Communications, in General
Effective Communication: “If Anything Can Go Wrong, It Will”, by Pine and Bauman, from AU-24
Leaders Communicating Effectively, by Kline, from AU-24
Symbolic Leadership: The Symbolic Nature of Leadership, by Vickrey, from AU-24
Understanding Your Communication Style (local copy), from SBA - includes typical mottos, behaviors, verbal cues, nonverbal cues, confrontation style, etc. for each of three basic communication styles
Communicating in Style: Discover How to Communicate with Everyone (and Like It!) (local copy), by Barrett, of PinnacleOne, presentation at 2003 CMAA National Conference, posted by GSA Project Management Center of Expertise
- Effective Communication (local copy), FEMA independent study course
- Staff Work: Methods and Applications (local copy), AFSC Pub 1, 2000, including problem-solving, briefings, and papers
- Headquarters Army Action Officer's Online Reference - Communicating
- Communication, Management Benchmark Study (local copy), Dept of Energy -- includes chapters on networking, alliances, organizational culture, and innovation
Speaking
- Rudyard Kipling, from "The Elephant's Child" in Just So Stories
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
[ed. - answering those six questions is often a good place to begin]
Speaking Effectively (local copy), by John Kline
Preparing the Mind, Body, and Voice (local copy), The Army Lawyer, Nov 2003 - rehearsing and warming up aren't just for lawyers
- Briefing Guide (local copy), US Army Sergeants Major Academy - outlines for 18 types of briefings and staff estimates
- USMC Command and Staff College Written and Oral Communications Guide (local copy)
- Preaching and Communication (local copy), The Army Chaplaincy, Summer-Fall 1997 - summarizes some basic theories and points of view regarding rhetoric, such as
- Cicero outlined five principles of rhetoric that would later influence preaching for centuries. In them, the speaker:
- discovers what should be said (invention)
- arranges the speech in a particular order (arrangement)
- clothes the thoughts with language (style)
- secures the speech in (memory)
- effectively (delivers) the speech
- Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators and The Orator [both from Project Gutenberg]
Tips for Preparing Scientific Presentations, Office of Naval Research
- includes the Ten Commandments of Visual Aids (such as Powerpoint slides)
- delivery chapter has section on handling Q & A after speaking
- most of the material applies to almost any presentation, not just techical
Effective Presentations (local copy), Army Corps of Engineers
- Effective Speaking and Presentation: Selling Ideas, Gathering Support, Motivating Audiences (local copy), by Lee, in PM magazine, Jan-Feb 2001
- Language - An Introduction to the Study of Speech
, by Edward Sapir -- philosophical and academic examination
- Toastmasters International
- Key Steps to an Effective Presentation, with emphasis on proper vis aids
- How to Conquer Public Speaking Fear, written by medical doctor
- Participating in Seminars, by Johnston
- Evaluating Speaking
- Tips on the Critiquing of Writing and Speaking (local copy), by Kline and Lippincott
Storytelling & Use of Narrative
- The Use of Storytelling in the Department of the Navy (local copy)
- Conveying information in a story provides a rich context, remaining in the conscious memory longer and creating more memory traces than information not in context. Therefore a story is more likely to be acted upon than normal means of communications. Storytelling, whether in a personal or organizational setting, connects people, develops creativity, and increases confidence. The use of stories in organizations can build descriptive capabilities, increase organizational learning, convey complex meaning, and communicate common values and rule sets.
- Description capabilities are essential in strategic thinking and planning, and create a greater awareness of what we could achieve. Fictional stories can be powerful because they provide a mechanism by which an organization can learn from failure without attributing blame.
- With the advent of the Internet and Intranet, there is a larger opportunity to use stories to bring about change. Electronic media adds moving images and sound as context setters. Hypertext capabilities and collaboration software invites groups, teams and communities to co-create their stories. New multiprocessing skills are required to navigate this new world, skills that include the quick and sure assimilation of and response to fast-flowing images and sounds and sensory assaults.
- In summary, when used well storytelling is a powerful transformational tool in organizations, one that all of our managers and leaders across the Department need to utilize.
- NASA's ASK Talks with Dr. Gary Klein - use of storytelling, even internally, to improve decision making and problem solving and development/use of expertise
- "Story Model of Decisionmaking" - explained with examples (starting on PDF page 30) in A Literature Review of Analytical and Naturalistic Decision Making (local copy), by Zsambok, Beach, and Klein, for Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, Dec 1992
- According to the theory, the story coordinates three types of knowledge:
- facts or information from the current situation
- knowledge about similar situations
- generic expectations about what makes a complete story, such as believing that people do what they do for a
reason
- Given a set of known facts in an unfolding situation, knowledge about similar situations, and expectations about what is needed to make a complete story, the decisionmaker can know when important information is missing, and where inferences must be made.
