PROFESSIONAL SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, AND CLASSES DEVELOPED AND PRESENTED BY ALAN PERLMAN
Alan is quoted in the Chicago Tribune.
Business Communications: Theory and Practice (Wayne State University, Detroit MI; Oakland University, Rochester MI); 1979-80.
“Speechwriting in the Corporate Context,” Public Relations Update, Detroit MI, 1982.
Fundamentals of Public Speaking; Executive Communications: Speech and Writing (D’Etre University, Grosse Pointe MI); 1982-83.
Business Writing (Burroughs Corp. After-Hours Education Program); 1981-83.
“Jobs Without Experience, Experience Without Jobs: Breaking the Vicious Cycle,” Communications ’83 (careers conference).
“Sounds in Space — A Seminar in Effective Oral Presentation,” Detroit Chapter, International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), November, 1983.
“Preparing Humanities Students for Business Careers: What Liberal-Arts Faculty Can Do” (Keynote Address, to faculty); “Business Careers for Liberal-Arts Graduates: Improving Your Chances (speech to students), Liberal Arts Careers Seminar, Bowling Green State University, April, 1985.
“Writing for the Tongue,” IABC District 7 Conference, November, 1985.
“Employment Opportunities Outside the Classroom,” Michigan College English Association, Annual Meeting, October, 1985.
“Speeches That Sing, Speeches That Sell: Insights into the Craft,” National Association for Corporate Speaker Activities (NACSA), April, 1987.
“Tips on Effective Speechwriting,” IABC/Detroit, March, 1989.
“The Instant Expert: Mastering the Technical Speech,” NACSA, September, 1989.“Words, Words, Words: Some Basic Truths About Symbols and Things,” Keynote Address, Toastmasters International, November, 1989.
“Writing for the Big Guns,” Detroit Producers Association, May, 1990.
“Power on the Podium: Coaching the Executive Speaker,” Metro Detroit Speechwriters’ Forum, June, 1990.
“Those Troublesome Ceremonial Speeches: the Toast, the Dedication, the Introduction, and the Acceptance,” Third, Fourth, Fifth Annual Speechwriters Conferences, November, 1990, 1991, 1992.
“How to Write a Speech,” Ragan Communication Seminars (various cities), April-June, 1991.
“The Speech as an Instrument of Policy,” Keynote Panel, Fourth Annual Speechwriters Conference, November, 1991.
“Soft Words for Hard Times: The Function of Euphemism in Corporate Communication,” Panel Remarks, Corporate Communicators’ Conference, May, 1992.
“The Year’s Ten Worst Speeches — And What We Can Learn from Them,” Fifth Annual Speechwriters Conference, November, 1992.
“Style: You’ve Either Got It or You Don’t — and How to Get It,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, October, 1993.
“Speechwriters of the World, You’re Needed!”, Sixth Annual Speechwriters Conference, November, 1993.
(with Jerry Tarver) “How to Write Speeches that Motivate,” Sixth Annual Speechwriters Conference, November, 1993.“To P.C. or Not P.C.,” Public Relations Society of America, Greater O’Hare Chapter, February, 1994.
“In Pursuit of the Optimal Interview,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, Nov. 1, 1994.
“The Power and the Gory: Words Do Mean Something — Don’t They?”, Chicago Speechwriters Forum, June, 1995.
“Some Components of ‘Cogent’ and ‘Memorable,'” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, January, 1996.
“On Libertarian Rhetoric,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, October, 1996.
“Creativity on Cue,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, July 7, 1998.
“Acquiring Quick Credibility,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, October 6, 1998.
“Language Variation and Change: A Speechwriter’s Primer,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, March 3, 1999.
“And Bingo Was Its Name-Oh: Buzzword Bingo and its Implications for Speechwriters,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, August 3, 1999.
“Writing Great Speeches,” Toastmasters International Conference, Chicago, IL, August 19, 1999.
“The Visible Ghost: Speechwriting in the Corporate Context,” Department of Communication Studies, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, October, 25, 1999.
“Reflect Your Speaker’s Personality in Your Speeches,” Ragan Communications Speechwriting Conference, Washington, DC, Feb. 9, 2000.
“Writing Great Speeches,” Diplomatic Toastmasters #4378, District 30, 10th Anniversary Celebration, Evanston, IL, March 19, 2001.
“World English: How to Communicate with an International Audience,” International Association of Business Communicators, International Conference, Chicago, IL, June 11, 2002.
“The Language of Music and the Music of Language,” Chicago Speechwriters Forum, September 9, 2003.
“When a Lawyer Needs a Linguist,” Association of Forensic Document Examiners, Milwaukee, WI, Nov. 8, 2009.
Recent Posts
- “Dog whistle”: what does it mean and why do they use it? - In politics, a dog whistle is the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition. The concept is named for ultrasonic dog whistles, which are audible to dogs but not humans. -Wikipedia The dictionary site www.ludwig.guru defines by example: When political parties have... Read more »
- Racism is where you seek it - se•mi•ot•ics, noun, the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Ordinarily I would not be much interested in the race for San Jose (CA) City Council. But Chris Escher of OpportunityNow, a San Jose-based website for entrepreneurs, sent me some campaign flyers and public reactions to them and asked for my... Read more »
- What is forensic linguistics? - …linguistics is virtually invisible to most people…Just as physicians are trained to see things in an X-ray that the average person with excellent vision cannot see, so linguists are trained to see and hear structures that are invisible to the lay person. Roger Shuy, xvii, Language Crimes A forensic linguist is sometimes a general practitioner... Read more »
- On “systemic racism” - The truth is what most people believe. And they believe that which is repeated most often Josef Goebbels Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. George Orwell Linguists have long been fascinated with the question of how language originated. Our... Read more »
- “You have the right to remain silent”: Obstacles to understanding the Miranda warning, Part II — Workaround - In an earlier post, I offered some reasons why the Miranda warning, an 89-word text recited in less than a minute, is so often misunderstood, with the result that defendants give up rights they didn’t know they had. A summary of the obstacles (many of which occur simultaneously): Contains several complexities in vocabulary, grammatical... Read more »
- Musk affirms painful truth about President Puppet - What orators lack in depth, they make up to you in length Montesquieu, 1767 Here comes the orator, with his flood of words and his drop of reason. Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1735 Now that Elon Musk has dared to say what everyone, including Dr. Jill (who really wanted to be First Lady and... Read more »
- The (barely-) hidden agenda of racial equity glossaries - “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.” From Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass, and... Read more »
- Language control through perceived offense: how far can p.c. go? - But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. — George Orwell In these times of language abuse and language control – when a Supreme Court nominee cannot define “woman” (because she is so politically compromised) – I must once again note that manufactured offense knows no limits. There is no end to it,... Read more »
- What’s a “woman”? Supreme Court nominee creates watershed moment in left language lunacy - Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. George Orwell It was one of those moments when history, perhaps time itself, stopped for... Read more »
- How the virus of political correctness spreads: none dare call it “looting” - When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ ’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master —... Read more »