Blogoir: 321,587 Words on Public Speaking and Speechwriting

You're wondering what I have been up to in May. I have been rushing around like a whirling dervish.

Thus:

? a presentation on Difficult Conversations to the senior management of a distinguished school

? a talk at my old school on Lessons for Life

? fielding a group of Americans who passed by on a Downton Abbey tour

? giving a presentation on Speechwriting to the European Speechwriters Network

? joining a New Statesman panel discussion at the British Library on Propaganda

? travelling to Stockholm to give a masterclass on Presentation Skills to a leading European energy Corporation

? then to Warsaw to give Polish officials are masterclass on Negotiation Skills

? and on to Torun to address the latest YoungMarkets conference on the always engaging subject of Taxonomy

? back to Northampton yesterday to give a local business group a punchy presentation on The Business of Diplomacy

? and then on down to London for a fascinating meeting with Philip Blond, after a ?challenge session? with the FCO on some high-level EU questions

While all that has been going on I have helped with a couple of significant speeches and prepared myself for departing tomorrow on a cruise around the Baltic Sea for two weeks, during which I'll be giving four presentations on My Role in the Downfall of Communism and associated subjects.

On return from the cruise I dash to Amsterdam for some masterclass work with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, then back to Warsaw for further Negotiation Skills masterclasses. Then I stagger back to England and collapse.

I have three tasks while bobbing around the Baltic Sea in the next two weeks (other than delivering those four sparkling presentations).

I have been commissioned to write a major essay about the Serbia/Kosovo problem. Then I need to write for a US website a review of Charles Moore?s biography of Margaret Thatcher.

And, above all, I need to see if I can crank out my first book, a masterpiece on the general subject of Speechwriting and Speechmaking.

It turns out that here on this website I have produced a pretty large bloc of work already on the general subject of speechwriting/speechmaking. Mrs Crawf has been sweating blood helping me copy everything under the rubric of Speech and Other Writing into a single Word document that I can use as a quarry for parts of the book.

One result of this mind-boggling exercise has been a Word document of over 600 pages. I can run a word-count and tell you with unerring precision that since I started this blog in 2008, I have written 321,587 words about different aspects of speechwriting and analytical presentation skills. That is almost 5 books-worth in itself.

So, you have a choice.

If (as you do) you want and need my many and varied opinions on public speaking, speechwriting and general executive communication, you have two choices.

You can scour this blog and work your way through over 300,000 words. For free.

Or you can hope and pray that in the next few weeks I managed to lick all this material into shape and produce it as a cheap but excellent nicely paced book, full of vivid examples, that you are delighted to buy.

These examples are going to be good. Not least because thanks to the miracles of FOI I have asked the Foreign Office for telegrams I sent back to HQ following memorable speeches from different world leaders that I witnessed as a British diplomat, and the FCO obligingly have unearthed quite a few of these and sent them to me. Interesting to see how my reporting at the time does or does not coincide with how I remember those events now.

Why bother with another book on speechwriting? Aren't there plenty of them already?

Yes there are. Most of them, funnily enough, are written by speechwriters.

But not all speechwriters are particularly good themselves at public speaking. And most speechwriters have little experience in organising top-level speaking occasions.

I have done all these things and more. My conclusion is that it is a subtle and mysterious task to link together the speaker and the speaker's words to the audience and the venue and the context of the occasion itself. I have seen so many examples where one or other of these elements was out of sync, leading to unhappy if not ruinous results - even for senior people. The book should have plenty of examples of things going wrong, as well as things going right.

Internet access during this cruise is going to be insanely expensive, so what with that and then my subsequent manoeuvres I'll be off air here until early July.

Be good while I'm out.

?

Source: http://charlescrawford.biz/blog/321-587-words-on-public-speaking-and-speechwriting

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Cooling babies ? saving lives

Link Information - Click to View

Cooling babies ? saving lives
Brenda Strohm, TOBY children study co-ordinator, goes to meet a family whose son Thomas suffered lack of oxygen at birth. Cooling ? as pioneered by the TOBY Trial, which started in 2002 ? lowers the risk of death or severe impairment 50% for babies who are deprived of oxygen during birth????

