Let Dr. Mike Zizzi teach you to uplift your world via truly *authentic* writing (and speaking! and listening!) We need more of YOUR voice (not AI's).
Here’s where things that fit nowhere else will be categorized.
Welcome back. In the prior post, labeled Stage 2-c, we explored — and in some ways exploded — the idea of any universally proper sentence length. I hope that essay helped you to take an interesting and useful step along our Stage 2 pathway. We now move to the next lesson, Stage 2-d, where we…
By now, you know all about main clauses (MCs) — also commonly known as independent clauses — and you understand them not just as grammatical factoids, but as a team that, together, constitutes the sentence’s very essense. Something (that you named) either does, has, or is something (according to you). It’s that simple, ha ha….
Read More “Stage 2-b: Across the muck . . . we need *stepping stones*!” »
As you know by now, I cherish authenticity — such that things you say could have been said by you, only. For example, just to show my own authenticity, including my poetic leanings, I might re-arrange those opening eight words like this: “As you, by now, know, I cherish authenticity . . .” (hear the…
From “rules” to “resources“ All over this website/blog, you will find me interpreting grammar rules and proposing ways to utilize the “rules” as “resources.” And understanding these resources opens up options to help you communicate with free and authentic self-expression. The better you understand the grammar rules, the better you understand your writing resources. With…
Forget the cute cliché: Less, usually, is . . . LESS! Unfortunately, most people (maybe you, at least until now!) want any and all written “explanations,” including grammatical, “brief and to the point.” But that just leaves you only partially understanding things, which can cause more problems than it fixes. Sometimes people “half-understand” a new…
Here I am, at the 1988 annual convention of the International Listening Association, standing with my “pen-pal finally met in the flesh,” Ralph G. Nichols, aka “The Father of Listening.” (Click post title to see pic)
To get the “Stories” section of this site going, allow me to merge the two seemingly contrary topics – speaking and listening – in the following tale, which I present as a first-hand tribute to the legendary scholar known to many (mainly scholars in the “listening” sub-field of communication) as the Father of Listening, Ralph…
As mentioned in the introductory text (see above) for this blog category, I have formally and publically defined the multi-faceted concept of dialogue with these two simple words: difference engaged. Among other places, both in print and in public presentation, I proposed this definition in my doctoral dissertation, An Anatomy of Dialogue in Teaching and…
As for my interest in driving (aka motorists in traffic), I did focus on this topic for the first three semesters of my doctoral study of communication at the University of Colorado. I took some heat from my faculty for this choice (it’s not what they studied, and, yes, that matters) and was “encouraged” (more…
Read More “Why study driving as “rhetoric” (like a speech)?” »
“Words Matter,” so get them right! I’ve dedicated my academic and professional life, along with much of my personal life, to studying, teaching, theorizing, and writing about the endless meanings, implications, and applications of the brief, common, and commonly mis-used expression, “words matter.” How? Why? To what effect? Making what possible? Causing what limitations? Overcoming…