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With the selection of Howard Stern as a new panel member on America’s Got Talent, it made me realize that behind all his controversy, he’s doing something right. As a radio personality, talk show host, and prominent media figure, Howard Stern knows a few things about the world of communication. It makes sense considering he graduated magna cum laude with a communications degree from Boston University. Look past the many double d’s and hysterical parents circling Mr. Stern and you will find communication lessons we should all take into consideration. Here are the five things Howard Stern can teach you about communicating. 1. Shock & Awe If there’s one thing Howard Stern knows best it’s shock and awe. While you may not appreciate his choice of shocking methods, you must admit he knows how to grab your attention and hold it. If you subscribe to a more innocent form of shock and awe, you may be using milder techniques like dramatic stories or interesting facts placed neatly at the beginning of your speeches. There’s no doubt shock is an effective communication method for capturing attention, and Howard Stern wrote the book on it. 2. Know Who You Are If there is one thing that doesn’t sound natural in communication, it’s acting like someone you’re not. In fact, we have words for it — lying and fraud — just to name a few. When you’re not genuine, it’s heard in your voice and in your body language. Howard Stern doesn’t apologize for who he is. He accepts himself and owns it. 3. Stand Out When you think of Howard Stern, it doesn’t take long to create a mental image, does it? Sure much of his success did come from behind a microphone, but there’s no doubt his other media successes would not have been as great without his unique large curly hair and glasses look. You can see him coming from a mile away. Whether you’re on a date or giving a speech, standing out should be your priority as well. Maybe you choose to show up in a bolo tie to a room full of suits? Whatever your method of standing out, make sure your audience can pick you out of a crowd. 4. Give Them Something to Talk About Howard Stern knows the show doesn’t end after his time slot does. A majority of his audience usually finds something so unusual and unique in his program that they discuss it with their friends throughout the rest of the day. Stern realizes he is not just communicating with his listeners, he’s also communicating with everyone they interact with. If you want people to talk about you, you’ll need to give them something to talk about. 5. Make Them Remember You Everyday Stern gives his listeners a show they’ll never forget. Through unique guests and unusual conversations listeners are given a piece of a world that doesn’t exist except through his station. You should strive to do the same thing in your communication. This could be through the use of a wild stage prop or the simple act of buying a rose for your date from the relentless flower girl circling the restaurant. If you can give them something to remember you by, you’ll be a little piece of their history they hold onto for the rest of their life. Howard Stern may be known as a wild and undesirable figure, but don’t discount his skill because of a little controversy. The man does know how to communicate. I mean we’re talking about him after all, aren’t we?

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5 Things Howard Stern Can Teach You About Communicating

Two British mothers have joined forces to protest what they see as increasing gender stereotyping among manufacturers and retailers who target children. Emma and Abi Moore, twin sisters who have two children each, began their anti-stereotyping campaign, Pinkstinks, four years ago. Emma Moore, who has two daughters, became aware of the problem before her sister, who has two boys, noticed anything was amiss. According to Moore, retailers in Great Britain color-code toys and products that align with traditional gender roles. Products associated with male gender roles feature blue packaging and signage, while those associated with female gender roles are packaged in pink with pink signage. Furthermore, the products themselves are often pink. Both sisters agree with other observers that such color-coding effectively locks children into stereotypical roles and activities. Both boys and girls are very conscious of which toys are for girls and which are for boys. As a result, boys who want to practice parenting or housekeeping skills or girls who want to play with science kits or tools receive powerful messages that such activities are inappropriate for them because of their gender. The Moores experienced opposition to their stance initially, even from their own mother, who was an active proponent of gender equality when they were small. The media also responded to the campaign with the equivalent of a giant roll of the eyes. More recently, however, the response has been more positive, including an award by a mothers’ group for encouraging children to feel positive about their bodies. Retailers have also exhibited signs that the Pinkstinks campaign is having an impact. In some cases, they have removed labels indicating toys were intended for boys or girls. The pair has recently begun a new campaign, entitled Slap, which is attempting to stem what they see as a recent move by British companies towards producing and marketing makeup and other beauty products to girls as young as two years old. Emma Moore was the first to notice the new trend when her four-year-old daughter received makeup as a party favor. Although Moore discarded the gift as inappropriate, makeup for small children soon became a mainstay in British stores. The women were originally upset that toys marketed to boys typically focused on work and outdoor play, while those marketed to girls emphasized parenting and housekeeping activities. According to Abi Moore, the focus has shifted. Girls are bombarded with products that emphasize their appearance and encourage them to engage in real or imaginary beauty procedures. Slap is putting pressure on retailers to stop marketing makeup to preschool-aged children. However, it is also trying to make parents aware of the message such products are sending their children of both genders. Abi Moore believes the products sexualize little girls and encourage both boys and girls to view girls and women as one-dimensional creatures whose purpose in life is to be attractive. To prevent her sons from buying into the stereotypes, Abi More watches women’s soccer with them and regularly exposes them to movies that feature strong female leads. In spite of Emma Moore’s efforts, her daughter recently insisted that a playset featuring farm animals was only appropriate for boys, citing the blue packaging, blue signage and the boy shown playing with it on the package as irrefutable proof.

