Diplo Learning Corner

Get your brain in motion

What can you say in silence

The Diplo calendar 2023 realized by Stefano Baldi contains some quotes of well-known and less known Italian women and men of 19th and 20th century that can inspire us in our daily life.

Here is the selected quotation for the month of July:

The greatest things are said in silence

                           Grazia Deledda (1871 – 1936)

The best weapon for Peace

The Diplo calendar 2023 realized by Stefano Baldi contains some quotes of well-known and less known Italian women and men of 19th and 20th century that can inspire us in our daily life.

Here is the selected quotation for the month of June:

Education is the best weapon for Peace

                           Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952)

Mistakes

“Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.”

Jules Verne

 

Science.jpg

Image source: Flickr – IT@c  (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Sharing among unequals

The Diplo calendar 2023 realized by Stefano Baldi contains some quotes of well-known and less known Italian women and men of 19th and 20th century that can inspire us in our daily life.

Here is the selected quotation for the month of May:

Nothing is more unjust than to share equally among unequals

Don Milani (1923 – 1967)

Lessons for business leaders from ancient philosophers

Ancient philosophers can teach business leaders how to help employees live better and reach eudaimonia.

The article “What can business leaders learn from ancient Greek philosophers?” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/business-learn-from-ancient-philosophers) describes some techniques used by ancient philosophers which can help achieve the “good life”:

  • Dare to disagree (Socrates)
  • Let people seek fulfillment (Aristotle)
  • Be a good role model (Plutarch)
  • Build a resilient mid-set (Epictetus)
  • Keep track of your ethical progress (Rufus)
  • The art of happiness (Epicurus)

10 hints to write clearly (free ebook)

HC3010536Diplomats, like many other professionals, have to write many different types of documents. Whatever the type — legislation, a technical report, minutes, a press release or speech — a clear document will be more effective, and more easily and quickly understood.

The European Commission (Directorate-General for Translation) has published a few years ago a simple guide titled with many useful and practical hints (not rules) on “how to write clearly“.

Here are the 10 hints included in the publication:
1. Think before you write
2. Focus on the reader
3. Get your document into shape
4. KISS:Keep It Short and Simple
5. Make sense
6. Cut out excess nouns
7. Be concrete, not abstract
8. Prefer active verbs to passive
9. Beware of false friends, jargon and abbreviations
10. Revise and check

The guide is available in all 23 official languages of the European Union.
You can find the online version here  (choose the preferred language)

How many times you die?

The Diplo calendar 2023 realized by Stefano Baldi contains some quotes of well-known and less known Italian women and men of 19th and 20th century that can inspire us in our daily life.

Here is the selected quotation for the month of April:

He who is afraid dies every day, he whois not afraid dies only once

                           Paolo Borsellino (1940 – 1992)

Success or Happiness?

Do you want to be successful or happy?

Are you successful so you feel happy? Our society leads us to think that success and happiness are the same things. But are we sure that success is the way for happiness? You can be a very sucessful person without being happy and you can also be happy although you have not attained any position, honor or power yet.

Stuff and status can be not enough to feel happy. If you are looking for your personal fullfillment success might not be the right answer.

According to Sarah Vermut how you personally define success and how you personally define happiness is entirely up to you. But you must recognize the difference!

Read more on Enterpreneur 

Success or happiness

Image source: Flickr – Anton Aymemì (CC – BY – NC – ND – 2.0)

Five tips to improve public speaking

One of the common mistakes in public speaking is that we often underestimate the importance of the form in the message we try to convey.

Unlike written pages, oral communications are a bloom of conscious and unconscious signals coming out from our body, like voice tone and modulation, gesticulating, glances with the public, dialogue speed and so on.

Each of these signals carries a different value that can alter the substance of the message, even in an unsuccessful way.

As diplomacy is essentially communication, a good deal can be reached only after smart negotiations and persuasive talks.

Hence, creating the right empathy with our listeners could add further value on the outcome of our agreements.

In an article published on the popular magazine Mental Floss, the American journalist Cindy Fisher Crawford has tried to summarize 5 effective steps to becoming a better public speaker from “Toastmasters International” and other public speaking experts:

1. MAKE YOUR SPEECH CONVERSATIONAL

As tempting as it may be to type up a speech and read it word for word, refrain from doing so.

Audiences listen better when the speaker talks to them instead of reads to them.

2. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

A great way to ensure your speech goes smoothly is to rehearse what you’re going to say.

3. CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

If they’re yawning, you need to infuse a spark in the conversation.

4. DELIVER YOUR SPEECH WITH PASSION

The best way to get your audience to care about what you’re saying is to show how much you care about the topic.

5. TAKE YOUR TIME

Your presentation is not a race. Take your time as you interact with the audience and slow down if you make a mistake.

https://i0.wp.com/c1.staticflickr.com/3/2456/3914858504_831952e460_z.jpg?resize=457%2C305&ssl=1

Image source: FLICKR JohnDiew0107

(CC BY-NC 2.0)

 

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