A concept from Chapter 1 that I found to be interesting was about communication today and how new technologies have affected and will continue to affect communication. It is easy to see how communication has evolved throughout thousands of years. Primitively, humans communicated through sounds or language and gestures. As we became more sophisticated (as in ancient Greece) writing became another form of communication. But today in 2009, there are endless and much easier forms of communication. With cell phones and the Internet, we can be constantly in touch with friends, family and coworkers.
I also found it interesting how in early times, the study of public speaking was not taken seriously. For most people, public speaking does not come naturally – it requires skill and lots of practice. Public speaking is an important skill to have because we will use it for the rest of our lives. From what I have seen, people that have mastered public speaking generally present themselves in a professional way, allowing audiences to take them seriously.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that public speaking does take a great skill and effort. One thing that I did want to touch upon is how technology may change public speaking in the future? I don't know about you, but it has been a long time since I've actually sat and listened to a speech on television or in person. Nowadays, I think most people just use the Internet and read about the highlights of a speech, or read the speech itself at their own pace so they can save time and pick out only what they want to know. Maybe I am wrong and technology may actually help people want to become successful in public speaking because of the small number of people who will become known for their public speaking? I guess this is only time and technology will tell.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up an excellent concept on how technologies these days will continue to impact how we communicate. There are so many different forms of modern day technological communicative options we have. Look at how this class is conducted, and how we are communicating the material. Not to mention all the social networking websites, instant messaging, cellular phones, etc. I think it's extremely interesting to see what will happen as we evolve even further.
I also enjoyed your concept of public speaking in early times. I couldn't agree more on how it needs to be taken more seriously, and find it shocking that it wasn't back in the early days. Great discussion.
Hello Crushed Velvet! You talked about the ability to be in constant contact with people through internet, cell phones, etc.... Do you think this has helped or hindered communication? In what ways? Do you think you've gotten to know people better because of the recent (last 20 years or so) advances with immediate communication? :)
ReplyDelete