Mailbag

Mailbag Monday…On Wednesday!

April 28, 2010 by Art of Eloquence

I usually reserve the last Monday of the month for Mailbag Monday, but since I had a rather timely announcement to make this Monday, I decided to post Mailbag Monday on Wednesday and mix things you up a bit.

Warning! Reading Mailbag Monday on Wednesday may cause a feeling of Wednesday on Friday. Do not read Mailbag Monday on Wednesday if you have a history of premature weekends or are pregnant as this may cause an unsafe drop memory.

This month I posted a great deal of articles both here on Communication FUNdamentals and on my newsletter. I’ve been beefing up my columns and apparently you all have enjoyed them. So this month’s Mailbag Monday (on Wednesday) is a sort of a Reader’s Choice Best of April! If you missed any of these articles, I have embedded links so you can catch them or catch them again.

I received quite a bit of feedback on my blog article about President Obama’s Health Care Rhetoric both on and off the blog.

It was brought to my attention that several people discovered Foot in Mouth Man (FIMM) this month. Some posted his video on their blog and others posted about his monthly MISadventure, but all had fun with FIMM!

A few people contacted me this month to ask if they could reprint one of my articles on their blog. Are You Listening to Your Customers was one of my articles that was re-posted on Best of Both Worlds blog this month.

I also received a great deal of feedback about my online seminar for authors I did for Felice Gerwitz of Media Angels.

Lastly, I received a great deal of feedback on my newsletter poll this past week. I asked my newsletter subscribers which of the studies I was in the middle of writing were most important to them. I want to thank all of you for participating in the poll and sharing your thoughts. I am currently working on two of the most popular studies. To find out which ones before they are formally released, you’ll just have to subscribe! ;D

Share this:

Filed Under: Mailbag Tagged With: articles, best of the gest, JoJo's best of the gest, Mailbag

Mailbag Monday: Articles

March 29, 2010 by Art of Eloquence

It’s time again for Mailbag Monday! On the last Monday of the month, I post your questions and comments. I didn’t get any unusual questions this month, but we did get so many wonderful comments, mostly on my articles, that I thought I’d include links to them so you all can read them if you didn’t get a chance to when they came out.

Thanks to all of you who wrote in for your kind comments. I so enjoy hearing how much you enjoy my articles and studies! One question I do get often applies here. Yes, you may re-post any of my blog articles as long as you keep them in tact with my resource box with a link back to me.

I have a few blog fans out there! Here’s what one had to say on her blog about mine:

“Here’s a link to one of my absolute all-time favorite websites/blogs.” -Becky Joie

I received an email from her as well this month with feedback about how her Co op Class is going:

“Co-op class is going well with Say What You Mean for Kids. The students enjoy it and I am so glad that it is easy to teach and has little prep work, especially with my busy schedule. I look forward to teaching it every week.” -Becky Joie

We also had some wonderful feedback about our monthly homeschool leadership seminar this month:

“Loved your seminar!! I just order One by One (Denise & Kristen) book, know I’m sending you my email so I can get yours. Thanks in advance!!” -Marie

I received several wonderful emails about my funny article, JoJo’s 10 Important Uses for SPAM to Enrich Your Life, I posted here on the blog last week:

“Hahaha left a comment JoJo you hit the nail on the head!! Love it Jo Jo. I’m spamming all my friends with that link. LOL!” -Heather

I received a very nice email about my article, “Should You Pay Her What She’s Worth:”

“I went and read your article and I can’t agree more. Demanding that a business person give away the things that provide their livelihood, ‘communicates a lack of respect for her as an expert, a lack of respect for her time and a lack of respect for her right to make a living and provide for her family” -Joan

This was one of the responses I received about one of my exclusive newsletter articles “Is it Ever 4:76am in Your Conversation?” I’m afraid I cannot give out the link to this one as these are exclusive articles JUST for my newsletter subscribers. If you are not a subscriber and wish to be, you can subscribe here:

“I saw this in your newsletter so I went and read the whole article. NICE!!!! I really enjoyed it. GREAT ARTICLE!” –Carla

Thanks for all the wonderful feedback this month. It really helps me to know what you all like and need!

