having a new post/contest each half hour of the Birthday Bash.)

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News, Contests Tagged With: communication, eloquence, Inspirational Photo Art, Joan Rudder Ward, Newsletter, Value Packages, Visual Psalms

Birthday Bash: 11am-Write Integrity Press

November 1, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Tracy Ruckman from Write Integrity Press will be sharing on the Art of Eloquence Facebook fan page this Birthday Bash half hour. Here is what she is offering as a prize for this half hour’s contest:

Which Witch? is for middle-grade readers.

It tells the story of kids in public school who form a Christian club and combat witchcraft that is trying to take root in their school. It is a very powerful book.

We screened it with parents and kids before we published it, and the parents thought it might be “too churchy” while the kids didn’t think that at all. The kids made comments like, “It taught me how to stand up to bullies, and how to pray for my class when bad things happen.”

To win this prize, you will need to post a comment to this blog post answering this question: Share how important you believe 1Peter 3:15 is to a Christian form the scripture listed on our Faith page! For an extra chance to win this prize, list one of the two JoJoisms posted on this page. (HINT: Only one is listed as a JoJoism. The other is just part of the text.)

We’ll be picking a winner from among the correct answers and contacting you via email so make sure you leave your email address on your comment post.

(DISCLAIMER: Communication FUNdamentals, our blog, normally only posts three times a week (MWF) but today we are having a new post/contest each half hour of the Birthday Bash.)

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News, Contests Tagged With: Christian, communication, eloquence, faith, JoJoism, story, Write Integrity Press

I want a lollipop

October 28, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Here’s a bonus communication lesson from young children. How to persuade with cuteness:

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bonus, childrne, communication, lesson, persuade

Communication Lessons From 5 year olds-Part 1

October 24, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Little children are inexperienced in communication, but as I will share over the next two weeks, we can all learn some valuable communication lessons from them.

Lesson number one: Speak Plainly.

Adults say, “The honour of your presence is requested at the…blah blah blah…” Adults go to great lengths to use the right words, the perfect invitation and the most respectful language, but at the end of the day, it can often sound confusing, standoffish or pompous.

Children say, “Wanna come to my party?” Children put things simply, succinctly and honestly. They don’t worry about how it sounds. They just say what they mean and because they don’t know big fancy words, they don’t use them. Children don’t send mixed messages. They don’t use subtlety. They don’t mince words. They come right out and say what’s on their mind. It’s clear, bold and honest.

As adults, we do need to watch our tone and choose our words carefully, but we can all learn simplicity from our children. Winston Churchill said it best, “The short words are best, and the old words are best of all.”

I’ll be back on Wednesday with another communication lesson from five year olds. Until then…Bye!

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: children, communication, communication lessons, honestly, lessons, simply, Winston Churchill

Effective Email (part one)

September 26, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Communication has evolved a great deal in the technological age. I’ve talked about what kinds of communication are best for various situations, I’ve pointed out the pitfalls of different forms of communication and I’ve discussed how they each have been misused. This week, I’d like to begin a brand new series of articles that will share the details of writing an effective email.

Email is a form of communication that most people use and are familiar with, but as JoJoism#20 states, “Do not mistake speaking for communicating. One involves an ability and the other mastery.” The same concept is just as true of the informal written word called email. Just because we do something often, doesn’t mean we do it effectively.

Have you ever sent someone an email and had them either not reply or reply with a question about what you meant? This is usually a result of ineffective communication in one or more parts of your email. Since most people use email and some use it almost extensively, this will be a very powerful study in communication that will give you practical help in making your every day correspondence extremely effective.

This will be a seven part series that I will share over the next few weeks so make sure you’re subscribed to our RSS feed so you don’t miss any part of it. I’m going to take each part of the email one at a time. Today’s post is about your email address.

I know, it sounds a little silly. After all, how important could your email address be in the scheme of things? What difference could it possibly make what your email address is? Do people really notice anyway? The answer to these questions is very, huge and yes! Here are four reasons why.

1. Your email address communicates something about you.

Just as your first impression means a great deal when you meet someone, your email address presents a first impression of you to those who receive your email. PickledPigsFeet@MSN.com may give you a giggle, but is it really what you want to represent you when you post on your Yahoo group?