- Construct a story
- Evaluate story for coverage - concerns the extent to which the story accounts for evidence
- Evaluate story for coherence
- consistency - concerns the extent to which the story does not contain contradictions
- plausibility - concerns the extent to which the story is consistent with real or imagined events in the real world
- completeness - concerns the extent to which a story has all of its parts
- Storytelling and Terrorism: Towards a Comprehensive 'Counter-Narrative Strategy' by Casebeer and Russell, in Strategic Insights, Mar 2005 (Local Copy)
- Storytelling that moves people. A conversation with screenwriting coach Robert McKee, abstract with PubMed, at National Library of Medicine
- In this conversation with HBR, Robert McKee, the world's best-known screenwriting lecturer, argues that executives can engage people in a much deeper--and ultimately more convincing--way if they toss out their Power-Point slides and memos and learn to tell good stories. As human beings, we make sense of our experiences through stories. But becoming a good storyteller is hard. It requires imagination and an understanding of what makes a story worth telling. All great stories deal with the conflict between subjective expectations and an uncooperative objective reality.
- Malignants in the Body Politic: Redefining War through Metaphor, SAAS paper, 2004
- The Center for Narrative Studies
- The Art of Trial Advocacy: the Art of Storytelling (local copy), in The Army Lawyer, Oct 1999
- recommends three ways to enhance your storytelling for effect
- use the present tense
- speak in clear, active English
- engage the senses of the audience
- Storytelling and the Art of Teaching, by Pederson, in State Department's Forum, Jan-Mar 1995
- Deep Impact Storytelling, by Deacon and Murphey, in State Department's Forum, Oct-Dec 2001
- Storytelling: Passport to the 21st Century, by Brown et al
- Narrative Psychology Internet and Resource Guide, by Hevern, Le Moyne College
- Learn Storytelling - including their use to communicate complex ideas
- Tell Me a Story: Why Stories are Essential to Effective Safety Training (local copy), NIOSH Publication No. 2005-152, August 2005
- Story Telling, National Park Service Community Tool Box
- Use it if ...
- You want to help people begin working together: An engaging story will serve as a unifying emotional and experiential tool.
- You are trying to develop a vision and need to first find agreement as to what people believe is important.
Listening
- See also building rapport
- See also Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
- "A man who listens because he has nothing to say can hardly be a source of inspiration. The only listening that counts is that of the talker who alternatively absorbs and expresses ideas." -- Agnes Repplier
Listening Effectively (local copy), by John Kline
Practice Listening Skills (local copy) - a quick checklist from the Office of the Dispute Resolution Specialist, Dept of Veteran Affairs
Ten Commandments of Good Listening - as posted by the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program
- the first ten - from K. Davis, Human Behavior at Work, McGraw Hill, 1972
- Stop talking. Obvious, but not easy.
- Put the speaker at ease. Create a permissive, supportive climate in which the speaker will feel free to express himself or herself.
- Show a desire to listen. Act interested and mean it.
- Remove distractions. External preoccupation is less likely if nothing external is present to preoccupy you.
- Empathize. Try to experience to some degree the feelings the speaker is experiencing.
- Be patient. Give the speaker time to finish; don't interrupt.
- Hold your temper. Don't let your emotions obstruct your thoughts.
- Go easy on argument and criticism. Suspend judgment.
- Ask questions. If things are still unclear when a speaker has finished, ask questions which serve to clarify the intended meanings.
- Stop talking. In case you missed the first commandment.
- additional listening techniques - from P. Bradley and J. Baird, Communication for Business and the Professions, Brown, 1980
- Preparation. If you know what the topic is ahead of time, learn something about it so you will not be an ignorant listener. Even some careful thinking will allow you to listen more accurately when the communication actually begins.
- Seek intent. Try to discover the intent of the source; why is he or she saying these things?
- Seek structure. Look for an organizational scheme of the message. If the speaker is an accomplished one, you won't have to look very hard; it will be obvious. But if the speaker is less skilled, the responsibility falls to you.
- Analyze. Do not accept what you hear at face value; analyze what the speaker is saying and pay attention to body language.
- Focus. Keep the main topic of the message in mind at all times, using it to bring focus to the information which the speaker supplies.
- Motivate yourself. This may be the most important. Listening takes work, and to do that you may have to "psych yourself up."
- International Listening Association
- Listening Skills - Self-Evaluation Test
- Listening Skills Self-Evaluation
- Listening and Empathy Responding
- Crisis Intervention: Using Active Listening Skills in Negotiations (local copy), by Noesner and Webster, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, August 1997
Interviewing
- Remember - interviewing can be face-to-face, by phone, by fax, by e-mail, by video teleconference, or by other means as technology continues to change
- See also listening
- See also building rapport
- See also Oral History(ing) on History page
- See also being interviewed by media below
- See also interrogation and deception detection below
- Cognitive Interviewing
Cognitive Interview Technique (local copy), from NTSB - relies more on lengthy narrative responses
- The traditional interviewer asks many questions, each of which elicits a very brief response. The cognitive interview, on the other hand, is in some ways a questionless interview. The goal is to ask as few questions as possible so that witnesses give you long narrative responses that each contains that much more information than a traditional interview. The objective is to try to elicit information, not extract information. The good interviewer tries to create a social environment so the witness generates information without having to wait for questions to be asked.
