Declarative Statements and Effective Communication

Yesterday I posted an article from Business Week by Carmine Gallo entitled “How to Inspire People Like Obama“. It goes over (super) basic rhetorical and public speaking skills that all radical organizers should know if they want to be able to give effective speeches and presentations. One useful tool, when used appropriately, is declarative statements. Some people in segments of the movement (lots of young white people), have developed an accent in which every sentence they use sounds like a question. My friend John Cronan talks about this in his Revisiting Rhode Island: Reflections on Movement Building blog series on ZNet. We call the accent a “vaguely neutral” one. It spreads like wildfire in some (mostly-white) youth groups. Its really bad for organizational growth as it makes the group look really odd. Here’s a comedian Jonathan McIntosh showed me. He’s talking about the accent (which apparently isn’t just in some social movements circles). Anyone who does this accent should listen to this guy. Using that accent is really ineffective communication!