A new logo for information literacy

A new, international, logo has been developed to represent information literacy.

The sponsor, Information Literacy Section of IFLA, for UNESCO, says:

The aim of creating this Logo is to make communication easier between those who carry out information literacy projects, their communities, and society in general. The Logo will be available free of charge and promoted as an international symbol of information literacy.

The American Library Association describes information literacy this way:

“To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. The information literate individuals are those who have learned how to learn”

(ALA, 1998)

I prefer the perspective adopted by Sheila Webber at the Information Literacy Weblog:

"Information Literacy--
the adoption of appropriate information behaviour to identify, through whatever channel or medium, information well fitted to information needs, leading to wise and ethical use of information in society"

Edgar Luy Pérez, the artist, says of the design:

"The book, open and next to the circle [representing study], comprises with it a visual metaphor representing those people who have the cognitive tools to reach information in a nimble way, as well as the desire to share this ability."

Public speaking and me and you and Lisa

I found out about Lisa Braithwaite's Speak Schmeak blog and this post:
What if your worst public speaking fear comes true? through Business Communication Headline News.

Preparing to share some of it with you, I discovered I have not addressed public speaking on this blog. so it is definitely time to break the ice.

Lisa has allowed me to share her remarks with you in order to provide my added comments. The headings below are Lisa's. The block-quotes are hers also. My thoughts are added after her comments.

Lisa titled her post: What if your worst public speaking fear comes true?

I used to teach public speaking skills to people who would become interpretors in courtrooms and elsewhere. I posed that question to them at the beginning of the course. Someone would always say, I am afraid I will have a heart attack and die.

So I would tell them that very rarely this does happen--to experienced speakers whose time has come. I ask how realistic this fear is: "Not very likely." So we are able to put this aside and move on.

You're afraid of losing your place

Bring notes! Put them to the side so you don't use them as a crutch. If you forget what you were going to say, take a moment to look at the notes and move on.

You are not reading from a typed speech, are you? Use notes only, as Lisa suggests.

Or make a key-word outline of your remarks on a 3x5 card. Keep it in your hand, then you can step away from the podium and speak extemporaneously* without going to far off base. A quick glance at a card in your palm draws no special attention.

I prepare I set of cards and number them in the upper right corner. I can carry them with me around the room, or just pick them up a couple at a time.

You're afraid your computer will freeze up or your PowerPoint will fail

Have a plan B. Have a backup laptop, a backup disk of your presentation, a flip chart, or be prepared to present without technology (this is how we all did it back in the day). Read this interview for an example of how plan B (and almost plan C) was put into action.

It is always wise to plan for how you will manage without computer aid.

I once turned up for a presentation where the hosts had promised a laptop would be there, but they forgot they might need an extension cord. While the host ran off to an office supply store at 7 p.m., I gave my presentation without the technology.

I also collect physical objects that will serve to make my point. I have a small triangular board that I use whenever talking about the communication triad: Audience-Purpose-Message.

I'll post more on this tomorrow...

* Dictionary.com - extemporaneous
...2. previously planned but delivered with the help of few or no notes: extemporaneous lectures.

Basic Techniques for Building Rapport

Dummies UK site (click on title) provides the article below, adapted from the book, Neurolinguistics for Dummies.

Seven quick ways to sharpen your rapport

For starters, try some immediate ways to begin building rapport:

* Take a genuine interest in getting to know what's important to the other person. Start to understand them rather than expecting them to understand you first.
* Pick up on the key words, favourite phrases and way of speaking that someone uses and build these subtly into your own conversation.
* Notice how someone likes to handle information. Do they like lots of details or just the big picture? As you speak, feed back information in this same portion size.
* Breathe in unison with them.
* Look out for the other person's intention — their underlying aim — rather than what they do or say. They may not always get it right, but expect their heart to lie in the right place.
* Adopt a similar stance to them in terms of your body language, gestures, voice tone and speed.
* Respect the other person's time, energy, favourite people and money. They will be important resources for them.

E is for efficient, effective, economical writing

Plain language techniques can help you get the message through efficiently and effectively. It takes effort but it’s worth it.

Poorly written documents contribute to inefficiencies, management problems, higher administrative costs, and poor public relations. Clear communication gives you a positive image as efficient, responsive, and friendly. Isn't that how you want your clients to see you?

