<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</b> This research explores how controversial engineering decisions become the subject of widespread social media debates, using the prominent case of activism opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL). The #NoDAPL Twitter hashtag became the primary vehicle for activism, with Twitter users shaping the debate through how they framed the controversy. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Literature review:</b> Framing refers to how information is packaged and presented. Because framing shapes the interpretation of information, it plays a crucial role in scientific controversies. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research questions:</b> 1. Which framing strategies are present in the most influential (determined by the number of retweets and “likes”) posts using #NoDAPL on Twitter? 2. How do the framing strategies used in the most influential #NoDAPL tweets change in relation to major political events? 3. Do the framing strategies used in the most influential #NoDAPL tweets amplify the echo-chamber effect and polarization on Twitter? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</b> The team collected daily data on the #NoDAPL hashtag and selected tweets with #NoDAPL that had more than 1500 likes or retweets, and categorized them by the frames that they exhibited. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results and discussion:</b> The most-used frames were conflict/strategy and morality/ethics, with no noticeable middle path frame, leading to the echo-chamber effect and online polarization. The scientific/technical uncertainty frame was used only sporadically, in contrast with project proponents who tried to emphasize the pipeline's safety. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Implications:</b> Engineers seeking to understand and participate in public debates about issues central to their profession should recognize and engage the frames being used by the public to understand information. The project proponents’ defense of the pipeline fell on deaf ears, likely because they focused on safety rather than broader questions of morality. While engineers should share technical information related to a project under fire, they cannot ignore the concerns expressed by their critics.

Research problem: This study provides insight into practitioners' reasons for choosing a particular language (English versus the local language) in the genre of job ads in countries where English is a foreign language (EFL countries). Scholarly publications and public discourse have suggested reasons for language choice, but these were not based on the perspectives of practitioners. Research questions: (1) What reasons do Dutch job ad writers give for using all-English, all-Dutch, or partly English ads and what genre factors inform these reasons? (2) To what extent do the reasons given by Dutch job ad makers for using all-English,P all-Dutch, or partly English ads complement reasons mentioned in publications on job ads? Literature review: Genre theory identifies three factors as important determinants of genre: contextual factors (such as characteristics of the organization and the sector in which the genre is produced), reader-writer factors (characteristics of the genre's target audience and author), and textual factors (the genre's content, structure, and wording). The reasons mentioned for the use of all-English job ads are that English is the organization's corporate language and that the organization is looking for English-speaking candidates. The reasons given for the use of job ads in the local language are that English is less clear than the local language and that English words are strange and exaggerated compared to equivalents in the local language. Among the reasons mentioned for the use of partly English job ads are that English words attract more attention than equivalents in the local language and that English job titles sound more modern and have more status than equivalent job titles in the local language. Methodology: In this qualitative study, we conducted 25 interviews with practitioners who designed job ads in the Netherlands, selected because they had recently placed an all-English, an all-Dutch, or a partly English job ad in a Dutch newspaper. They were asked an open-ended question about their reasons behind the language used in the job ad they placed. Interview data were labelled and categorized; subsequently, patterns were identified across categories. Results and conclusions: The interviews showed that all three types of genre factors-contextual, reader-writer, and textual-underlie practitioners' language choices. Practitioners mentioned the same types of factors that were mentioned in publications on job ads, but gave a greater variety of reasons for language choice. Of the reasons mentioned by the practitioners, the large majority were not given in publications. These findings underline the importance of obtaining text producers' perspectives and can be used to sensitize both novice and experienced professional Human Resources writers to the relevance of genre factors in language choice. A limitation of the present study is that the desired effects of language choice mentioned by the respondents were not verified with the target group of the job ads. Therefore, future research on language choice in workplace writing should test whether particular language choices in job ads actually achieve the recruitment effects Human Resource Manager professionals expect.