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It’s Time to Rethink Pink, Says Anti-Gender Stereotyping Campaign

You may be surprised to find that many famous people in the entertainment, sports and political fields have more in common than a photogenic smile and a career spent in the public eye. Many of the people who manage to turn their time in the spotlight into successful careers have degrees in communication. Some of the names on the following list may surprise you, but on second thought, they shouldn’t. What better degree is there for a person whose career depends upon communicating effectively with the public? 1. John Quincy Adams served as the sixth president between the years 1825 and 1829. He was also a diplomat, a senator, and member of the House of Representatives. Although he was not popular enough as president to be elected for a second term, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest secretaries of state The United States has ever had. Communication degrees did not exist at the time, but rhetoric was already considered an important skill for those pursuing a secondary education. Adams taught the subject to students at his alma mater, Harvard. 2. David Boreanaz became famous playing the role of Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the show’s spinoff, Angel. Currently, he is cast as an FBI agent on Bones. He is also a producer and director of note. Boreanaz got his communication degree from Ithaca College. 3. Mary Elizabeth “Liz” Sutherland Carpenter , who was often referred to as the funniest woman in politics during her long career, wore many hats. She was a journalist, an author, a popular public speaker, a feminist, a humorist, and a political adviser. She was also a journalism major who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. 4. Brandi Denise Chastain is a professional soccer player with the California Storm and former midfielder for the U.S. women’s national soccer team. She earned her communication degree from Santa Clara University. 5. Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich , better known to viewers as simply Connie Chung, has earned the respect of the world of broadcast journalism as an anchor and reporter for virtually every major American news outlet. It all started with a journalism degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. 6. Stephen Tyrone Colbert hosts Comedy Central’s political satire, The Colbert Report and is a regular on the network’s Daily Show. His communication degree came from the Northwestern University School of Communication. 7. Robert Quinlan Costas , known to fans as Bob Costas, has been a popular sportscaster for three decades. Costas started out as a Communications & Rhetorical Studies major at Syracuse University. Although he never received his degree from Syracuse, once he had established himself as a sportscaster, he was granted an honorary degree in communications from S. I. Newhouse School of Communications. 8. James J. Gandolfini, Jr. brought the character of Tony Soprano, Mafia don, to life. In the process, he received critical acclaim and an Emmy award, as well as three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Gandolfini’s BA in communications came from Rutgers University. 9. Richard Andrew “Dick” Gephardt is a career politician who was the Representative from Missouri and became the House Majority Leader, then the House Minority Leader when political tides turned. He pursued the Democratic nomination for president twice. In Gephardt’s day, communication degrees were called speech degrees. His came from Northwestern University 10. John Gray is well known as the author of the book “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.” Gray used the book as a springboard for his career as an author, public speaker and relationship counselor. He has written a series of books expanding the ideas found in his first book and founded a training school for counselors who use his principles to work with couples. Gray’s Ph.D in communication came from Columbia Pacific University. 11. Marcia Gay Harden , known for playing elegant, composed women on the Broadway stage and on film, is the recipient of an Academy Award as well as a Tony Award. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. 12. Mark Harmon , the actor who became famous playing doctors on St. Elsewhere and Chicago Hope, currently stars as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in military detective series NCIS. He earned his degree in communications from UCLA. 13. Marg Helgenberger won an Academy Award for her portrayal of K.C. Koloski in the television series China Beach. She is also known for her portrayal of Catherine Willows on the groundbreaking crime drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Helgenberger originally studied to be a nurse but changed her mind, ending up in what is now the School of Communication at Northwestern University, where she received her bachelor’s degree. 14. Charlton Heston , who started out in life as John Charles Carter, is famous for playing larger-than-life men who found themselves faced with challenges and faced them with courage. He won an academy award for his portrayal of Ben-Hur. He was also a powerful political activist who took his own courageous stand against racism in the 1950s and 1960s. His training in the field of communications undoubtedly aided Heston in getting his Civil Rights message across to listeners. He earned his degree from the Northwestern University School of Communication. 