Source: TheGuardian
Posted on: Friday, Jun 07, 2013, 8:43am
Views: 14

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128554/Cooling_babies_____saving_lives

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Texas actress charged in Obama ricin threat

TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) ? A pregnant Texas actress who first told the FBI that her husband sent ricin-tainted letters to President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then allegedly said she sent them because her husband "made her" do it, was charged Friday with threatening the president.

Shannon Guess Richardson, 35, appeared in a Texarkana courtroom after being charged with mailing a threatening communication to the president. The federal charge carries up to 10 years in prison, U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Davilyn Walston said.

Richardson, a mother of five who has played bit roles on television and in movies, was arrested earlier Friday for allegedly mailing the ricin-laced letters last month to the White House, Bloomberg and the mayor's Washington gun-control group. The letters ? which authorities determined were mailed from Richardson's hometown of New Boston or nearby Texarkana and postmarked in Shreveport, La. ? threatened violence against gun-control advocates, authorities said.

However, Richardson's court-appointed attorney, Tonda Curry, said there was no intention to harm anyone. She noted that it's common knowledge that the mail is checked before it reaches the person to whom these letters were addressed.

"From what I can say, based on what evidence I've seen, whoever did this crime never intended for ricin to reach the people to which the letters were addressed," said Curry.

Curry said she has met with Richardson only briefly and has had no extensive talks with her.

According to an FBI affidavit, Richardson contacted authorities on May 30 to implicate her estranged husband, Nathaniel Richardson. She later failed a polygraph test, and investigators looking into her story found numerous inconsistencies, the document said.

Among the inconsistencies: Nathaniel Richardson would have been at work at a time when Internet searches tied to the letters were made on the couple's laptop and at the time they were postmarked.

During an interview with authorities Thursday, Shannon Richardson admitted mailing the letters knowing they contained ricin, but she said her husband had typed them and made her print and send them, the affidavit said.

No charges have been filed against Nathaniel Richardson. His attorney, John Delk, told The Associated Press Friday that his client was pleased with his wife's arrest and was working with authorities to prove his innocence.

Delk said he wasn't anticipating that Nathanial Richardson would be arrested. "But until I'm sure they're not looking at him being involved, I can't say much more," he said.

Delk previously told the AP that the couple is going through a divorce and that the 33-year-old Army veteran may have been "set up" by his wife.

FBI agents wearing hazardous material suits were seen going in and out of the Richardsons' house on Wednesday in nearby New Boston, about 150 miles northeast of Dallas near the Arkansas and Oklahoma borders. Authorities conducted a similar search on May 31.

The house is now under quarantine for "environmental or toxic agents," according to a posting at the residence. Multiple samples taken from the couples' home tested positive for ricin, according to the affidavit. Federal agents also found castor beans ? the key ingredient in ricin ? along with syringes and other items that could be used to extract the lethal poison, the affidavit says.

Bloomberg issued a statement Friday thanking local and federal law enforcement agencies "for their outstanding work in apprehending a suspect," saying they worked collaboratively from the outset "and will continue to do so as the investigation continues."

Shannon Richardson appears in movies and on TV under the name Shannon Guess. Her resume on the Internet movie database IMDb said she has had small television roles in "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Walking Dead." She had a minor role in the movie "The Blind Side" and appeared in an Avis commercial, according to the resume.

She was seen leaving a Texarkana hospital on Friday shortly before the court hearing. A hospital spokeswoman didn't return a phone message seeking comment. Curry, her attorney, said she was taken to the hospital because it's federal marshals' standard procedure to have pregnant prisoners examined by doctors.

She also said it's her understanding that authorities have no intention of arresting Nathaniel Richardson at this point.

Delk said the Richardsons were expecting their first child in October. Shannon Richardson also has five children ranging in age from 4 to 19 from other relationships, four of whom had been living with the couple in the New Boston home, the attorney said.

