Should we waste over 7.5 million dollars to paint the granite Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) white?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, of course not.  The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) is part of the White House compound in Washington, D. C. But President Donald J. Trump is upset by its gray color. He wants to create a problem where none had existed. According to an article by Brandon Fisher at Tech Times on August 8, 2026 titled Trump claims White House is above preservation law in Eisenhower paint case:

 

“The controversy began on November 12, 2025, when President Donald Trump appeared on Fox News and announced his intention to paint the EEOB's exterior bright white, dismissing its dark granite facade with the remark that gray is for funerals.”

 

Another article by Gary Fields at the Associated Press on August 18, 2026 titled Judge rules paint tests on Eisenhower Building can proceed, advancing Trump’s makeover plans for now added:

 

“Planners said the paint job would cost at least $7.5 million.”

 

Yet another article by Robert Freedman at FacilitiesDive on April 14, 2026 titled Trump plan to use ‘magic’ paint will ruin Eisenhower building, restoration experts say detailed potential problems with painting the EEOB:

 

The summary says that:

 

“ ‘Mineral silicate paints are not suited for use on granite,’ the specialists said in a Q&A prepared by preservationists seeking to stop the plan. ‘These paints do not chemically bond to granite in the manner necessary to activate their powers to strengthen and protect underlying stone.”  

 

Their detailed Q&A describes a lack of planning:

 

“They say mineral silicate paints are inappropriate for granite because granite doesn’t contain calcium carbonate. ‘Mineral silicate paints are designed to chemically bond with stone that contains calcium carbonate, such as limestone, sandstone, or marble.’

 

Other points they raise:

 

Making the paint work would require the use of a primer or other acrylic bonding agent, which would undermine the advantage of the paint. ‘The barrier layer of a primer [would block] chemical bonding between paint and stone,’ they said.

 

The granite would need to be sanded, which would permanently alter the surface. ‘Because granite is relatively smooth and non-absorbent, every surface of the … granite would need to be sanded, scarified, etched, or otherwise abraded,’ they said.

 

The paint wouldn’t protect the granite from deterioration. ‘At best, it acts only as a surface coating,’ they said. It ‘does not repair internal flaws, prevent cracking, or enhance the inherent durability of granite.’

 

It wouldn’t stop water penetration. ‘Water infiltration is driven by failings at joints, sealants, flashing, and mortar, and building movement – not by the exposed face of granite blocks,’ they said.

 

Discoloration would continue to be a problem. ‘Leaching and iron staining can pass through breathable coatings’ like silicate paint, they said. If the granite is painted white, as planned, staining would become even more noticeable, they said.

 

Removing the paint in the future would be an expensive job, and it wouldn’t be possible without damaging the granite. ‘It would require mechanical or chemical methods that further damage the stone,’ leaving a ‘hazy, filmy’ residue, they said.”       

 

An image of the EEOB came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Public Speaking Pointers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One common type of advice for speakers is to give them pointers on what to do. The other type of advice to discuss mistakes, and how to avoid them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a long, excellent article by Paul N. Edwards from October 2014 titled How to Give an Academic Talk, v5.2. It is a 14-page pdf which descended from a 5-page pdf article from 2001 titled How to Give an Academic Talk: Changing the Culture of Public Speaking in the Humanities. He has a table with worse or better rules of thumb, as shown above. There also are six gray boxes with advice on:

 

Preparing Your Talk

About Vocal Technique

About Presentation Software

About Timing

Handling Questions

Murphy’s Law applies directly to you:

  plan for disaster

 

And there is a 7-page pdf article by Christine Blome, Hanno Sondermann, and Matthias Augustin in the GMS Journal for Medical Education on February 15, 2017 titled Accepted standards on how to give a Medical Research Presentation: a systematic review of expert opinion papers. They analyzed 91 articles! Their thirty recommendations and their percentages (shown in their Table 1 and greater than 20%) are to:

 

 1] Keep your slides simple - 62.6%

 2] Know your audience - 52.7%

 3] Make eye contact - 46.2%

 4] Do not read the talk from slides or a manuscript - 44.0%

 5] Rehearse the presentation - 44.0% [also see #11]

 6] Limit the number of lines per slide - 42.9%

 7] Slides should be readable - 42.9%

 8] Stick to the allotted time - 40.7%

 9] Time the presentation beforehand - 38.5%

10] Use simple tables and graphs - 34.1%

11] Rehearse in front of other persons - 33.0% [also see #5]

12] Know your topic ‘like the back of your hand’ - 31.9%

13] Vary your voice - 29.7%

14] Develop an objective when preparing the presentation - 28.6%

15] Limit the number of words per line - 28.6%

16] Choose a light background - 28.6% [also see #20]

17] Do not use too many slides - 27.5%

18] Test all equipment - 27.5%

19] Use animations carefully - 27.5%

20] Choose a dark background - 26.4% [also see #16]

21] Keep the presentation clear and simple (delivery) - 26.4%

22] Summarize at the end of the presentation - 26.4%

23] Do not speak too fast - 24.2%

24] Put phrases, not sentences, on slides - 24.2%

25] Be logical - 23.1%

26] Face the audience - 23.1%

27] Be enthusiastic - 20.9%

28] Be prepared for questions - 20.9%

29] Create visuals with a consistent design - 20.9%

30] Use contrasting colors - 20.9%

 

 

What’s an eggcorn?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Oxford English Dictionary say that an eggcorn, which first appeared in 2003, is:

 

“An alteration of a word or phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements as a similar-sounding word.”