15. William Motter Inge , Pulitzer prizewinning playwright and novelist known as the “Playwright of the Midwest,” got his Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Drama from the University of Kansas. 16. Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson , more commonly known as Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady of the United States, used her position to make world a slightly better place. An intellectual and conservationist, Johnson earned bachelor’s degrees in both history and journalism from The University of Texas at Austin. 17. Edward James Koppel , known to late-night viewers of the news program Nightline as Ted Koppel, for 25 years, was the recipient of a Master of Arts Degree in Mass Communications Research and Political Science from Stanford University. 18. Brian Lamb , CEO of C-SPAN, put his communication degree from Purdue University to good use, communicating the ins and outs of politics to viewers more effectively than anyone before him had ever done. 19. Gary Larson , the cartoonist who created the quirky humor that infused the cartoon series The Far Side and sold more than 45 million copies of collections of the single single-panel cartoons has a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Washington State University. 20. Matthew Todd Lauer , known to viewers as Matt, is a broadcast journalist and host of The Today Show for more than two decades. He graduated from the School of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University. 21. Shelton Jackson Lee , who was given the affectionate nickname Spike by his mother, is as well known as a political activist as he is as an Academy Award-nominated director, producer, writer, and actor. Lee earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Morehouse College, then went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. 22. David Michael Letterman , the comic host of television’s Late Show with David Letterman is also a producer. His communication degree came from Ball State University, where he has established a scholarship for average students such as he claims to have once been. 23.Donovan Jamal McNabb , former Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback earned a number of records during his professional football career. Before he was a professional quarterback, he was a college football player working on a Bachelor’s degree in communication from Syracuse University, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees. 24. Matthew David McConaughey made a name for himself playing likeable leading men in romantic comedies. He earned his communication degree from the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. 25. Nicholas Meyer is a modern-day Renaissance Man. He is a screenwriter, producer and director as well as best-selling author. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay adaptation of his book “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution,” which raised eyebrows by having Sherlock Holmes seek the services of Sigmund Freud to help him overcome an addiction to cocaine in between solving a thorny mystery. He is the recipient of three Saturn Awards. It is no surprise that Meyer’s communication degree from the University of Iowa is in theater and filmmaking. 26. Daniel Irvin Rather, Jr. , known affectionately to generations of viewers as Dan, was the face of the e CBS Evening News, where he worked as anchor, for most of his career. After he left CBS due to a report during the 2008 presidential campaign that was later proven to be unverified, he went on to complete a number of journalistic projects before retiring for good. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Sam Houston State University. 27. Dave St. Peter , who has been with the Minnesota Twins for decades, became the president of the Major League Baseball team in 2009. Given the fact that his position keeps him squarely in the center of the public’s eye, it is no surprise that St. Peter holds a communication degree from the University of North Dakota. 28. Howard Allan Stern is best known as a radio personality, but he is also a television host, as well as a successful author and actor. Stern’s radio program has been on the air since 1985, and it continues to be heard all over the country on satellite radio. Although Stern’s controversial and outspoken approach led to him being fired early in his career and caught the unwanted attention of the FCC in the mid-2000s, Stern is no intellectual lightweight. He graduated magna cum laude from Boston University. Given his success in virtually every modern form of media, it is not surprising that his degree is in communications. 29. Curtis Edward Warner was a running back for the Seattle Seahawks. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Warner was a two-time All-American when he played at Penn State University, where he got his bachelor’s degree in speech communication. Since the time of the Ancient Greeks, communication has been recognized as a crucial part of education. Over the last century, communications studies have evolved from a single course on rhetoric at many colleges and universities to encompass an entire field of study. Schools of communication are proudly numbered among the colleges at many top universities and often offer students not only the opportunity to study theory and learn by doing, but often the chance to conduct research in the field as well. There are few majors as dynamic and relevant to today’s world as communication.

