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.

 

A surprising discussion about why members of SEAL teams need to learn public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Boise Public Library I found a 2025 book by Mike Hayes titled Mission Driven: The path to a life of purpose. Mike was former commanding officer of SEAL Team Two. There is a preview at Google Books. Chapter Three discusses The Meta-Skills That Matter, which are:

 

META-SKILL 1: Understand and Create Value

META-SKILL 2: Know How to Influence Others

META-SKILL 3: Never Stop Learning

 

His discussion of how to influence others (starting on page 81) describes how important public speaking is:

 

“Influencing others is a vitally important meta-skill to have. When you can influence the behavior of the people around you, you become someone who can get things done for the mission you’re pursuing, organizational or personal. When you understand what motivates someone, you can drive their behavior to help you achieve your goals.

 

.…Embedded within this lesson are three points. One is about political capital. When you understand what motivates someone, you can choose what to ask of them, and how to ask it. You can get people to want to do something rather than having to convince them or, if you’re in a position to do so, to force them.

 

.…The second point is about challenging the status quo. When you understand what drives people, you can push for change in constructive ways.

 

….The third point here is about communication. Communication is about more than the concrete outputs we typically associate with people who work in a communications role – website content, white papers, etc. Communication is about being able to effectively transmit your thinking process. And it’s a critical meta-skill no matter your job. To wit: If asked to list the kinds of skills a SEAL needs, most people would land on a few predictable answers – strength, agility, calm inrensity, focus. Which is why my teams were sometimes confused when I’d sit them down on a day when the weather was keeping us from training and I’d give each SEAL a topic. ‘Take the next two minutes to prepare a two-minute speech on this subject,’ I’d say.

 

‘Public speaking?’ they would ask, incredulous. Why did they need to work on public speaking? It made no sense to some of them, until I explained it on two levels. First, at some point all SEALs will have to represent themselves and their unit to people in the community or to leaders we might have to interact with. Just like they needed negotiation skills, they also needed to be able to express themselves well, in case I or another leader was unavailable and the responsibility fell to them. Second, becoming a better speaker is really about becoming a better thinker, organizing thoughts and defining goals – and that is a skill that transfers to everything we do.

 

The best communicators have a tightness of thought. They set goals at the beginning of a meeting, to put everyone on the same page. They stay focused on the mission. They avoid needlessly wasting other people’s time. We’ve all been in rooms where someone starts vacuuming up attention needlessly by asking a question that either never gets to the question mark or is being asked for a self-indulgent purpose rather than focused on the end value. This is a communication problem (also sometimes an attitude problem, another meta-skill we’ll look at in a moment), and if you are the one being stared at by a bunch of people who feel like you’re wasting their time, you’re doing something wrong. There’s an age-old saying in the SEAL Teams, where platoons are made up of sixteen men: ‘When fifteen men are wrong, look in the mirror.’ It may well be that you are failing to influence in a positive, effective way.

 

In my public speaking exercise, all the SEALs listening gave feedback to the presenters, just like we did after missions. The feedback was another way to make us all better.”  

 

This book has two sections, on The Long Game and The Short Game, with the following chapters and starting page numbers:

 

THE LONG GAME

CHAPTER 1: Who, Not What You Want to Be  15

CHAPTER 2: Defining Success  43

CHAPTER 3: The Meta-Skills That Matter  69

CHAPTER 4: Helping Others Helps Us More  97

CHAPTER 5: Plans Will Always Change  119  

 

THE SHORT GAME

CHAPTER 6: Getting Comfortable Making Decisions  143

CHAPTER 7: Mission Driven in the Ways We Spend Our Time  161

CHAPTER 8: Mission Driven in Our Relationships  189

CHAPTER 9: Mission Driven through the Stages of Life  207

CHAPTER 10: Mission Driven to Change the World  221

 

The insignia for SEAL TEAM 2 came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

What was Mark Twain’s speechwriting philosophy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful article by Steve Siebold at LinkedIn Pulse on July 24, 2026 titled Mark Twain’s Speechwriting Philosophy? He says that:

 

“Twain was one of the most successful professional speakers of his time. He was also a master wordsmith who believed deeply in the discipline of world-class writing. He is famously quoted as saying:

 

‘The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.’

 

That distinction is the heart of great speechwriting.

 

The almost right word communicates the idea. The right word makes the audience feel it. The almost right word fills the sentence. The right word brings the sentence to life. The almost right word earns polite attention. The right word can produce laughter, silence, tension, emotion, or a standing ovation.

