Molly Graham shares an interesting message - that career stairs are just an illusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw a good article by Maurice DeCastro at Mindful Presenter with an iconic visual on December 5, 2024 titled Molly Graham’s TED talk shares an interesting message, “The stairs are an illusion.” He embeds the nine and a half minute TEDNext video, titled Forget the Corporate Ladder – Winners Take Risks | Molly Graham | TED that also can be found at YouTube. Molly advises you to get good at three things:

 

actually jumping off the cliff [4:20]

surviving the fall [5:21]

becoming a professional idiot [6:33]

 

I modified an image of some illusory Penrose stairs from Openclipart.

 

Do not take Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend to China, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, or the UAE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week at Trader Joe’s I bought a bottle of their tasty Everything But The Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend, as is shown above. Then at Pocket I saw a repeat of an article by Kelsey Ables at The Washington Post on July 12, 2024 titled This Trader Joe’s seasoning is a hot item. In South Korea it’s illegal. There also is another article by Yi Whan-woo at The Korea Times on July 15, 2024 titled Beware of poppy seed seasoning products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As also shown above, poppy seeds are the very last ingredient in this blend (and are not even mentioned on the front label). There is yet another article from the U.S. Embassy & Consulate in the Republic of Korea on August 30, 2024 titled Information on Controlled Substances that explains:

 

“Please note that food products containing poppy seeds, including popular bagel seasoning blends, are considered illegal in Korea. Attempting to travel into Korea with these products could result in a criminal investigation resulting in fines, entry and exit bans, or even imprisonment.  

 

Still another article by Ocean Robbins at Food Revolution Network on December 25, 2024 titled Are poppy seeds good for you - or dangerous? notes that China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and the UAE also ban poppy seeds. Who knew?

 

More about living with a stutter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stuttering Foundation has an article from their Summer 2016 Newsletter about Mr. John Moore titled Stuttering and Public Speaking. It says:

 

“When speaking in public, John says there are two things he does at the beginning of every presentation. ‘I tell the audience two things about myself. First is my mantra: I take my job seriously, and myself lightly.’ And second, ‘I tell the audience that I stutter, and it will happen during this speech.’ “

 

There is a 13-minute TEDxSydney video from 

singer-songwriter Megan Washington on April 2014 titled Megan Washington: Why I live in mortal dread of public speaking.

 

At 7:54 she says that:

 

“Singing for me is sweet relief. It is the only time when I feel fluent. It is the only time when what comes out of my mouth is comprehensively exactly what I intended.”  

 

John Hendrickson wrote a long article titled What Joe Biden can’t bring himself to say in the January/February 2020 issue of The Atlantic. I blogged about it on April 18, 2020 in a post titled Joe Biden has a problem – he’s a mostly recovered stutterer. Then in 2023 there was a book by John Hendrickson titled Life on Delay – Making peace with a stutter. There is a 49-minute YouTube video interview of him from the Library of Congress [National Book Festival] titled Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter with John Hendrickson. Sometimes it’s painful to watch.  At ~ 7:20 he says:

 

“Because of all the gears that are constantly turning in your head as a person who stutters, all the word switching, all of it’s like you’re … I think of it as like you’re trying to get to the other part of one of those rotating logs. You’re just trying to get there, you know, to the other side. That’s what it’s like getting through sentences as a person who stutters. So, it takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of focus and many people who stutter are constantly trying to avoid these moments of repetitions and prolongations and blocks and they’re putting in other words, things like that.”  

 

There also is an article with a 28-minute podcast of John by J. D. Gray at the ASHA Leader on January 4, 2024 titled ASHA Voices: Author John Hendrickson on Stuttering, Disclosure, and ‘Life on Delay.’ The article links to two previous podcasts about stuttering.

 

The image was adapted from this one at Openclipart.

Christmas messages from Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and King Charles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Christmas Joe Biden had a 2:19 video message titled The 2024 Holidays at the White House: A Season of Peace and Light with stunning graphics and this thoughtful message:

 

“How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given. There’s a certain stillness at the center of the Christmas story. Silent night, when all the world goes quiet. All the noise, everything that divides us, it all fades away in stillness of the winter’s evening. And we look to the sky to a lone star shining brighter than all the rest, guiding us to the birth of a child.