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29 Famous People You Never Knew Had Communication Degrees

Tragic stories, like Titanic, help us appreciate our own relationships. Human existence being what it is, it would seem logical that people would seek out happy stories to help them escape from life’s harsh realities. Yet people who experience the everyday tragedies, disappointments and losses that all human beings experience actively seek out movies, television shows and books that depict tragedy. It now appears that the reason people take pleasure in watching tragedies is that tragedies actually make them feel happier. A new research study from Ohio State University has found that when people watch tragic movies they tend to dwell upon their own relationships with loved ones. The act of thinking about their own relationships makes them feel happier. As a result, watching heart-wrenching things happen to a fictional character actually makes people focus on what is good in their own lives, leading to increased feelings of happiness and, perhaps, gratitude. According to Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor of communication at OSU and lead author of the study, her findings may help to explain why certain tragic themes appear over and over again throughout history. She points out that tragedies often center around the theme of undying love. Viewers identify with the tragic figures in such stories and reflect upon their own loved ones, feeling renewed appreciation and thankfulness for them. Knobloch-Westerwick found that viewers who thought the most about their own close relationships during a movie felt the most happiness. Movie-watchers who compared their own lives favorably to the lives of the tragic figures in the movies did not have a sense of increased happiness. Although philosophers have debated for millennia about the reasons behind the popularity of tragedies, Knobloch-Westerwick said that there had been little scientific research into the topic prior to her study. The results of her research were published in the journal Communication Research. Knobloch-Westerwick and her colleagues asked 361 college students questions designed to measure their levels of happiness. Then the participants were shown a Hollywood movie about lovers who are forced apart, only to die separately as casualties of war. After the movie ended, the students’ happiness levels were once again measured. They were also asked to describe their feelings before the movie began, at intervals during the movie and after the movie ended. At the end of the movie, participants were asked to rate their enjoyment of the movie then to write about the reflections the movie inspired in them. Specifically, they were asked how the movie affected their reflections upon themselves, their lives, their goals and the people in their lives. The participants’ responses helped to explain why people like watching movies that generate feelings of sadness within them, according to Knobloch-Westerwick. Those participants who felt the most sadness during the movies were the most likely to write about their own close relationships. As a result, these viewers felt happy and rated their movie-watching experience as more enjoyable than those who did not feel as sad during the movie. The investigators found no evidence that viewers who compared their own lives favorably to the lives of the movie’s characters felt any better as a result. People who reported feeling gratitude for their own relatively more fortunate lives did not receive the increase in happiness received by those who thought of the people they loved. According to Knobloch-Westerwick, thinking about themselves, even if they were feeling gratitude, did not make participants feel happier. At first glance, it might seem puzzling that people would have to enter a state of sadness in order to appreciate the good in their own relationships. However, Knobloch-Westerwick points out that research has shown that negative moods tend to make people think more, since they often signal the need to pay attention to what might be going wrong in a person’s life. Previous research has shown that depressed people actually see things more realistically than non-depressed people do. This phenomenon, often called depressive realism, allows the individual experiencing it to see more clearly their own limitations and to erase any illusions that they are loved because they are exceptionally deserving of love. As a result, the random nature of love and the awareness that a slightly different set of circumstances might have prevented key relationships from ever forming may make an individual feel more thankful for the people in their lives. Earlier studies have also demonstrated that relationships are the most important sources of happiness in most people’s lives. It should come as no surprise that looking at those relationships without the interference of obfuscating self-delusions would result in feelings of joy and happiness. “But negative emotions, like sadness, make you think more critically about your situation. So seeing a tragic movie about star-crossed lovers may make you sad, but that will cause you to think more about your own close relationships and appreciate them more,” Knobloch-Westerwick wrote. “Tragedies bring to mind close relationships, which makes us happy.”

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The Key to Happiness is Tragedy? [Study]

In spite of the doomsday warnings of those who bemoan the disappearance of a generation into the gaping maw of the Internet, a new study has shown that Internet usage does not replace traditional media in the lives of young people. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden studied Swedish young people between the ages of nine and 24. They discovered that this group almost universally used the Internet. However, the investigators found no evidence that the study participants abandoned traditional media for the sake of the Internet. According to lead author Professor Olle Findahl, study participants did spend less time than their predecessors watching television, listening to recorded or broadcast music and reading traditional print publications. They still spent more time engaged in these pastimes than they spent on the Internet, though. In the 1950s, the advent of television had naysayers predicting the end of radio and print. What actually happened was that people added television to the list of ways in which they accessed information. A similar trend appears to be occurring today with the Internet. The areas in which the Internet seems to actually supplant traditional media rather than complement it include the delivery of both films and music. However, many uses of the Internet have no counterpart in traditional media. For example, social networks allow people to develop contacts with like-minded people who share their interests. Until recently, long-distance communication between people who shared beliefs, hobbies or passions was usually only possible between two individuals at a time. Even then, usually the two individuals had originally encountered each other in person either socially or during the course of business. The researchers found that more young people are reached by Facebook than by newspapers, and Facebook reaches nearly as many of them as television does. Spotify, a digital music delivery service, reaches almost as many young people as broadcast radio does. Simply being available through the Internet is no guarantee that a service will appeal to today’s youth, however. Tablets, eBooks and Twitter are popular mostly with older users and have little appeal to young people. On the other hand, smartphone use among children and young adults has rapidly expanded in recent years. Previous studies have shown that when people begin using the Internet there is no corresponding drop in their use of traditional media. In fact, research has consistently shown that those who use the Internet most heavily are also heavy users of older types of media.