2. Your email address should communicate a positive image.

IHateMyJob@Yahoo.com may let off some steam, but is that what you want to reflect on each time you send an email? Is that what you want others to see about you when you post? How might that be interpreted should it get back to your boss? Don’t say who you don’t want to be. Choose an email address that reflects who you do want to be.

3. Your email address should be God-honoring.

If I’m a professing Christian, every part of me should honor God. Not just the words that come out of my mouth, but the clothes I wear and the groups I associate with all communicate who I am in Christ. Just as these contribute to making a God honoring impression, so do our virtual forms of communication. We wouldn’t choose a letterhead that was offensive and so we should also be careful that our email address is not. I’ve seen some pretty strange email addresses that, while I may not term them offensive, I certainly wouldn’t say they honored the Lord. Having a positive and God-honoring email address that describes me will help make a good impression just as my clothes, handshake, manners and speech do when I’m in person.

4. Your email address will be judged through a cultural and personal filter.

Only God knows our heart. All others judge us through a filter that is based on their personal, professional and cultural world view whether we like it or not. Through this filter goes every aspect of our communication to them. In a face to face conversation, it’s our voice, our eye contact, our words and expressions, etc. In an email, it starts with our email address.

If you use your email for the sole purpose of communicating with close friends, that is one thing. However, if you use your email address to contact customer service at your bank, your son’s baseball coach, or your customers, CutiePatootie@hotmail.com might not earn the respect and support you desire.

SIDE NOTE: If you are a WAHM with your own business, you need to get a more professional email address. If you have your own domain, you should always use your domain email address. And while you’re setting up that email address, make sure it reflects who you are in your company. Think about what your customer or supplier or business associate would think if they saw that email address associated with your company?

Effective email begins with the impression you make that reflects who you are and that begins with the email address. Think about it this way. When you were born, your parents gave you a name. You had no choice in the matter. When you set up your email address, you get to choose. Choose wisely!

I’ll be back on Wednesday with part two of my effective email series. Stay tuned!

I’d love your comments and, if you’ve found value in this post, please…

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: communicate, communication, effective email, email, email address, God, honoring, positive image, wahm

Should Your Child Have a Blog? Part 1

September 14, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

For the last two weeks, I’ve been talking about the pitfalls and blessings of having your child on Facebook. This week, I’d like to focus on a slightly different communication venue. Should your child have a blog? Just as there are both blessings and dangers with Facebook, there are slightly different blessings and dangers with a blog. This week, I’m going to focus on the positive aspects and next week I’ll focus on the negative ones. Here we go…

1. Typing skills. While you may only post a limited amount of characters on a Facebook post, a blog gives your child the ability to type as long as he or she would like. This allows your child to practice a very important skill used heavily in the Information Age!

2. Spelling, punctuation and grammar skills! Because your child will be typing more than one liners, quotes or sentence fragments, he will be able to practice the art of writing! This includes little things lost on most of the youth today like spelling, grammar, punctuation, making paragraphs, using a topic sentence, etc. Keep in mind that most blogs like WordPress or Blogger have a built in spell check that will auto correct when mistakes are made. If you ask your son to pay attention to these corrections, instead of ignoring them, he can learn how to spell, punctuate, etc.

3. Journaling. If you employ the use of a nature journal or other journaling, a blog is a fabulous way to keep your child’s journal! No mess. No storage problem and no cross outs!

4. No interaction. If you are worried about the “socialization” your child might be involved in while on a social networking site like Facebook, you can eliminate that issue completely with blogging by turning off the comments feature. If you’re worried a bit about privacy, you might want to consider that while a social networking site is designed to be more visible, people pay big bucks to have their website or blog appear on the top of the search engines! While your son’s blog may be accessible by anyone on the net, it’s much less likely that anyone will unless the exact URL is given out. And you can control that.

5. Cathartic. If your child has been having a difficult time with a particular issue, it can be beneficial for him to write about it. While you may not want this type of deeply personal information to be posted on a public place like Facebook, it might be acceptable to you and to him to post it on a blog.

