Hi all! I hope you’re enjoying your break! I’d like to do some work when we get back on modeling great communicators… (We’ve already talked about not great communicators and what they don’t do well) So- Please respond with a comment about who you think is a great communicator (local, national, international, dead, alive, etc.), and more importantly, what they DO that makes them good. Please be thoughtful about your written response and articulate with strong words and without wordiness 
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I believe that Oprah is a great leader on a national and an international level. She is always clear about her mission and works hard to follow through with her goals. She is able to get people enthusiastic and supportive of something that is beneficial to the vast majority. I think part of why she is a successful leader is that she is able to articulate her ideas well and communicate with those she leads. With this ability she allows for an effective response from her followers.
Well first off im gonna have to disagree w/ jill. i don’y know whether that is because everytime i watch that show i feel like throwing a chair at the tv or not but i just can’t stand listening to her. i feel that she talks down to people. I would say that Hillary Clinton is a great communicator. Not only does she stick to her main point but i think that her ideas are astute enough that they catch peoples attention. She speaks at a level in which her audience feels as if they are equals to her (unlike oprah :-p)
I definitley agree with Jill, Oprah is a great leader and what makes her such a great leader is how she can communicate with other people. I also think that Barack Obama is a great leader as well. He is very articulate and is able to communicate with people of all backgrounds and classes. He is different from other politicians in the way that he is able to relate and communicate with everybody not just those of his socioeconomic class. I am in the process of reading his book, “The Audacity of Hope” in which he communicates his ideas and beliefs so well that you cant help but want to support him in his political endeavours. He is a great leader who I hope runs for the presidency in 2008…BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT:2008!
Well, I don’t really know who I would think is the greatest leader (though I completely agree with Obama for president and definitely agree he is one of many great leaders). All sucessfull leaders can connect with the populations they lead. I guess that sounds obvious, but what I mean is they make it seem like they are identify with each persons wants and needs personally (even if they don’t really). All great leaders also have charisma.
I agree with Juliet and Rebecca about Obama, he can communicate easily with a wide audience wihtout giving up his convictions, which is how politicians often reach a wider audience (they also tend to lie). I think that Gore is a great communicator even though he isn’t a very good speaker/orator. He tells you how he sees things, what has to be done, and why. No one can lead without giving agood reason to do what they wnat people to do.
I think a good communicator needs to know how to speak to everyone, not just one group and they need to know how to get their point across while being intressting and not going on and on
Hmmm. This is a hard question! I guess I will go with the obvious – Gandhi! He was a genius in the way he could get people to follow him.He had almost a magnetic appeal – people flocked to him and were willing to forgo violence, comfort and personal safety to uphold his vision.
Hi Guys- Love your examples, but don’t forget to write about how they communicate and what they do that makes them good. As great a class as it is, teaching and learning “magnatism” or “charisma” is HARD. There are other things, though, that we can learn. Try to think hard about what makes someone a good communicator.
Although it may sound redundant i’m going with the big MLK on this one. He is so fresh in my mind from the tape we listened to, and while recapping it, he blew me away. Not because his ideas were for the vast majority or even supported by other leaders, but because his communication skills are extraordinary. He uses his persuasive speaking and passion to enhance and convey his ideas so well that it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t see him or the crowds in front of him or had learned about him every year in history class, he would make an impact. He was direct and connected personally to every listener, and that is why his wrods are timeless and so memorable. Amen to Mr. king
I agree with most of what has been said, mostly what has been said about Oprah. A great communicator I believe is someone who is able to reach out and express how they feel. I also think a good communicator needs to have good listening skills. Oprah is able to listen to others, fully understanding the situation and helping in any way she can. What makes Oprah such a great communicator is that she is passionate about what she speaks about, but also because she reaches out to so many different people through her way of communication.
Okay I am going to take this in a totally opposite direction….I think many musicians can be good communicators. No, they’re not leaders like MLK or Clinton or whoever, but think about how you can listen to some musicians and you feel what they are feeling. I’m guessing the people change from person to person, but one for me would be Etta James. She doesn’t make it as much about the words she says but about the music, and it’s just so powerful it’s one of those musicians who make you want to cry even if you haven’t actually experienced what she’s talking about… In her way, she can communicate emotions very well. Then compare that to a musician like, I don’t know, Eminem (sorry eminem fans). His music may be fun to listen to but him talking about killing his wife doesn’t make you want to too, it just kinda makes you want to turn it off. That would be a not-so-good musical communicator. Okay I have no idea how that can be applied to our class, but it’s the first thing I thought of. Sorrry.
I agree with Molly G. Martin Luther King was a good communicator. I think he was able to communicate well because he moved people – get people emotional they will listen to you, and you can motivate them to create change.
I must say that some great examples have been given thus far class! It took me sometime to think about who represents a great communicator to me but after much deliberation I have an answer. Originally I wanted to say any modern president but the one that I really look up to is Franklin D. Roosevelt. His fireside chats during the Great Depression showed the country that he was on their side and he was not the hot shot executive image that is sometimes displayed by the modern presidents through use of television. I think his method is one we can all take a lesson from- talk to people on their level. Back in the 1930s families gathered around the radio much the way they sometimes gather around the tele today. FDR recognized that and took full advantage of the medium which would be most effective.
on an international level, i see Malcolm X as one of the greatest communicators. sure, he was thrown in jail as the typical criminal in his early ages, but he used the time he spent in prison to repent for his actions from the past and take a second chance at life. after his release, he gave speeches on the streets to convert Muslims. at first, this task proved challenging, but overtime he gained thousands of converts. this was achieved through Malcolm X’s abilities as a great communicator. i also believe that the great communicators of this world are the children who struggle through poverty. one time when i was living in China, i bought a bottle of soda when i encountered a little girl who looked to be about 8 years old. she was barefoot, had her two front teeth missing, and wore only a torn up shirt and shorts. even in her state, she asked politely for my bottle of soda, which i had given her. children like her speak to the world about how they would like it to be: a place where they could be free from such dilemmas. i think what makes a great communicator who they are is that they speak their mind, not merely facts that they comprehend.