 

A child Christians believe to be the son of God bringing hope and peace and joy to the world. Yes, even after 2,000 years Christmas still has the power to lift us up, to bring us together, to change the world, speaks to all of us as human beings who are here on this earth to care for one another. To love one another. And too often we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors, not as fellow Americans.

 

So, my hope this Christmas season is that we take a few moments of quiet reflection. Find that stillness in the heart of Christmas and look at each other. That’s who we really are, fellow Americans, fellow human beings worthy of being treated with dignity and respect. {Be]cause there’s so much that unites us as Americans, so much more that unites us than divides us.

 

We’re truly blessed to live in this nation, and I truly hope we take the time to look out not at one another for one another as we sing Oh Holy Night. May I wish for you and for our nation now and always that we’ll live in the light, the light of liberty and hope, of love and generosity. Of kindness and compassion, of dignity and decency.

 

So, from the Biden family we wish you and your family peace, joy, health and happiness. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and may God protect our troops.”

     

In contrast, an article by Diana Glebova at the New York Post is titled Trump keeps it merry and bright with recycled Xmas photo and simple wish. All he first almost thoughtlessly said was:

 

“MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!”

 

And then he recycled his 2018 official Christmas portrait captioned MERRY CHRISTMAS 2024! Last year I blogged about his previous one in a post titled MAY THEY ROT IN HELL! doesn’t belong in a Christmas message.

  

Meanwhile, King Charles had a very thoughtful ten-minute Christmas Broadcast (beginning and ending with music) which you can either watch on the BBC with added sign language, or at The Telegraph without it.

 

I removed the German caption from a 1904 Christmas postcard.

 

Living with a stutter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is it like to live with a stutter? There is an excellent brief article by Rachel Goodman at the US Cardiology Review on September 9, 2024 titled Big Girl Words. She is a cardiology fellow at Tufts Medical Center. Rachel says:

“I have smiled and waved a lot in my life, often related to my speech. I stutter. I am not nervous, hesitant, or unsure of myself. Rather, there is some neurological issue that is frankly far too complex for my understanding which leads to a repetition of sounds and blocked words.

It starts with a blockage in my throat and leads to squinting eyes and pursed lips in an attempt to force the words out, making it challenging for my breath to keep up with my voice. I can feel it coming before it happens and often have enough time or foresight to change my words to ones that will leave my mouth more smoothly.

While the embarrassment of the stutter has lessened with time and my fluency has increased with intensive speech therapy, the stutter will always be there. The deep guttural Gs and lip-smacking Ps will always be my hardest, but I’ve learned ways to compensate.

Experience has taught me to not let this speech impediment define who I am or what I do. It took time and motivation to get here. I have worked hard throughout my life to obtain some semblance of fluency, devoting countless hours to after-school speech therapy, week-long speech intensives during my time off, and practicing saying my name while sitting on the floor in front of a mirror on nights and weekends.

I am not a shy person but, because of my stutter, I often dread occasions that require public speaking: introductions, doing rounds in the hospital, reading out loud, and presenting at a podium….

Reflecting upon my experience as a trainee with a stutter, it has – perhaps paradoxically – taught me a lot about communication. Having a stutter has taught me to be thoughtful and to think ahead. I’ve learned how to perform under pressure and overcome embarrassment. In undergoing speech therapy, I’ve learned diaphragmatic breathing and how to manipulate my muscles to facilitate fluent speech; though the speech may sound slow, it may also come across as thoughtful and patient. Stuttering has taught me the importance of giving people grace instead of rushing to assumptions.”

 

The image was adapted from this one at Openclipart.

 

 

How should we present a huge number like the two billion dollars earned by the Taylor Swift Eras tour?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting article by Carmine Gallo at Inc. on December 21, 2024 titled What Taylor Swift’s staggering tour numbers teach us about presenting data. He says:

 

“As you’ve probably heard, Taylor Swift has ended her two-year Eras Tour. Swift’s camp sent the final numbers to the New York Times, and the statistics are staggering: 149 shows over 21 months in 19 countries drew 10 million fans and generated just over $2 billion in ticket sales.”

