Texting has no personality. No tone of voice. This is how one of my biggest miscommunications occurred. I began having a conversation with one of my friends via text message. She had said "hey dude." and my reply was "Whatever." It may seem that this wasn't the nicest reply on my part but, it had been sent to her on accident. We all know how that goes...sending a text to one person when it was meant for someone else. Once this happened she was all upset that I didn't want to talk to her and how rude it was. Then before I got the chance to text her what had happened my phone had died. It wasn't until I had finally seen her at the UC did I get to tell her what had happened. Improving future actions while texting can only happen if you're careful who you're sending your texts to.

*Have you ever been misunderstood while texting?

Le Huitième.

My percieved self and presenting self do have similarities and differences. I percieve myself as rather funny and outgoing and I like to present myself as such. Another perception I have of myself is that I care a lot about those closest to me. I know for a fact that this shows when I present myself. The only difference there is between my percieved and presenting self is that I percieve myself as someone who cares a lot about life and succeeding, but I think that I don't always present myself as such.
It is very important to be the same person no matter where you happen to be. When think about how I am in public I actually do act a bit differently. It all depends on who I am with when I am in public. I act differently when I'm with my friends compared to if I'm helping my Grandma grocery shop.

Do you think its important to act the same wherever you happen to be at the moment?

Le Septième

When looking at a person for the first time everyone has a perception of what they think they may or may not be like. A person has many things that can make them different. Physical qualities, interests, clothing, and even how they carry themselves. The perceptions that people make of others are usually not correct. When looking at myself I see a ballerina that has been dancing for 16 years. Usually when I'm just meeting a person they ask if I'm in hockey or softball just because I'm not how people assume that a ballerina would look like. (You know, like a twig. Haha.) I think if everyone just stopped to talk to people once in awhile they would learn extraordinary things about them.
There are a few things inhibiting this change such as the media and our peers. I know plenty of people that I would have never talked to while I was a closed minded high schooler. I am glad that once I got to River Falls I realized that there are people outside of my small city and there are amazing things to learn from everyone. The people that I probably wouldn't have given the time of day to a few years ago if they would have came into contact with me are actually very good friends. I gained new friends all because I didn't let me perceptions get in the way of what a person is really like on the inside.

Have you ever became friends with someone that you never thought you would?

Le Sixième

The most important thing that a speaker brings to their speech is credibility. If a speaker seems as if they don't know what they're talking about then there is no way the audience will listen to their message. The speakers I have encountered in the past have either captured my attention and made me really think about their message or they have made it seem like they didn't really care about the topic and seemed like they were just scripted. The speakers who I can remember having the biggest impact were very enthuastic and natural. They also used facts along with personal knowledge to make their appeal.
The speaker who made the best emotional appeal to me was my own Mom. She just had a way of digging deep down and making me think about what she was trying to get through my head. The speaker who made the most moving logical appeal was when our high school police officer gave a speech to our school about the laws around our town. She made it very easy to understand and used a lot of evidence and facts about crime and why we all needed to avoid that lifestyle. The speaker who made the best need based appeal was when I went into downtown St.Paul while the Republican National Convention was here. While I was hippying it out with awesome people I stumbed upon an older lady talking about our basic needs and how the government was supressing them. I'm not a hardcore hippy or anything like that but she was so passionate and made appeals that made sense that it was hard not to think like she was.
Embodying my Mother, a Police Officer, and a hippy in my speeches may seem like an odd combination, but really they all have something that can be learned. From my Mom I can learn how to dig in emotionally. I can learn how to deliver facts and logic to an audience from the cop. And from the old hippy woman I can learn how to use peoples basic needs to gain more support for what I am pursuading the audience to believe.

If you had the choice would you rather listen to a speech given by a Mom, a police officer, or a hippy? Who's do you think would be the most effective when trying to persuade their audience? Why?