 

…If you want to become a stronger professional speaker, become a more disciplined speechwriter. Stop settling for language that is close enough. Search for the precise word, the sharper sentence, the cleaner transition, and the more powerful ending. Write it. Deliver it. Study the reaction. Rewrite it. Then repeat the process until the vignette sounds effortless.”

 

But that simile wasn’t quite what Twain said. It is a paraphrase, an example of the almost-right words. I blogged about it back on February 3, 2015 in a post titled Missing the boat by botching a quote. What Mark really said was that:

 

“The difference between the almost-right word & the right word is really a large matter - it’s the difference between the lightning-bug & the lightning.”

 

And on July 16, 2024 I blogged about Making fine distinctions: Using the right word versus the almost-right word.

 

An etching of Mark Twain came from the Library of Congress.

 

 

Buying a whole-house air purifier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought an Airdog X8 home air purifier, as is shown above. It is a console 15” square by 30” high. We put it in our living room.  

 

Lately we have suffered from unsatisfactory air quality due to smoke from large wildfires. In Boise that smoke is blowing east from central and eastern Oregon. I decided to purchase a whole-house air purifier. There is an article by Courtney Linkwall in the May-June 2026 issue of Consumer Reports titled How to Pick the Right Air Purifier. It says that most purifiers use a certified HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter, sometimes with an activated carbon filter.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those purifiers basically are just a fancy box with a fan and holders for disposable filters. Under Features that article listed the annual cost for replacing filters. For our HVAC system we already have 20”x20” and 14”x14” (shown above) pleated paper filters that have to be changed every three months. They are inlets for holding them on the second-floor ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the listing for Extra Large Rooms there was an alternative - the Airdog X8 which instead used an electrostatic/ionizer and washable filters (so no annual cost for replacing disposable filters). For example at Amazon, the AeraMax SV has an initial cost of $486 versus the $1199 for the Airdog X8. But the AeraMax SV has an annual cost of $293 for filters. As shown above, after two and a half years the AeraMax already will begin costing more total than the Airdog.  

 

 

The role of signposts in public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a brief article by Diane Windingland on pages 28 and 29 in the November 2020 issue of Toastmaster magazine titled Ditch the Notecards. She says:

 

“….Transitions bridge the gap between concepts, helping your speech flow smoothly from one part to the next. A transition also can be a simple signpost such as ‘first…second…third.’ Better signposting echoes previous material in your speech. So, instead of just saying, ‘Second…” it is better to say, ‘The second reason is…’ “

 

Another article by John Zimmer at Manner of Speaking on April 16, 2025 titled Signpost Your Presentation adds:

 

“Immediately after hooking your audience’s attention with a strong opening – something about which I have written in the past – tell them where you are going with the speech or presentation.

 

It is not hard to do. In fact, your signpost need only be one or two sentences.”

 

A third 5-page pdf article from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas titled Outlining Your Speech further explains that:

 

“The transition from the body of the speech to the conclusion requires a signpost, or a signal, to indicate to the audience that the speech is ending. The signpost is important, and must be clear without being cliché, so try to avoid overused phrases such as ‘In conclusion’ to signal the end of your speech.”

 

A fourth article by Antoni Lacinai on July 5, 2023 titled Signposts in Speech | A Comprehensive Guide describes how there are three types of signposts: transition, enumeration, and summary.

 

A fifth detailed article at SlideModel.com on February 16, 2026 titled Presentation Techniques You Didn’t Know Existed (Until Now) describes how:

 

“….Signposting is the practice of guiding the audience’s attention by indicating where the presentation is headed and why each segment matters. Most presentations fail not because the content is weak but because listeners cannot map new information on what came before. Signposting solves this by creating orientation points throughout the session.   

 

Effective signposting uses short verbal cues rather than long explanations. Phrases like ‘Now that we’ve established the context’ or ‘This leads us to the next factor’ serve as transitions that mentally prepare the audience. These cues reduce uncertainty; they signal continuity and prevent listeners from wondering whether the topic has shifted or expanded without warning.

 

The strength of signposting lies in its subtlety. When overused, it becomes repetitive. When used sparingly, it reinforces logical order. Signposting is particularly important in technical presentations, financial reviews, and educational settings where concepts build upon one another. It also supports oral presentation techniques in practice: clear speech is not only about pronunciation but also about keeping listeners oriented.”

 

There is a 1-1/2 minute YouTube video at T. J. Walker Success on March 14, 2019 titled What is a signpost in public speaking? A second ten-minute video from Patricia Jenkinson on June 23, 2016 is titled Signposting: Making It Easy for your Audience to Follow Your Speech.