Improving your writing saves both time and money. Think of the time spent writing and editing. And the time wasted correcting misunderstandings. Imagine the gains to be achieved by making your written material more efficient and effective.

One of my clients prized brevity above all and insisted that all staff memos be limited to one page. But sometimes clarity requires more text or more space, and clarity is what we are really after.

A few weeks ago, Kenneth W. Davis put it this way:

Be economical

Some trainers and textbooks talk about conciseness or brevity. I prefer the word economy. It suggests dollars, pounds, and euros, and reminds us that business is about money. As someone once said, in the game of business, money is how we keep score. This week, as you revise your drafts, look for ways to save money, especially by making smaller demands on your readers' time.

The Rule to Follow Even If It does Not Apply!

General Rules and Regulations
promulgated under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Rule 13a-19 -- Plain English Presentation of Specified Information

---

1. Any information included or incorporated by reference in a report filed under section 13(a) of the Act that is required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 402, 403, 404 or 407 of Regulation S-B or Item 402, 403, 404 or 407 of Regulation S-K must be presented in a clear, concise and understandable manner. You must prepare the disclosure using the following standards:
   
   
   1. Present information in clear, concise sections, paragraphs and sentences;
      
      
   2. Use short sentences;
      
      
   3. Use definite, concrete, everyday words;
      
      
   4. Use the active voice;
      
      
   5. Avoid multiple negatives;
      
      
   6. Use descriptive headings and subheadings;
      
      
   7. Use a tabular presentation or bullet lists for complex material, wherever possible;
      
      
   8. Avoid legal jargon and highly technical business and other terminology;
      
      
   9. Avoid frequent reliance on glossaries or defined terms as the primary means of explaining information. Define terms in a glossary or other section of the document only if the meaning is unclear from the context. Use a glossary only if it facilitates understanding of the disclosure; and
      
      
   10. In designing the presentation of the information you may include pictures, logos, charts, graphs and other design elements so long as the design is not misleading and the required information is clear. You are encouraged to use tables, schedules, charts and graphic illustrations that present relevant data in an understandable manner, so long as such presentations are consistent with applicable disclosure requirements and consistent with other information in the document. You must draw graphs and charts to scale. Any information you provide must not be misleading.
       
       

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Note to Rule 240.13a-20.

In drafting the disclosure to comply with this section, you should avoid the following:

1. Legalistic or overly complex presentations that make the substance of the disclosure difficult to understand;
   
   
2. Vague "boilerplate" explanations that are imprecise and readily subject to different interpretations;
   
   
3. Complex information copied directly from legal documents without any clear and concise explanation of the provision(s); and
   
   
4. Disclosure repeated in different sections of the document that increases the size of the document but does not enhance the quality of the information.

---

Regulatory History

71 FR 53158, 53261, Sept. 8, 2006.

Business Communication

Business Communication Headline News provides news about communication for instructors of business communication. It is a companion to three college texts on business communication.

I have find it very helpful, and at the moment I have ten items sitting in my blog feed waiting for me to have the time to read them carefully. To clean up my feed, I am sharing these items with you. I think you will find this site very interesting.

Business English Grammar Lessons These lessons will be useful to anyone teaching business English. Read the original story here If the above link is broken, view our cached copy instead.

10 Icebreakers for Meetings Divide the meeting participants into groups of four or five people by having them number off. (You do this because people generally begin a meeting by sitting with the people they already know best.) Read the original story here If the above link is broken, view our cached copy instead.

Create Effective Charts with PowerPoint Graphs (called charts in PowerPoint) are an important part of many presentations, especially ones with financial data. In this tip, I include the basics for creating a readable, effective graph. Read the original story here If the above link is broken, view our cached copy instead.

How to Commmunicate about Change Richmond.com One of the perennial issues in many organizations is how to communicate about change. It’s a problem that appears with such regularity that "change communication" (and "change management" for that matter) has become a cliché. Because, after all–let’s say it together–the only constant is change. Read the original story here If the above link is broken, view our [...]

The 8 Intelligence Types: Which Type Are You? Do you think IQ tests provide the best indication of intelligence? You may be surprised to know that some scientists don’t think so. As a matter of fact, one scientist came up with a new theory about intelligence more than twenty years ago. Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University proposed that people were much more [...]