How to Conduct a Cognitive Interview: a Nutrition Education Example (local copy), by Shafer and Lohse, for USDA
- Cognitive Interviewing at the National Center for Health Statistics (local copy), CDC briefing slides, by Beatty et al
- Verbal Reports are Data! A Theoretical Approach to Cognitive Interviews (local copy), Federal Commission on Statistical Methodology, 1999 research conference paper, by Conrad, Blair, and Tracy
- From Impressions to Data: Increasing the Objectivity of Cognitive Interviews (local copy), Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods, American Statistical Association, 1996, by Conrad and Blair, posted by Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Perceptual and Memory Distortion During Officer-Involved Shootings (local copy), by Artwohl, in Law Enforcement Bulletin, Oct 2002
- The developers of this method found that how investigators interview individuals can significantly impact the ability of the witnesses to remember and report the details of an event. Their research indicated the cognitive interview as the most effective technique for facilitating memory retrieval with cooperative witnesses. Using proper interview techniques is particularly important for high-stress situations because during experiential thinking, the individual is more likely to be dissociative and “encodes reality in concrete images, metaphors, and narratives,” whereas, in rational thinking, the individual is more logical and “encodes reality in abstract symbols,
words, and numbers.”
- As cognitive interviewing involves thinking aloud on the part of the interviewee, one should keep in mind the following item (which may also apply to cultures other than Asian) from
- The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently… and Why, by Richard Nisbett, 2003
- To test the possibility that Asians and Asian Americans in fact find it relatively difficult to use language to represent thought, Kim had people speak out loud as they solved various kinds of problems. This had no effect on the performance of European Americans. But the requirement to speak out loud had very deleterious effects on the performance of Asians and Asian Americans.
(page 210 of Free Press edition)
Interviewing Techniques (local copy), from EPA
- gives details and tips on the five phases below, as well as getting info from reluctant witness, and using interpreters
- introduction
- rapport
- questions
- summary
- close
- Office of Naval Inspector General (see investigation on military law page)
- Living History Project: Instructions for Interviewing (local copy), Library of Congress
- Using Structured Interviewing Techniques (local copy), GAO guide
- Interviewing Strategies: How to Get People to Talk to You (local copy), emphasis on obtaining medical history, but useful points for any interviewing situation (downloaded from cim.usuhs.mil/gsn0514/Interviewing%20and%20History%20Taking.PDF)
- Witness Interviews - Guidelines from the Air Force Safety Center (local copy)
- Air Force Pamphlet 91-211 USAF Guide to Aviation Safety Investigation
- Attachment 5 - Techniques for Conducting Witness Interviews
- Attachment 6 - Spouse/Friend Interview Guide
Being Interviewed by the Media
- See also interviewing above
- DoD Guides for Interacting with Media
Interviews: a Closer Look (local copy), USINFO, State Department
- Assessing the Interview Request - including 5 best tips
- Establishing Ground Rules
- Once the Interview Is Agreed To - including 5 best tips
- During the Interview - including 5 best tips
- Staying Focused
- Being Effective on Television
- After the Interview
Media Traps and Pitfalls - Avoiding Common Mistakes (local copy), FBI Academy briefing
Preparing for a Successful Media Interview: a Systematic Approach for Success (local copy), USMC TECOM briefing
Media Skills Training (local copy), USMC
- Why should you talk to the media?
- American public opinion directly influences all levels of warfare
- We have intrinsic value to the Nation and our existence is dependent on the will of the American people
- If we don't tell our story, no one will
- The media will tell the story with or without our input ...
- Media and the Military (local copy), Chapter 7 from the Joint Services Warrant Officers’ Course, Defence Academy, Ministry of Defense, UK - “Concentrate on what you want to say - don’t become mesmerised by what you might be asked”
- Military Justice and the Media: The Media Interview (local copy), by Schwenk, posted by USAFA Department of Law - examines interviews, pretrial publicity, and related matters
- 6 tips for taking control in media interviews, by Krotz, Microsoft Small Business Center - see article for expansion of tips below
- Set goals for every appearance.
- Nothing is 100% off the record.
- Watch your body language.
- Stay on track with your message.
- Learn how to "bridge."
- Prepare take-aways.
- Oh, the Mistakes Spokespeople Make: Ten Sure-Fire Ways to Blow an Interview, by Bennett
- click link above to see expansion of points below
- Misunderstanding the Media
- Misunderstanding the Spokesperson Role
- Lacking Message Points
- Unleashing a Core Dump
- Over-Answering
- Failing to Listen
- Speaking in Jargon
- Missing the "So What?"
- Trashing Competitors
- Playing Tug of War
Interrogation
- See also interviewing
- See also NLP
- See also deception detection
- See also interrogations and interviewing on Lessons Learned page
- See also torture on Law page
- FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation, 1992 version
NOTE: some sources believe the 1987 version below was more permissive than the 1992 version above - however, even in the 1987 version below you can see the prohibition against force.
- Principles of Interrogation, in Chapter 1, FM 34-52 (1987 version, now superceded) - included the following
Interrogation is the art of questioning and examining a source to obtain the maximum amount of usable information. The goal of any interrogation is to obtain usable and reliable information, in a lawful manner and in the least amount of time, which meets intelligence requirements of any echelon of command.
