Bøker av Rodney G. Miller

Need to tell fact from opinion?And the proven from the plausible?For anyone who cares to crush the manufactured outrage in recent public discourse, Bestest Words pushes back on screams for the camera and other propaganda.These 70 commentaries were written as blog posts from 2020 to 2022, amid worldwide threats to health, safety, and freedoms previously taken for granted. While most of us dealt with lockdowns, social distancing, work and study from home, contact tracing, hospitalization rates, and an unfathomable loss of loved ones, the author points out that pseudo-populists amplified threats to democracy.This collection shares ways to counter the nonsense talk and ruthless disregard of pseudo-populists for human life, truth, and freedom. The author explores the media, language, books, politics, sport, and daily occurrences to offer a variety of approaches for keeping the perspective needed to see through and dismantle disinformation, misinformation, and manipulation.Amid ongoing challenges, he supports the insight of Albert Camus who recognized a substantial value of democracy to be what it prevents. These commentaries suggest when and how toHold public figures and the media accountable.Stand up to the verbal abuse that Orwell predicted.Reassert truth and other core values in daily life.Thoughts for choosing the very best words to help democracy thrive.Table of ContentsBestest Words?; Hope; Humor; Leadership; Speaking & Writing; Democracy; Truth, Law, & Justice; Media; Propaganda; Thinking for a Future; Blogpost Titles, First Lines, & Dates of Publication; Bibliography; IndexA Spotlight on using words wisely

Putting Communication into PracticeDuring the 1970s, new communication courses Australia-wide equipped graduates with understandings and skills to pursue careers consequential to human affairs and the nation's advancement - in advertising, broadcasting, business, film, government, journalism, nonprofits, public relations, teaching, writing, emerging technologies, and many other areas."Communication & Beyond is like a time capsule offering invaluable glimpses into... the formation of the vibrant academic mosaic that is the field of communication and media studies in Australia." - Steven Maras PhD, Associate Professor, Media and Communication, The University of Western Australia"...deserves inclusion in any collection strong in higher education, educator biographies, or Australian social innovative education processes ...fosters bigger-picture thinking about the interactions between institutions of learning and the community ...accessible and thought-provoking examination of human communication studies." - Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book ReviewDescribes key pioneering developments in communication study and teaching driving a new dawning of communication education. Touching on social currents, explores changing government mandates, faculty personalities, research, and courses enabling new approaches to communication.Evolution of communication courses nationally and at QUT.National professional developments in study and teaching.Experiences putting communication understandings into practice.

Communicate Personally...a powerful survey that displays how systematic personal communication can foster growth, change, and dialogues that promote organizational and community trust..."- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review Connecting these seven thought-provoking essays, written over three decades, is a common aim for communication to optimize results - whether to teach oral communication, strengthen democracy, grow organizational trust, build community relations, or sustain fundraising.These concerns endure among the more substantial communication challenges. Each requires mutual understanding and cooperative action. The book shares how to design and deliver the systematic, personal communication needed.The communication practices described are informed by the academy and shaped from the author's three decades leading start-up or formative external relations and fundraising efforts for educational, political, and community organizations.The author has incorporated lessons from leaders in more than twenty high-performing organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. He also distills understandings from ground-breaking study of some of the most successful universities in the world.The essays outline approaches for individuals and organizations to engage communication strategies, processes, and behaviors that accomplish exceptional results.Systematic personal communication to: 1. Develop effective oral communication. 2. Challenge propaganda, to sustain democracy. 3. Build trust in a corporation, government, or nonprofit. 4. Initiate strategies for effective community service. 5. Establish top-class external relations. 6. Jump-start best practices for world-class fundraising. 7. Sustain funding success in the worst or best of economic times. Collecting papers shared at conferences or seminars of The Royal Society of Queensland, Corporate Communication International, and The Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and in publications of State University of New York Press.A digest of insights and ways to strengthen public communication!

The book assesses rhetorical stylistic choices of public figures in a representative democracy, referencing over 20 notable Australians from the 1890s to modern times. "Although it may seem like Australians Speak Out will be...a country-specific analysis of Australia's linguistic idiosyncrasies, this is a book designed to appeal to a broad audience...Miller's orators resonate with power. Lest Americans think this won't apply to their history and concerns, consider the radio broadcast of John Curtin in his 1942 radio speech to America about the progression of World War II: 'If Australia goes, the Americas are wide open...If you believe anything to the contrary then you delude yourselves.' ...passionate people who wielded their words as firmly and effectively as battlefield swords and guns ...key lessons about using everyday language to reach people ...highly recommended..." (D. Donovan, REVIEWER'S CHOICE, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review).Includes full texts of 15 noteworthy speeches and writing illustrating how ordinary words move hearts and minds - describing metaphor, democratic symbols, humour, polemic, propaganda, and other elements of style. Insights to evaluate or prepare public discourse, including digital media.Identifies 18 ways that speakers and writers choose language to find common ground: "A fascinating, monumental book that should be compulsory for all history and politics students and many others." (Roslyn Petelin PhD, Honorary Associate Professor, School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland and author, How Writing Works). "Miller's... keen eye, quick prose, and strong choice of material keep the reader engaged..." (Harry Hobbs PhD, Associate Professor, University Technology Sydney Faculty of Law in Australian Law Journal).Assesses language of Sir Samuel Griffith (chief justice 1903-19); Louisa Lawson (poet, writer, publisher, activist for women's suffrage, 1848-1920); Alfred Deakin (prime minister, 1903-05, 1905-08, and 1909-10); Sir Robert Menzies (prime minister 1939-41 and 1949-66); John Curtin (wartime prime minister 1941-5); Gough Whitlam (prime minister 1972-5); Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal Tribe [Kath Walker] (poet, artist, author, and activist for First Nations, 1920-93); Bob Hawke (union leader, then prime minister 1983-91); Kevin Gilbert (author, artist, poet, and activist for First Nations, 1933-93); Germaine Greer (author, academic, and activist for women's rights, born 1939-); and Michael Kirby (law reforming jurist and High Court justice 1996-2009).More recent, powerful speeches assessed include prime ministers Paul Keating on reconciliation in 1992, John Howard on arms recall after Port Arthur in 1996, Kevin Rudd on the Apology in 2008, and Julia Gillard on sexism in 2012, a powerful eulogy for prime minister Gough Whitlam by Noel Pearson in 2014, and a broadcast on the coronavirus pandemic by prime minister Scott Morrison in 2020.