 

 

Be aware of speakers and audience members with mobility challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful post by Rich Hopkins at his Speak & Deliver blog on February 27, 2026 titled A Plea to Meeting Planners. He had his left leg amputated below the knee. Rich says to plan inclusively:

 

 “Ask speakers about mobility needs in advance - Ensure ramps are visible, safe, and easy to use - Provide seating options on stage - Reduce unnecessary distances when possible - Think about attendee navigation, not just speaker logistics.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As shown above, on stage there preferably should be a chair with arms rather than a high stool.

 

Rich made it to the semi-finals (top eighty) of the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking seven times and the finals (top ten) three times, as was discussed in an article by Joe Rubino in the Broomfield Enterprise on August 17, 2011 titled Broomfield man aiming to be the roast of Toastmasters.

 

You can watch an 8-minute YouTube video of his speech titled What We Knew Then at Rich Hopkins 2006 Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking Third Place. (At 6 – 1 /2 minutes he sits down in a chair). And you can watch his Top Ten speech from 2008, Unthinkable.

 

Most of us don’t think much about mobility challenges either for speakers or the audience. I only did after I broke my fibula, which I blogged about on November 24, 2016 in a post titled What I’m thankful for today – recovering from a broken fibula.

 

There also is an article by Dane Cobain at speakerHUB on September 26, 2023 titled How to Make Your Public Speaking Events More Accessible.

 

Images of an amputee, a chair and a stool were adapted from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

An excellent comprehensive monthly calendar for planning to improve your public speaking this year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On January first I blogged about In 2026 only you can prevent bad presentations, and mentioned an article by Maurice Decastro at Mindful Presenter on December 28, 2025 titled 10 Ways to Develop Strong Public Speaking Skills in 2026. He has another article on January 1, 2026 titled Transform your public speaking skills: a comprehensive yearly growth calendar. It has the following categories organized by months, each of which is briefly discussed:

  

January – Prioritise what matters most

Identify your ‘why”

Focus on your strengths first

Find a trusted friend or colleague

 

February – Clarity is king

Start small and clarify one core message

Know your audience and shape the message around them

Pressure-test your clarity

 

March – Create a strong, impactful opening and closing

Begin with a compelling quote or question

Share a fascinating anecdote, statistic, or fact

Create an image

Close with impact

 

April – Managing your nerves

Ground your body to calm your mind

Shift focus away from yourself

Build confidence through preparation, not perflection

 

May – Could you listen to yourself?

Record yourself practicing

Slow down and pause

Experiment with volume and emphasis

 

June – Practice mindful movement

Connect with the ground and your hands

Connect through eye contact

Connect with yourself before speaking

 

July – Manage your bad habits

Fire, aim, read

One size fits all

The curse of knowledge

Avoiding mud at the wall

Avoiding PPI (Preparation, practice, internalization)

The tornado effect

Looking good

Avoiding the bush

The ostrich syndrome

Speed of light

Energy is key

The corporate spokesperson

The comforter

Motion sickness

Let’s count

You don’t sound so sure

 

August – Share stories

Create a personal story bank

Structure your story and make it emotionally engaging

Enhance your story delivery skills

 

September – Focus on engagement and interaction

Ask questions

Encourage reflection and gauge the atmosphere

Boost audience participation

 

October – Get out more

Attend live events

Look for opportunities to learn

Ask for help when needed

 

November – Mastering questions

Listen fully and clarify

Pause, smile, and breathe

Stay focused and strategic

 

December – Spend time reflecting

Reflect on your learning and add new techniques

Demonstrate your skills in practical situations

Create a personal development plan

 

His monthly titles had dashes for January, February, March, April, May, September, October, and November; But he used colons for June, July, August, and December. I edited to make them consistent.

 

There are three categories in each month for January, February, April, May, June, August, September, October, November, and December. But there are four categories for March, and sixteen categories for July. That is a total of 44 categories! Those 16 from July might better have left four there, and spread the remaining dozen as two each over six months.

 

The calendar was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.  

 

 

Exnovation is the opposite of innovation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 20, 2024 I posted on A comic strip about flipping prefixes from ex- to in-. The opposite direction also works. There is an article by Hector P. Rodriguez et al. at The Milbank Quarterly in 2016 (Volume 94 number 3, pages 636 to 653) titled The Exnovation of Chronic Care Management Processes by Physician Organizations whose opening states:

 

“Exnovation is the process of removal of innovations that do not improve organizational performance, are too disruptive to routine operations, or do not fit well with the existing organizational strategy, incentives, structure, and/or culture. John Kimberly first coined the term in 1981 to describe the removal process at the tail end of the innovation cycle.”