Nathaniel Richardson works as a mechanic at the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, a facility that repairs tanks, Humvees and other mobile military equipment. He and Shannon were married in October 2011.

According to court records, Shannon Richardson is in federal custody. The government is requesting that she be held without bond, and a detention hearing is scheduled for next Friday, the records show.

The FBI is investigating at least three cases over the past two months in which ricin was mailed to Obama and other public figures. Ricin has been sent to officials sporadically over the years, but experts say that there seems to be a recent uptick and that copycat attacks ? made possible by the relative ease of extracting the poison ? may be the reason.

If inhaled, ricin can cause respiratory failure, among other symptoms. If swallowed, it can shut down the liver and other organs, resulting in death. The amount of ricin that can fit on the head of a pin is said to be enough to kill an adult if properly prepared. No antidote is available, though researchers are trying to develop one.

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Danny Robbins reported from Dallas. Associated Press writer Adam Goldman contributed to this report from Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-actress-charged-obama-ricin-threat-230606198.html

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Kristin Cavallari & Jay Cutler Are Married! See The Rings

The reality star and the football player are married! See more stars who made their romances official.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/celebrity-weddings-0/1-b-16623?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acelebrity-weddings-0-16623

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10 Things to See: A week of top AP photos

Here's your look at highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see.

This week's collection includes the immediate aftermath of a building collapse in Philadelphia, flooding in southern Germany, an upside-down baseball player and a creative answer to a lack of napping spots in New Delhi, India.

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This gallery contains photos published May 30- June 6, 2013.

Follow AP photographers on Twitter: http://apne.ws/XZy6ny

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See other recent AP photo galleries:

AP PHOTOS: As case wears on, Manning less visible: http://apne.ws/15O2yU5

AP PHOTOS: Floods wreak havoc in Europe: http://apne.ws/11HiRwN

AP PHOTOS: Indonesia promotes Muslim fashion: http://apne.ws/15O36t4

AP PHOTOS: Clogged rivers, waste symbolize Serbia's eco-nightmare: http://apne.ws/17rqXCh

AP 10 Things To See:

Week 1: http://apne.ws/ZWiCOl

Week 2: http://apne.ws/ZWiJt0

Week 3: http://apne.ws/10USsze

Week 4: http://apne.ws/14Qg5N1

Week 5: http://apne.ws/ZbwW8U

Week 6: http://apne.ws/101TrcA

Week 7: http://apne.ws/XZyYZu

Week 8: http://apne.ws/18ulJSa

Week 9: http://apne.ws/10vr50m

Week 10: http://apne.ws/13z9GDF

Week 11: http://apne.ws/188wrC7

Week 12: http://apne.ws/11r5UqZ

Week 13: http://apne.ws/10SWx8f

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Follow AP Images on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Images

Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com/

___

This gallery was curated by news producer Caleb Jones in New York. Follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/CalebAP and Instagram http://instagram.com/calebnews

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-things-see-week-top-ap-photos-170136692.html

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PFT: Brent, out on bail, tests positive for pot

Getty Images

If the NFL moves a franchise to London, as Commissioner Roger Goodell sees as a future possibility, that team may be at a decided disadvantage when it comes to free agency.

Although NFL free agents typically go to the team that offers the most money, Bengals offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth, the team?s union representative, says he wouldn?t go to London. And he thinks a lot of other players feel the same way.

?I would hope that I was financially able to quit,? Whitworth told the Cincinnati Enquirer. ?That?s what I would hope because if I was, my papers would be the first one in. . . . I don?t see any players that would enjoy that. Sure, you may find a handful of guys that say, ?Oh hey, that?d be cool,? but the rest of them wouldn?t.?

Quitting is an extreme reaction, and if an NFL team moved to London, the vast majority of players would suck it up and go, even if they wouldn?t like it. But that London team might have to overpay to convince free agents to uproot their lives and go live across the Atlantic, especially considering the higher tax rates that high-income earners pay in the United Kingdom. And overpaying for free agents isn?t a good way for a team to build a strong roster. So the London team could be at a competitive disadvantage.

