Spielberg\u27s Dead Wrong about the Dead; or, The Places in the Movie Where I Cried

I stood in front of the rostrum in the National Cemetery with my parents. They hadn\u27t seen the movie yet. My best-friend was next to them. He hadn\u27t seen it yet. Another compatriot joined us who had seen it, but we were definitely outnumbered in our little knot of folks within the massive crowd. As Spielberg continued speaking, I leaned in to the group. You really need to see the movie, I said, knowing that no matter whose ears it hit the odds were it\u27d hit a meaningful target. [excerpt

Crowd noise and vocal power level in large college canteens in China

Both the noise and the vocal power level of the crowd are parameters for evaluating the acoustic environment. The former is from the perspective of the environment, and the latter is from the perspective of the user's needs. This paper aims to explore the crowd noise and vocal power level of diners in large college canteens in China. Measurements were conducted in two typical Chinese college canteens. Videos were also recorded to analyse the diners’ behaviour. The results showed that the noise in canteens varied from 61 dBA to 73 dBA during the meal. It was noted that although the noise level had a strong correlation with the number of occupants, the relationship between this two was not simply the superposition of equal-intensity sound sources. The speaking ratio and the Lombard effect played a significant role during the meal. The average speaking ratio was 0.12, which was far less than the practical value, 1/3. A prediction model for vocal power level under crowd noise was introduced into Chinese college canteens, which considered direct and reverberant sound energy using the parameters of room information, the location of the diners, and the speaking ratio. Based on this model, the vocal power level was found to vary from 59 dBA to 97 dBA. According to Pearson's evaluation criterion, 17.1% of the data fell between “Raised” and “Loud”, and 71.8% of the data fell between “Loud” and “Shout”. It indicated that the crowd noise in Chinese college canteens had a significant impact on communication and some acoustic treatment was necessary

Student Broadcaster Leads Pro Baseball Telecasts

Surrounded by bunting and a sellout crowd, Swan was sitting behind a microphone with a TV camera to his right ready to call play-by-play for a live television broadcast of the San Rafael Pacifics’ independent minor league season-opening game on June 3. Figuratively speaking, he was about to hit a home run in his young broadcasting career as the lead announcer in professional baseball

Glossophobia: The Fear of Public Speaking in ESL Students in Ghana

Glossophobia, an individual’s anxiety of public speaking, has been observed to be a common phenomenon among students. The present study explores factors associated with glossophobia among ESL students of a tertiary institution in Upper-West Ghana, the Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University, Wa and makes recommendations for improvement in their public speaking skills. The study combined both quantitative and qualitative research approaches in an opinion poll involving 46 participants from the Level 300 class of the Secretaryship and Management Studies of the Business School. Participants acknowledged the importance of public speaking, but conceded that at some point in their student lives, when they had to speak in public, glossophobia prevented them from making a good impression on the audience. Speaking English before a crowd was identified as the most dreaded experience. Low self-confidence in speaking in public; lack of constant speaking experience and lack of knowledge in public speaking; fear of making mistakes and being laughed at; inadequate preparation and timidity were also identified as challenges affecting participants’ ability to speak English in public. To help students overcome that phobia, the study recommends that lecturers should adopt an interactive approach combined with the appropriate communication strategies to promote positive attitudes and create the desirable atmosphere for boosting students’ confidence. Lecturers should also organise seminars on public speaking skills and encourage regular individual oral presentation in class so students can practise to develop positive attitudes towards public speaking

The Other Way Round

There have always been sexy subjects, and there always will be. Some topics are sexy for a time and then fade into obscurity or become quaint anachronisms; the now-omnipresent Y2K problem is sure to meet some such fate. But there are other topics, such as, the connection between identical twins, incest, extraterrestrial life, dinosaurs, the American Civil War and evil, which just stay in vogue. Topics guaranteed to draw a crowd. I am just as likely to be in that crowd as the next person. Having spent part of this afternoon watching a History Channel presentation on the Lizzie Borden case, I am all too aware of my own attraction to these crowd-pleasing topics. But in writing and speaking about ethics, I have made a point of going another way, of avoiding the crowd-pleasers, the overtly sexy subjects: the criminal defendant who wants to lie on the stand, the lawyer whose client tells him where the bodies of missing people may be located, the client who walks in and confesses to a crime for which another is to be executed at dawn and the morality of questioning a rape victim about her past sexual encounters. Writing about lawyers collaborating with systems of evil was not something I wanted to do. Before going any further with the problems I have with the subject matter of this Symposium, I do, however, want to take a moment to say that I found the papers delivered very interesting. I received the papers in advance and not only did I enjoy reading them, but I learned a good deal. I learned about trials in Vichy France that I had no idea took place. 2 I learned about Justice Lamar, who I did not know had sat on the United States Supreme Court, and I even looked up some of his opinions, which, as Professor Carrington would have predicted, I found uninteresting and unimpressive, in contrast to the Justice\u27s background, which Professor Carrington\u27s paper illuminates, and which I found fascinating.3 I am most familiar with Professor Daynard\u27s topic, lawyer participation in the tobacco companies\u27 wrongdoing, but as always I learned much I did not know from Professor Daynard, whose knowledge of these matters is vast and insight, great. 4 And, as a death penalty opponent, I was pleased to see that topic included in the Symposium and was impressed by the thoughtfulness Professor Cottrol brought to the topic. 5 And as for Professor Burt\u27s concept of wrong yesterday and tomorrow but not today, I found it not just cleverly put, but a concept that captured a phenomenon well worth naming and exploring.6 So what\u27s my problem? Why was I so reluctant to participate in this event? First, I thought getting a bunch of lawyers, judges, students and academics to sit around and talk about lawyer participation in systems of evil was unlikely to do any good. Now, I\u27m not suggesting that conferences only be held when they are likely to do some good; there would be precious few conferences to attend, if that were the standard. But I have a limited amount of time that I am prepared to devote to speaking to large groups of lawyers and associated professionals, and I\u27d much rather spend that time talking to these real-world actors about problems they might actually do something about. However intellectually stimulating or fun it might be for real-world actors to take a break from practical matters to contemplate the dilemmas of the past or the difficulties of situations they are unlikely to ever encounter, to put it bluntly, I am simply not interested in spending my time providing them with that break from the grind. But having little interest in performing this service for lawyers and judges was not the only reason I was so reluctant to participate. I had another concern. I was not just afraid this Symposium would do little real-world good; I thought it might actually do some harm