Share this:

Filed Under: Mailbag Tagged With: articles, blog, class, Co op, co op class, Mailbag, Newsletter, Say What You Mean for Kids, subscribers

February's MailBag!

February 22, 2010 by Art of Eloquence

The last Monday of each month here at Communication FUNdamentals is MailBag Monday! I like to share some of our mail as our customers, readers and subscribers have some very good questions and comments which are of benefit to all my blog readers. This month we received an incredible amount of feedback! Thank you all for taking the time to write in!

Here are some of the questions we were asked this month:

1. Patty S. heard me talking about my Communication Assessment Quiz during my seminar at the Say What You Mean Convention and asked exactly where she could find it. In case you were wondering too or you would like to take a fun quiz that will help you assess your family’s communication skills, you can find the article here.

2. Tracy C. wrote in asking who authored one of the statements I used in my article, “The Influence of Texting on Communication Skills” as she wanted to give proper credit to the author. As she suspected, this quote, “You might be able to get through your entire life without having to give a speech, but you won’t get through one day without communicating something to someone” is my own. In fact, several of you wrote in asking who authored that quote along with several others I have posted on Facebook and Twitter lately. Several of these quotes are also my own. You can find the more popular ones of mine along with many other quotes about effective communication on our Communication Quotes page over on the Art of Eloquence website. And, yes, please feel free to quote me as long as you include my name and/or link back to Art of Eloquence.com.

3. Sally J. wrote in asking if there was one study that would work best to use as a co-op speech class for age group 7-16. Actually this is a question we are often asked. You see, her co-op had been using another curriculum, but they had been frustrated by the amount of work the mom’s needed to do in order to run the class. Say What You Mean: A Creative Speech Course is an excellent study for anyone who would like to teach a speech course without having to do any planning or preparing! First, the course is perfect for young children through teens because it is FUN. The course uses creative and unique topics student’s love that require very little, if any, research–so the bulk of the lessons are reserved for learning speech skills. Additionally, the lessons are very easy to teach requiring no prep time at all. Parent/teachers simply read as students read along and follow the activity instructions. We’ve even included a handy chart to help grade the speeches! Finally, we have a sample lesson at the bottom of the product page where you can ‘try before you buy’.

If you’ve been considering our newest products or wondering if our events were of benefit, we have some great feedback for you on them that can help you decide. Much of the feedback was from those who purchased our newly revised and updated Say What You Mean for Preschoolers and others were excited about our new Preschool Value Package! Feedback on these were similar to this: “I am just excited to get the curricula as I have four children under the age of 9!” -Katrina M.

Other comments we received this month were about my various articles, seminars and our free gift for Valentine’s Day this month. There were several comments from newsletter subscribers who loved my new exclusive monthly articles like the one in February’s newsletter on the Influence of Texting on Communication. And we had some great feedback on the ‘Three Flavors of Communication’ article I wrote which appeared this month in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Most said essentially: “I just wanted to thank you for your very informative article, ‘The Three Flavors of Speech Communication’, in the latest issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Awesome!” –Jennifer R. Still others were about the Say What You Mean Convention: “I am catching the recordings on Talk Shoe. They are amazing! Thank you for putting this together for us.” -Kristen F.

Lastly, I wanted to share another unexpected surprise with you this month. I write a lot of articles for various publications both on and off the net. I must have written hundreds over the last seven years, but sometimes finding a link to an article I’ve written surprises me. Earlier this month I found that an article I had written for Homeschool Enrichment Magazine had been republished on www.Christianity.com! The article was from 2007, but had been uploaded on to their website in November of 2009. It’s a strange feeling to see your words on a big site like this. I didn’t even remember writing the article until I read it most of the way through! LOL I posted it up on the articles page over at Art of Eloquence.com for you as well!

Well, I pray this has helped answer some of your questions this month, but if you have questions or comments of your own, please feel free to send them to me at jojo @ artofeloquence.com!