 

And the Wikipedia page for it says that:

 

“An eggcorn is the alteration of a word or phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements, creating a new phrase that is plausible when used in the same context. Thus an eggcorn is an unexpectedly fitting or creative malapropism.” 

 

There is an article by Merrill Perlman at the Columbia Journalism Review on December 11, 2019 titled ‘Eggcorns,’ and other incorrect homophones. He noted that the eggcorn ‘another thing coming’ had replaced the original ‘another think coming, and the eggcorn ‘hone in’ replaced ‘home in.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another article at The Drum on November 20, 2025 is titled This clever Specsavers campaign tackled hearing loss stigma. They came up with a 7-page pdf article titled The Misheard Manifesto, which has the ten eggcorns shown above in a table.

 

My eggcorn was assembled from an egg and corn at OpenclipArt. I also got an acorn from there.

 

 

8 presentation mistakes: how to avoid them and fix them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful post by Naba Ahmed at the Prezi Blog on October 15, 2025 mistitled 8 presentation mistake: how to avoid them and fix them. Those mistakes are:

 

1]  Don’t read directly from your slides.

2]  Avoid overwhelming slides with text.

3]  Create a clear visual flow.

4]  Give your presentation a solid structure.

5]  Pace your speaking.

6]  Use confident body language.

7]  Learn to read audience cues.

8]  Don’t underprepare.

 

Regarding her first point, back on June 10, 2015 I blogged about Don’t annoy us by reading your PowerPoint slides.

 

The article also has advice on How to design slides that connect:

 

Guide the eye with visual hierarchy.

Use color and contrast with purpose.

Choose your fonts wisely.

Select powerful, relevant images.

Balance your visuals and text.

 

I blogged about balancing visuals and text in a post on February 19, 2014 titled Assertion-Evidence PowerPoint slides are a visual alternative to bullet point lists.

 

And the article has sections on how to Master Audience Engagement and to Perfect Your Delivery.

 

A star with eight points was adapted from one at OpenClipArt.

 

An article about key findings from the 11th Chapman Survey of American Fears for 2025 has stumbling student graphics with significant errors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 23, 2025 I blogged about how In the eleventh Chapman Survey of American Fears for 2025, public speaking only was ranked #46 of 67 fears at 33.7%. Those results from the 2025 survey first were reported in a news release by Robert Hitchcock on October 21 mistitled What Americans Fear Most in 2025: Chapman University’s Annual Survey Reveals Top Fears and the Psychology Behind Them. And their detailed results are in a methods report pdf file.

 

There also is an 8-page pdf article titled Chapman University Survey of American Fears 2025 Key Findings. It includes five graphics that were prepared by students. The first one, by Madeline Southern, titled TOP 10 FEARS 2025 is correct.

 

But the other four are not. The third graphic, also by Madeline Southern, is a chart titled FEAR OF DRINKING WATER POLLUTION AND POLLUTION OF OCEANS, RIVERS, AND LAKES. It plots those two fears for years ranging from 2017 to 2025. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But that chart has four incorrect entries for those two fears because, as shown above in a pair of tables, it claims to include results for 2020. Actually there was no survey done in 2020 – just one identified as 2020/21. Those four entries are offset from where they belong.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fifth graphic is a bar chart by Yasmine Hourie, which is titled FEAR OF MURDER AND PROPERTY CRIME. What she calls Property Crime in the 2021 to 2025 surveys is identified as Theft of Property. As shown above in a table, four of five entries are correct but the one for 2022 says 30.0% when the detailed results say 34.5%.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, the bar chart for Murder is completely incorrect because it lists just one item while the detailed results show both Murder by a Stranger and (somewhat lower) Murder by Someone You Know. I show those results above in a table. Her Murder result also does not match the average for by a Stranger and by Someone You Know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second graphic is a pie chart by Emma Boyd titled OPINIONS OF HOMELESSNESS POLICY and has a caption claiming it presents results for % Strongly Agree or Agree. But, as is shown above via a table, none of those percentages are correct. They instead were rescaled to add up to a hundred percent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fourth graphic, by Gabriella Bartsch, is a bar chart titled CONSPIRACY BELIEFS IN AMERICA which claims to show percentages for seven items at the level Strongly Agree or Agree. But, as is shown above in my replot, all of her numbers are smaller by an average of 3.6% than those in the detailed results (and curiously are shown with two decimal places rather than one).  

