C171: Effective Communication

1. C171:Effective Communication Dr. Terry Beckenbaugh Department of Military History 684-3905

2. Learning ObjectiveAction:Communicate effectively.Standards:1. Apply criteria for effective communication. 2. Write an effective argument.

3. Assessing Communications • CGSC uses four criteria to assess the quality of student communications. • Substance • Organization • Style • Correctness

4. is the content of the paper or what the paper is about. Within the CGSC curriculum, most assignments will include specific guidance on the topic, format, and length of student responses. So…read the requirement carefully and make sure you are answering the question. Substance

5. Analysis • … is a subcomponent of Substance. • Are your conclusions supported by your evidence? • Did you consider the important issues or not consider other issues? • Other perspectives? The most persuasive argumentsacknowledge and consider other viewpoints rather than dismissing them as irrelevant.

6. Organization introduction, main body, and conclusion

7. Style • Effective style depends on: • Tone, • Precision and • Length of authors language 1st Draft, Gettysburg Address ST 22-2 Appendix A

8. Tone • The tone of a message exerts a significant influence on how that message is received by its intended audience. • Anyone who has been yelled at will recall that profanity, sarcasm, finger-pointing, unfair accusations, exaggeration or excessively high volume can interfere with the content of a message.

9. Precision • Think… Universal Intellectual Standards • Clarity • Accuracy • Precision • Depth • Breadth • Logic • Significance • Fairness You will cover this in C122 As Mark Twain famously observed, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

10. Length of Authors language • Applies not only to the length of the speech, presentation or essay but also the length of the sentence or word used. • Average sentence length should be between 15 and 20 words. • Many sentences should be less than 12 words. • Do not put more than one main idea in a sentence. • Avoid passive voice. • Do not overuse extravagant punctuation such as semi-colons, colons, and dashes. • Avoid the use of acronyms, technical language, and jargon.

11. Correctness format, spelling, punctuation, and grammar

12. Format Billy Miller SG 18 X Refer to Student Text 22-2 The format standard for essays and other writing requirements (unless otherwise dictated) is:  • Pages have 1-inch margins on all sides. • Font is “Times New Roman”, size 12. • Cover pages are not numbered. • The first page of a paper is page 1. • Page numbers are at the bottom center of the page. • Short papers (four to five pages or less) use endnotes or parenthetical citations. • Lines and paragraphs are double spaced. • New paragraphs are indented five spaces. • The Turabian book, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, is the standard for citation formats based on the source of the reference. • Endnote and bibliographic pages are separate. • Pages are left justified rather than full justified.

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14. Spelling • While one or two errors will not destroy the author’s clarity, multiple violations can ruin a message and the author’s credibility. • It is easy for an instructor, facilitator, teacher or your boss become mesmerized or distracted by correctness issues, at the expense of other elements in an essay. • While Microsoft’s Word and PowerPoint software include spelling and grammar checkers, do not rely solely on these automated functions to prevent errors. You should carefully proofread written products to ensure quality of your final product reflects the quality of the your ideas.

15. Punctuation Be careful using extravagant punctuation. Use semi-colons, colons, and dashes infrequently. Use parentheses sparingly. Never use exclamation marks. Example: • “Steroids—otherwise known as Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs)—are a hotly debated issue; the subject has damaged the reputation of virtually every major sport: baseball, football, cycling, and track and field.”

16. Grammar What is grammar? • the rules that define how we speak and write. or • the rules that govern the how words are put together to make sentences Generally…do not write how you speak… …do not use contractions …avoid use of passive voice Proofread, proofread, and proofread again even though you use spell and grammar check

17. What do you see ? The challenges that the Brigade Commander is directly responsible for is exhaustive and includes: the overall Brigade reintegration and RESET, mitigating the leadership turbulence to include the previous loss of several key leaders, the upcoming Change of Command for 5 of the 6 Battalions, manning shortages in the staff that resulted in the reduced capacity to support 24 hour operations in theater, an unclear role and vision for the Deputy Commanding Officer which resulted in confusion and a degraded perception of the Brigade Command structure, Battalion Commanders’ lack of willingness to include subordinates in decision making, a routine environment of crisis management, the perception of micromanagement among the Brigade Staff, failure to meet expectations for the development of subordinates, coaching or counseling wasn’t being done, competing requirements, long working hours, excessive red-cycle tasks, a perception of disunity between the Brigade and Division, a perception of a dictatorial leadership style by the Brigade S3, legal matters concerning an unreported killing of an Afghani civilian that demonstrates a compound failure involving both the Soldier as well as his unit Commander, a counter-productive attitude of the DCO regarding Afghani civilians, the recent death of the Brigade Commander, LTC Brown, and an overall failure of the chain of command to prioritize.