...
The use of force, mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind is prohibited by law and is neither authorized nor condoned by the US Government. Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear. However, the use of force is not to be confused with psychological ploys, verbal trickery, or other nonviolent and noncoercive ruses used by the interrogator in questioning hesitant or uncooperative sources.
The psychological techniques and principles outlined should neither be confused with, nor construed to be synonymous with, unauthorized techniques such as brainwashing, mental torture, or any other form of mental coercion to include drugs. These techniques and principles are intended to serve as guides in obtaining the willing cooperation of a source. The absence of threats in interrogation is intentional, as their enforcement and use normally constitute violations of international law and may result in prosecution under the UCMJ.
Additionally, the inability to carry out a threat of violence or force renders an interrogator ineffective should the source challenge the threat. Consequently, from both legal and moral viewpoints, the restrictions established by international law, agreements, and customs render threats of force, violence, and deprivation useless as interrogation techniques.
- Reducing a Guilty Suspect’s Resistance to Confessing: Applying Criminological Theory to Interrogation Theme Development (local copy), by Boetig, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, August 2005 - discusses theme-based interrogation and criminological theories
- Strategies to Avoid Interview Contamination (local copy), by Sandoval, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, October 2003 - some good tips, strategies, and questions
- Criminal Confessions - Overcoming the Challenges (local copy), by Napier and Adams, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, November 2002 - includes following principles/tips
- follow the facts
- identify personal vulnerabilities
- know the suspect
- preserve the evidence
- adjust moral responsibility
- use psychology versus coercion
- allowing suspects to maintain dignity is professional and increases the likelihood of obtaining a confession
- Conducting Successful Interrogations (local copy), by Vessel, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, October 1998
- Obtaining information that an individual does not want to provide constitutes the sole purpose of an interrogation.
- Magic Words to Obtain Confessions (local copy), by Napier and Adams, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, October 1998
- Magic words come from three commonly used defense mechanisms-rationalization, projection, and minimization
- Rationalize Suspects’ Actions
- Project the Blame onto Others
- Minimize the Crime
- Provide Reasons to Confess
- Interviewing Self-confident Con Artists (local copy), by O'Neal, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, March 2001
- "with the proper preparation and strategic approach, investigators can take advantage of the character traits of con artists"
- Investigative Techniques: Federal Agency Views on the Potential Application of Brain Fingerprinting" (local copy), GAO report, Oct 2001
- Hypnosis in Interrogation, by Deshere, in Studies in Intelligence, Vol.4, No.1
Deception Detection
- See also deception on Info Ops page
- See also interviewing and NLP sections
- See also interrogation
- Distributed Information and Intelligence Analysis Group (DI2AG), within Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College
- How to Identify Misinformation, USINFO.STATE.GOV, 27 July 2005 - with examples of misinformation and conspiracies, and support material
- Detecting Online Deception and Responding to It (local copy), by Rowe, Naval Postgraduate School
- Detecting Deception, by Adelson, in Monitor on Psychology, Jul-Aug 2004 - includes discussion of software which can analyze written content for lying
- Intuitive people worse at detecting lies, by Young, NewScientist.com, 18 Mar 2002
- People who think of themselves as being intuitive make worse lie detectors than those who do not trust in a "gut instinct", according to new research.
- One possible explanation is that intuitives in fact rely on common misconceptions about how to spot a liar, he says.
- A Four-Domain Model for Detecting Deception - An Alternative Paradigm for Interviewing (local copy), by Navarro, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, June 2003
- They can use an alternative paradigm for detecting deception based on four critical domains:
- comfort/discomfort
- emphasis
- synchrony
- perception management
- Detecting Deception (local copy), by Navarro and Schafer, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 2001
- Interviewing Self-confident Con Artists (local copy), by O'Neal, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, March 2001
- "with the proper preparation and strategic approach, investigators can take advantage of the character traits of con artists"
- Investigative Techniques: Federal Agency Views on the Potential Application of Brain Fingerprinting" (local copy), GAO report, Oct 2001
- Hypnosis in Interrogation, by Deshere, in Studies in Intelligence, Vol.4, No.1
- Microexpressions
- Truth Wizards Can Detect Lies (local copy), in the Maine Law Officer's Bulletin, Nov 2004 - detecting the subtle signs that people reveal when they lie
- Lying and Deceit - The Wizards Project, Police Psychology Online
- "With 20 minutes of training, we are able to significantly improve someone's ability to recognize microexpressions which are involved in many kinds of lies," Dr. O'Sullivan said.
- Paul Ekman
- Lying Faces - One Man Studies Them, by Garrett
- Discover Magazine [Jan 2005 issue] reports Ekman is working with the Department of Defense on software that could detect liars by studying facial emotions, called micro-expressions, that go unnoticed by the untrained eye.
"They look just like an ordinary expression, except they're only on the face about a 25th of a second," this researcher observes. Ekman has shown that certain emotions flash almost undetectably when people are telling high-stakes lies, where they benefit or lose a lot.
