Tag Archives: public speaking

Revising History

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Lincoln CroppedThe president’s long lanky body swayed back and forth as the coach hit every pebble, stick and gopher hole on the road to Gettysburg. His massive hands held the quill and envelope tightly as he anxiously worked on the opening of the speech he was expected to give at the memorial ceremony in just over an hour.

“80 or so years ago…”

Nope.

“About 90 years ago, give or take…”

Uh uh.

The coach lurched and the presidential head slammed into the roof. After recovering his senses, Lincoln put quill to paper with an inspiration, words that would echo through generations and outlast empires.

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

OK.  It probably did not happen quite that way. In fact, it was nothing like that. At the summer public speaking workshop, we will study some great American speeches, including the Gettysburg Address.

Spoiler Alert! Lincoln did not write the speech hastily on the road to the memorial. That’s a legend that somehow fits our historical impressions of Lincoln as a folksy, wise, and humbly brilliant person. No doubt he was all of those things, but he also left few things to chance.

Lincoln apparently told a reporter several days before the speech that he had completed a draft but was still working on it (according to the late William Safire’s excellent doorstop of a tome, “Lend Me Your Ears”). Historians have documented revisions made between drafts.

The truth should not diminish Lincoln’s greatness. He knew he needed a plan. He knew the first draft needed revision. He knew that every word carried the burden of history.

It’s the same process of thoughtful discernment, planning and revising that we teach in our public speaking and essay workshops. Each student is a potential Lincoln.

“It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”
-Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

Summertime News

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P1010829Summer is approaching and Cicero’s Academy™ is heating up.

You asked for it and now we are announcing our summer schedule of workshops. Check here to find overviews and timing for a series of workshops: Developing the Intermediate Writer, Introduction to Public Speaking, Essay Writing/Introduction to Persuasion, Essay Writing for the College-Bound Student, and a set of one-day workshops on specific aspects of writing. We’re excited about the schedule and hope to see you. If the timing of the workshops does not quite fit, we can refashion them as a tutoring schedule to fit your life.

Cicero’s Academy™ helps students develop rhetorical skills—writing an essay, persuading an audience, developing an idea—once they have mastered the mechanics of writing such as punctuation, grammar, subject-verb-object construction and other core skills. As students develop, their need to communicate ideas requires more than just understanding certain rules. They need to understand how to use information and stimulate an audience. They learn that through experience, feedback and the fun of working with ideas.

Building on Success

This is the second summer we have offered the Essay Writing for the College Bound workshop. We appreciate the students that kept us informed of their achievements in the SAT, ACT and AP exams as well as the college application essay. Lots of hard work paid off for several students.

Yet, it starts younger than that.

We think of communication as a life skill. Students spend a lot of time responding to assignments when they write or speak. We encourage them to go beyond just regurgitating information. When the boss asks for an opinion about something, the boss wants more than just a list of facts. Students are encouraged to do something with the information they have, craft a view of the world that is their own.

The Developing the Intermediate Writer workshop takes students from roughly 5th grade through middle school and introduces them to the 5-paragraph essay format. Our Essay Writing and Introduction to Persuasion workshop teaches the high school student how to use information, perform a literary analysis and persuade an audience their view of the world is valid. The Introduction to Public Speaking workshop applies the same skills to making speeches.

We will focus on the building blocks of a great essay in the 1-day workshops. Students might be a little bleary-eyed after a few hours of writing just introductions to essays, but they will understand what makes a great essay at the end of the day.

See you this summer.

Summer Sequels and Cicero

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Movie PopcornSummer blockbusters are upon us. “Iron Man 3” boasts more suits than a Nordstrom’s Rack sale. “Star Trek Into Darkness” finds Capt. Kirk wondering why Sherlock Holmes is attacking the Enterprise. The “Man of Steel” seeks acceptance in a complex world where both his fathers played Robin Hood.

And Cicero’s Academy™ is back with a series of workshops and a new ongoing service.

We truly appreciate your patience and continuing engagement. Long story short, Cicero’s Academy™ kept a low profile in recent months while John finished a draft of his dissertation. The draft is done, edits are underway and summer is approaching.

Thank you for your patience. We will now continue with our regular programming.

We’re excited about the summer workshops and look forward to seeing you and your students there. June’s public speaking workshop was designed on the heels of the professional speaking class John led at St. Edwards University this spring. The intermediate workshop in July reprises a workshop from last summer. The August workshop is geared toward preparing high school students for the time-constrained writing efforts required in advanced placement and SAT testing, as well as the art and science of the college application’s personal essay.

We are also experimenting with new ways to stay connected beyond hands-on workshops and tutoring as well as support you in your everyday schooling efforts. This summer we are launching the Essay Doctor service. This is how it works:

You, or your child’s teacher, assign your student an essay project in the normal course of schooling. The subject might be history, science, literature or whatever. If you want an outside perspective on the writing quality of the essay, send it to us and we will evaluate it with specific comments, similar to the portfolio evaluation we do at the end of our Introduction to Persuasion workshop. You might just want a second opinion or to augment another curriculum.  The teacher remains in control of the assignment. We simply provide an extra set of eyes on the quality of the writing and help identify areas of improvement for follow-up assignments.

Responding to your suggestions, we’re also trying to streamline the pesky administrative part of Cicero’s Academy™ by adding payment by PayPal for your convenience. We’ll be upgrading the site further, adding sections with content of interest from around the web.

It’s summer in Austin and things are heating up.