Mark Smith wrote:

Richard Riley wrote:

On 23 Aug 2004 15:08:55 GMT, osite (RobertR237)
wrote:
:
:I'd settle for "what top 3 business school did you get your MBA from?"
:
:
:I have noticed that a majority of people seem to equate the smooth talking of
:someone like Clinton with having superior intellect. My own experiece over the
:last half century is just the opposite. Some of the smartest people I have
:ever met had great difficulty with public speaking. I remember one kid I went
:to school with who had a severe stutter and was constantly being called dummy
:by all the other kids. He graduated top of our class and went on to do the
:same at MIT.

I agree. Since my first degree is actually in public speaking (just an
AA) I won't say that intelligence and speaking ability are mutually
exclusive, but any relationship is coincidental.

The best public speakers around are actors. Some of the stupidest
people you've ever met are actors. A small percentage of actors are
actually brilliant people.

In my day job I've been working a lot with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter,
guitarist from the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. Brilliant
musician, and a consultant on defense and homeland security. It's
hard to imagine Jeff Beck, Kieth Richards or Eddie Van Halen, giving
a brief to Condoleezza Rice, but Baxter has.

After 9/11 I realized one of the things that bugged me in our society
is how we confuse clever with intelligent. There were plenty of
snarky, snide writers around that would address an issue with clever
wordplay instead of an actual, supported, argued point of view. As if
alliteration, a few phrases of French and a pun about someone's name
was important.



as a past participant in the local ToastMasters group, I would surely
like to see Bush join a group for a month or two,

it would certainly improve his image as a person,,,,,,,,,

I wish he had the time to do so,,,,,,,,,

I've watched his speeches a few times, and feel a bit sorry for
him,,,,,,,,

I do feel he has the countries best interests at heart,,,,,,,,,

Is ToastMasters where you were told to punctuate with a series of
commas? If you took a course in grammar, it would greatly improve your
image as a person...


Matt