- Paul Ekman home page
- Downloadable articles
- Darwin, Deception, and Facial Expression, by Ekman, in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences - discusses the Facial Action Coding System (FACS)
- Ekman, O’Sullivan, & Frank. "A few can catch a liar." Psychological Science, 10, 263-266, 1997
- Ekman, P. & O’Sullivan, M. "Who can catch a liar?" American Psychologist, 46, 913-920 , 1991
- Ekman, Paul. Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Marriage, and Politics, W.W. Norton & Company, 3rd revised edition 2002
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
- See also building rapport
- See also Van der Horst article on Culture Center
- Communicating in Style: Discover How to Communicate with Everyone (and Like It!) (local copy), by Barrett, of PinnacleOne, presentation at 2003 CMAA National Conference, posted by GSA Project Management Center of Expertise - includes NLP as one of the methods
- Subtle Skills for Building Rapport - Using Neuro-Linguistic Programming in the Interview Room (local copy), by Sandoval and Adams, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, August 2001 - good short explanation of NLP basics (HTML version)
- Model-Based Mind (local copy), by Kercel, Brown-VanHoozer, and VanHoozer, Oak Ridge National Lab, in Proceedings of SMC 2000: IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. - using NLP to draw inferences and abstract meaning from data - also discusses internal decision functions, mental states, and visual, auditory, and kinesthetic cues used during interviews
- Models of Reality (local copy), by Brown-VanHoozer, Oak Ridge National Lab, for ANNIE '99 Conference (Artificial Neural Networks in Engineering), Nov 1999 - includes discussion of
- primary representational system (PRS) - the representational system we tend to favor most
- feedback loops in decision strategies
- neurological cues to thought processes
- seven categories of an experience - "a framework from which an individual can elicit detailed descriptions of experience in order that sufficient, high quality, reproducible data, insofar as that it is possible when dealing with human subjects, is obtained for unpacking strategy patterns (Brown-VanHoozer, 1995)."
- External behavior - what the person is doing;
- Internal Computation - how that information is stored in sensory based distinctions in the brain;
- Internal State - what impact the experience has internally;
- Context - the precise situation in which the person is involved, which includes, but is not limited to: location, time, persons other than subject with whom engaged, etc.
- Criteria - how important the experience is in personal terms for the subject - a rank ordering;
- Cause-Effect - what, exactly, makes the experience occur, and
- Complex Equivalence - what it all means, to the individual.
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming: A Basis for Language Learning, by Love, in The Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning and Teaching
Some NLP Presuppositions
- The map is not the territory. [Our senses filter everything we experience.]
- What you believe either is true or becomes true.[Perceptions are individual and influence behavior.]
- The mind and the body affect each other.[Thought, emotions and behavior are interconnected.]
- Knowing what you want helps you to get it.[Identify your goals and break them down into manageable tasks.]
- The meaning of your communication is the response you get.[Communication is not your intention; it is an experiential process.]
- There is no failure, only feedback.[Stop blaming yourself if something isn't working. Try something else!]
- Communication is verbal and non-verbal.[You are always sending and receiving messages.]
- Modeling excellent behavior leads to excellence. [Find the model and follow the pattern.]
- There is a positive intention behind every behavior.[People respond in the only way they know how at the time.]
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming Interest Group at Stanford
- NLP Information Center
- additional references
Building Rapport
- See also interviewing
- See also listening
- See also NLP
- See also crisis negotiation including active listening skills, at Negotiation Center of Excellence
- Crisis Intervention for Law Enforcement Negotiators (Local Copy), by Regini, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, October 2004
- Subtle Skills for Building Rapport - Using Neuro-Linguistic Programming in the Interview Room (local copy), by Sandoval and Adams, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, August 2001 - good short explanation of NLP basics (HTML version)
- It is Not Just What You Ask, But How You Ask It: The Art of Building Rapport During Witness Interviews (local copy), The Army Lawyer, Aug 1999
- Crisis Intervention: Using Active Listening Skills in Negotiations (Local Copy), by Noesner and Webster, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, August 1997
Effective Feedback
Working with Difficult People
A compliment ought always to precede a complaint, where one is possible, because it softens resentment and insures for the complaint a courteous and gentle reception.
