Sunday, February 17, 2019

Storytelling and Persuasion in Communication


    Everyone loves a good story. Whether it be a movie, a book, or a play, stories draw people in. Just think about the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi.  They were enthralled with C3-PO’s story—a story that convinced them to join in the fight. When persuasion is needed to get a group to join your side, a story is a good way to accomplish that goal.
     There are many situations where a persuasive story can be useful. For instance, in court. If you are an attorney, you tell your version of the juror story—a story of the case that the jury members will never forget (Diamondstein, 2014). This story breaks down the case to just a handful of easy to understand messages. Ideally, the result of this presentation is that the jury sees the case from your point of view, and you win.
     Political campaigns also benefit from persuasive storytelling. Of course, the point to such a campaign is to get the candidate into office, and telling their story is valuable to that endeavor. This is how the Republicans won in 2004. As James Carville noted in Poletta (2011): “They produce a narrative, we produce a litany. They say, ‘I’m going to protect you from the terrorists in Tehran…..’ We say, ‘We’re for clean air, better schools, more health care.’ And so there’s a Republican narrative, a story, and there’s a Democratic litany.” In other words, the Republicans told a story about how they will keep the country safe and sound, while the Democrats just listed items important to them. 
     The Republican strategy worked because it transported (Poletta, 2011) the audience out of themselves into a world they can picture living in. Transportation takes place when the audience starts to have an emotional connection to the events and characters in the story (Zak, 2013). In this case, the Republicans told a story of an America that was safe from threats—an America that everyone wanted and can see happening.     
     At my own employer, there are several potential opportunities for persuasive storytelling. For example, moving from an office-based situation to an e-working/work from home situation. By making this change, work-life balance can be easier to achieve, resulting in a higher morale amongst employees.
     Duarte (2011) suggests that a good presentation alternates between the way things are and the way things could be, ending with a world transformed. Applying this to the above scenario, let’s use John as an example:
·         The way things are: John arrives at work after a bad commute; he comes into the office sick, potentially causing coworkers to get sick; and he has to leave early or miss days for personal appointments.
·         The way things could be: John has more time with the kids with the elimination of the commute; he can still get some work done when he is not feeling well without going into the office; and when he has personal appointments, he can go right back home to do some more work.
·         The world transformed: John has a higher production and a higher level work/life balance.
     There are times in life when we all feel like John. This transports us into his world and we can see how the transformed world would work. Persuasive storytelling, when used successfully, does just that. It makes us see what that more perfect world is—and we want to take action to make it reality.

References
Diamondstein, L. (2014). Using storytelling techniques to craft a persuasive legal story. The Brief, 43(2), 57-61. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.proquest.com%2Fdocview%2F1507803326%3Facc   
Duarte, N. (2011, November). The secret structure of great talks. TED Talks. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks 
Polletta, F. (2011, March). Storytelling in politics. Contexts. University of California, Irvine. Retrieved from: http://faculty.sites.uci.edu/polletta/files/2011/03/Contexts-Storytelling-in-Politics.pdf
Zak, P. (2013, December 17). How stories change the brain. The Greater Good. Retrieved from: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_stories_change_brain

Sunday, December 30, 2018

The 2018 Book List

As per tradition, I present below the 2018 book list. Books with a double asterisk (**) were read for school.

Month Book Number Book Title Author
January 1 Killing England: The Brutal Struggle  Bill O'Reilly/Martin Dugard
for American Independence
   
February 2 Astronauts: Past, Present, Future Patricia Daniels
**3 Media Ethics: Issues and Cases Philip Patterson/Lee Wilkins
**4 Media Law and Ethics Roy Moore and Michael Murray
March
April **5 Heath Communication in the New Media
     Landscape Ed. By Jerry C Parker and 
     Esther Thorson
6 Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New 
     Orleans Brian Kilmeade/Don Yaeger
May 7 Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of 
      Discovery Scott Kelly
June 8 The Bible of Unspeakable Truths Greg Gutfeld
July 9 Mayflower Nathaniel Philbrick
TheAutobiography of Benjamin Franklin Louis P. Masur, Editor
August 10 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked
      Witch of the West Gregory Maguire
September 11 Star Wars: Vision of the Future Timothy Zahn
**12 The Handbook of Crisis Communication Ed. By W Timothy Coombs
     and Sherry J. Holladay
October 13 SW: Medstar 1: Battle Surgeons Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
14 Give Me A Break John Stossel
November 15 Einstein: His Life and Universe Walter Isaacson
**16 Designing Visual Language: Strategies
     for Professional Communicatiors Charles Kostelnick/David Roberts
December 17 A Walk In The Woods Bill Bryson
18 Pharaoh Wilbur Smith