 

Chapman University obviously stumbled when preparing this article. No one bothered to carefully edit these graphics and remove the errors.

 

The cartoon was adapted from one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

Learning from watching mistakes by other speakers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 2011 book from Dale Carnegie Training titled Stand and Deliver: How to Become a Masterful Communicator and Public Speaker contains the following quote from their founder, Dale:

 

“There are always three speeches for every one you actually give: The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you'd given.”

 

At Toastmasters club meetings we have opportunities to learn by watching the ones that other speakers gave (and, as shown above, how they tripped). There is an article by Cathey Armillas on pages 16 to 19 in the October 2020 issue of Toastmaster magazine titled How to Rock Your Presentation which has the following list of Top Ten Mistakes:

 

 1]  Infowhelm

 2]  Being audience ignorant

 3]  The slow start

 4]  Over-explaining

 5]  Sameness

 6]  Ending on Q&A

 7]  Going over time

 8]  Dreadful visuals

 9]  I before you

10] The weak finish

 

I have been reading a 2023 book by Katharine Coldiron titled Junk Film: Why Bad Movies Matter. On page 75 she says that:

 

“Bad movies are teaching tools for making and studying good movies.”

 

That’s a more specific version of the old saw that no one is completely useless - since they always can serve as a bad example.

 

The tripping sign was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

How to get results with communication

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not everything good is out there on the internet. I was looking up articles about public speaking in the EBSCOhost databases via my local public library, which are available in the Libraries Linking Idaho (LiLI) Databases. I found an excellent four-page article by Robert D. Ramsey in the May 2022 issue of Supervision magazine (on pages 10 to 13) titled Achieving results with communication. Then I saw that was the third time it had been reprinted by them. It initially had appeared back in their March 2006 issue, and also was reprinted in the March 2018 and May 2019 issues. It has the following list of 20 Ways to communicate more effectively:

 

Say what needs to be said as plainly as possible 

    and as soon as you can possibly say it.

Be prepared.

Remember who you are talking to.

Stick to the truth.

Remember half-truths are also half-lies.

Check for understanding.

Don’t communicate when you are angry.

Be yourself.

Use examples.

Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself.

Remember Goldilocks.

Be consistent.

Don’t take cheap shots.

If you don’t know, say so.

Remember, shorter is better.

Give reasons for actions, not just policy references.

Know when to shut up.

Write like you talk.

Dare to be passionate.

Listen to yourself.

 

Dr. Ramsey has written a bunch of books, including How to Say the Right Thing Every Time (which you can find both at Amazon and Google Books). In that book he has an opposite list, titled The twenty biggest communication mistakes school leaders make and how to avoid them:

 

Overreliance on jargon

Walking on eggs

Bending over backward to be politically correct

Too much formality

Overgeneralization

Sermonizing

Obsfucation

Practicing dogmatism

Patronizing

Making empty threats

Whining

Grammatical or spelling errors

Lying and denying

Communication overload

Overuse of slanguage

Showing off

Being Cute

Using profanity

Overfamiliarization

Using sexual innuendos

 

The image was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons

 

What mistakes should you run away from?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips on how to speak can either tell you what to do - or what not to do. At CNBC on May 20, 2021 there is an article by John Bowe titled Fear of public speaking? The biggest mistake to avoid – and 5 things to focus on, according to a speech expert. He says not to highlight your differences from the audience.

 

A second article by Fia Fasbinder at Inc. on January 19, 2017 is titled Troubleshooting TED: How to avoid 3 public speaking mistakes, which are Distracting Movement, Filler Words, and A Podium-Shaped Crutch.

 

A third article by Kathy Caprino at Forbes on November 16, 2011 is titled Why so many “experts” are terrible speakers: top 5 public speaking mistakes. They are failing to:

 

1]  meet the audience where they are

2]  make a heartfelt human connection

3]  show respect for the listener

4]  inspire follow-up thinking

5]  leave a lasting message of significance

 

A decade ago on April 1, 2011 I blogged about the first, in a post titled Where is your audience starting from?

 

A fourth article by Patricia Fripp on June 12, 2013 is titled Ten pitfalls to avoid in public speaking. Her list of things to avoid is:

 

1)    Unclear thinking

2)    No clear structure

3)    No memorable stories

4)    No emotional connection

5)    Wrong level of abstraction

6)    No pauses

7)    Irritating non-words

8)    Stepping on the punch-word

9)    Not having a strong opening and closing

10)  Misusing technology

 

The cartoon of a running man was adapted from one on page 61 of F. Fox’s Funny Folk, a 1917 book of cartoons you can find at the Internet Archive.