speech

Writing Assignment: Write An Introduction For A Speaker

04.05.2013 Writing Assignments

Today’s guest needs no introduction. If’ that’s so, sit down and shut up. And please, never, ever use that phrase to introduce someone. It’s trite and completely worn out. Instead, think about the role and importance of introducing a speaker. Yes, everyone may know the speaker. The speaker is probably why they’re in attendance. But [...]

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Writing Assignment: Record and Transcribe Your Own Speech

02.01.2013 writing

Recording and listening to your own voice can be a startling experience. We are used to hearing our own voices, but not as others hear them. You are the instrument that produces your voice and your experience of hearing what you say or sing is shockingly different from how others hear us. It has to [...]

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Words Matter: Writing Isn’t Just Frozen Speech

11.20.2012 writing

While Randy is on hiatus recovering from a writing-induced ailment, some friends are taking up the slack. Today’s post is by  Penny Mattern. English is an international language, and when you publish what you write on the web, that international English-speaking population is the audience who may well see your work, whether you intend it [...]

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Writing Assignment: Listen And Document

09.02.2011 Writing Assignments

One of the most difficult things for a writer to learn is to write accurate human speech, to capture dialog and make it sound the way people really speak. Try it. Write out an imagined conversation. Now take a look. Is your sample made up of complete sentences and well organized paragraphs? If so, you’ve [...]

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Writing Assignment: The First Thing That Pops Into Your Head

04.08.2011 writing

I sometimes forget how scary writing can be for people who are not used to doing it. For them, writing is an unnatural act, a form of magic, an arcane knowledge, a kind of cryptography. Speech, by comparison, seems natural and simple. I speak with people in business every day and I’ve seen that the [...]

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