18. What do you see ? One Looooog sentence Unnecessary capitalization Wordy, punctuation errors, contractions, passive voice The challenges that the Brigade Commander is directly responsible for is exhaustive and includes: the overall Brigade reintegration and RESET, mitigating the leadership turbulence to include the previous loss of several key leaders, the upcoming Change of Command for 5 of the 6 Battalions, manning shortages in the staff that resulted in the reduced capacity to support 24 hour operations in theater, an unclear role and vision for the Deputy Commanding Officer which resulted in confusion and a degraded perception of the Brigade Command structure, Battalion Commanders’ lack of willingness to include subordinates in decision making, a routine environment of crisis management, the perception of micromanagement among the Brigade Staff, failure to meet expectations for the development of subordinates, coaching or counseling wasn’t being done compounded competing requirements, long working hours, excessive red-cycle tasks, a perception of disunity between the Brigade and Division, a perception of a dictatorial leadership style by the Brigade S3, legal matters concerning an unreported killing of an Afghani civilian that demonstrates a compound failure involving both the Soldier as well as his unit Commander, a counter-productive attitude of the DCO regarding Afghani civilians, the recent death of the Brigade Commander, LTC Brown, and an overall failure of the chain of command to prioritize.

19. Argumentative Essays

20. Can You Spot the Argument? • I prefer chocolate to vanilla. • Chocolate is made from fermented, roasted, shelled, and ground cacao seeds, often combined with a sweetener or flavoring agent. • The Food and Drug Administration should ban chocolate because it causes acne.

21. Elements • Introduction • Thesis • Main Body • Conclusion

22. Introduction One paragraph maximum intended to capture the reader’s attention, propose your thesis and introduce the main pointssupporting your thesis. Your thesis statement and main points should be covered here. Your thesis should be clear, logically developed, and supported by sound reasoning and evidence. Your thesis provides a single controlling idea; and is an assertion (What do you want the reader to focus on?).

23. Thesis = Claim + Reason(s) A good thesis statement takes a stand or position and states what you believe and what you intend to prove in your paper. Further, a good thesis statement makes the difference between a thoughtful research project and a simple retelling of facts. There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement. Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers. http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml

24. The Main Body

25. Types of Evidence • Facts • Statistics • Anecdotes • Expert Testimony • Logic

26. Arguing to Persuade • Appeal to Belief (Ethos) • Appeal to Reason (Logos) • Appeal to Emotion (Pathos)

27. Main Body • Address each major point in its own paragraph within the Main Body. • Structure each major point paragraph in the same style: identify the major point in the first sentence of the starting paragraph; address the supporting evidence (the who, what, when, where, how and why); and provide your analysis of what this evidence means. • Evidence is usually composed of multiple, supporting details that directly relate to your major point. The evidence provided, and your analysis, validates the relevancy of the major point that supports your thesis. • Discuss only one main point/controlling idea in a paragraph

28. Conclusion • This paragraph includes a restatement of your thesis and a review of your key points or ideas. It also summarizes your analysis of the evidence presented that supports your thesis statement. • Do not introduce new information in your conclusion. • Do not copy paste your intro paragraph

29. Learning ObjectiveAction:Communicate effectively.Standards:1. Apply criteria for effective communication.2. Write an effective argument.

30. Using the guidelines in Student Text 22-2 and the concepts discussed during the C171 Lesson: Select an assigned reading from C110 and write a 3-5 page argumentative essay that disputes one of the author’s claims Refer to Appendix G of Student Text 22-2 for the correct format C100 End of Theme Essay Assignment:

31. Opening Statement Thesis Statement ID Major Points Structure diagram Critical Elements of an Argumentative Essay I. Introduction: At least one paragraph Transition (logical process) Logical, orderly progress to next part Major Point 1 II. Main Body: Paragraphs to develop your supporting major points; each contains 2-5 pieces of evidence and analysis of this evidence Evidence 1A, B… Analysis of… Transition (logical process) Major Point 2 Evidence 2 A, B… Analysis of… Transition (logical process) From your analysis, tie the keypoints-ideas together that best supportthe thesis. Thesis Restatement Address Analysis of Closing Statement III. Conclusion: At least one paragraph

32. “Benteen. Big village. Come quick. Bring Packs.”