Share this:

Filed Under: Mailbag Tagged With: articles, christianity.com, communication, emails, Mailbag, preschool, Preschool Value Package, Say What You Mean, seminars, texting, the old schoolhouse magazine, valentine's gift

January's Mailbag Monday

January 25, 2010 by Art of Eloquence

I cannot believe it is the end of January already and time for Mailbag Monday here at Communication FUNdamentals. This month we found MANY questions and comments in our mailbag–mostly feedback on all the changes we have had here at Art of Eloquence.com and the newsletter.

Say What You Mean Convention

1. Several of you asked how to register for the event and enter the drawings. The sign up form is now on the home page. This not only enters you in the six live drawings but allows you to receive What’s New at Art of Eloquence, our monthly newsletter with freebies, special offers and info JUST for our subscribers.

2. A few of you emailed asking about the events at the convention. I have recorded a welcome audio you can access from the home page that will give you a quick overview of the site and events. To see all of the events, times and descriptions, click on the Schedule of Events page. We also have an audio of our preview show with my guests Kim Kautzer from WriteShop and Cindy Rushton from Talk A Latte and Mom to Mom Radio who is one of our keynote speakers this year!

3. Many of you emailed in or posted on my Facebook page about how much you are looking forward to this year’s convention and how much fun you had last year. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Here are a few of the things folks had to say about the convention:

“Sign me up, please. Thanks. I CAN’T WAIT!!!! It sounds so good. I’M DYING to listen to the preview.” -BeckyJoie

“I ‘attended’ this convention last year and it was fantastic! Informative, professional and just plain fun! I highly recommend this to all home educators who desire to learn to communicate for Jesus’ glory =)” -Brenda

“I can’t wait for your audios. They are always outstanding.” -Susan

“Looking forward to the SWYM Convention once again!” -Christine

Newsletter Feedback:

1. So many of you emailed in about how much you like our new format. Many of the comments we received were like this one:

“SWEET! Love the new format. . . especially ART OF ELEPHANTS. ROFLOL” -Carla

2. We had another wonderful review this month. This time by two homeschool moms who run a website and have written a book for homeschool group leaders. Check it out here.

Then we had some really great questions about our communication studies.

1. Karen asked what the difference is between Say What You Mean: A Creative Speech Course and Say What You Mean For Teens. In case you were wondering the same thing…

Say What You Mean for Teens is a general communication study teaching basic communication skills and why communication is so important for every day life. In week eight, the student begins preparing to give a speech he will deliver in week 18. The study takes him through this step by step in a fun and creative way while teaching him the skills he needs to deliver such a speech.

Say What You Mean: A Creative Speech Course is a full speech course. Each week your student will prepare for and give a speech on a different creative and fun topic alternating between impromptu and prepared speeches. This is not your typical speech course where the students have to do a lot of research of the same old topics. This study puts the emphasis on honing the skills needed to give a great speech while using fun topics such as Cats vs Dogs and 101 Uses of Duct Tape!

2. Leslie asked when Say What You Mean for Preschoolers would be available again. Well Leslie you are not alone! I’ve had someone ask this question at least once a week since we took it down for revising.

I am actually almost done revising the study as I type this. It should be out this week! Since I stopped my weekly podcast, I’ve been working hard on all our new studies you all said you wanted. In fact, we will have a few more studies out shortly and some more following that. We will be taking pre orders for some of them so watch our newsletter for details. We will be offering our newsletter subscribers an opportunity to pre order at a lower rate so if you are not a subscriber, you’ll want to be soon!

3. Roberto asked if Art of Eloquence had anything that would help him specifically with getting his point across in conversation.

Well, we are just about to! I am also currently working on my notes for a new study called Say What You Mean in Conversation and one called Say What You Mean: Persuasion and Public Speaking. Either of these will help you a great deal. Keep watch on the newsletter for details on how and when you can pre order these two!

Thank you all for your fabulous questions and comments this month! If you have a question or a comment for Art of Eloquence, send it to jojo@artofeloquence.com!

Share this:

Filed Under: Mailbag Tagged With: conversation, leadership, Mailbag, Persuasion, Public speaking, Say What You Mean Convention, Speech, Subscribe Here!

