This past summer I had an internship with the company Nordstrom. Although most of the internship involved selling, I also had the chance to hear from a lot of the people at the top of the company such as Delena Sunday who is head of Human Resources and Diversity Affairs. Out of all the speakers I heard from in those two months I think I found Mrs. Sunday the most motivating and persuasive because of her personal character or ethos.
Besides her obvious authority as the head of HR, Sunday also established credibility with her audience by giving us her ladder of progression throughout the company. In addition, because she started at the bottom in the stock room and made her way to the top, it gave her audience the feeling that she knew what she was talking about and it her more relatable than someone who had never been a stock room worker or a salesperson before.
I think my strongest ability to persuade comes from the fact that I am very analytical. For instance, if I am trying to prove a point I like to gather as many different pieces of information as I can, organize them in a logical order, and then present them all at once. According to Aristotle's classifications, this would mean that I mainly depend on pathos to persuade.
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Congratulations on your internship! :-) This was actually one of my endeavors for this past summer, but unfortunately it did not happen. Maybe next year, let’s see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do not know the speakers you mentioned, they sound pretty grounded and consistent on their experiences (ethos), which certainly captivates any audience.
I felt motivated to comment on your blog because today I received a very inspirational email from a friend of mine. It is about the experiences of a lady called Jessica Cox. Her life is such an inspiration!!! She was born without both arms, but she is able to do everything, including things that most humans do not have a clue how to do. Among other things, at 26 years old she became the first female pilot (who does not have both arms) in the Aviation history. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Jessica, she will forever empower my life in so many ways.
Ibirapuera
The thing I like most about the speaker you have chosen, Delena Sunday is her credibility. Meaning when you said she worked from the bottom (stock room) all the way up gave her a sense to me that she's just like everyone else. I believe that in a company to have such experience as that gives you the respect from other co-workers and the audience you are speaking to, which is extremely imporant when speaking.
ReplyDeleteWhen you stated that your very analytical I was impressed its a great quality to have as a speaker. To have the drive to want to get a point a cross and realizing that you might need more then one source to back up what you are saying shows, that you are passionate.
Overall I thought your blog was great and straight to the point!
Congrats on your internship, Commeleon! I think you deserve extra praise for securing it because it is more competive than ever to get into an internship, especially for those considering grad school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that it helps for a speaker to have been where her audience was before. If Mrs. Sunday had been in human relations her entire life, chances are she would not have been as empathetic towards people who are entry-level, such as yourself. I think that in America, we often value people who worked their way to the top from the bottom, because their journey alone is an investment of their hard work.
Do you know if she has any YouTube videos avaliable, or if her speeches are Nordstrom-exclusive? I'd love to see a link if you have one :)
I also must say that I am very envious of yourn ability to analyze things well! That is almost the very heart of communication itself, and a very good strength to have as a communications major.
Congratulations on the internship at Nordstrom! I have worked with the company off and on for about five years now.
ReplyDeleteI think that all of Nordstrom employees, especially those of management, regional, and corporate and very well versed and articulate.
I am also going to write my Question 1 topic on my store manager, Victoria Lopez. Whenever she speaks to us at morning rally's or company meetings, she always uses and very persuasive tone. She really gets me motivated, partiucalry when I am down on selling. And she also reminds me how much I love working for the company.
What store and department did you work in? (And I'm sorry if this showed up twice. I posted one and it didn't show up.)
You are very lucky to have had an internship where you got to see communication practices in action in a formal setting. To be able to see how communication practices are used in a real world situation must have been very interesting and really showed you what you can do with your degree. It is also good that you got to work with someone that was so successful and credible.
ReplyDeleteI like your comments on the fact that you were reliant on your analytical skills. This is one of the most important things I have learned in majoring in communication. This is also a very good way to look at all issues in everyday life. This is also something that has become useful to me.