--- Mark Twain
Dealing with Difficulty People (local copy), briefing by Behavioral Health folks at Hurlburt AFB - (companion DOC file)
- USAF Supervisor's Course
- Module 9 - Interpersonal Skills & Understanding Human Behavior
- Module 10 - Listen to Understand
- Module 14 - Dealing with Difficult People
- Module 15 - Managing Conflict, Confrontation, and Emotions
- Module 20 - Creative Problem and Decision Making
- Difficult People - coping strategies for dealing with three types of difficult people
Meetings
Effective Meeting Facilitation: The Sine Qua Non of Planning, by Duncan, National Endowment for the Arts
Effective Meeting Facilitation: Sample Forms, Tools, and Checklists, by Duncan, National Endowment for the Arts
- Group Dialogue, by Brown, National Endowment for the Arts
The 6 Golden Rules of Meeting Management, at GovLeaders.org
- From HQ ACC Action Officer Survival Guide - handouts about meetings
- EffectiveMeetings.com
- 3M Meeting Network, includes "guides to great meetings"
Reading
How to Prepare for, Survive, and Prosper during Air War College, from Dr Grant Hammond
- includes sections on
- asking good questions
- rules for study and research
- previewing a book and reading effectively
- analyzing content
- taking notes
- preparing for and taking tests
- how to do research and write a paper
Poetry in Motion -- A Technique in Writing (local copy), State Dept Forum, discusses various ways of reading - scanning, skimming, and intensive - and making decisions in the design of your writing
Thinking Out of the Box: Reading Military Texts from a Different Perspective, by Ridderhof, in Naval War College Review, Autumn 2002 - using a deconstructive technique to get more meaning and ideas out of military readings
Read More Quickly and Effectively, by Mind Tools
Fundamentals of Critical Reading and Effective Writing
Study Skills Self-help Information, Va Tech, includes several handouts on improving reading skills - speed, comprehension, taking notes, etc.
Study Guides and Strategies, in multiple languages, includes several handouts on improving reading skills - speed, comprehension, taking notes, etc.
- Study Skill Guides, Dartmouth
- On the Art of Reading, by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
- Speed Reading Course online
- Speed Reading Test Online
- Brief Suggestions for Increasing Speed and Effectiveness of Reading, U. of Texas Learning Center
- Tips for Improving Your Reading Speed
- Transforming the Mind, downloadable book
- Rocket Reader speed reading program, not free
- ** BrainDance.com - with variety of material on boosting creativity, improving memory, enhancing reading effectiveness, working smarter, learning faster, and managing more effectively
- reading speed exerciser using numbers
- International Reading Association
- Additional sources for reading quickly and efficiently
- Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension, by Snow, a RAND report
Writing
Writing, the art of communicating thoughts to the mind through the eye, is the great invention of the world ... enabling us to converse with the dead, the absent, and the unborn, at all distances of time and space.
--- Abe Lincoln, from a lecture before the Springfield Library Association, 22 February 1860.
- Rudyard Kipling, from "The Elephant's Child" in Just So Stories
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
[ed. - answering those six questions is often a good place to begin]
- See also critical thinking
- See also writing a critical book review
- See also writing lessons learned, after action reviews, and concepts
Research, Writing, and the Mind of the Strategist (local copy), by Foster, in Joint Force Quarterly
- Effective Writing Resources, Air University Library bibliography
Twelve Frequent Errors in English Expression, by Dr Jim Toner, Air War College
Effective Writing: A New Millennium-An Old Challenge, by Riddlebarger, from AU-24
- An Effective Writing Formula for Unsure Writers, by Emmons, in AU Review
- Calculate the Clarity Index (local copy), from the Army writing guidance
- Better Writing - A Heretic's View, by Riddlebarger, in Airpower Journal -- includes a good checklist of Heretic's Rules
- Politics and the English Language, by Orwell, including the following "rules that one can rely on when instinct fails":
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
- Evaluating Writing
- Tips on the Critiquing of Writing and Speaking (local copy), by Kline and Lippincott
- Guide to the Marking of Written Assignments, by Johnston
- Staff Writing
- Writing and Speaking Skills for Leaders at the Organizational Level (local copy), handbook from CGSC
- Staff Writing(local copy), from the Army Action Officer Training Program
Staff Summary Sheet template (local copy), courtesy of AFSOC - you can fill it in and then attach it and other attachments to your email for forwarding, without the mess which frequently occurs when you try to embed the SSS into the email message and it fails to transfer properly
- Air Force Manual 33-326, Preparing Official Communications
- Writing Assistance
- Navy War College Writing Guide (local copy)
- USMC Command and Staff College Written and Oral Communications Guide (local copy)
- Effective Writing for Army Leaders (local copy), Army Pamphlet 600-67
- Hints and Helpful Guidance for the Army Writer - extracted from TSP 158-F-0010
- USAFA Executive Writing Program - "is a presentation that offers middle and senior managers practical ways to improve official writing." -- the course comes to you -- "The course is directed towards all officers, civilians GS-11 and above, and all NCOs E-7 and above. We'll give the course to as many people as your conference room or theater will hold"
Plain English Network (PEN), .gov site, includes handbook below
- CRITO (local copy), a step-by-step method for creating a critical analysis essay,
courtesy of Dr. David K. Johnson, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
- C - State a Conclusion or claim
- R - State Reasons or evidence meant to convince the reader
- I - Test the Inference, or argument
- T - Test the Truth of the R
- O - Construct the strongest imaginable Objections, and respond to them
- Writing and Editing Tips (local copy), a quick guide from an Army organization
- Paradigm Online Writing Assistant (essays, argument, documenting, organizing, etc)
- Writer's Military Market (Dept of the Army, PA)
- Style Guides
Air University (AU) Style & Author Guide for Writers and Editors
- Defense Information School Broadcast Writing Style Guide (local copy) - audience is DINFOS students as well as "all Department of Defense members who write and prepare broadcast news releases, features, spots, and public service announcements for
military and civilian media"
- U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual
- Air Force Manual 33-326, Preparing Official Communications
Air Force Handbook 33-337, Tongue and Quill (6.5 Mb) (local copy (4.4 Mb))
- Navy War College Style Manual and Classification Guide (local copy)
Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr.