 

Exnovation isn’t either the Merriam-Webster or Oxford English dictionaries. But there is a Wikipedia page on Exnovation, and a LinkedIn Pulse article by Joanne Hagerty on June 24, 2025 titled We Need to Talk About Exnovation.

 

There is a more detailed discussion in the 2023 book by Juergen Howaldt and Christoph Kaletka titled Encyclopedia of Social Innovation (Chapter 10 page 56) which you can read here at Google Books:

 

“Exnovation ‘occurs when an organization divests itself of an innovation in which it has previously invested’ (Kimberly 1981, p. 91). Kimberly offers the example of an organization, which adopted videotape equipment to record staff meetings. Subsequently, the organization no longer actively uses the equipment, its popularity fades away, but the equipment is still there, and costs the organization space and money. Exnovation, in Kimberly’s sense is the active divestment of the innovation) i.e., here the videotape equipment), not just discontinued use. He observes that there are several reasons for exnovating; another innovation replaces the old one, for example the organization might switch to Zoom recordings, or the innovation might turn out not to be justified (perhaps, it was just a bad idea to record the meetings in the first place). The underlying reasons for exnovating might be due to beliefs about the performance of different technologies, due to imitation of other organizations, or result from a change in policy support. In short, exnovation is a rich and complex topic. It is also a topic that is widely ignored due the prevailing pro-innovation bias in innovation studies (more on this below). In a few pages of his 1981 article, Kimberly introduces exnovation along with key considerations for further development.

 

Subsequent research extended the scope of the definition beyond organizations and technology. ‘Expanding on Kimberly’s definition, we understand exnovation as the purposive termination of existing (infra) structures, technologies, products, and practices’ Heyen et al. 2017, p. 326). In this wider sense, exnovation depends on actors across social spheres. The extended definition provides a fertile soil for social innovation research since the latter calls for a shift from a reductive focus on technological change in business contexts to one on change of practices across social spheres (Howaldt et al. 2014) (- SOCIAL INNOVATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE). In light of these developments, social exnovation can be defined as the deliberate termination of social practices, and the change in goals and relations as well as materials and techniques required for this.”

  

We have always prepared French fries this way, but should we?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recently got a 2024 book titled The Tried & True Cookbook by Alyssa Rivers from the Boise Public Library. Page 149 in it has a recipe for Air-Fryer French Fries, which also appeared online on October 14, 2023 at her The Recipe Critic web site titled Amazing Air Fryer French Fries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the book, her second step is to slice the potatoes into 1/4” strips. The third step is to:

 

“Rinse the fries in cold water, and pat them dry with a paper towel.”

 

A Note at the bottom of the page adds:

 

“Don’t skip rinsing the potatoes. This step is important because it gets rid of the starch, which allows the potatoes to get nice and crispy as they cook. Just be sure to dry them really well before cooking.”   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a criticism for that recipe critic. Why the heck are you wasting paper towels? You could just dump the potatoes into the bowl of your salad spinner (as is shown above), soak them in water to better remove starch, and dry them by spinning? But her list of Essential Kitchen Tools on page 14 of her Tried & True Cookbook does not list a Salad Spinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Similarly, most recipes I had seen for Boston Brown Bread call for that quick bread to be steamed in a coffee can for a couple hours and then sliced (as also is shown above). I never ever tried making it myself - until I saw page 244 in the 1998 book by Mark Bittman titled How to Cook Everything: Simple recipes for great food. He says instead to bake it at 300 F for an hour in 8” by 4” loaf pans. Back around the American Revolution our ancestors had to steam it, since they had no ovens in their kitchens – but we certainly do. Mark’s description for The Basics of Miscellaneous Tools says on page 5:  

 

“Salad Spinner: Nice item, and not only for drying salad greens. It’s excellent for dunking anything that you want to rinse and drain repeatedly. Not essential, but close.”

 

Think about how you cook, and don’t get stuck in a rut. On December 7, 2020 I had blogged about What are you doing in that recipe, and why are you doing it? Earlier, on March 12, 2019, I blogged about Does the Dalai Lama eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast? In that post I noted:

 

“It is dangerous to assume that everyone else obviously does things the same way as we do.”