December’s Mailbag Monday

December 28, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

It’s Mailbag Monday! The last Monday of the month here at Communication FUNdamentals is always devoted to your comments and questions. So it’s time again for the mail. Actually, I answer all emails as they come in, but each month I like to take a few and post them here because the answers to some of the issues and questions are beneficial to so many more.

First I want to thank all of you who took the time to write in or to post here on my blog. I get so much SPAM through here that it’s nice to read comments from real people! Keeps me going to know you appreciate what I write and that it is helping you or made you smile!

I received MANY comments and thank yous from our newsletter subscribers and Art of Eloquence Facebook Fans about this year’s Christmas gift, God Is Everywhere. I even had a subscriber who said she was in charge of the projection system at her church service and asked permission to post it up as a slide show before service started one week! I was humbled and honored to grant permission and I pray it blessed many in the congregation that week!

If you didn’t know about our Christmas gift, it’s probably because you are not one of our newsletter subscribers or a Facebook fan. You can subscribe to our newsletter, What’s New at Art of Eloquence or become a member of the Art of Eloquence Fan Club if you are on Facebook. Art of Eloquence gives free gifts away and makes special offers available throughout the year!

We also received some emails from some The Old Schoolhouse Magazine subscribers who saw my articles this year. I’m happy to work with The Old Schoolhouse any time I can. They are a great company and so wonderful to work with! I’m so happy the articles blessed you! Someone called and asked if I had any others coming out in TOS and the answer is yes. I have an article coming out in their January issue that will talk about the Three Flavors of Communication which is the theme of this year’s Say What You Mean Convention coming up February 3rd!

Someone else wrote in asking why the convention details for 5th Annual SWMC is not yet up on the site. We usually don’t change the information until January so stay tuned to the website and this blog for more information. I promise even more fun, free gifts, contests with prizes and great teaching this year!

Lastly this month I received a great deal of email from folks asking why I chose to stop podcasting in 2010. Many said the Communication Comedy Network was fun and informative and they asked that I keep it going. I wanted to take a little more time to explain.

It’s been a wonderfully creative outlet for me actually, but very, VERY time consuming. Several folks didn’t understand why. I’m a very creative soul and I tend to go over the top. The show wasn’t just me reporting on issues and giving communication advice. I did a great deal of research for each show, but that wasn’t even half of the work that went into the show.

The show was run like an actual TV or radio network with various “shows” having different hosts (each with a different personality, speech pattern and accent). Further each show had its own theme and weekly topics and all done each week by me…voices, accents and all! Each show had to be planned, researched, scripted and rehearsed each and every week. It was a blast and, if I were getting paid even one salary for it, I would continue. However, as with many of the other things I took on in 2009, it was far too time consuming and didn’t allow me to work on the things that would have brought in an income and finish many of the projects our customers were asking for.

However, as is my nature, I couldn’t leave busy enough alone. I just had to finish off the podcast this month in the creative and fun JoJo way. And so I recorded an audio and posted a blog entry with what I thought would be a fun way to end the entire experience both for me and for my listeners. You can see the blog post here. It has a picture of all of the hosts of the CCN (me myself and I) with a link to the audio where Announcer Guy (also me) explains what each one of us will be doing in 2010. It’s only a few minutes long, but I thought it was pretty funny. Apparently many of you agreed as I received a ton of comments both on the blog and off!

Thanks so much for all the great feedback this month! I pray you had a blessed Christmas and that God continue to bless you in 2010. If you have a question or a comment, please feel free to either post it here or email me jojo @ artofeloquence.com

Share this:

Filed Under: Mailbag Tagged With: blog, december, Facebook, fan club, Mailbag, Newsletter, Say WHat You MEan Conveniton, spam, Subscribe Here!, What's new at Art of Eloquence

Mailbag Mon: College Prep, SWMConvention, AoE Reviews

November 30, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

I can hardly believe it’s the end of November already! But it is and, as the last Monday in November dictates here at AoE, it’s time for me to share some of your comments and questions in Mailbag Monday!

