Business Memo

I am the CEO of PowerFull Nutrition and we've just landed a contract with Margaret Sloss, the woman in power at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.  She wants to have our supplements re-engineered towards her genetically conceived super-animals and our dietitians to devise a performance-specific diet for them. If everything goes according to plan, the whole world will recognize our product as an influence to the first generation of super-breeds and the business will have a prominent future.
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Fellow Employees,

     As you may have heard through the break-room gossip by now, we've recently landed a contract with the one and only company leading the pioneering industry of the future that deals in genetically engineered animals.  I believe that the future holds huge rewards for our company, but I need your help to make sure we get there.
     Despite the contract, we still have to ensure that nothing will taint the value of our company, resulting in a loss of the contract.  Therefore, I have a few favors to ask of you and that I plead you keep in mind throughout your interactions with the super-breed company.
1.   Margaret Sloss is the head of the company and quite undoubtedly the most powerful woman to go into the history books.  That being said, she has a powerful personality and is to be dealt with the utmost respect and attention to detail.
2.  When she is not speaking directly to you, a glance is ok, but any more than a gaze and you'll receive a glare (I'll know that she glared at you since you will not be able to emotionally recover for a few hours).  The first visual offense will result in a warning, but by the second offense there will be little left of your soul anyway so I will have no choice but to dismiss you from employment as your ability to work will be impaired.
3.  Any order received from Ms. Sloss or any of her speech-enabled chimeras (conglomerate breed of animals, often by crossing of species), is to be carried out immediately.  Their business is depending on our business to keep up with them, so please be prepared to execute instructions from demanding orders and try to catch on to the many accents (ranging between barks, roars, and hisses) of the chimeras.
4.  Keep in mind your profession, you are all very well-educated in food science and nutrition; this is what you know and this is why they're here.  Make sure the data you collect is both accurate and precise, logging everything into the journals as soon as possible so that you can reference them in the future.  Use the ADA (American Dietetics Association) website to publish your articles and share your observations.  Just like before, sharing information with colleagues is the best way to make sure everyone is on the same page and any step forward is a sure step forward, there's no time for stumbling in the dark with this company.
5.   Finally, always carry the pill we banned last year.  Sloss is notorious for having her interns disappear right before she adds another chimera to her pack.  In this case, use the pill to euthanize yourself.

If you heed my advice then I'm sure we'll  have nothing to worry about and we will enjoy the most fiscal, the most prosperous, the most glorious year this company has ever had!

Congratulations to us!

Best Regards,
David Mena

Function of Composition in Dietetics and Kinesiology

How would you find out how writing works in your field?

In the Diet and Exercise field (dietetics and kinesiology), I could figure out the function of writing by simply reading research articles.  That would probably be the easiest way.  In doing so, I would gain new perspectives on certain topics and also see how it is that the experts bounce ideas off each other through their articles.  Another probably function of writing might be found in some thick binder kept in an office that contains the weekly logs of numerous clients.  To be effective communicators, professionals in my field have to keep track of their clients' progress and also be able to provide feedback based on their logged data entries.  To find it all, I just may have to speak to a professional my self and conduct an interview.

Diet and Exercise Article Citations

In American Dietetics Association Citation Style

1.    Swift JA, Choi E,  Puhl RM,  Glazebrook C.  Talking about obesit with clients:  preferred terms and communication styles of U.K. pre-registration dieticians, doctors, and nurses.  Patient Educ Couns. 2013; 91(2): 186-91.
2.    Spencer-Jones R.  What makes a good educational supervisor?  Educ Prim Care.  2010; 21(4):230-5