Monday, January 15, 2018

Law, Ethics, and Journalism

     When one thinks about laws and ethics, it may seem natural to think that they are the same thing. They are not. Instead, they are separate ideas that are like two sides of the same coin. Laws come from the idea of what people do, based on rules codified in constitutions, statutes, common practice, et cetera (Moore & Murray, 2012). On the other hand, ethics are based on “ought talk”, or “what is good, both for the individual and society” (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014, p. 4). In other words, laws are rules that govern what people actually do, while ethics look at what people should do. When it comes to digital media, sometimes an action can be both legal and ethical, sometimes it can be one but not the other. That is the biggest difference between law and ethics: the law (usually) is pretty clear, ethics are not so clear.
     An example of a situation where law and ethics combine is the case of Boston Herald photographer Stanley Forman. In the process of photographing a story of a fire, he took pictures of two girls falling from a collapsing fire escape, seconds before they would have been rescued. One died (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014). It was legal for the paper to publish the story; freedom of the press allows for the publication because it was part of the news story. Also, according to Moore and Murray (2012), two aspects of the media are agenda setting and to be a watchdog. As a result of this story, the city of Boston very quickly changed the way fire escapes are inspected, and this improved the safety of the city. The question is if it was ethical. Yes, it was. Even though the paper made money off of the photograph, and the photographer won the Pulitzer Prize, the greater society is safer as a result; more lives were saved.
     Law and ethics also diverge. Moore and Murray (2012) reports on a situation in which a female reporter began dating the mayor of Los Angeles. The mayor’s marriage subsequently ended, and the reporter filed stories on the breakup without making it clear that she was dating the mayor. While it was technically legal for them to date, and for the reporter to withhold information on her relationship with the mayor, it was not ethical.  As people, they were both being unethical as he was a married man, and she was dating a man she knew was married. It was also unethical for her to not disclose their relationship while reporting on his marriage.
     This is why law and ethics are important for media professionals. One has to report the story, but one has to do it in a way that is ethical. The reporter discussed above didn’t want to lose her job (although she ultimately did), so she was looking out for herself. The Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) states that “Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public” (SPJ, n.d.). She did not do this. This ethical statement is one of the most important in media. The law is just as important because without the constitution, there would be no freedom of the press. In the end, while law and ethics are not the same thing, they work together to guide the media into making ethical and legal decisions. From all sources of law, there are rules that are guideposts for the media-not just the First Amendment, but also, for example, in administrative law, such as rules laid out by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as to which frequencies a particular media outlet may use for radio and television. Ethics come into play concerning more personal decisions as to how to do the job, such as the SPJ code of ethics.
References
Moore, R.L. and Murray, M.D. (2012). Media Law and Ethics. 4th Ed. New York: Routledge.
Patterson, P. and Wilkins, L. (2014). Media Ethics: Issues and Cases. 8th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill

Society of Professional Journalists. (n.d). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from: https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp      

Monday, January 1, 2018

The 2017 Book List


*1 The Story of The Lost Child: Summary and 
    Analysis Book Junkie 
2 Not Dead Yet Phil Collins

*3 How To Rank On Yelp Erick Daniel
*4 Leading Technology of 2017: And why you 
should know them Adidas Wilson
5 Killing the Rising Sun Bill O'Reilly/Martin Dugard

6 Confessions of an Economic Hit Man John Perkins
**7 Communication, Media, and Society S. Baran

8 Spaceman Mike Massimino

9 Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans ad War May Roach
*10 World of Warcraft Legion Game Guide The Yuw
11 The Princess Diarist Carrie Fisher

**12 Web Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create
     Information Quality on the Web  Marsha Ann Tate
13, 14, 15 William Shakesphere's Star Wars Trilogy Ian Doesher
W. Shakesphere's Star Wars
W. Shakesphere's The Empire 
    Striketh Back
W. Shakesphere's The Jedi Doth Return

16 The Bone Collection: Four Novellas Kathy Reichs

17 ST: Terok Nor: Day Of The Vipers James Swallow
**18 You Are A Brand  Catherine Kaputa

19 Vote First or Die: The New Hampshire Primary: Scott Conroy
    America's Discerning, Magnificent, and Absurd
Road to the White House

20 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke

**21 Business Communication: Developing leaders
    for a networked world Peter W. Cardon

22 The Scientists: A History of Science Told  Through
* Read for an audiobook job

**Textbook for school
           The Lives of It's Greatest Inventors John Gribbin


Monday, January 2, 2017

The 2016 Book List

For the past few years, I have kept a list of all the books I've read in the year. I've done it again in 2016. I read a variety of genres, from history to sci-fi.