“Oh Wow JoJo – Ashlynne and I are reading her book “The Homeschooler’s Guide to Preparing for College” and it is really helpful information. Ashlynne loves reading it knowing it was written by a young person. Kelsey is helping me give my DD a good foundation too! God Bless your time together richly :)” -Merit K.

My dd spent two years of her life researching her way into one of the most elite schools in the country. She didn’t want all her hard work to go to waste and for other homeschoolers to struggle, as she had to, in order to find all of this information for themselves when she already had it all in one convenient place. She and I are tickled to know it is helping so many homeschoolers prepare for college and to avoid the pitfalls, struggles and expense we had to go through. Thanks for sharing this and please let us know what Ashlynne goes on to after graduation!

“When will the preschool book come available?” -Marie J.

Oh this has been the eternal question here at Art of Eloquence! I shared a little about this last week on the blog when I announced the changes to Art of Eloquence for 2010. I am afraid that I don’t have an exact date of re release as yet, but that is one of the first studies we will be working on next year.

“Is the ‘Say what you mean’ conference an old ad or is it in 2010? Thanks.” -Carol F.

Some folks have been confused about the Say What You Mean Convention each year. For those new to Art of Eloquence, the convention is a free, annual, online event that features various creative and fun activities for all ages designed to educate Christian families on the importance of effective communication in every day life. Each year has a theme, keynote speakers and various activities. The SWMC stays up for a full year ministering to Christian families until about January when we begin to make changes to the website for the coming new convention.

The SWMC is set for February 3rd, 2010. All the fun is packed into one day this year instead of three so make sure to mark your calendar so you don’t miss the live events! The theme this year is The Three Flavors of Communication: Formal Speech, Writing and Conversation and will feature keynote speakers Cindy Rushton and Christian comedian Michael Jr! Communication fun includes various contests with prizes, live seminars and workshops, pre recorded audio seminars, scavenger hunt and prayer chat!

More details to follow so stay tuned to Communication FUNdamentals blog in December and mark your calendar for December 31st as I podcast my last live show EVER and share a preview of the highlights to come of this amazing free event. On the show will be myself, my two moderators: Kim Kautzer of Write Shop and Joan Rudder Ward of Girl Nurture as well as perhaps our keynote speakers: Cindy Rushton and ….MICHAEL JR!!!

“We’ve started the SWYM for kids but have been moving a bit slow through it. The kids wrote out and did their speeches (1st chapter…I did say slow right?) a week ago and gave them to the family. They actually did very well. Today the two younger (almost 6 and 7 1/2) were having a row over something. We had been talking about how to communicate our “wants” and “feelings” to someone regarding play. I took them to the bathroom, said “work this out and you can come out” and turned and shut the door. About 5 minutes later after about 1 minute of yelling at each other, they came out and resumed play without any more hostility or anger. I was frankly a little amazed. They must have picked up on something as we role played last week how to get across what we think and feel. Thanks for your good work!” -Laura K.

Thanks so much Laura for sharing this. It’s so important that we teach our kids to communicate respectfully with each other, especially at a young age. So many these days feel justified (even adults) in communicating in a disrespectful way that it is even more important in today’s society. So much misunderstanding in life can be avoided by teaching our youngsters this skill! Kuddos to you!!

Some fabulous reviews of late:

Say What You Mean The Language of Leadership

The Play Book

If you have a question or a comment about Art of Eloquence events or products, please feel free to post a comment here or email me jojo @ artofeloquence. com

Share this:

Filed Under: Mailbag Tagged With: Cindy Rushton, college prep, Homeschooler's Guide to Preparing for College, leadership, Mailbag, Michael Jr., Preschool Book, Say What You Mean, Say What You Mean Convention, The Language of Leadership

Oct. Mailbag-Teaching Preschoolers

October 26, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

We received some interesting comments and questions this month and I wanted to share them with you. First here is a small sampling of the comments we received this month:

“Your communication article in TOS made me laugh. I am a talker. The first thing the Lord told me to do while I was just hours old in the faith was silence…That silence intrigued my hubby who followed me to church and was soon saved himself. LOL You are right on keep up the good work!” -Heather W.