Improving Students’ Oral Communication Skills in Public Speaking through Individual Presentation Task

This current study attempts to seek the answers of a question: how effective is the individual presentation method in improving students' oral communication skills, especially in public speaking? Designed as a qualitative research, this research was conducted at the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training of IAIN Pekalongan in the academic year of 2019/2020. The research involved 100 of the second year students of the English Education Department of IAIN Pekalongan who took Public Speaking course. The data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire as the instruments of this study to get their perception after taking the course with performing an individual presentation as its main task. The research findings reveal despite the obstacles they encountered, the presentation task was effective to enhance students’ confidence as well as to give them experience to speak in front of a crowd. The task also gave them more awareness and self-evaluation on how to perform a good public speaking as they received direct feedback from the audience while performing the individual presentation

Hubungan Antara Komunikasi Dalam Keluarga Dan CitraTubuh Dengan Kecemasan Berbicara Di Depan Umum Pada Mahasiswa Tahun Pertama

Public speaking is an unpleasant situation accompanied by feelings of fear, worry, and  discomfort that will make a person feel unable  to convey his message properly and correctly in front of a crowd. This study aims to determine the relationship between  k omunikasi  d alam  k eluarga and citra tubuh with kecemasan berbicara  d i depan umum.  The population in the study was 80 students of the Mathematics Education Study Program class of 2021, Raden Intan State Islamic University, Lampung.  The method in this study is quantitative with cluster sampling technique.  The data collection technique used a public speaking anxiety scale of 34 aitems (ɑ = 0.892) a family communication scale of 30 aitems (ɑ = 0.826) and a body image scale of 40 aitems (ɑ = 0.876). The analyst technique used is multiple regression analysis  with Sofware JASP version 0.15.  The results of the first study showed that there was a significant relationship between communication in the family and body image with anxiety about speaking in front of youmum in first-year students  with a value of R = 0.420 and a value of F = 8.269 with a significant degree of p < 0.01 (p <0.01). Secondly, there was  a significant negative relationship between communication in the family and public speaking anxiety in first-year students with a grade (Rₓ₁-y) = -0.353 with a significant level p = 0.001 (p < 0.01) with an effective contribution (SE) of 5%.  Third, there was a significant negative  relationship between body image and public speaking anxiety in first-year students with a grade (Rₓ₁-y) = -0.325 with a significant level p = 0.003 (p < 0.01) with an effective contribution (SE) of 10%. Keywords: Public Speaking Anxiety, Communication In The Family, Body Image

German soldiers speaking to Jewish man (Holocaust in Ukraine)

Front: Black and white photograph of a Jewish man to the left facing the camera wearing a dark coat with fur collar. To the right of him are two soldiers, one who appears to be speaking to the man, and one behind wearing glasses with his hands on his hips. A crowd stands behind the three figures.Back: Includes blue hand stamps as well as writing in pencil and orange ink. Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Bulmash Provided: Photograph of soldiers-possibly collaborationist auxiliary police- addressing a Jewish man. Note the self-satisfied pose of the soldier with hands on hips.https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1279/thumbnail.jp

Practice Public Speaking via Simulator

This project aims to develop a public speaking simulation in virtual reality (VR) in order to help people with trouble or practice with public speaking and give them feedback. People often time do not have a place or a big crowd to practice public speaking except themselves and a mirror. This project will provide the speaker with a simulated stage and interactive audiences through VR. When the speaker is giving speech, the simulation is able to pick up and analyze voice into data. The analyzed data include the rate of speaking, pauses, filler words, grammar, among others.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/3472/thumbnail.jp

Throwing our Voices: Ventriloquism as New Media Activism

In the fall of 2010, Chevron released an ad campaign designed to respond to consumer worries about the conduct of oil companies. Each ad depicted “customers” voicing rather nonspecific concerns about oil companies, answered by the “We Agree” slogan and information about something positive the company is doing in particular communities. Just before the campaign’s official roll-out, the anti-corporate activist group known as the Yes Men produced a series of sophisticated parody ads that spoke in more detail about the damage the company has done in specific countries. Designed to be mistaken for the real, the dummy campaign was distributed with a fake press release purporting to be from Chevron. It was indeed picked up by the press, followed by a cascade of confused articles quoting alternately from the company’s real retraction and a subsequent fake retraction. The Yes Men succeeded in temporarily “throwing their voice” into the body of the Chevron corporation, using a savvy form of ventriloquism as a means of directing the public conversation. Although it is normally the powerful (like large corporations) who are heard in public life, often speaking both for themselves and others, the tactic of ventriloquism temporarily reverses that flow. The case study provides a compelling example of a method of capitalizing on the democratic potential of new media, wielding parody and play as a weapon of the crowd