Out of the 28 books this year, 17 were for audiobook projects (*), including the audiobook of Dude With Thoughts: The Book. One book was for school (**).

There were no books in February.

Here's the list. If you want to know about any of these books, just comment below.

 I'm looking forward to see what happens in 2017!


January 1 Killing Reagan Bill O'Reilly/Martin Dugard
2 Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates:
    The Forgotten War That Changed 
American History Brian Kilmeade/Don Yaeger






March *3 Mastering The Ukulele: Ukulele Techniques
And Theory For Beginners 2nd Ed Miranda Crow
*4 Enjoy! New Ways To Add Fun To Your Work Everyday Gini Graham Scott 
April *5 Dude With Thoughts: The Book Bill Georato
*6 Transformations Gini Graham Scott
7 Grave Secrets Kathy Reichs
*8 Paradise Island Game Guide Unofficial Hidden Stuff Entertaiment
9 The Cambridge Lectures Dr. Stephen Hawking
*10 Android Programming in 24 Hours For Beginners Meg Olinger
May 11 And The Good News Is… Dana Perino
*12 Norway--Travel Adventures Henrik Berezin
June 13 The Princes In The Tower Alison Weir
*14 Despicible Me-Minion Rush Unofficial Strat, Tricks, Tips HiddenStuff Entertainment
July *15 Angry Birds Fight! Hacks, Mods, Wiki, Cheats, Download 
Guide Unofficial HiddenStuff Entertainment
August *16 Despicable Me Minion Rush Game Cheats, Mods, Apk, Wiki 
Dowload Guide Unofficial HiddenStuff Entertainment
*17 Grand Theft Auto V: Game Cheats, PC, Mods, Download Guide HiddenStuff Entertainment
18 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two, Special  JK  Rowling, John Tiffany
Reherseal Edition Script Jack Thorne
September *19 Game of War: Fire Age HiddenStuff Entertainment
October *20 Minecraft Wii U Edition Unofficial HiddenStuff Entertainment
21 The 50 Year Mission: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral 
              History of Star Trek: The first 25 years Edward Gross and Mark A Altman
November *22 New Words With Friends Guide HiddenStuff Entertainment
*23 NBA Game Guide Unofficial HiddenStuff Entertainment
*24 Crochet Jewelry: 21 Easy Crochet Jewlry Projects  William Blackburn
December *25 Easy Crochet Patterns: Crochet Patterns for Beginners William Blackburn
26 The 50 Year Mission: The Next 25 years from the Next 
       Generation to JJ Abrams Edward Gross and Mark A Altman
27 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay JK Rowling
**28 Introducton to Graduate Studies Pearson Custom Library


Monday, November 14, 2016

Back to School

Four weeks ago today, I started Graduate School at Southern New Hampshire University. I'll be going for an MA in Communications. 

We had a paper due the first week, and mine is posted below. In the paper, we first had to compare and contrast our undergraduate experience with what we expect our graduate experience to be, then give a very brief overview of our chosen program. 

I got full points (45 out of 45). In the comments, my professor, Dr. Gabe Willis, said, "Excellent work here, William! I really enjoyed getting to know a little more about you throughout reading this paper. Great job! Dr. Willis." 



Like most people, when I graduated high school, I looked forward to going off to college. It would be my first real time away from home, and a chance to have some real experiences. I went to school at the University of Maine-Farmington, about 5 hours from home, and it was exciting.  While there, I met people from all over New England and the country. As a science/education major, my days were filled with all manner of scientific equipment and theory mixed with educational methodology.  In between, I took the chance to do some things that I had never done before: go downhill skiing and have my own radio show on the campus station. My undergraduate program was very difficult, but it offered an opportunity to grow and learn in whole new ways.