“Hi, JoJo! Loved your article in The Old Schoolhouse magazine!:) Good stuff!” -Kimberly E.

“I can’t wait to listen to this week’s show!” -Leslie V.

“This issue with the different type of conversationalists was an absolute SCREAM! I laughed so much! Thank you for this, JoJo!” -Beth J.

Thanks ladies! I am always excited to hear from our customers and subscribers with feedback on what we offer. Thanks for taking the time to write in!

Two questions that were asked this month were things I thought many of our customers may be wondering so I chose them as the questions I would answer this month on Mailbag Monday. Here they are:

1. “I just ordered and received the Teen Bonus Pack and Defending The Faith. Do you recommend completing them in any specific order? Thank you!” -Judy K.

TeenBonusPk

The Teen Bonus Pack was designed to be done in the order it is listed on the product page: Say What You Mean for Teens, Know Your Audience and Say What You Mean: A Creative Speech Course. SWM for Teens is a general communication study that will teach basic communication skills as well as a speech that is done in small bites which is perfect for beginners or shy students. Know Your Audience is a listening and persuasion course teaching students to tailor their message to different audiences. SWM: A Creative Speech Course is an actual speech course that makes it fun and easy for students to learn both impromptu and prepared speeches.

However, Art of Eloquence eStudies are designed to be flexible. Each study is a complete and separate course and may be used on their own and in any order. Further, most of our studies are easily adaptable to a co op setting where you may not have a full 18 week (semester) to deliver your class. I have personally done co op classes using Art of Eloquence studies that were 8 or 10 or 16 weeks. Most lessons are also complete and may be used separately. If you look at the makeup of your class (or the needs of the individual student), you can pick and choose which lessons to include in your abbreviated class.

If you would like more information for your particular student or class, I am always available via email for a short consult.

2. I received a call from a customer asking what age to start teaching her children communication skills. It’s funny she should ask this month as one of my podcasts on the Communication Comedy Network is this week’s show on how early we should begin to teach our children communication skills.

Art of Eloquence has several studies and fun things for kids as young as preschool to enjoy and learn these vital skills. We do so not just to capture a larger market, but because in my experience with my own children, it is far better for them to begin their study of communication skills at this age than to wait until fear or bad habits or rejection sets in.

You see, I was an incredibly shy child and grew up without the benefit of having these social skills. It hindered almost everything I did until I learned that my shyness wasn’t a personality trait. It was a lack of social communication skills. And once that issue was address, I became the outgoing gregarious goofball God intended me to be. The problem? It took MANY years to undo all I had learned with respect to how I related and communicated with others. I made a vow that I would not allow that to happen to my children and so I began their communication skills training when they were quite young because that’s when they have fun learning and soak it up as a sponge!

The result? My dd never went through that awkward age in latter elementary school where she was afraid to voice her ideas. She went on to learn to express herself so well that she was able to successfully debate her learned grandfather on creation vs evolution. She is now a sophomore at Vanderbilt University involved in ministry and just recently came back from a missions trip during her Fall Break from school.

CCN Logo2 I’ll be sharing much more on this topic on Thursday’s show. Join me for the Talk Talk Show: The Talk Show about Talking on the Communication Comedy Network live or listen in to the audio recording that will be available just after the live show.

The Communication Comedy Network airs Thursdays at 8am PST /11am EST!

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736

It’s free, it’s fun and it’s informative!

Share this:

Filed Under: Mailbag Tagged With: Communication Comedy Network, communication skills, Mailbag, podcast, preschool, Speech, Subscribe Here!, Talk Talk Show

Mailbag Monday…On Wednesday!

February's MailBag!

January's Mailbag Monday

Mailbag Mon: College Prep, SWMConvention, AoE Reviews

Oct. Mailbag-Teaching Preschoolers

NEWEST From Art of Eloquence!

Subscribe to JoJo’s NEW Blog

Customer Comments

Recommended by HSLDA & TOS

Join us on Facebook

We take Visa, MasterCard & PayPal