The author of this book provides a successful rhetorical analysis of Lysenkoist discourse by examining two speeches given by T.D. Lysenko in 1936 and 1948. Stanchevici (who is from Moldova, which was once a part of the Soviet Union) uses his background and education in professional writing and rhetoric to add unique insights to this analysis. The book begins with an introduction to Lysenkoist science, categorizing its rhetoric as political propaganda that sustained itself by its opposition to Mendelian genetics. The author provides a thorough background on Lysenkoist themes. These themes include: the orrespondence of Lysenkoism and classical genetics to Marxist-Leninist dialectical materialism, the fitting of Lysenkoism and genetics into the dominant ideology of Stalinist Russia. The author achieves his overall purpose in showing how Lysenko's manipulative rhetoric was able to prevail over Mendelian genetics for a time. Stalinist Genetics provides readers with a thorough analysis and background in order to understand the controversy surrounding Lysenkoism. In a time where politics are intertwined with many aspects of our lives, this book reminds scientists and rhetoricians of the danger of manipulative rhetoric and the negative influences that can result when combining politics and science. REFERENCES [1] Z. Medvedev, The Rise and Fall of T. D. Lysenko. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1969, Trans. by I.M. Werner

Although the title alludes to communications in general, the emphasis within this book is on speaking, not writing. Eight of the chapters deal specifically with public speaking, one addresses email and memos, and the last two deal with presentation elements, graphs, and PowerPoint. With two chapters emphasizing anxiety, the reader may experience anxiety overload. Control remedies listed include drugs to relieve anxiety. If your profession is highly dependent on oral communication, then this book may offer a number of items to help you become a better than average speaker. If, on the other hand, your profession is more aligned with technical writing, or editing communications, then this text offers very little.

We report on an exploratory experimental comparison of two different thinking aloud approaches in a usability test that focused on navigation problems in a highly nonstandard Web site. One approach is a rigid application of Ericsson and Simon's (for original paper see Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data, MIT Press (1993)) procedure. The other is derived from Boren and Ramey's (for original paper see ibid., vol. 43, no. 3, p. 261-278 (2000)) proposal based on speech communication. The latter approach differs from the former in that the experimenter has more room for acknowledging (mm-hmm) contributions from subjects and has the possibility of asking for clarifications and offering encouragement. Comparing the verbal reports obtained with these two methods, we find that the process of thinking aloud while carrying out tasks is not affected by the type of approach that was used. The task performance does differ. More tasks were completed in the B and R condition, and subjects were less lost. Nevertheless, subjects' evaluations of the Web site quality did not differ, nor did the number of different navigation problems that were detected.

The author analyzes two reports describing a now abandoned MagLev (magnetic levitation) rail system that would have run from Ontario, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada. Unlike traditional technical reports, the Budd Company Transit Division's MagLev reports appeal to utopian visions of futuristic technologies that would solve America's social and economic problems of the 1980s. The writers of these reports employ economic and political rhetoric such as risk modeling, market projections, appeals to the American dream and new frontier mentality, as well as xenophobic Japan-bashing, and downplay technical constraints on rail corridors. An analysis of these reports reveals the ethical and rhetorical dilemmas that writers face when the companies they work for seek funding for untried and untested visionary designs.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

It is argued that speechmaking is an art, not a science, and requires action and imagination; the successful speaker participates in the speechmaking process as an active, artistic, imaginative agent. The article is intended to help free readers from the restraints of overly practical approaches to public speaking by promoting the involvement of the imagination in the speechmaking process at every point, from invention to delivery.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

The authors offer a few simple and effective suggestions that may help a speaker overcome problems of public speaking. These include rehearsing moderately, storing and retrieving main points and supporting points in the order they are planned, talking to a test audience, speaking clearly, maintaining correct posture, nonequivocation, talking rather than reading verbatim, and retaining control.

Thomas Montalbo, formerly a financial manager for the U.S. Treasury Department, draws from more than 20 years of public speaking and speech writing experience to produce a book with an interesting premise. This is a call to resurrect the eloquence we usually associate with great issues and great men, but Montalbo points out that eloquence is not restricted to great issues and great men. “Why be an average speaker when you can be one of the best?”

After reading in the introduction that “ … this book is about all the anxieties that a speaker faces before he or she faces an audience,” a reader might assume that this is just another book about communication or public speaking. It is not. The author later warns that this is not “a course on public speaking or speechmaking.” Instead, “ … this book is about the art of preparation. It's about the steps you can take to present yourself, your ideas, and your visuals as effectively as possible.”

In making speeches or dealing with news media, engineers will be effective to the extent their language is understandable. Skill in avoiding the use of jargon can be developed with practice. Opportunities to talk to teachers are easily created and are especially valuable because of the teacher-student multiplier effect. A dual goal in public speaking is to tell the audience how you feel on an issue and to find out how the audience feels about it. Advice on dealing with news media is provided.