There are ways that the NFL could mitigate those issues. A London team could be given extra salary cap space to compensate for the higher tax rates, or players could be given relocation stipends to pay the costs of moving to another country. Or if the Jacksonville Jaguars became the London Jaguars, they could keep a facility in Jacksonville and continue to do offseason work and training camp there, and even use a Jacksonville practice facility during the regular season so they wouldn?t have to fly back to London when they have back-to-back road games in the U.S.

But the whole point of the NFL going to London would be to build a solid fan base in England, and that?s going to be a lot harder to do if everyone on the London team treats going to London like a chore. The NFL doesn?t want to come across like a bunch of greedy Americans who will gladly take the British fans? Pounds but don?t want to be a part of their community.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of potential obstacles to moving an NFL team to Europe. And a big one is that a lot of players wouldn?t want to go.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/06/prosecutors-josh-brent-failed-marijuana-test/related/

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DARPA's Crazy Mind-Controlled Prosthetics Have Gotten Even Better

We've known for a few years now that DARPA-funded prosthetics research is yielding some pretty incredible technology. We're not talking incredible in the robotic cheetah sense. We're talking incredible in The Incredibles sense of the term. Specifically, DARPA is literally building superheroic technology that enables amputees to control prosthetic limbs with their minds, and it's getting pretty darn good.

In science fiction terminology, you might say DARPA is building cyborgs, bionic men and women who for one unfortunate reason or another have lost a part of their body. Thanks to science?and a research project that's years in the making?they can now have it back and will soon be able to live completely normal lives.

This initiative has been around around for a while, but this just-released video of a man using a technique called Targeted Muscle Re-innveration (TMR) for Advanced Prosthetic Control shows how tantalizingly close we've come to prosthetic perfection:

Notice how he handles that cup of coffee with relative ease? There's no Wi-Fi connection making that happen, just his brain and muscles.

The brilliant devices comes out of DARPA?s Reliable Neural-Interface Technology (RE-NET) program. ?Although the current generation of brain, or cortical, interfaces have been used to control many degrees of freedom in an advanced prosthesis," explains Jack Judy, DARPA program manager, "researchers are still working on improving their long-term viability and performance."

Judy explains that the new prosthetic technology doesn't plug directly into the brain as some mind-controlled limbs do. Instead, it reads the brain signals that are already pulsing through local nerves and muscles. Indeed, these signals are the some of the same interrupted signals that cause the phantom limb effect. Reconnecting those nerves to a robotic wires seems like a great way forward, and in fact, the military is already moving in that direction. "RE-NET program advances are already being made available to injured warfighters in clinical settings," said Judy.

DARPA's not the only one working on this kind of technology. Robotics departments across the country are scrambling to become the first to make the perfect Luke Skywalker cyborg hand or the best robo-arm. Amputee Zac Vawter managed to climb the 103-floors of the Sears Tower last year using a mind-controlled leg:

From here on out, we start to approach Star Trek-scale technology. One step up in sophistication from limbs that connect to nerves and muscles are devices that plug directly into the ol' grey matter creating what's called a brain-to-computer interface. A team of researchers built a bulky but functional setup that enabled a paraplegic woman to give herself a drink of water for the first time in nearly a decade. Can you even imagine? Probably not but you can watch one more time! Watch 'til the end for the full mind-blowing effect:

This is only the beginning. We've seen bionic eyes help blind people see again. We've seen scientists 3D-print livers, blood vessels, jaw bones and stem cells ? to name only a few ways we're printing human parts. There's even a crazy neuroscientist, Miguel Nicolelis, who's building an exoskeleton that will enable a paralyzed person walk just like a normal person. He plans to unveil it at the next World Cup in Brazil, where he wants the device to help a patient walk out onto the field in front of billions of people. It's an amazingly brazen idea. But all of these projects are also just plain amazing. [DARPA]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/darpas-crazy-mind-controlled-prosthetics-have-gotten-e-510649096

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