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Most businesspersons, at one time or another, have to make a presentation or speak to a group of people which oftentimes can be intimidating or confusing. Our next guest’s organization has been helping with this issue for very many years. Mike Switzer interviews Mike Ward with District 58 of Toastmasters International in West Columbia, SC.

Atonality and dissonance are often linked in listeners’ minds, but they’re not the same thing. Dissonance, from the Latin words for “sounding” and “apart,” is the simultaneous sounding of two or more notes to produce a clashing, or unpleasant effect. Its opposite is consonance, a pleasing sound, a “sounding together.”

The word sonata comes from the Italian sonare, an old form of suonare, which means “to sound,” or “to play,” as in “to play an instrument.”

The harpsichord, the keyboard workhorse of the Baroque period, is an instrument with a problem: varying the touch on the keys has absolutely no effect on volume or tone quality. Depress a key gently or pound on it, it doesn’t matter — the note will sound the same.

“R” is for Red dots. A phenomenon that piques the curiosity of both visitors and lifelong residents: why do South Carolina liquor stores display red dots?

“P” is for Patterson, John James (1830-1912). U.S. senator. Paterson became known by the nickname “Honest John”—honest because if he promised a bribe, he always paid it.

“S” is for St. Philip’s Church (Charleston). Located at 146 Church Street, St. Philip’s was the first English church established in South Carolina.

Most financial planners will tell you that the overall goal of a good plan is to help you live your best possible life. But our next guest says that many of the families he meets do not really understand what that looks like. Joining Mike Switzer by phone from Greenville is Rick Van Der Noord, a certified financial planner with over 40 years in the profession.

“O” is for Orangeburgh Township was riginally entitled “Edisto,” but was renamed by its German-speaking Swiss inhabitants.

Serenade is one of those musical terms that has meant many different things at many different times. The term itself comes from the Italian sereno, which is from the Latin serenus, which means “serene.”