Test Yourself: Body Language and Persuasion Facial expressions can be good predictors of what the person you are persuading is thinking, but it requires fairly significant study. Body language and facial expressions when combined offer an even better picture of how your message is being received. Many people believe that they are good interpreters of body language and facial expressions, [...]

Ten Commandments of Blog and Wiki Etiquette Fueled in large part by the usercentric Web 2.0 trend, the Internet has evolved considerably as a communications platform, offering people innovative means for keeping in touch and sharing knowledge instantly with others across the Blogs and wikis, which enable folks to broadcast their thoughts to the Web at large and to collaborate on documents, [...]

Business Writing for Idioms There’s a kind of idiom that can cause problems. This kind of idiom means “the characteristic ways in which a language says things.” Every language on the planet has its own ways of saying certain things; when transferred to other languages, these “ways of saying things” sound downright weird. In English, for instance, we [...]

The Lazy Person’s Guide to Online Competitive Research Discovering who is linking to a site and clicking to read the associated commentary is a great competitive research technique . . . Read the original story here If the above link is broken, view our cached copy instead.

Research from McKinsey Reveals the Importance Organizations Place on Change Communication Research from McKinsey reveals that clear and creative leadership communication around company objectives is a fundamental component for successful organizational change. Read the original story here If the above link is broken, view our cached copy instead.

Be the author of your own identity.

The advice below is taken from an interview with Laura Morgan Roberts in Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge website called "Creating a Positive Professional Image"

Put your mind to what your image communicates about you and how that affects your message:

Be the author of your own identity.

Take a strategic, proactive approach to managing your image:

Identify your ideal state.

• What are the core competencies and character traits you want people to associate with you?
• Which of your social identities do you want to emphasize and incorporate into your workplace interactions, and which would you rather minimize?

Assess your current image, culture, and audience.

• What are the expectations for professionalism?
• How do others currently perceive you?

Conduct a cost-benefit analysis for image change.

• Do you care about others' perceptions of you?
• Are you capable of changing your image?
• Are the benefits worth the costs? (Cognitive, psychological, emotional, physical effort)

Use strategic self-presentation to manage impressions and change your image.

• Employ appropriate traditional and social identity-based impression management strategies.
• Pay attention to the balancing act—build credibility while maintaining authenticity.

Manage the effort you invest in the process.

• Monitoring others' perceptions of you
• Monitoring your own behavior
• Strategic self-disclosure
• Preoccupation with proving worth and legitimacy

How to write a press release

This tip sheet is from a course in writing for government at the University of Victoria--home of British Columbia's provincial government--that will serve you well for general purposes.

I followed its advice when writing a press release for a federal government department and found the result too clear and readable for the current government's preferences.

Here is a statement that sums up:
"Remember, the aim of the press release is to have the greatest impact with the fewest words."

How not to do it

Are you motivated to know more after reading the press release below? The headline for this release mentioned communication pitfalls, so I read this, but it turns out to be an example of poor communication.

"MADHAVAN NAYAR is company leader of INFOGIX, INC., the leading provider of Information Integrity solutions: "With the advent of the Internet, there has been a paradigm shift in the way companies communicate with their customers and deliver customer service. Considering there is such a wealth of information, such advanced technology offerings and such powerful communication capabilities available, why is it that so many of us feel that we are overcharged, underserved and taken for a ride? Why is it that so many organizations deliver such mediocre service and, as a result, stagnate, fail and get overrun by their smarter competitors?" To help companies understand how to avoid these pitfalls in the future, Nayar can explain how to align, focus and mobilize people, processes and products to become customer-driven, so the company can profitably grow and create value. Nayar can also provide expert insight into Information Integrity, highlighting the importance that organizations assure the accuracy, consistency and reliability of their critical information."

Apology - 3

This is the third in the series on apology. It is fortuitus that I found another blog entry just today on Public Apology.

For a look at the apology in the public arena, three items,
one from Harvard Business Review and two from Bernaisesauce.

HB Working Knowledge, A Framework for Apologies

by Barbara Kellerman

Here are some questions that can guide your approach.