 

Images of French Fries and Boston Brown Bread came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

There are strategies for crisis communication that executives should master

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful and brief article at Speakeasy on August 1, 2025 that is titled Crisis Communication Strategies Every Executive Should Master. Their nine strategies are to:

 

1]  Stay Centered and Project Calm

2]  Communicate Early and Often

3]  Be Human and Empathetic

4]  Deliver a Clear, Unified Message

5]  Prepare Spokespeople Across the Leadership Team

6]  Address Internal and External Audiences Separately

7]  Build and Practice Your Plan Before a Crisis Hits

8]  Strengthen Public Speaking Confidence

9]  Listen as Part of the Strategy

 

 

More about mind mapping for presentations and in education

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Way back on August 4, 2009 I blogged about Mind mapping and idea mapping for planning speeches. More recently there is an article on SpeakerHUB at Medium from August 25, 2023 titled How to use mind maps for public speaking. They list the following ten steps:

 

  1] Choose your main concept

  2] Create your branches

  3] Fill out each branch

  4] Structure your presentation

  5] Create your presentation (branch by branch)

  6] Check your presentation against the mind map

  7] Practice the presentation

  8] Make any changes that are required

  9] Perform the presentation

10] Review your performance

 

There is a more general article by Sejla Hajric at CRM.org on May 27, 2025 titled All 10 Different Types of Mind Map You Need to Know About. Only the last one is specifically for a presentation. Those are:

 

 1) Tree map (hierarchical, tree-like structure)

 2) Flow map (flow chart with a sequence of steps)

 3) Dialogue map (visual representation of a discussion)

 4) Spider map (radiating out to subtopics)

 5) Multi-flow map (multiple flows representing causes or effects)

 6) Bubble map (describing a topic with adjectives)

 7) Double bubble map (two central bubbles rather than one)

 8) Tunnel timeline map (representing processes linearly over time)

 9) Circle map (where topic information radiates from a center)

10) Presentation map (used for topics in public speaking)

 

And there is a very detailed (10-page .pdf) article by Atiyeh Sadat Sajadi et al in the Journal of Education and Health Promotion on December 28, 2024 titled Using the mind map method in medical education, its advantages and challenges: A systematic review. Their Figure 2 is shown above.  

 

The third and fourth paragraph in their Introduction state:

 

“The mind map is an innovative learning method that increases student participation and consequently leads to meaningful learning. For the first time in the mid-1970s, Tony Buzan introduced the mind map method. In this learning method, a graphical image can be designed with the help of words, images, colors, and symbols, so that the student can remember the material more easily. In fact, the mind map is a visual educational method in which the main topic is in the middle of the page and ideas, words, pictures, symbols, etc. are placed around it in a branching and free-form manner. In the mind map, long texts are removed, which allows the user to synthesize, creates the best arrangement of information, increases the level of cooperation and participation within and between groups, and ultimately promotes ideation and critical thinking.

 

The mind map actually expresses the relationship between attitudes and ideas that are described visually. The use of this method has caused medical students to memorize a large amount of information for a longer period of time and accelerate the learning process. As a result, the success of students increases. The hemispheres of the brain have different functions, and these functions can be implemented in a unified way. Employing mind maps results in an elevated degree of cerebral hemisphere functionality. This approach arranges thoughts, establishes connections between ideas and perspectives, and offers a means to uncover novel subjects that can fortify existing notions and concepts. In essence, this method hinges on connecting a central idea to multiple sub-ideas.”

 

 

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%

 

 

Two good recent articles about opening a speech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two good, brief articles about opening a speech from earlier this year at the web site for the National Speakers Association. One is by Patricia Fripp on April 9, 2025 and titled Your First Thirty Seconds: Arouse Interest in Your Subject. She says:

 

“Transport the audience to a different time and place

 Stories are always a crowd pleaser

 Interesting statistics or little-known facts

 A powerful quotation

 A question”

 

Another is by Mark Sanborn on July 2, 2025 and titled Start Strong: How to Open a Speech the Right Way. He says to:

 

“ 1]  Promise a benefit

   2]  Pique interest

   3]  Relate a personal experience

   4]  Be a contrarian

   5]  Make a challenging statement

   6]  Use humor”

 

The cartoon was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

What experts know that you don’t

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful ten-minute YouTube video by Jim Cathcart on May 4, 2025 titled What Top 1% Experts Know That You Don’t. He shows a sketchy flipchart with Do (Doing) on the horizontal axis and Know (Knowing) on the vertical axis. And he mentions both can either be low or high.

 

We can divide things into a 2x2 table, which I have redrawn as a slick color version using PowerPoint, as is shown above. If both what you Know and what you Do is low, then you just are a Passenger (someone sitting in the back of the airplane). If what you Know is high but what you Do is low, then you are a Critic. If what you Know is low and what you Do is high, then now you are a Competitor. Finally, if both what you Know and what you Do is high, then you are a Leader (an Expert).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, as shown above, there are six levels of expertise (in increasing order):

 

Competent

Excellent

Expert

Leading Authority

Celebrity

Star