The Handy Communication Answer Book
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THE
HANDY
COMMUCATION
ANSWER
BOOK
ALSO FROM VISIBLE INK PRESS
The Handy African American History Answer Book
by Jessie Carnie Smith
ISBN: 978-1-57859-452-8
The Handy American History Answer Book
by David L. Hudson, Jr.
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The Handy Anatomy Answer Book, 2nd edition
by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney
ISBN: 978-1-57859-542-6
The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents), 2nd edition
by Gina Misiroglu
ISBN: 978-1-57859-219-7
The Handy Art History Answer Book
by Madelynn Dickerson
ISBN: 978-1-57859-417-7
The Handy Astronomy Answer Book, 3rd edition
by Charles Liu
ISBN: 978-1-57859-190-9
The Handy Bible Answer Book by
Jennifer Rebecca Prince
ISBN: 978-1-57859-478-8
The Handy Biology Answer Book, 2nd edition
by Patricia Barnes Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney
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The Handy Boston Answer Book
by Samuel Willard Crompton
ISBN: 978-1-57859-593-8
The Handy California Answer Book
by Kevin S. Hile
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The Handy Chemistry Answer Book
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The Handy Civil War Answer Book
by Samuel Willard Crompton
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The Handy Dinosaur Answer Book, 2nd edition
by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney
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The Handy English Grammar Answer Book
by Christine A. Hult, Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-1-57859-520-4
The Handy Geography Answer Book, 3rd edition
by Paul A. Tucci
ISBN: 978-1-57859-215-9
The Handy Geology Answer Book
by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney
ISBN: 978-1-57859-156-5
The Handy History Answer Book, 3rd edition
by David L. Hudson, Jr.
ISBN: 978-1-57859-372-9
The Handy Hockey Answer Book
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The Handy Investing Answer Book
by Paul A. Tucci
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The Handy Islam Answer Book
by John Renard Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-1-57859-510-5
The Handy Law Answer Book
by David L. Hudson Jr.
ISBN: 978-1-57859-217-3
The Handy Math Answer Book, 2nd edition
by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney
ISBN: 978-1-57859-373-6
The Handy Military History Answer Book
by Samuel Willard Crompton
ISBN: 978-1-57859-509-9
The Handy Mythology Answer Book,
by David A. Leeming, Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-1-57859-475-7
The Handy New York City Answer Book
by Chris Barsanti
ISBN: 978-1-57859-586-0
The Handy Nutrition Answer Book
by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney
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The Handy Ocean Answer Book
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The Handy Personal Finance Answer Book
by Paul A. Tucci
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The Handy Philosophy Answer Book
by Naomi Zack
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The Handy Physics Answer Book, 2nd edition
By Paul W. Zitzewitz, Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-1-57859-305-7
The Handy Politics Answer Book
by Gina Misiroglu
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The Handy Presidents Answer Book, 2nd edition
by David L. Hudson
ISBN: 978-1-57859-317-0
The Handy Psychology Answer Book, 2nd edition
by Lisa J. Cohen
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The Handy Religion Answer Book, 2nd edition
by John Renard
ISBN: 978-1-57859-379-8
The Handy Science Answer Book, 4th edition
by The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
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The Handy State-by-State Answer Book
by Samuel Willard Crompton
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The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book
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by Kevin S. Hile
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PLEASE VISIT THE “HANDY ANSWERS” SERIES WEBSITE AT
WWW.HANDYANSWERS.COM
Contents
PHOTO SOURCES
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?
