3 things all students should know about

This presentation was originally a one-off talk that I gave in November 2020 to the Linguistics Student Association. But I am so passionate about the topics covered in it that I want to share it with a wider audience.

I truly believe in the message of the title: all students should know about the following three topics that are covered in this presentation:

–How to write for your audience (based on the ideas and methods of Larry McEnerney, which are discussed further on my page on Audience).

–How to use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) self-help techniques to overcome writing anxiety and other academic and personal issues (based on the ideas and methods of David Burns, which are discussed further on my page on Writing Anxiety).

–How to use metacognition to enhance your learning and studying (based on the ideas an methods of Saundra Yancy McGuire, which are discussed further on this page that I put together for “Succeeding at the Beach”).

So I hope you’ll check out my video below.

Video (84 min):

View or a download a recording of the presentation here or click on the image below.

Note: The browser plays a 1-hour preview. For videos longer than 1 hour, download the file and watch it from your computer (Steps: 1. Click on the video to open the Dropbox video page. 2. Use the “download” button, usually located on the top left of the page).

Powerpoint slides:

View just the slides from the video below.

Update: New workshop recording

I conducted this workshop again on March 18, 2021. You can view the new video here (91 min).

Further Resources

In re-watching both of the videos above, I realized two potential problems: (1) I spent more time on some subjects than others (e.g., I perhaps did not cover metacognition in as great a depth as I should have), and (2) I don’t provide a single, centralized location where students can access further resources on these topics (instead, I offered a number of links in different places). Thus, for your convenience, I’ve put together the following list of resources for further learning.

1. Writing to Your Audience

—(Video) Larry McEnerney: The Craft of Writing Effectively

—(PDF) Larry McEnerney: The Problem of the Problem (accompanying handout for “The Craft of Writing Effectively”):

univchic_writingprog-1grt232 Download

—(Video) Larry McEnerney: Writing Beyond the Academy

—(PDF) Joseph M. Williams and Lawrence McEnerney: Writing in College:

writing-in-college-u-of-chicago-guide Download

—(Webpage) My page on Audience.

—(Webpage) My page on Style & Clarity

—(Webpage) My page on Arguments

—(Webpage) My page on Intros & Problem Statements

2. Writing Anxiety and Other “Mood Disorders”: The CBT Approach

—(Video) David Burns: TEDx Talk on “Feeling Good”

—(Webpage) Succeeding during the Pandemic, Part 2: Maintaining Mental Health

—(Podcasts) David Burns: The Feeling Good Podcast. You can select topics you find interesting. Or check out episode 082: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, with Neil Sattin, for an excellent overview of Burns and his approach to CBT.

—(Video) Just Passing Time: How To Build Self-Esteem – The Triple Column Technique (CBT). An overview of the “triple column technique,” one simple and effective CBT technique.

—(PDF) 4Psych.com: 3-Column technique.

—(Webpage) My page on Overcoming Writing Anxiety.

—(Video) Steven Pressfield: Overcoming Resistance & Why Talent Doesn’t Matter. This one is not directly about CBT, but Pressfield’s work is very helpful and inspiring, and is relevant to both writing anxiety and metacognition (especially the “growth mindset”).