• What function would a public apology serve?
• Who would benefit from an apology?
  
• Why would an apology matter?
  
• What happens if you apologize publicly?
  
• What happens if you don't apologize?

from "When Should a Leader Apologize—and When Not?" Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, No. 4, April 2006.

And from Bernaise Source

Apologizing in the New Media Age… quoting DPK Public Relations

Why Apologies Are A Crisis Communications Staple

• Take responsibility as soon as possible. Apologize as soon after the offense as possible.
• Describe what you did. Don't be vague or use euphemisms that attempt to tidy up your mess. A short, direct statement is perfect followed by a brief explanation of the circumstances surrounding it to provide context.
• Express remorse. Make your apology as heartfelt as you can without assuming liability. Tone is important here. The statement must reflect genuine remorse.
• Shut up. Afterward, be quiet and listen while people tell you how angry they are. If it's really bad, they'll call for your head. Know that you've done the right thing and time is on your side.
• Make it right. In such situations, what you DO always trumps what you SAY. Therefore, symbolic gestures matter. Your attempts to correct the problem and compensate those who have been wronged are essential. However, be careful not to promise more than you can deliver…

And again from bernaisesauce an entertaining rif on the sincerity of recent public apologies:

Apology Notes: A Rating Sytem

Red heart – heart felt apology accompanied by meaningful
change in action beyond what was expected

Clear heart – the apology is sincere, with no game changing
action beyond what was expected

Broken heart – meaningless apology mailed in by a PR
department or publicist where bad actions continue

Another Myth Exposed

Stephanie West Allen does us the favor of collecting comments and exposing the misinterpretation of the results of a communication study which has taken on mythic proportions--being taught in university communication courses.

You know, it is the one that says that the "meaning of communication is derived 7% from the words spoken, 38% from the tonality, and 55% from body language"--turns out that only applies to ambigous communication.

When the plain language of the message leaves no doubts, meaning need not be found in the external clues.

Don't assume common knowledge

I just returned from a cross-country trip, and found this in my email, via Newswise:

Some people face their biggest problem with communication when sharing new information with people they know well, newly published research at the University of Chicago shows.

Because they already share quite a bit of common knowledge, people often use short, ambiguous messages in talking with co-workers and spouses, and accordingly unintentionally create misunderstandings, said Boaz Keysar, Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago.

“People are so used to talking with those with whom they already share a great deal of information, that when they have something really new to share, they often present it in away that assumes the person already knows it,” said Keysar, who with graduate student Shali Wu tested Keysar’s communication theories and presented the results in an article, “The Effect of Information Overlap on Communication Effectiveness,” published in the current issue of Cognitive Science.

“Sharing additional [new] information reduces communication effectiveness precisely when there is an opportunity to inform—when people communicate information only they themselves know,” the researchers said.

In real life situations, the assumptions people make about what another person knows have many consequences, Keysar said. Doctors, for instance, often communicate quickly with each other and miscommunicate because they don’t realize the other physician is getting new information when they are discussing a treatment program, he suggested.

Make Meetings More Effective

We all hate meetings, but some simple tips can facilitate better communication for better meetings.

Newswise press release: Meetings are often the bane of the workplace, but a Purdue University expert says a few simple guidelines can make office gatherings productive instead of a source of boredom or dread.

Taggart Smith, a professor of organizational leadership and supervision in the College of Technology, says one of the key factors to running a good meeting is to make sure it's needed in the first place.

"Every meeting should have a clear objective that is communicated on an agenda distributed in advance," she says. "This helps focus the meeting so participants stay engaged and on track."

The meeting agenda also should include all topics to be discussed, the time allotted to each item and who will be responsible for its implementation.

* Distribute the agenda, along with any materials to be discussed, at least three days before the meeting date. That gives everyone a chance to come to the meeting ready to discuss the issue and take action instead of wasting time reading over papers.

* Meetings should generally last no more than an hour because participants' attention will begin to fade.

* If a meeting must exceed an hour, do something creative, like break up into brainstorming groups or offer refreshments.

* A good rule of thumb is to cover no more than five specific items per meeting.

* Discuss the most important item first because the most time is usually spent on topics early in the meeting.

Related Web site:

Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision: http://www.tech.purdue.edu/ols/