Tucson Shooting

So, probably like everyone else in the class, my post is going to mention the State of the Union Address. Obama started off the speech by taking note of the Tucson shooting and praying for the health of Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Obama then takes note of how bitter and contentious public debate in the US has become in the past two years and says that the shooting "gave us pause. Amid all the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate, Tucson reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater – something more consequential than party or political preference".

Here's something we should be asking ourselves however: What does it say about us as a country when it takes six people shot to death to finally make us realize that actual civil discourse has become nonexistent, and has instead been replaced by hateful, partisan and toxic shouting matches?

The US Congress responded to this tragedy by having a few representatives and senators from opposite parties sit side by side at the State of the Union address. Is that it? How is this one-time gesture going to improve debate in the US Congress?

If the state of public discourse is to improve in this country we need more than half-assed symbolic gestures. We need both parties to stop demonizing the other side as if they're baby eaters. The past two years should have been proof enough that this kind of "debate" does not help in actually passing laws. Look at the health-care bill. By demonizing the Democrats, the Republicans ended up with a bill that had absolutely nothing they liked, rather than a compromise. Meanwhile, Democrats were able to pass very few laws by refusing to compromise with Republicans.

Honestly though, I'm cynical. I think the Tucson shooting will probably be forgotten in months and public discourse will return to its previous toxic level. Because while this kind of "debate" doesn't help pass laws, it sure as hell does help politicians scare voters into supporting them.

Body Language

In public speaking, controlling your body language is a particularly important skill. While its often misquoted from the researcher Albert Mehrabian that only 7% of all communication consists of words itself, it is still important that you give an impression of confidence and sincerity in your speeches through your body language. Many people have been considered poor public speakers due to their body language. Probably the most famous example is the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy Presidential debate, where Nixon looked sweaty, nervous and sickly,while Kennedy looked relaxed and confident. Radio listeners believed Nixon had won the debate while television viewers believed Kennedy had won. Many analysts blamed the debate for why Nixon later lost the election.

The importance of body language in public speaking raises an important question for our generation: how capable public speakers can we really be when our communication is becoming increasingly dominated by written communication? Until only twenty years ago, the main form of written communication between people was mail. Even when people called people on the phone, they could still pick up the tone of a person's voice to read their emotions. But in 2011? It's considered easier to text a person rather than call them. The number of written formats for written communication, such as email, instant messaging, forums, Facebook, chat rooms and blogs, has increased exponentially. We have video chat in the form of Skype, but that's generally only used for lengthy conversations. All in all, technology seems to be reducing the frequency with which we use body language in our daily life.

Mastering public speaking could be a greater challenge to our generation than any other generation before us. If we mainly communicate with people through written communication, how can we be expected to get in front of people and give a relaxed, confident speech? How can we be expected to give off good, nonverbal, cues? As we learn the art of public speaking in this class, extra attention should be given to teaching us proper body language.