Day Four of Persuasion

Chris and I are staying up late getting ready for Liam's birthday party tomorrow - party favors (narcissus planting projects), food (quesadillas) and overall running around like crazy.

i'm tired and don't feel like working on this, but i have to spend this week-end writing a memo and finishing my paper for kathy's class....

FOR CLASS JOURNAL
I wonder if I am any more persuasive after four intensive days of this class. Certainly, it will take a long time, but I certainly find myself having better luck coaxing my son into brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed a little more effectively.

It was great to do interactive exercises today and put our principles into action. It was interesting in our study group to see one brilliant person, highly trained in economics, unconvinced about using anything but logos - in fact, he didn't even seem conscious of his just sticking to the facts, mamn. Interesting, though, because in our group, I thought one person did a great job throughout our discussion breaking down the concepts clearly - using examples and facts, and I thought s/he would be a great spokesperson. I was suprised when one person suggested another member of our group who told a fabulous story to be our spokesperson. S/he turned out to be amazing, but I definitely had my own logos misgivings on going with someone who just seemed more of a storyteller. In the end s/he was the right person. The point of this story is that I can see and understand the logos/pathos/ethos combination in theory, but when it came to choosing someone to present, my immediate reaction was to go with someone who appeared stronger in the logos side. Theory and practice.

And on the praxis front, it was really great crafting my pitch and honing it. I tend to be longwinded and take awhile to get to my point, so it was great to be forced to make a presentation in two minutes. I was apprehensive and nervous, though, doing my pitch, so it was heartwarming to get positive feedback, though I had to pry to get some more constructive feedback - not surprisingly, to stay within the two minute mark. I found that I wasn't that nervous once I launched into my talk. I realized what helped. By opening with a counter-intuitive and surpising hook - I clearly caught folks' attention - and that positive energy from the audience helped carry me through on that upbeat momentum. My story halfway through also helped ride this wave - it's fun trying out these techniques, and it was also great having such a supportive group of folks. It also helped to practice a bunch of times, especially since I was working with new material (hmmm...interesting choice of term - like a stand up comedian)

I look forward to our discussions about Lorenzo. Knowing some union members at the time, it's interesting to analyze the "other side. I look forward to discussion the balance of persuassion versus action - a lot of workers seemed to despise him not so much for his arrogant attitude and likeability, but because he raided the company and then was surprised when there was not enough infrastructure and corporate integrity to weather the exogenous changes.