When used well, communication and language can be powerful tools, and this is especially true in public speaking contexts. Traditionally, public speaking has been defined as one person standing in front of a live audience and giving an uninterrupted presentation. As technology has expanded the ways that we communicate with one another, the ways that we engage in public speaking have also changed.

Listening can feel like a lost art, maybe because we are communicating so much more electronically. Being a good listener can help you in every aspect of your life – with family and friends, and with your colleagues at work. Want to up your improve your listening skills? Here are some tips.

In addition to using evidence and strong delivery skills to establish ethos, and using narratives and connections to your audience’s experience to help establish pathos, you will want to use strong, well-developed arguments to help establish logos and to reinforce your ethos. The arguments that you develop fall into one of two categories: inductive arguments and deductive arguments.

You might also find yourself in a situation where your role is to persuade others, particularly if your job is in sales, fundraising, marketing, grassroots organizing, or lobbying. Robert Cialdini (2000) has identified six strategies for compliance-gaining, or for getting people to do what you want them to do.

Just as persuasion involves changing someone’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, the topics about which we persuade and advocate fall into one of three categories: questions of fact, value, or policy. While we might try to make arguments about all three of these areas over the course of an entire speech, each argument that we make will most closely resemble one of each of these three questions.

We believe in the power of people and the power of communication to educate, persuade, and to change how people think, feel, and act. 

With the rise of social media, being a teenager today is tougher than any parent could ever imagine. For many young people, social media can become almost addictive. Let's examine the positive and negative effects of social media on youth. 

How many times have you said something, only to wish you could take it back moments after the words left your mouth? Or hit “send” on an email or text when it might have been better to let things cool off? Consciously choosing when to speak and when to listen is essential for meaningful conversation. 

Like every other language, English is filled with exceptions and oddities, even in pronunciation, and getting the hang of these tricky parts seems like a nightmare—but it’s both a necessary and an interesting aspect of learning.

Understanding different communication styles can radically improve the quality of your relationships. That’s because your level of skill in navigating difficult conversations depends on your ability to connect.