Dahle Communication

How Twitter can used for good - Veterans help turns to social networks

At a mental health summit which opens Tuesday in Pierre, the North Dakota American Legion hopes to share its new program, "Courage Carries On," with South Dakota mental health providers and veterans' groups.

via www.argusleader.com

Reading the local Sioux Falls paper this morning (on-line, it's quite rare that I actually read the paper copy) I saw this interesting article and thought it was an important one to talk about. A Veterans group is going to start using Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets to try and reach other Veterans that might be struggling with mental health issues.

One of the saddest realities of war is that it does a lot of emotional and psychological damage to the brave men and women who are fighting those wars. What I consider to be even worse is that for the most part, we've ignored those soldiers struggles when they get back home. Luckily there are some groups, like the one talked about in the Argus Leader, who are reaching out to help.

This is one of the best parts of Social Media. With sites like Twitter and Facebook, you can reach out to people who you might never have met before and be able to have conversations with them. This is especially important if you live in a remote location where there are not a lot of people. When that happens, you can feel isolated and feel that no one else can relate to you. But with the power of the internet and the proper use of social media, you can connect with people.

That really is what communication is all about - connecting with people. Whether you are speaking in front of a group, talking one-on-one with someone or using social media like Twitter and Facebook - all of it is about connecting with one another.

I'm glad to see this Veterans group using social media. I hope they are successful. While some people use Twitter and Facebook as a means to expand their business or to show how many "friends" they have - it is a group like this that can show us what social media can truly accomplish.

Why are teachers the worst listeners?

Being in the education world for a long time I have come to realize a few things. One of those is the simple fact that teachers are the absolute worst audience you will ever have. Its something I never thought would be possible. Teachers demand respect from their students and want them to make sure they are listening so they can learn something. In my aspects as a speech teacher, I always stress the importance of listening as a sign of respect to the person speaking. Unfortunately as teachers, we must have missed that lesson.

Let me give you an example. During staff meetings the principal is talking to the teachers. While I am sitting there quietly listening, there are many staff members talking away discussing something that happened that day or something they are planning on doing later that week. Part of this is understandable since teachers don't get a lot of opportunity to work with each other and this is one of the few times during the month that they might see other teachers (its a fairly big school).

However, I get so frustrated with it and I'm not even the one doing the talking. We get frustrated when our own students won't listen, yet here we are ignorning our own principal.

What I want you to learn from this is something that all of you should know - treat others how you want to be treated. All of us know this phrase - it is something that we have heard for a long time. However, the situation I talked about with teachers is not uncommon to all businesses. Most people like to talk and they have a hard time NOT talking when others are speaking.

Keep this in mind when you are listening to a speaker - and hopefully others keep this in mind when you are speaking.