Thought Piece: Rosenburg

Aristotle believed that “whatever creates or increases happiness or some part of happiness, we ought to do; whatever destroys or hampers happiness, or gives rise to its opposite, we ought not to do.”  Now, I can’t speak for everyone when I say that reading assignments bring us unhappiness (I’m sure someone out there is fascinated with academic literature), but what other explanation do we have for avoiding them?  Even in the realm of literary material, as a matter of fact, there exists an article to rescue floundering students from making themselves too unhappy with “having” to read the assignments.   Rosenburg, the author of said article, does a wonderful job facilitating the task.  I, however, walked away from the article with more than just the presented idea.  I’m impressed with her abilities as a writer to tailor her suggestions towards the specified target audience.  Not only does she depict accurate situations relative to her readers, but she provides examples from her own experience, shining a light on her own credibility as an author so that her readers will gain enough of her trust to take her advice.  My belief is that, because the topic of her writing (basics on reading academic readings) is so narrow, she can efficiently devise and present a strategy to tackle the topic.  Despite the simplicity of my belief, I know for a fact, as a writer, that trying to write about any topic at all, no matter how narrow it may be, is difficult to compound and sharpen into a point.  One would think that by knowing the point you are supposed to convey you could easily shave everything around it and procure the precise point you desire.  At any moment in writing, there is always the possibility that you might accidently shave off the point; then your argument is skewed.  Rosenburg is a master at her craft and so, in addition to learning a more effective reading strategy (when it comes to academic writing, of course),  I also now have a powerful piece of literature to reference when I need to figure out the blueprints for any of my future writings.  To praise her article even more, I also noticed that the emotional aspect of literature was lacking in this piece.  It was intentional, though.  For the purpose of her topic there is no need to exude emotion.  This is the degree of her impact; a wonder that scientists would call both precise and accurate; I wonder that I would call: perfect.  

Portrait of a Writer

Don’t lie.  Hips don’t lie.  They’ll give you away.  You think I’m joking, but I’m more of a reader than I am a writer, so my writing only serves the purpose of conjuring in vivid description the things I’ve read. To demonstrate, I’ll write about my favorite book to read: the human body. 

When Shakira whirls her hips around she is actually speaking in a universal tongue, one most commonly known as body language.  I believe body language is essential to communication, some might say it fits right under the “visual” part of the WOVE principle taught by many English professors.  If you’ve seen the music video, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.  I take that back; even if you’ve seen Shakira’s hips at work in her music video you might not have read the same meaning I did.  Of course the rhythmic gyrating of her beguiling curves under silken wraps is sexy! What matters, however, is the decryption of the situation.  Put simply, Wyclef, the male singer, states his interest in Shakira, who politely declines his gesture.  The twist is in the hips; her excited hips clearly contradict the sweet innocence in the essence of her breath.  She visually communicates her true desire.  If you haven’t seen the video and therefore can’t relate, then I’ll make it easier.

Remember that Christmas or birthday party when you put a lot of thought into getting the perfect present for someone?  He or she is about to open your gift next and you can’t help but smile in anticipation, excited to see the reaction from them when the identity of your gift is unwrapped.  Imagine them: sitting on the floor, tearing the paper, peeling it off, letting the crumpled wrap tumble to the ground; then the unwrapping slows as his or her eyes brighten with raised eyebrows and the lights of candles and bulbs are reflected in his or her eyes as a twinkling film of tears glides over gleaming eyes.  The air is still.  He or she is still.  Someone rustles about in the kitchen looking for seconds, but everyone else is paralyzed in the moment, barely hanging off the edge of their seats, gawking with inquisitive curiosity.  This is a perfect example of nonverbal communication in a common scenario.  First of all, you already gave away your own thoughts about the present with the cunning smile, as if the entire scene had already played out beforehand in your mind and you simply know that it will end in joy.  Secondly, the decrease in paper-tearing speed indicates a gradual realization of the thoughtful gift, along with the tears marking the degree of gratitude and appreciation for the gift.  Upon reading the emotions behind the tears, intrigued, the rest of the group leans closer to better understand what kind of gift could galvanize that type of body language.  What was the gift?  A journal.  A yellow journal with the title, “Yellow,” drawn onto the cover.  Coldplay has a song called, “Yellow,” that mentions a book written specifically for a significant person, “…and it was called ‘Yellow’.”  The song was playing the night of the Fourth of July; you and they stargazed on the side of a vacant, country road.  On the inside you had inscribed: “We Are Infinite,” the ending quote to the movie, Perks of Being a Wallflower, their favorite.  Now you feel empowered to have everyone else falling out of their seats to figure out what your present is and very glad that you had taken the time to put together such a thoughtful gift.  He or she rises and, while looking up from the journal to look at you, he or she laughs and you join them on foot to join in an embrace.  Awh.  Keep in mind no words have been spoken.  Surely you’ve witnessed or even experienced bodily communication like this some time in your lifetime.  Now that we’re on the same page, I can explain why I find so much delight in reading the inaudible language of the human body.

