Leaving notes and texting instead of speaking

Notes on doors, texts to the next room…

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Adella: The neighbor often wants to use the driveway for her visitors’ cars and repairman trucks. She used to knock on the door and politely ask permission. Now she just leaves a note taped to the front door. ‘Apologies for the inconvenience. Call me if you need the vehicle moved.’ Even when she knows I’m at home. Doesn’t even ring the doorbell.

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Janet: Presumptuous.

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Adella: Or maybe she doesn’t like to speak. Or be seen. She’s elderly and doesn’t look too good. Covers her face when she speaks.

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Janet: Maybe communication style? My daughter texts me even when she’s sitting in the next room.

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Adella: No.

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Janet: True.

_________

Voice-over

Maybe some prefer remote communication. Young people texting each other, old people leaving notes on doors.

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Early morning emails

Incoming Skype call at 7 am…

Linear communication model

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Art: Are you up?

Mark: You sound like you’re still in bed.

Art: Of course. I do all my telephoning before I get up.

Mark: Ha! And I do all my daily emails before I get up.

Art: You see. It’s a new linear model of communication.

Mark: Cricks the neck though.

____________

Voice-over

New media makes supine early morning emailers of us all.

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Investment model

Emergency meeting in an investment brokerage. Chief of trading, Altman, requests help from chief of research, Zbigniew, but differences in communication are revealed between them.

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Altman: These are weird times. There are so many sell orders some traders are saying go short on futures. Yet prices are so cheap, others are taking long positions. We lack guidance.

Zbigniew: You need a new model.

Altman: We do. What factors were you thinking of including?

Zbigniew: Investors sell their shares, they buy gold, they sell their houses and rent a place to live.

Altman: OK. Model needs all those things. The traders want an interface, too.

Zbigniew: So you need a new program. Coding takes time and testing.

Altman: Can I suggest these steps. First, a new model taking account of the changed economic climate. Second, a new instrument for traders to interface with. Snazzy graphics to impress their cutomers. And third, a testing period to see if the thing works and we can tell the future and make some money.

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Voiceover

There are several ways to express ideas clearly. Zbigniew, the researcher, is a clear thinker, offers his bulleted suggestions in a list. He gleans ideas from data and is used to writing pithy reports. His talk is like a visual display.

Altman’s job is managing traders. He has to talk clearly. In an oral context, linkage (transition devices like first, second, third) map the road the ideas stand on. And causation expressions (to interface, to impress, to test) answer the whys.

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