New Venue for club

Communicators Logan City has a new venue. We had to leave the restaurant as they are not renewing the lease on the meeting room. So we have moved to the new meeting/Board room at Logan Diggers Club. Looking forward to using the newer rooms and the range of equipment available there.

In Land of Lexicons, Having the Last Word

An interesting article in the New York Times. Interview with the newly appointed editor of the Oxford American Dictionary. She is young and articulate. The article also paints pictures of others in this new generation of lexicographers, ('Ms. McKean is part of the next wave of top lexicographers who have already or may soon take over guardianship of the nation's language, and who disprove Samuel Johnson's definition of a lexicographer as "a harmless drudge"'),and comments on the current state of dictionary construction. 'Sidney I. Landau, a former editor of Cambridge Dictionaries and the author of "Dictionaries: The Art And Craft of Lexicography" (and at 71, a member of an older generation), said a shift in people's interests had also played a part. "In the early part of the 20th century, science and technology were very big in terms of marketing dictionaries, and they'd make claims about having 8,000 words dealing with electricity or mechanics," he explained. But now, he added, "I think there has been a shift in terms of recognizing the importance of youth culture and slang."' Read the complete article.

Communication success

Keep your wisdom judiciously hidden. No-one is happy to share their ideas with someone who knows everything. For more communication success tips, subscribe to our ezine.

Towards a Learning Revolution in Australia

National Conversation on Lifelong Learning Adult Learning Australia has taken an initiative to generate a national conversation on future directions for lifelong learning in Australia. This project has involved a discussion paper titled Towards a learning revolution in Australia which was released in December 2004 and consultations in all States during the period 14 March to 8 April 2005. The project is being directed by ALA Visiting Research Fellow Peter Kearns.

Reporting science - a balancing act

The Power of the Press is considerable, but then I think we have grown up to the extent of doubting its veracity. There is the pull of sensationalism against factualism. There is the need to present generalities without too much detail. And how much time should a journalist spend researching his story? And the paper's own bias??? This article discusses the issues of balance versus completeness of reporting. It becomes a matter of some importance when the reporting applies to matters scientific and ethical. For communication success tips, subscribe to our ezine

Tips for keeping your cool before your presentation

Stretch to relax. Rise on your toes and reach for the ceiling, with your head back. Tighten your muscles from legs up through abdomen, and then release. Relax the neck and shoulder muscles, letting head loll on neck in different directions. Breathe to relax. Stand erect, but relaxed and balanced. Inhale while silently counting to five. Hold the breath for five counts, then exhale for five – all breathing is through the mouth. Your diaphragm should move, but your chest should not expand. You can gradually increase the number of counts for each breath to 10. Relax your Jaw. Let your head loll forward. As you raise it, keep your jaw relaxed. Let it hang open, and smile to yourself at how silly it feels. Relax your throat. Yawn …. This is how your throat needs to be to speak well – open, and relaxed. Keep relaxing the muscles throughout your body, your jaw, neck and throat until you walk to the presentation area. Then smile! and begin. For practice in keeping your cool, join an ITC club

Automating your text entry

This tip comes from SpeakerNet News (editor@speakernetnews.com), servicing the professional speaker community worldwide. Automating your text entry – Dawn Bjork Buzbee (dawn@softwarepro.com) Do you frequently type your address, a closing for a letter, add your company logo, or type a favourite quotation? Any repetitive text or graphics can be recalled easily in Microsoft Word with AutoText. Here's how to get started: 1. Highlight the text and/or graphics you want to use again (formatting will also be part of the AutoText entry). 2. In Word, choose Insert > AutoText > New. 3. A prompt will appear asking for the name; you can use 1 or more characters, a word, or phrase or other shortcut combination. The real trick is to use at least 4 unique characters at the beginning so that your entry will pop up automatically when you want it. For instance, ABCaddress and myclosing are better than address1 and closing1. 4. OK to save. There are 2 easy ways to bring up your AutoText entries: 1. Type the first 4 characters or more of your shortcut, and Word will pop up a yellow ScreenTip suggesting the entry. (Try this by typing November). If you want to add the AutoText entry that is displayed, just press "Enter" or "Tab" and it will appear along with all formatting and graphics. Very cool! If you don't want to add the entry and just want the word, just keep typing and ignore the yellow popup. 2. If you used a shorter name or you don't see the AutoText popup, just type the entire shortcut name (with no space at the end) and then press the [F3] key to add the AutoText entry. Using AutoText is a great timesaver! For more communication success tips, subscribe to our ezine called The Communication Edge

Training at ITC Club

Mt Gravatt Communicators held its meeting last Tuesday. The theme was Obsessions. Soul-searching was the order of the day, but this is a skill - releasing only so much information about oneself as suits the audience and the ocaasion - not to mention to reinforce one's image! Using the theme for impromptu practice also created some useful lessons. The main training session was on Enneagram basics. Madonna presented a tantalising overview. This system has so much to offer both to consultants and counsellors as well as to management.

Meeting Success: How to argue

'Just as you need to know when to fight in a meeting, you also need to know when to be quiet. Stop arguing when a decision is made. Be a team player. You could say, "As you know, I disagreed with this idea, but you have my whole-hearted support."' From Adele Greenfield