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Internet Usage Does Not Replace Traditional Media [Study]

Most doctors skirt the important questions about sexual activity. In spite of the strong link between sexual function and a person’s overall health, the subject is unlikely to come up in a doctor’s office. In fact, according to a new study, a majority of doctors skirt the issue entirely. Of those physicians who do attempt an assessment of their patients’ sexual function, most ask superficial questions that shed little light on issues that could signal underlying problems. For the first time, researchers have conducted a national survey of American obstetrician-gynecologists to determine how they screen for sexual history. The investigators wanted to know how often doctors discuss their patients’ sex lives, whether they discuss them deeply enough to make important assessments regarding the patients’ overall health and what barriers exist that make it harder for doctors to have these crucial conversations with their patients. The results of the survey, conducted by the University of Chicago , were published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. The researchers found that during the course of most examinations, questions about sex usually begin and end with an inquiry as to whether the patient is sexually active. Sixty percent of respondents don’t routinely ask patients questions designed to uncover sexual problems or dysfunction. More than two-thirds don’t ask their patients if they are satisfied with their sex lives, and roughly the same number fail to routinely inquire about their patients’ sexual orientations. The authors expressed concern over their findings. Sexual function can provide important clues that can help doctors to uncover a number of underlying health problems and to make a more accurate assessment of a patient’s general health. They recommend that new guidelines be established for interviewing patients about their sexual history. Lead author Stacy Tessler Lindau, a professor and practicing obstetrician-gynecologist, says that patients often tell her that she is the first doctor who has ever asked them about their sex lives. She points out that OB-GYNs are in an ideal position to assess female sexual health. Sexual issues are common among women. Current research indicates that more than a third of women experience some form of sexual dysfunction. Examples include lack of pleasure during sex, lowered desire for sex and pain during intercourse. Often, these issues lead to relationship difficulties, shame, guilt, worry and feelings of being alone. Many patients are unaware that there is any benefit to discussing these issues with their doctors. According to Lindau, patients may also fear that their concerns will be dismissed or seem inappropriate. She says that some patients will never bring the subject up; for these patients, it is crucial that doctors be the ones to initiate the discussion. The researchers examined a number of factors to see which ones increase the likelihood that the subject of sex will be swept under the rug. They found that male OB-GYNs are less likely to address the subject of sexual activity. Doctors whose practice focuses largely on prenatal care and delivery are less likely to delve into the possibility of sexual dysfunction in patients. Additionally, doctors over the age of 60 were especially unlikely to ask about sexual orientation or gender identity. The failure to ask about sexual orientation or gender identity is particularly troublesome, according to the authors. Making the assumption that a patient is heterosexual and embraces a female gender identity can alienate those patients who don’t fit these assumptions. Failing to determine sexual orientation and identity can also cause doctors to misinterpret a patient’s symptoms and lead to misdiagnosis. Co-author Janelle Sobecki points to a lack of training regarding the diagnosis and treatment of sexual problems in female patients. Since female sexual problems are often the result of treatment for other conditions, such as breast cancer or depression, it is especially important that doctors uncover and address them. When men are prescribed treatments or procedures that carry a risk of sexual side effects, these effects, as well as possible solutions and ways to cope, are routinely addressed. Women, on the other hand, are frequently not even informed of the possibility of sexual side effects. The investigators speculate that doctors may be more likely to talk to men about sex because there are treatments available for male sexual dysfunction. Doctors have few solutions to offer women who are dealing with similar issues. In the end, change may come as a result of patients themselves, who are more informed about sexual health issues than ever before and are increasingly taking a more proactive stance towards dealing with them. According to Lindau, these women are more likely to initiate conversations with their doctors. Lindau applauds these women and suggests that patients bring the topic up at their next appointment. “If you are waiting for the doctor to start the conversation, it may never happen. Communication is key,” she says.

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Talk Dirty to Me: Researchers Urge Doctors and Patients to Discuss Sexual Health