The King’s English
, by Fowler
- On the Art of Writing, by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
- Guide to Grammar and Writing
- Writer's Handbook: APA Documentation Style, Univ. of Wisconsin
Chicago Manual of Style Frequently Asked Questions - explaining items from the manual
Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University -- GOOD handouts
- Online Writing Lab, Purdue University, Home Page
- Writing On and With the Internet, Purdue OWL
- Over 130 Handouts on Writing, Purdue OWL, including parts of speech, overcoming writer's block, starting your research, teaching English as a second language, doing resumes, doing job search letters
- List of OWLs, by Purdue OWL
- Internet Research Starting Points, Purdue OWL
- International Writing Centers Association (IWCA)
- Online Writing Labs (OWLs)
- Grammar (also see OWLs)
- Miscellaneous
Writing for Publication
- Writing Articles for Publication
- Writing Op-Eds
- Op-Ed Articles: How to Write and Place Them, Duke University
- Op-Ed Resource Guide, DeWitt Wallace Center, Duke University
- Examples of Well Written Op-Eds, Duke University
- How to Write an Op-Ed and Get It Published, DePaul University
- How to Write an Op-Ed: Perhaps it's PR's most underutilized tool, by McLain, posted on All About Public Relations website
- How to Write An Op Ed Piece, American Civil Liberties Union
- Tips for Writing an Op-Ed, Faculty Media Training, University of Florida
- Writing op-ed columns, University of North Texas
- Tips on Op-Ed Writing, by McKibben, Middlebury College
- Op-eds & Letters to the Editor - tips and by-newspaper links, from Communications Consortium Media Center
- The Christian Science Monitory contributors guidelines
- Op-Ed Guidelines for The Wall Street Journal
- How to Submit an Article to The New York Times Op-Ed Page
Fallacies in Logic
- See also cognitive bias
- See critical thinking
Psychology of Intelligence Analysis (local copy), by Heuer, for CIA
-- very good examination of many elements of critical thinking, with examples
- Check out Part III - Cognitive Biases
- Fallacies, Purdue U. Online Writing Lab (OWL) (PDF version)
- Fallacies: Mistakes in the Logic of Arguments, U. of N.C. Writing Center
- Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies
- Dr. Michael C. Labossiere's description of over 40 fallacies, posted at The Nizkor Project
- Logical Fallacies and the Art of Debate
- Logical Fallacies in Psychology
- The source of belief bias effects in syllogistic reasoning, NIH summary of study by Newstead et al, Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth, UK
In studies of the belief bias effect in syllogistic reasoning, an interaction between logical validity and the believability of the conclusion has been found; in essence, logic has a larger effect on unbelievable than on believable conclusions. Two main explanations have been proposed for this finding. The selective scrutiny account claims that people focus on the conclusion and only engage in logical processing if this is found to be unbelievable; while the misinterpreted necessity account claims that subjects misunderstand what is meant by logical necessity and respond on the basis of believability when indeterminate syllogisms are presented. ... [five experiments were run] ... It is concluded that people try to construct a mental model of the premises but, if there is a believable conclusion consistent with the first model they produce, then they fail to construct alternative models.
Argumentative and Persuasive Communication
- See rhetoric
- See Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
- See inoculation theory
- See critical thinking
- See fallacies in logic
- See writing a critical book review
- See propaganda
- See perception warfare & influence theory
- See art of advocacy on Military Law page
- Persuasion Context - theories page, U. of Ky
- Logic Tutor, by Green - FREE online tutorial system on logic
- Argumentation-Persuasion: Logic in Argumentative Writing, Purdue Online Writing Lab
- Essays and Arguments: A Handbook on Writing Argumentative and Interpretative Essays, by Johnston, May 2000, in public domain
- PERSUASION: What the Research Tells Us , teaching note by Yates - MIT OpenCourseWare project
- A Rulebook for Arguments, by Anthony Weston
- War of the Words (local copy), by Johnson, page 3 of News & Views, Sandia Labs, Jan 2005
- Four Principles for Success in the War of Ideas
- Be clear about whom you are speaking and avoid viewing populations monolithically
- Be precise in your terms and avoid exaggeration
- Seek to understand alternative viewpoints and show respect for them
- Learn your own blind spots
- ChangingMinds.org
- Writing Argumentative Essays "how to write short argumentative essays of approximately 1000 words"
- Thinking Strategies and Writing Patterns: Persuasion, UMUC Online Writing Center
- Logic and Argument, UVic Writer's Guide
- Argumentative Essay Tutorial, Santa Rosa Junior College
- Composition Patterns: Developing an Argument: Being Logical
- Logic in Argumentative Writing, including examples of formal logic construction
- Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies
- Propaganda links
- Influence at Work - the Psychology of Persuasion
- Primer on Persuasion and Influence
- Cialdini, R. B. (1993). Influence: Science and practice, 3rd Ed. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
- Shavitt, S., & Brock, T. C. (1994)(Eds.), Persuasion: Psychological insights and perspectives. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Inoculation Theory
Rhetoric
- See Persuasion
The Role of Rhetorical Theory in Military Intelligence Analysis - A Soldier’s Guide to Rhetorical Theory (local copy), by Mills, AU Press
