Our guest speaker at Oxford Rotary Club recently was one of the best I’ve ever heard.
Dinah Brinson’s message was primarily about listening: ‘We have been given two ears and but a single mouth in order that we may hear more and talk less.?
However, she had her speech down so perfectly, and so interestingly that I had no time to make notes for my Jottings column.
Thankfully, she gave us all a handout to read later — a little of that will appear below. What she said first was, ‘half of what is heard in a speech is forgotten IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the speech.?
Within 48 hours your comprehension level is 25% or less. (Lesson for students?)
She said, ‘You would think we would have training throughout our lives on the art of listening well.?
I believe President Obama uses so many hesitations in his speeches, believing that gives his listeners extra time to absorb whatever message he’s delivering.
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Sometimes I think my friends know what I like, or should like, better than I do. Such a person is long-time friend Helen Smith.
Nobody else has sent me an easy and fast reading of Thomas Jefferson’s life. This is not a long story of our third president of the United States.
At 5, he began studying under his cousin’s tutor. At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French. At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
At 16, at William and Mary College, he could write Greek with one hand while writing the same in Latin with the other. At 19, he started studying law. At 23, he started his own practice.
At 25, he was elected to a state office; at 31 he wrote a book and retired from his law practice. At 32, he was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
At 33, he wrote the Declaration of Independence. At 36, he was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
Then he served in Congress for 2 years; at 46, he served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
At 55, he drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of the Republican Party. At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the nation’s size.
He died at age 83.
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Headlines gleaned by Mrs. CGS
? Bridges helps people cross bridges.
? City unsure why the sewer smells.
? Hospitals resort to hiring doctors.
? Republicans turned off by size of Obama package.