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!

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