 

And he notes that when compared with the previous biggest rock tour by Coldplay ($945 million) the Eras tour was more than twice as large. The AFL-CIO has a web page about the Highest paid CEOs 2023. At number one was Jon Winkelried of TPG who made $198.7 million – roughly a tenth of what the Eras tour earned.

 

Carmine makes another comparison:

 

“Swift’s longest engagement was a Wembley Stadium, where, over eight nights, she played for 750,000 people [an average of 93,750 per night]. That’s about the number of people who live in Seattle.”  

 

There is another article by Emma Keates at AVCLUB on December 9, 2024 titled Taylor Swift ends her Eras Tour era with $2 billion in earnings with more detailed numbers – a total of 10,168,008 attendees over 149 shows. That means each seat went for an average of $204. And over the whole tour there was an average of 68,242 people at each show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 What is in it for me? The planet has a population of about 8.2 billion people, so we each paid Taylor an average of $0.24 – not quite a quarter. But to get a ticket ($204) those other folks paid 850 times more.

 

Back on July 12, 2016 I blogged about How to make statistics understandable.

 

Images of a quarter and a stack of dollars came from Openclipart.

 

 

UPDATE December 28, 2024

 

This post was featured in the LinkedIn Public Speaking group with 14,450 members, which led to the spike in page views shown as follows. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Brain Rot” is a phrase; Brainrot is a portmanteau word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 2, 2024 there is an article from Oxford University Press titled ‘Brain rot’ named Oxford Word of the Year 2024. But those two words are a phrase. We could either hyphenate them to brain-rot, or make a single a portmanteau word – brainrot. Another article by Casper Grathwohl about the Oxford Word of the Year has a section titled Celebrating 20 years of Oxford Word of the Year. There were six other years where they had two words:

 

2007: carbon footprint

2008: credit crunch

2010: big society 

2011: squeezed middle

2019: climate emergency

2022: goblin mode

 

And there were two more with hyphenated words:

2006: carbon-neutral

2016: post-truth

 

A third article by Bill Chappell at NPR on December 2, 2024 is titled Writer Thoreau warned of brain rot in 1854. Now its’s the Oxford Word of 2024.

 

The terminal version of brain rot apparently is a ‘brain cloud.’ The Wikipedia page for the 1990 movie Joe Versus the Volcano describes it as follows (and see this YouTube video):

 

“Joyless, listless and chronically sick, Banks regularly visits doctors who can find nothing wrong with him. Finally, Dr. Ellison diagnoses an incurable disease called a ‘brain cloud’, which has no symptoms, but will kill him within five or six months.”

 

My cartoon was adapted from this one and that one at Openclipart.

 

 

A comic strip about flipping prefixes from ex- to in-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 19, 2024 there is a Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic strip by Zack Weinersmith with the following dialogue:

 

“Discovery: Because the correct Latin-derived opposite of ex- is in-, there are thousands of words we can add to English immediately.

 

I see what you’re saying, and you’re inactly right.

 

Such exteresting points. The whole audience was exspired.

 

I read your novel. Incellent work! So much exvigorating action!

 

Of course before the Hebrews left Egypt they had to get to Egypt. Also known as the inodus.

 

My daughter doesn’t have any demons possessing her. We must summon the inorcist.”

 

Earlier this year I posted about switching prefixes. On January 10, 2024 I blogged about Should we have a con- and pro- pair of Words of the Day at a Toastmasters club meeting? And on February 25, 2024 I blogged about Should we have a pre- and post- pair of Words of the Day at a Toastmasters club meeting?

 

A self-paced course on active listening with eleven learning modules

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 1, 2022 the Defense Technical Information Center published a self-paced course with 11 learning modules on active listening as a 75-page .pdf file titled Active Listening Learning Resource. It was prepared by psychologists at South Dakota State University. The eleven modules are:

 

Active Listener Characteristics

Attending Behaviors

Effective Questioning Techniques

Reflection of Content

Reflection of Feeling

Empathetic Listening

Reflection of Meaning

Confrontation

Using Immediacy

Self-disclosure

Providing Supportive, Critical Feedback

 

Toastmasters may want to look at this course. On October 19, 2024 I posted regarding More about active listening.  

 

The cartoon ear was captioned from one at Openclipart.

