AT CHURCH, I WAS RECENTLY ASKED 2 BE A YOUNG WOMAN (YW) INSTRUCTOR, 4 THE 1ST SUN., 4 ALL THE YW. . THIS IS MY 1ST “REAL” CALLING IN OVER 5 1/2 YRS. I CAN’T EXPLAIN ALL I FEEL, BUT I THOUGHT THESE CALLINGS WERE GONE W/MY VOICE!

THOUGH WE OWN IT, I RECENTLY TIVOED THE MOVIE “HITCH,” SO I COULD WATCH IT AT MY LEISURE. “HITCH” BEGINS W/A STATEMENT: “60% OF COMMUNICATION IS BODY LANGUAGE, 30% IS TONE, & ONLY 10% IS WORDS.” IF TRUE, WORDS PLAY LESS A PART IN TEACHING…BUT THOUGH I CAN’T BE VOCAL, I CAN STILL SIGN & TYPE—I JUST NEED 2 BE MORE SELECTIVE W/THE WORDS I CHOOSE 2 USE.

HOWEVER, W/MY FEW WORDS, I KNOW I CAN FEEL MISUNDERSTOOD, BECAUSE I WILL WRITE W/A CERTAIN TONE, WHICH IS L8R READ IN A DIFFERENT TONE, MAKING IT APPEAR FUNNIER OR MADDER THAN IT WAS INTENDED…I HEARD THIS EXACT POINT ILLUSTRATED IN AN AUDIO BOOK, AS THE AUTHOR REPEATED THE EXACT SAME PHRASE (LIKE “SHUT THE DOOR”) IN BOTH A MAD & ALSO IN AN ICKY SWEET TONE. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING HOW MUCH TONE AFFECTED THE EXACT SAME WORDS!

THOUGH I CAN’T USE TONE WELL, WE’VE TRIED CREATIVE WAYS 2 SHARE TONE (ASTERICKS IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF AN EMAIL, WARNING THAT I’M MAD, BOLDING WORDS IN ORDER 2 STRESS THEM, & SOMETIMES I COLOR CODE WORDS). THOUGH I HAVEN’T MASTERED TONE, I STILL HAVE 70% OF MY COMMUNICATION, & IF I’VE LEARNED ANYTHING, I TAKE WHAT I DO HAVE, & RUN W/IT!