General Communication … Verbal Communication … Nonverbal
Communication … Written Communication
A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION
Orality, Oral Traditions, and Oratory … Communicating over Distances …
Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio, and TV … The Influence of the Internet
RHETORIC
Key Ideas and Terms … Rhetoric from Classical to Modern Times …
Rhetoric Today … Rhetorical Terms, Concepts, Devices
EFFECTIVE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Common Types of Written Communication … Affecting Meaning and
Interpretation … Persuasiveness … Clarity … Clichés, Run-ons, and Other
Gaffes … Specialty Writing
THE EMAIL MINEFIELD
Email in Brief … Advantages and Pitfalls of Email … Effective Use of
Email … Email Etiquette
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media in Brief … Advantages and Pitfalls of Social Media …
Effective use of Social Media … Social Media Etiquette
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
How Public Speaking and Oratory Affect Communication … Anxiety and
Fear of Public Speaking … Characteristics of a Good Public Speaker
CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC SPEAKING
Revolutions in Radio, TV, and the Internet … Important Speakers and
Speeches of the 20th and 21st Centuries … Major Public Speaking
Organizations and Events
SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONS
Styles and Types of Speeches and Presentations … Key Elements of
Speeches and Presentations … Structure and Organization … Delivery
THE HUMAN VOICE
Anatomy of Speaking … Developing Your Voice … Using Your Voice
Effectively
BODY TALK
The Effects of Body Language … Developing Your Body Language …
Using Body Language Effectively
AUDIENCE MATTERS
Audience Needs and Wants … Engaging Your Audience … Hecklers,
Smartphones, and Other Annoyances
TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT
Amplifiers … Recording Devices … Internet Applications … Memory Aids
… Slideshows and Visual Presentations
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Interpersonal Relationships and Etiquette … Workplace Conflict
Management … Persuasive Communication … Negotiation … Business
Writing … Networking … Pitching … Websites and Social Media … In-
Person Presentations … Phone and Voice-Only Presentations … Acceptance
Speeches and Addresses
SOCIAL COMMUNICATION
Wedding Toasts and Other Common Scenarios … Communicating across
Cultures … Communicating across Generations … Negotiating with and
Persuading Family and Friends
ACADEMIC COMMUNICATION
Style and Conventions … Instructional Presentation Skills … Conferences,
Journals, Blots, Etc.
APPENDIX 1: RHETORIC IN POLITICAL SPEECHES
APPENDIX 2: SAMPLE SPEECHES FOR REAL LIFE
FURTHER READING
INDEX
Photo Sources
ABC Photo: p. 94.
Acme News Photos: p. 45.
Chris Charabaruk: p. 174.
Glauco92 (Wikicommons): p. 67.
Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress: p. 27.
Ladies’ Home Journal: p. 264.
Library and Archives Canada: p. 51.
Library of Congress: p. 42.
NASA: p. 147.
National Archives and Records Administration: p. 25.
National Museum of Rome: p. 65.
Lauren Sergy: pp. 3, 137, 190.
Shutterstock: pp. 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 21, 23, 29, 32, 33, 35, 38, 56, 58, 59,
61, 72, 74, 78, 88, 98 (top and bottom), 100, 101, 103, 104, 108, 112, 114,
117, 123, 125, 128, 129, 130, 133, 135, 139, 149, 151, 153, 155, 158, 160,
163, 167, 169, 171, 179, 181, 186, 193, 198, 200, 202, 204, 208, 212, 213,
215, 221, 223, 225, 228, 232, 235, 236, 238, 243, 245, 247, 249, 252, 257,
259, 262, 267, 269, 271, 274, 277, 280, 282, 286, 288, 294, 296, 299, 300,
307, 308, 311, 313, 318, 325, 327, 331.
Public domain: pp. 41, 46, 49, 53, 70, 76, 172.
Dedication
For dad, who told me years ago that he wanted me to write books. And for
mom, who is a big enough geek to understand why I started by writing a
book like this.
Acknowledgments
No one writes a book in a vacuum, and I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks
to those who helped me out. In particular, I would like to thank Zubia
Mumtaz and Karen Van Der Meer for helping with their expertise and
setting me straight on some important facts. Thanks to Shannon de Bruin
for being an additional set of eyeballs and a great source of feedback in this
book’s formative stages. To Etta Verma at Library Journal, thank you so
much for recommending me as a prospective author for Visible Ink Press—
this book was a direct result of that connection. My very deep gratitude
goes to publisher Roger Jänecke and editor Kevin Hile at Visible Ink Press;
your direction, feedback, and patience were a critical part in the creation of
this book.
