What kind of smart are you?

Here is a wonderful infographic, What kind of smart are you?, sent to me by Bonnie Moore who asked me to post it. I'm happy to do so; thank you, Bonnie. These infographics are beautifully done; we need more of this type of thing in our textbooks.

Infographic on gender differences

Here is a wonderful Infographic on gender differences, covering a wide variety of issues and sure to stir up controversy in any interpersonal communication class. This was sent to me by Rianna Stanley who asked me to consider posting it. It's my pleasure Rianna.

The Textbook Writer

I wrote the following piece to put down some initial thoughts about what a textbook writer does and who a textbook writer is.  I'm sure many (writers and readers) will see things very differently and I'd love to hear from you. I emphasize again that this is a first attempt to define textbook writing and is really in need of much refinement. This article was published in Etc: A Review of General Semantics 70 (3) July, 2013, 282-287. 

 Textbooks are a fact of college life. They are, in fact, so interwoven into the college experience that you can hardly think of a college course without thinking of the textbook. And certainly one of the first priorities of a college instructor is to select a textbook for the course. Given the importance of the textbook (and the textbook writer) to any and all college courses, it seems useful to identify what a textbook writer is and what a textbook writer does. Surprisingly, little has been written on the textbook author; a search of Google, Bing, and Yahoo yields virtually nothing about the textbook writer. Here, then, is an initial attempt to identify some of the roles the textbook writer serves; the following provide just a start. There’s an implicit etc. at the end of the list and at the end of each of the roles.

Such a list—even a beginning one—may prove useful to the college instructor contemplating text writing, to the editor assessing the qualifications of potential authors, and to instructors and students wondering who is this person is who writes these textbooks they’re reading. More important, however, is that such a list might prove helpful in providing a clearer identity for this rather unique writing genre.

Exercises in Interpersonal Power 3 and 4

Here are two additional exercises that may prove useful in the discussion of power and interpersonal communication.  As I mentioned in the previous exercises in power post, these topics are covered in depth in Chapter 12 of The Interpersonal Communication Book, but are covered in different ways in other texts as well. So, they may be useful in just about any interpersonal communication or human communication course.

Exercises in Interpersonal Power 1 and 2

Here are two exercises that may prove useful in discussing power and interpersonal communication.  These topics are covered in depth in Chapter 12 of The Interpersonal Communication Book, but are covered in different ways in other texts as well. So, they may be useful in just about any interpersonal communication or human communication course. They cover "resisting power" and "types of power."

Conversational Leadership: A Baker's Dozen

Throughout the communication literature there is much research, theory, and discussion on small group leadership. There are even textbooks in group and team leadership. But, there’s little on conversational leadership. Who leads a simple social conversation? What makes a conversational leader? [By “conversational leader” I simply mean someone who controls and literally leads the conversation in the direction he or she desires.] What does a conversational member do that results in attaining leadership? Here are a few thoughts on conversations that are largely face-to-face, though with minor adjustments, they can easily apply to social networking conversations.

Infographic on Mental Disorders

Here is a wonderful infographic on mental disorders in children, sent to me by Katherine Rose--an area that is clearly relevant to communication but which we seldom address. http://www.topmastersineducation.com/forgotten-children/