Successful public speaking depends on careful preparation and proper delivery. The preparation involves understanding your audience (by asking certain questions and jotting down single-sentence answers) and knowing the physical setting for your talk (time, place, mood, and atmosphere). Writing the material calls for putting yourself in the position of the audience and asking, “What would I like to hear?” Other suggestions include (1) writing the conclusion first; (2) being graphic, current, and specific; and (3) using suspense, novelty, and humor.

Ten common errors cause most public speaking failures. A positive approach in three stages can increase your chance for success. Preparation: 1. Plan to have an effect; don't just be speech-giving-oriented. 2. Determine the audience's interests, motives, knowledge, attitudes, and values. 3. Be aware of your credibility with the audience. 4. Capture attention with a confident, motivating introduction. 5. Organize your information for understanding. 6. Plan the conclusion to again place your objective before the audience. Presentation: 7. Control stage fright and channel the energy into dynamic speaking. 8. Be physically active and purposeful with gestures; vary speech characteristics; be natural and direct. 9. Sense audience feedback and adjust to it. Preservation: 10. Prepare for questions from the audience.

This paper illuminates a nonverbal dimension of public speaking: time. In this sense time has four aspects: order, cycle, depth, and rhythm. The specific ways time is thus used in communication are demonstrated. If used properly, these aspects of time blend into an effective communication tool, allowing for more meaningful message sharing between speaker and listener.

THE spectrum of public speaking ranges from dialog to formal, staged presentations. Although we may engage easily in casual conversation, almost any discourse that is scheduled or that involves more than a few people seems to give most of us cause for concern. Why?

One sign of effective public speaking is an alert audience. To gain and sustain that alertness and interest a speaker must he heard, his words must be intelligible, and his delivery should vary in pitch and pace. The message will be received and understood in proportion to the speaker's use of vocal variety and emphasis to simplify and clarify his principal points.

A person can overcome his fear of public speaking by using language with which he is comfortable, so that both he and his audience are relaxed He should not (1) ape pedantic speakers or those who indulge in gobbledygook, (2) be ambiguous, (3) use redundancies, (4) monounce words, (5) confuse word meanings, or (6) ignore changes in the English language. To choose exactly the right words to express his thoughts, a speaker needs a large vocabulary. The only way to acquire such a vocabulary is to read-widely, listen carefully, and practice assiduously each new word one encounters.

Some methods beyond the conventional public speaking art are presented which address the major deficiencies observed in the presentation of technical papers. Problems addressed are lack of excitement, poor control of time, unreadable visuals, bewildering complexity, poor question conduct, and abusing an invitation.

Public speakers whose primary responsibility is the giving of technical or scientific information need to acquaint themselves with an orderly and consistent design for organizing, supporting, and delivering an oral presentation so that they more effectively engage in dynamic communication with an audience. The elements of such a design are an analysis of audience interest in and knowledge of the topic, the role of speech in presenting highly complex technical or scientific language, and the principles of dynamic communication as they relate to audience perception and retention of information. This guide includes a comprehensive survey of the public speaking situation, suggestions for vocal delivery and scripting, and a checklist of common errors made in presenting factual material.

A major motivation is to achieve in man-machine interactions the efficiency of speech communication among humans. Continuous speech is more difficult to understand than are isolated words. Commercially available speech recognition systems of the latter type are highly successful despite their limited capability. To recognize continuous speech, more information is needed than is contained in acoustic waves alone. The linguistic and contextual knowledge that must be supplied or programmed into a computer to accomplish speech interpretation is the subject of several research activities which are described. Speech synthesis systems face similar problems but are further advanced.

In making speeches or dealing with news media, engineers will be effective to the extent their language is understandable. Skill in avoiding the use of jargon can be developed with practice. Opportunities to talk to teachers are easily created and are especially valuable because of the teacher-student multiplier effect. A dual goal in public speaking is to tell the audience how you feel on an issue and to find out how the audience feels about it. Advice on dealing with news media is provided.

Winston Churchill was not a “natural” orator but he overcame his handicaps so well that he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his writings and “brilliant oratory.” Seven lessons in speech making are abstracted from a study of his life and oratory: (1) Know the language; (2) listen to good speakers; (3) endure any handicap; (4) read good books; (5) use rhetorical devices; (6) prepare and practice; and (7) show feelings and personality.