6. Become an Author. Your child’s writings may become a best selling book one day! There have been many stories of people who started writing their thoughts on a blog and turned those articles or blog posts into a book. Feed your child’s passion by allowing him a venue to air his ideas, feelings or passions. Does he love taking pictures? Have him post his art on a blog. Does your daughter have a passion for sharing her ideas on abortion? Have her create a series of blog posts from them as she thinks of them.

7. Write articles. Does your child have an ambition to get into journalism? Have him write a series of articles on current events. Do you homeschool and want a way to keep your daughter’s essays? Have her keep them on a blog. At the end of the year, you’ll have easy access to her work and can even print them all off to show her work to grandparents.

8. Sharing ideas and keeping in touch. Blogging is a great way for your child to keep in touch with family and friends living far away. Your daughter can post what’s going on in her life and her friends and family can post comments in reply. It’s much less expensive than texting and it allows all who know her url to have her post available to read and reread.

9. Chronicle a trip, a mission, an idea or a time of life. When my daughter left to be a Russian exchange student for a semester, she started a blog to chronicle her experiences. It was such fun for family and friends to read about her life there and now she has a permanent record of them she can go back to whenever she likes. Your son can chronicle his experiences in 8th grade, working at a part time job, volunteering at a soup kitchen, etc. The possibilities are endless.

10. Start a business. Sometimes our children have a unique idea that catches on. Why not start posting about it on a blog? Later on, you can add a shopping cart to sell an eBook he wrote on that topic or use things like Google Adsense to generate revenue to save for his college expenses.

Blogging is more like writing where as Facebook is more like texting. Blogging allows your child to perfect his writing skills and also other communication skills as he responds to the comments left on his blog by friends and family. He’ll learn how to be diplomatic, how to take criticism, how to be an effective communicator in writing. Blogging is a great way to introduce your child to communication skills he may not otherwise be exposed to at a young age. This can serve him well in life as he gets older.

I hope you found these tips helpful. Next week I’m going to share the negative aspects of blogging. Until then, share your experiences in blogging. Do you blog? Do you allow your children to blog? What have you found helpful about blogging?

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: blog, blogger, blogging, communication, Facebook, social networking

A Discouraging Word

September 12, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Home, home on the range….

Where the deer and the antelope play…

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.

What is it about our home that makes it special? It’s safe, secure and supportive…or it should be. When your home is filled with discouraging people (or your life is), it can be difficult to become rejuvenated, rested and ready to take on the day. The rest of the world can be against you, but if those who are supposed to support us are negative, challenging and difficult, it can make life more stressful.

Do you have people in your life who are discouraging? Do you have to deal with them on a daily basis? There are several ways in which people can discourage us.

1. Not listening when we want to share good news

2. Not encouraging us to seek out a better life, situation, condition

3. Being negative or challenging every fact, word or concept that comes out of our mouths

4. Making it difficult to do what we need to especially during a difficult situation

5. Discouraging us from asking questions and, instead, making us feel dumb for asking

Sometimes other people aren’t the only ones in our lives with a discouraging word. How can WE be discouraging to others?

1. Downplaying other people’s accomplishments

2. Pointing out how their ideas won’t/can’t work

3. Questioning every aspect of their plan before they have a chance to present it

4. Making them feel like they are swimming upstream when having a conversation with us

5. Shooting down their ideas before you’ve even heard them.

6. Not giving them the time of day to listen

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6

How many times have we had a discouraging word for others and not even have noticed that we were making things difficult for them? Were we just too busy with our own lives to listen to Jim when he shared what was troubling him? Did we fail to take the time to build him up, support him? Did we allow Angela to speak her mind before we shut the door on her because the first words out of her mouth didn’t sound interesting enough? Did we brush off little Johnny because he couldn’t get the words out fast enough and we had better things to do? Did we make only a minimal effort to show appreciation to Mrs. Jones for all her help with the church picnic?

Sometimes we simply don’t realize how our half-hearted “thank yous” and hurried “that’s nices” feel to the one on the receiving end of our harried communication unless we, ourselves, have been the recent victim of a discouraging word. May we always remember the words of our Lord: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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

NOTE: Stay tuned next week for part two on how to handle discouraging people more effectively!