That sense of growing and learning is a similarity between the undergraduate and graduate level experience, however there are also many differences. The infrastructure, for instance. In Maine, I had actual classrooms and laboratories. Now, twenty-two years later, I am an on-line student. This is something I have to learn how to do. Online learning did not exist back then; the Internet itself barely existed.  In a classroom there are other students right there with you and you can get instant feedback; with on-line learning, you are more alone, and have to wait for feedback—even if it is only for a few minutes. Another difference is I have to take more responsibility for scheduling my work. This program has due dates, but there are no specific class times. I have to be sure to set a schedule that fits with work and life. I have a full time job, so school work will be nights and weekends.

The expectations of graduate school are more specific. As Dean Belanger says in his video, we are here to “become experts in [our] chosen field.” My chosen field is Communications. In order to become an expert, it is important to take seriously all of the assignments, and even use outside experiences. For example, interviewing members of our communications team at work, Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts, to find out how they handle communications in the health field. 

For each of the first two terms, I will be taking only one course. Intro to Graduate Studies this term, and Communication, Media, and Society next term.  The former will give me a good foundation on on-line learning and a solid step back into being a student, while the latter will start my program courses by giving me an overview of what we can do, and have done, in the communications space, which includes Marketing, New Media, and Public Relations, and Health. For the remaining courses, I will first check for prerequisites, and sequence accordingly, remaining with one per term. 

 The Communications program uses the APA (American Psychological Association) citation standards.  These standards are used in such places as business, social science, and nursing.

 Ethical standards vary slightly from field to field. For instance, in the public health space, digital health is coming into the forefront. Practitioners, and all of us, really, must keep in mind the realities of modern technology, and the pitfalls. In his 2015 article ‘5 Do’s and Don’ts of Digital Communication in Healthcare”, Eric Swirsky gives very practical advice to medical professionals on how to handle this technology. For example, if you encourage the use of this technology, explain the risks.

Resources to use in the program include the writing coaches, the Shapiro Library, and all the professors and fellow students. I predict a very successful time here, and a successful new career in health communications.
   
Citations

Belanger, Matthew. (2014, Nov. 24).  SNHU-501 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jICMlNn_SEs

Swirsky, Eric. (2015, July 16.) “5 Do’s and Don’ts of Digital Communication in Healthcare”. [Web Log]. Retrieved from https://www.elsevier.com/connect/5-dos-and-donts-of-digital-communication-in-healthcare


Thursday, August 25, 2016

Norwegian Dreams: A Preview

In June of 2016, I took a cruise vacation along the west and north coast of Norway, starting in Copenhagen, Denmark. Along the way, we had flight stopovers in Reykjavik, Iceland. 

 I'm in the process of writing a book about the trip, and have posted below the first half of Chapter 1's first draft, appropriately formatted for a blog. 





CHAPTER 1
COPENHAGEN OR BUST

P


L ANNING started over a year ago, and today is the first day of the plan being put into action.
     I could never really explain why, but I have always wanted to visit Scandinavia. It never mattered which country, as long as I got there.

 Two weeks from now, the question would be answered.

  In the meantime, after all the planning, phone calls, making reservations, and exchanging of money—by which I mean both paying bills and trading US dollars for Danish and Norwegian krone—we are on the way.

 It is Friday, June 3rd 2016.  I took the day off from work, although I technically could have worked from home. Last night, when I got home from work, I proudly exclaimed “I’m on vacation!”

    
The weather has been nice all day, sunny and warm. Pretty typical weather for this time of year. 

Flightline, the local airport transport service, has come to pick us up in Salem, NH to take us to Boston’s Logan Airport. “I have one other pickup, and then we can hit the road,” the driver says. Fifteen minutes later, we are on Route 93 South headed to Boston. It’s about 4:30PM, and while the northbound traffic is heavy with people trying to get home from work to start their weekend, it’s pretty smooth sailing on our side. That is to say, it was smooth until we got to the Fellsway.

 When I drive to Logan, I would take the highway to Exit 24B towards the airport on Route 1A.

This, however, was not what our driver did. By the time we got to the Fellsway, southbound traffic was almost as bad as the northbound, so he got off and took the back roads.

     Having no idea where we were, I watched neighborhoods go by which I had never seen before. We also hit just about every red light possible. It was getting later, and although we weren’t boarding until around 8:00PM I was getting very concerned with the time. This was not my first international flight, but it was my first flight to Europe, and I wanted to make sure there’s time to get through security. When you add in my near-phobic hatred of being late, well, it was not good. Finally, over an hour after leaving the house, we pass under the Tobin Bridge—a few minutes later, we were there.