 

Whose Bible should we use in Idaho schools?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Idaho Statesman on November 27, 2024 there is a guest opinion from Blaine Conzatti of the Idaho Family Policy Center (repeated from their web site) titled The Bible should be read in Idaho’s public schools. History and tradition support it.

 

Then, on November 29, 2024 there was a reply from The Rev. Joseph Farne titled Episcopal rector: Which Bible will we put in Idaho classrooms? They aren’t the same | Opinion. As shown above, there are three Deuterocanonical books included in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox versions which were left out of the Protestant one.

 

Trumpists likely would tell us to use the Protestant God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, also known as the Trump Bible (King James version) which, of course, poses a major problem – it being from a foreign state religion (Church of England). Catholics will feel left out. And what about the quarter or so of the Idaho population who are LDS, and thus might want us to also read from the Book of Mormon?

 

UPDATE: December 27, 2024

 

There is a guest opinion by Rowan Astra in the Idaho Statesman on December 27, 2024 titled Idaho’s government is supposed to protect religious freedom, not promote a religion. It says the Idaho Family Policy Center wants student to have to listen to twenty verses a day from the King James version.   

 

A free 52-page e-book on How to Give a Great Speech or Presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the web site for the Association of Fundraising Professionals there is a useful and free 52-page e-book from 2019 by Wayne Olson on How to Give a Great Speech or Presentation. Its ten sections are:

 

To Speak Well – page 1

Elements of a Great Speech – page 7

Prepare for Success – Page 19

The Point in PowerPoint – Page 23

Putting It Together – Page 27

Appendix A [Sample Speaker Biography] – Page 29

Appendix B [Speechwriting Checklist] – Page 33

Appendix C [Day-of-Speech Checklist] – Page 35

Appendix D [PowerPoint (Keynote) Checklist] – Page 37

Bibliography and Sources for Further Reading – Page 39

 

The image was adapted from one at Openclipart.

 

Useful videos about writing speeches from Jon Favreau – President Obama’s first Director of Speechwriting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Favreau was Barack Obama’s first White House Director of Speechwriting from January 20, 2009 to March 1, 2013. There is a series of brief YouTube videos of him from the Oxford Union on March 4, 2016.

 

One (2:39) is titled What Makes a Great Speech? He says that he most important job of a speech is to tell a story from beginning to end, and to put together a logical argument. A second (3:16) is titled Writing The State of the Union Speech.  A third (3:18) is titled Political Correctness in Speechwriting. A fourth (1:39) is titled Politicians Are Afraid To Be Themselves. A fifth (3:04) is titled Marco Rubio Comment “Insane”. And a sixth (1:52) is titled Obama Never Got Angry. Contrast that with Donald Trump, who never stopped being angry. 

 

Mr. Favreaus’s entire presentation at the Oxford Union(1 h 2 min) is titled Jon Favreau | Life as Obama’s Speechwriter | Full Address.

 

There also are videos from University College Dublin (UCD) – a 12-minute one titled What I learned from President Obama | Jon Favreau (speechwriter) | UCD Literary & Historical Society and a 55-minute one titled Jon Favreau – former chief speechwriter for President Obama | Q&A with UCD L & H Society.

 

And there also is a 45-minute video at Life Stories titled Jon Favreau Interview: Redefining Patriotism through Obama’s Speeches (part of the HBO documentary Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union).

 

The Obama portrait came from Openclipart.

 

Fifty Awful School Presentations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We always can learn from mistakes made by others. There is an article by Robyn Smith and Rugile Baltruanite at boredpanda on December 8, 2024 titled 50 Terrible School Presentations People Have Had The Displeasure of Witnessing. I picked three of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When doing research, you should recognize some web sites are satirical, like The Onion. The #4 presentation said that:

 

“In college during Abnormal Psychology, [when] a student did an entire presentation on Obama’s bipolar disorder she kept citing an article from The Onion.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the #13 presentation said:

 

“Sophmore year of high school we were tasked with bringing in an object from home and giving a presentation on how the object explains you as a person. Kid brought in a knife, not a big one, but a knife nevertheless. He actually gave a decent presentation … but ended up getting expelled because of it later that day.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the #24 presentation involved a smelly fruit called a durian, which in Wikipedia is described:

 

“The persistence of its strong odour, which may linger for several days, has led some hotels and public transportation services in Southeast Asia, such as in Singapore and Bangkok, to ban the fruit.”