In psychology, body language plays an enormous part in “figuring people out.” In businesses, it helps evaluate your work ethic.  In public, it is the only aspect available for the audience to judge, like a free sample of an e-book that you may or may not be interested in reading.  In every situation, body language reveals the truth, like Shakira’s hips, unless you are always cognizant of your behaviors and capable of executing the appropriate bodily cues that will be read exactly as you want them to be read.  I would compare this to carefully creating a fake diary that leads to all the wrong ends and planting it where you know the authorities would come across it.  Such a case, however, is very difficult to master.  In the case of everyone else, body language is as true as truthful gets.  It is within the realm of possibility to quickly generate a falsified thought and tell a lie, but you only focus on what you say and not on how you act, which would be contradictory to your spoken claim.  To relate, let’s look at a situation where your body language reading abilities are refined and amplified: when you’re interacting with someone who has lied multiple times before.  After witnessing his or her fibs on various occasions, and perhaps even experiencing a dose of lies yourself, you acquire a sense of familiarity with his or her signals that indicate a lie has been told.  You might have a sibling, relative, or close friend that you can call out on the spot because you have so much practice with his or her particular dialect of body language.  I find it all so interesting, but in relation to my career, it is all so important. 

Communication as a whole is very important in every field, but with plans of becoming a personal trainer and registered dietician, appropriate body language is imperative.  Putting myself in the shoes of my client, I would be very skeptical of my trainer or dietician.  He might have the credentials, but how do I know I can trust him to tell me what to do?  How successful will the sessions be?  Does he even care?  As their trainer/dietician, I MUST be able to gain their trust and confidence.  I need to be a role model: energetic and enthusiastic about working with my clients, being personable enough so that they can feel comfortable about themselves with me, encouraging progress through desirable motivation.  All of it will be conveyed through my communication skills, and if I even try to pretend, my body language will tell otherwise.  In the same sense, I should be able to read their body language and also be able to reciprocate that unspoken communication with them.  For example: I may notice my client’s eyes are darting around the room as they’re trying to execute proper squats and I should be able to note the anxiety of being judged by the other gym members and act accordingly so as to help them focus on the task at hand.  At the end of a session, I will take note of certain body language and observations in a log.  Even then, I will be writing about what I read: the body.

Why do I love reading the language of the human body?  I think I enjoy the difficulty of deciphering its meaning.  Like text, the meaning of particular cues depends on the context of the situation, so it makes it that much more complex to understand.  In addition, it is an art habit of mine to have a keen eye for detail.  Being detailed in art is not so important, but it’s nice for the viewer to appreciate the fact that all of the detail as a whole creates a realistic piece in the end.  In writing, however, detail is my favorite challenge to take on; that’s why I write about body language.  It’s one thing to understand the body language, but to be able to recreate a minuscule, almost negligible, bodily cue by means of descriptive text is such a fun challenge!  When I write about it, I want to go as in depth as I can in every aspect: setting up the context with a physical surrounding, summoning the emotional vibe of the setting, including every catalyst that leads from one cue to the next, telling a story that speaks through actions rather than words, like Chaucer.  He implied entire stories mainly through the behaviors he gave his characters, refraining from dubious speech.  Take it from me, Chaucer probably invented Shakira’s music video before Shakira was even born and if hips have been telling the truth for this long, then you should be cautious of how you present yourself; paying attention to your body language now will do you wonders in the future.  

Thought Piece: Goodman

I don’t consider myself much of a writer, not even when I write.  In my mind I am more of an expressionist.  I like the idea of being able to convey specific emotions with more than just words.   In “Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work,” Goodman states that you can write most effectively “when you are truly desperate to tell a story.”  When it comes to being “expressive,” I take advantage of as many of my abilities as possible.  In a conversation, this comes down to intonation and body language.  Conversations, however, are not my forte.  To tell my story I like to draw and write on a single canvas.  A few weeks ago I wrote on a large sheet of drawing paper in calligraphic cursive a single word: goodnight.  Just like that, in lower-case, right smack in the center of the page.  Then I took a red, charcoal pencil and drew a languid swirl in one corner of the page and loosely trailed it across to the opposite corner with a smaller, lighter swirl.  Near this small swirl I added a quick flower.  The entire project took no longer than a minute, yet it summoned a story of slumber from all who laid eyes upon it.  The contents of the paper seemed to flow; the swirl almost looped lazily as it introduced the simple, “goodnight,” but only for a glance, and then lifted suddenly off the page as if evaporating; a small flower punctuating the end.  “Sleep,” or “Journey to Sleep,” I want to call it.  At times, months will pass without me ever drawing or writing anything because I spend a lot of time thinking about WHAT to draw or write.  That night, however, I pulled a Goodman.  I was “desperate” to explain “sleep” and every stroke of the pencil, whether it be smooth or hard or heavy or light, had a purpose in conveying what it was I wanted to convey.