eloquent

\EL-uh-kwunt\

adjective

1 : marked by forceful and fluent expression

2 : vividly or movingly expressive or revealing

Some days I am uninspired (it's true) and I type the day's word into a search just to see what random crap will be revealed.

Today is one of those days, and lucky for me, I have stumbled upon JoJo Tabares' Christian speech classes—The Art of Eloquence.

JoJo was a shy child. Her parents moved around a lot, forcing her to have to make friends over and over again. This caused great anxiety in her life. Someone suggested speech classes. WHAT!! "Now WHY would I agree to do THAT?!" JoJo exclaims, comparing it to someone with a fear of water being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool (which, by the way, JoJo also experienced, and the technique didn't work).

JoJo eventually learned that she actually WASN'T shy—she had simply never learned social communication skills! (JoJo is a fan of the exclamation point) The point is, she found her voice, which was surprisingly gregarious, and you can too, if you just learn the skills, take the classes, etc.

The website boasts two bible quotes about the importance of communication as well as a quote from Lee Iacocca: "You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere." True, Iacocca, very true.

You can also watch the inspirational video "The Misadventures of Foot-In-Mouth Man (FIMM)" (which I have included here for your viewing pleasure). I'm a bit confused though, since four out of five of FIMM's misadventures are actually related to misguided written communication. This seems a little off-topic. And he actually strikes me as charmingly ironic. Does the Christian church frown upon irony?

The real point here, as JoJo so ELOQUENTLY suggests, is that you learn how to better defend your faith. The specific course—Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith—shows the student how to have an "informal debate (casual conversation)" that helps him learn to respond to common misconceptions and inquiries about Jesus and Christianity, such as: Why are Christians so intolerant? and Doesn't the bible contradict scientific evidence?

Hm.

JoJo leaves us with this bit of wisdom:

"Persuasion is when you want someone to listen to you; annoyance is when they want you to listen to them!" -JoJo Tabares

So...I just shouldn't listen to anyone. Because it's annoying.