To my parents, Rudy and Jackie de Bruin, and my mother-in-law,
Dianne Sergy, thanks for putting up with my whining and insecurities
throughout the writing process. And above all, thank you to my husband,
Glen, who not only ensured our children remained fed, watered, and played
with while I was in the thick of writing, but who also provided me with
encouragement, commiseration, and bags of chocolate chips—all with
impeccable timing. As cliché as this expression may be, I truly could not
have done this without you.
Introduction
Communication is a subject that fascinates and frustrates people. It is a skill
that is absolutely fundamental to our ability to survive and thrive. One
would think, therefore, that it’s also a skill we would develop intuitively.
Alas (or happily for people in my line of work), this is not the case.
“Communication” can be difficult to define. It encompasses a huge
number of activities, which all generate meaning in different ways.
Communication is messy and complicated. It’s buffeted by every kind of
culture imaginable—social, ethnic, generational, professional—and is
subject to the whims of fashion. It is highly individual, affected by personal
tastes and contexts. Words and expressions change on a regular basis, often
with more speed than we realize. Communication rarely sticks to any hard-
and-fast rules. What works in one form, medium, or context might not work
in another. Becoming a skillful communicator takes patience, attention, and
a willingness to experiment and take risks.
My goal in writing this book was to make it easier for people to hone
their skills and to provide a guide to the kinds of communication questions
people deal with on a regular basis. At the same time, I wanted to give a
behind-the-scenes glimpse into the incredible world of human
communication. Learning the rich history of how we exchange information
and ideas is not only entertaining, it enables us to become better
communicators. Still, it’s important to keep a focus on applied
communication—on helping people better navigate our increasingly
complex communication landscape. In order to accomplish all this, this
book is a hybrid of practical, peculiar, historic, contemporary, beginner, and
expert issues and applications of communication.
In this book, I sought to address the practical questions that people
actually ask about communication. To accomplish this, I called in the
proverbial troops, both offline and online. I went directly to my clients,
audiences, colleagues, and online communities to solicit their questions.
Many of the questions have come from my own work and experience, and
others draw on the experience of experts who kindly allowed me to grill
them on their area of knowledge. The audience for which this book is
intended is the same as those who submitted questions: business people,
professionals, academics, postsecondary students, and anyone who wants to
develop a quicker tongue, more graceful expression, and more persuasive
communication in everyday life.
The questions I received and developed fell into several distinct
categories, and I’ve organized the contents accordingly:
• The Big Picture—these “big picture” questions look at
communication from a broad topic—what it is, how it developed,
communication history, and important communication strategies.
• Practical Writing—this section encompasses not only questions about
how to write well, but also communication environments in which
writing is strongly emphasized, such as email communication and
social media. While this section doesn’t dive deeply into grammatical
issues, some common grammar and style traps are addressed.
• Public Speaking—the questions I received most frequently (and that
were usually the most anxious in tone) were related to public
speaking. This isn’t surprising, as many people are terrified of public
speaking. This section deals with all angles of public speaking, from
the psychology behind it to vocal techniques to body language to
presentation technology.
• Communicating in Specific Environments—even though most
communication skills cross from one environment to the next, certain
questions were clearly in the domain of business, social, or academic
communication. The business section is the heftiest, and contains lots
of information that is of use outside the business world. Don’t be
afraid to wade in!
Communication is a massive topic, one far too vast to completely
address in a single book. Because so many issues in communication appear
in multiple contexts, I have cross-referenced questions within the book
itself. This book focuses on communication within a Western context, and
on the United States in particular.
I hope this book ignites a new curiosity and appreciation for
communication in your own life. This book won’t have all the answers, but
it has a lot of them! And it might help you come up with answers of your
own. Dig in, have fun, and keep your eye open for opportunities to practice
your newfound knowledge and skills. When it comes to communication, the
results are always worth the effort.
—Lauren Sergy