- Courses at Sloan School of Management, available online as part of MIT OpenCourseWare Project - includes syllabi and course materials
Rhetoric, with Study Materials - including tips for position, thesis, research, arrangement, style, and levels of rhetoric
- Composition-Rhetoric (local copy), by Brooks and Hubbard, courtesy Project Gutenberg - see especially Part II: description, narration, exposition, and argument
- The Forest of Rhetoric (silva rhetoricae) (Brigham Young University)
Silva Rhetoricae - The Forest of Rhetoric, at BYU - extensive reference which includes discussion of
- persuasive appeals
- logos - appeal to reason
- pathos - appeal to emotion
- ethos - appeal to one's character
- "branches" of oratory
- judicial (aka "forensic")
- deliberate (aka "legislative")
- epideictic (aka "ceremonial" or "demonstrative")
- canons of rhetoric - invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery
- Preaching and Communication (local copy), The Army Chaplaincy, Summer-Fall 1997 - summarizes some basic theories and points of view regarding rhetoric, such as
- Cicero outlined five principles of rhetoric that would later influence preaching for centuries. In them, the speaker:
- discovers what should be said (invention)
- arranges the speech in a particular order (arrangement)
- clothes the thoughts with language (style)
- secures the speech in (memory)
- effectively (delivers) the speech
- Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators and The Orator [both from Project Gutenberg]
- The Rhetoric, by Aristotle
Listening Effectively (local copy), by John Kline
- The Online Writing and Communication Center at MIT
- Critically Analyzing Information Sources (Cornell University Library)
- Elements of Rhetoric (Harvard)
- A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms (University of Kentucky)
- Federal Register: Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
- Presidential Rhetoric.com
- Plato and His Dialogues
- Perseus Digital Library
- Rhetoric and Composition
- Rhetorical Analysis in Time of War (University of Arizona)
- International Encyclopedia of Philosophy (University of Tennessee at Martin)
- Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy (Texas Tech University)
Metaphors
We are prisoners of our own metaphors, metaphorically speaking...
--- R. Buckminster Fuller
- Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
- Quinn, Naomi. “The Culture Basis of Metaphor.” Beyond Metaphor: The Theory of Tropes in Anthropology. Ed. James W. Fernandez. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991. 56-93.
- Boundary of Metaphors, from MIT OpenCourseWare project
- Effective Presentations (local copy), Army Corps of Engineers
- Meet your listeners at their level of understanding. Use metaphors: Compare unfamiliar facts with something simple the audience already knows. An example would be comparing the flow of water in a pipe with the flow of electricity in a wire. People learn more rapidly when the information relates to their own experience.
- Malignants in the Body Politic: Redefining War through Metaphor, by Stickle, 2004 SAAS paper
- Metaphors and Paradigms of Team Cognition: a Twenty Year Perspective, by McNeese, Penn. State Univ., in Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 47th Annual Meeting, 2003, posted by Office of Naval Research
- A Joint Task Force Staff Structure for the New Millennium: Leaner, Faster, and More Responsive, by Row, Wright Flyer Paper No. 4
- Uses metaphors to describe organizational relations. Includes quote below.
- "Metaphor is often regarded just as a device for embellishing discourse, but its significance is much greater than this. The use of metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of seeing that pervade how we understand our world generally. . . . Metaphor is inherently paradoxical. It can create powerful insights that also become distortions, as the way of seeing created through a metaphor becomes a way of not seeing." - from Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization, 2d ed. (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1997), 4-5.
- The Digital General: Reflections on Leadership in the Post-Information Age, by Harig, in Parameters, Autumn 1996
- Just as there are plentiful examples where critical scientific breakthroughs have occurred while the right brain (our intuitive, pre-verbal cognitive resource) was operating ahead of the pack, strategic vision requires an ability to think in metaphors, to seek related patterns in unrelated objects, situations, and events. True, our future senior leaders will have access to more information. The successful ones will be those who are best able to sort out the important from the interesting. The development and testing of analogies--the patterns that allow leaders to see the important under data overload, is a skill that could waste away under a sterile diet of expert systems and virtual reality simulations.
Gender Differences
Citing Online Sources
Plagiarism
Phonetic Alphabet
Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
Golf
Hotel
India
Juliet
Kilo
Lima
Mike
November
Oscar
Papa
Quebec
Romeo
Sierra
Tango
Uniform
Victor
Whiskey
X-ray
Yankee
Zulu
Negotiation Skills
Mediation and Facilitation
Consensus Building
Crisis Negotiation and Hostage Negotiation
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Above topic areas have moved to the Center for Negotiation Studies
English as a Second Language (ESL)
Above topic area has moved to the Center for Regional and Cultural Studies
Cross-Cultural Communication, including nonverbals
Above topic area has moved to the Cultural Awareness & Cross-Cultural Communication page
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