 

Her presentation unfortunately was:

 

“Someone gave a speech about durian in a class once. She brought a small frozen sample that thawed as the class went on. The professor let students step out of the room. Coincidentally, one of the culinary classes reported a gas leak and pulled the fire alarm.”

 

The cartoon was adpated from Openclipart. Images of an onion, a  kabar knife, and a durian all came from Wikimedia Commons.  

 

 

How to write a great speech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a four-minute YouTube video titled How to write a perfect speech | BBC Ideas with Cody Keenan who was a speechwriter for Barack Obama. He served as the White House Director of Speechwriting from March 1, 2013 to January 20, 2017. Main points are:

 

Tell a story

Make it bigger than the now

Keep it real

Tell good jokes

Know your audience

Best way to start?

 

The cartoon of Barack Obama speaking came from Openclipart.

 

Psychotherapist Jonathan Berent fumbles some statistics about social anxiety and fear of public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Berent has been a psychotherapist since 1978 and wrote two self-help books. He wrote an article at KevinMd on November 2, 2024 titled When high achievers and isolated adults share a common enemy: social anxiety containing the following claims:

 

“The Anxiety and Depression Association of America estimates that 15 million adults have social anxiety. This number swells when you consider stats, such as the Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2019), which found that 10.7 percent of Americans have a public speaking phobia, and 21.2 percent to 23.3 percent fear public speaking. Similarly, a 2001 Gallup poll found that 40 percent of adults in the United States fear public speaking.”

 

The US Census in 2020 found there were 258.3 million adults, so the 15 million estimated by the Anxiety & Depression Association of America is just 5.8%. That’s lower than what the National Institute of Mental Health web page on Social Anxiety Disorder says: 7.1% in the last year or 12.7% in a lifetime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chapman Survey of American Fears reported percent fears at four levels: Very Afraid, Afraid, Slightly Afraid, and Not Afraid. Two bar charts with all their data for public speaking from 2014 to 2024 are shown above. In 2019 12.8% were Very Afraid, and 10.7% never appeared anywhere. And in 2019 31.2% were Very Afraid or Afraid, not 21.2%. In 2017 23.3% were Very Afraid or Afraid. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chapman Survey of American Fears did not measure phobia, which is different from Very Afraid. Writing in 2024 why did Jonathan refer to percentages from back in 2019?

 

And the article by Geoffrey Brewer at Gallup on March 19, 2001 is titled Snakes Top List of Americans’ Fears - 51% feared snakes versus 40% for public speaking. But he also reported that in 1998 56% feared snakes while only 45% feared public speaking.

 

The cartoon was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

To prepare food faster just make it thinner

 

 

Preserved Lemons

 

Preserved lemons are a Middle Eastern food ingredient. A typical recipe like one in the New York Times calls for slicing them part through in quarters lengthwise, as shown above, and packing them with salt in jars. But then you have to plan ahead and wait for an entire month. I never got around to trying that recipe.

 

But then I saw another one in a book from 2023 by Bee Wilson titled The Secret of Cooking. Her recipe instead calls for cutting the lemons paper thin using the slicer disk on a food processor. And they will be ready in a day.

 

 

 

Griddled Flatbreads

 

Many cultures long have quickly cooked flatbreads on griddles, like the corn tortilla shown above. There also are wheat flour tortillas (called piadina in Italy), and Indian chapatis (made from whole-wheat flour). Other grains are used elsewhere. In Brittany there are crepes made from buckwheat. In Scotland there are oatcakes. On the Mediterranean coast there are chickpea flour cakes called Socca in Nice. And In Norway there is lefse made with potatoes.

 

 

 

 

Schnitzel and its cousins

 

A common entrée is meat pounded thin, breaded, and fried. The classic Austrian one from veal is a Wiener schnitzel. The Israeli variant uses turkey. The Texas beef version is a Chicken-Fried Steak. The midwestern Pork Tenderloin is a deep-fried version served as a sandwich. And the chicken version is called a paillard.    

 

Images of cut and salted lemons, a tortilla, and schnitzel all came from Wikimedia Commons.