     Logan Airport originally opened as Boston Airport on September 8th, 1923, and was rededicated on June 12th, 1943 as General Edward Lawrence Logan Airport. Logan was a lawyer, judge, military officer and politician from Boston. The airport is located on 1,700 acres of land in the East Boston neighborhood, and had four terminals: A, B, C, and E.

    All international flights from and to Boston come through Terminal E. This is where we are now.

     By the way, if you want to fly in or out of Boston, this is the airport you want. Do not get this confused with Manchester-Boston Airport, which is located in Manchester, NH.

     Do to modern security procedures, we cannot drop our bags off at the curb, instead we have to bring them into the terminal and up to the counter.

     All our flights for this trip are on Iceland Air. We find the appropriate counter and check in. We are told we will be leaving out of Gate E2A. It is a little after 6:00PM. My worries of being late, as usual, are unfounded.

     We get through security with almost no incident. Operative word being “almost.” As I walk through the scanner, it goes off. “Do you have anything in your pockets?” the TSA agent asks.

     “No.”

      “I’m going to have to pat you down.”

     “Uh, OK.”

     TSA begins the pat down. Upon reaching my left pocket, he notices something. No, not that. He asks me to reach into my pocket, and I discover that one lone penny had wedged itself into the corner, and that had set off the machine.

     Stupid penny.

     Having passed security, we make our way down to the gates, stopping for something to eat along the way. Mom and Dad got sandwiches, and I got my favorite airport pizza: two slices of cheese and a medium soda from Sparro’s.

     As we ate, we talked about the trip. This trip was going to have a lot of firsts for me—first overnight flight, first trip to Europe, first time using Iceland Air (on which are all our flights), first cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines. It is all very exciting.

     After dinner we headed back to the gate. Dad took out his Find-A-Word puzzle book, Mom her magazine, and I started making the first notes in my travel journal, which I got for Christmas. That journal would eventually become this book.

     Soon, we heard the words I’ve been waiting for announced over the intercom: “We will now begin pre-boarding for Flight 632 to Reykjavik.” Now, I’m going to put aside my feelings on the phrase “pre-boarding”, after all, that is what we were already doing. What’s really happening is “boarding”. In any case, we all line up and wait our turn.

     I’m in seat 11D, and the boarding is about half complete when it’s my turn. Mom and Dad go with me and we take our seats. I like having the window seat and love flying. Looking out the window down at the world gives me great pleasure. Soon, we would be over the open North Atlantic Ocean, leaving behind not just my country, but my continent. Land I would not see again for two weeks.

     We have a roughly five hour flight to Reykjavik, but there’s plenty to do on our Boeing 757.  In addition to whatever reading material or electronics you bring with you (all Iceland Air planes are equipped with Wi-Fi), there is also the inflight entertainment which is accessed by the screens located in the seatback in front of you.

     Using this system, you can access all manner of movies, TV shows, games, music, or you can even call up the GPS system and keep track of where you are. Here, you will see the plane’s location along with the time at destination, time at departure point, air speed and air temperature at that altitude, and on the ground at the destination. All this is shown in English and Icelandic.

     While I did keep an eye on this since it was starting to get dark and so couldn’t really see anything out the window, I flipped over to see what was available for TV shows. The Big Bang Theory was an option. If you know me, I obviously had to watch, choosing two episodes: “The 43 Peculiarity”, and “The Parking Space Escalation.” These are particularly good episodes. Mom started in on Downton Abby, Season 1. Dad stuck with his puzzles.

    A good thing to do when travelling to Europe is to keep on your same schedule from home. By this time, it was about 11:00 PM, so I shut down and tried to get some sleep.

     Instead, I started thinking about postcards. Who should I send them too? Obviously Duncan and family. But wait, here’s a great idea. Send one just to the kids. No, better idea. Send one to each of the kids.

     Then I started thinking about time differences. When it is more than an hour, time changes really mess me up when travelling. The difference here is, going east, you are moving ahead. I’m used to going west, usually to visit my sister. This should be interesting. Copenhagen is six hours ahead. I looked at my watch. It’s already something like 5AM there, that’s when I usually get up. 

     While I did, at some point, fall asleep, it was not for very long.