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News Tagged With: a discouraging word, Colossians 4:6, communication, conversation, discourage, Ephesians 4:29, listen, supportive, word

Should your child be on FB? Part 1

August 29, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Some say Facebook is a blessing allowing you easily to keep in touch with friends and family, meet like-minded people, help you find a job or even market your business. Others say Facebook is a waste of time and, too easily, an invasion of your privacy. I say Facebook is a tool, a communication tool, much like email, the cell phone and your mouth. What you get out of it often depends upon your input, expectations and most of all, how you use it.

But is it a good idea for your children? In this article I’m going to share the benefits and drawbacks of allowing your children to have a Facebook account. Due to the length of this article, I am going to break it down into two parts. In this first part, I’ll cover the benefits of allowing your child to have a Facebook account. Next Monday, I’ll post part two in which I’ll discuss the drawbacks. You may be quite surprised at what I have to share on both sides of the issue!

One of the benefits of allowing your son or daughter to have a Facebook account is that it is a fantastic way to hone his communication skills. By interacting with friends and family on Facebook, your child will learn to tailor his message to each individual as he posts comments on Grandma’s wall or to little Jimmy who moved away last month. He’ll also gain description skills that communicating via the phone or in person would not afford him. Body language, facial expressions and tone of voice are absent from Facebook posts. It becomes necessary for Bobby to effectively describe the school project he had to do for history class instead of just show it to Jimmy. Facebook, if used in this manner can help increase his writing skills, especially if Bobby utilizes the Notes feature in order to write up his views expressed in his paper on Abortion. There are many examples of communication lessons to be learned by allowing your son or daughter to express themselves in writing on Facebook. These are but a few.

A second benefit of allowing your son or daughter to have a Facebook account is in increasing his expertise when interacting with folks of different beliefs and cultures. I’ll talk about the warnings of allowing your young children to get on or friend people he doesn’t know in part two, but let’s assume Bobby is 16 and has relatives in other states or countries. What a wonderful opportunity to learn about their culture and experiences! He’ll learn how other cultures see the world, how they live and may even see pictures recently taken of the Liberty Bell, or the Washington Monument or Big Ben!

An additional advantage is that your child will learn how communication works in the technological age they live in and will work in. Many companies are now hiring people to man Twitter and Facebook accounts in order to help customers who post they are having trouble with their company or product. I’ve had a very large company contact me via the social networking sites after I posted that I was having a hard time with one of their products. He helped me solve the problem! While your son may not be hired to do this, he will very likely need to understand the inner workings of communication in the technological age. In addition, Facebook has been used to catch criminals, to find a job, to recover a child during an Amber Alert and to ask for help or prayer with some serious matters. Facebook is not only the wave of the future, it is a most efficient way to disseminate information and get feedback!

Facebook is also a great way to stay in touch with family around the country build relationships with them and friends who moved away. I mentioned this earlier, but this may be the only way Bobby can have much of a relationship with his brother who is deployed or his grandmother who is back east. I have found Facebook to be a blessing in staying connected with my daughter while she has been 1800 miles away at college, when she was half way around the world as a Russian exchange student for a semester and when she was on a missions trip in Israel for two weeks!

Finally, Facebook is a fabulous start to overcoming shyness. Shy people are more likely to make friends or talk to friends if they can do so without having to be intimidated face-to-face. This can help build their confidence and self esteem enabling them to transition from online communication to in person conversations.

As you can see, Facebook is simply a tool. Used correctly, it can enhance your child’s communication skills and friendships. However, there are also some dangers. I’ll talk about them next week.

Can you think of any other benefits of allowing your (age appropriate) child to have a Facebook account? Share your stories and experiences with my readers!

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: children, college, communication, communication skills, Facebook, Family, friends, friendships, shyness

Birthday Bash: 11am-Write Integrity Press

I want a lollipop

Communication Lessons From 5 year olds-Part 1

Effective Email (part one)

A Discouraging Word

Should your child be on FB? Part 1

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