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The Passionate Speaker
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."
– e. e. cummingsA Newsletter for Speakers By Michael Landrum December 9, 2002 – Number 45 What Should I Say? What should I say? This simple little question can vex a speaker like no other. Even when the topic is well known and understood, the actual composition of a talk may cost many hours of thought and sleepless nights. The question is a forked one, with at least two tines – 1) What do I have to offer this audience? and 2) What do they want, need or expect to hear from me? To start with the first, it is good policy to offer an audience only what you know about. Defiance of this rule could put you in the position I found myself in at the age of eight. I had overheard some colorful language on the schoolyard and decided to try out a new word on my little brother – with whom I was quietly playing checkers in the corner of a livingroom full of company. Naturally, there was a lull in the grownups’ conversation at the moment I chose to sing out "why you little b_____d!" The effect this utterance produced on my ‘audience’ was dramatic: an electric gasp, followed by my swift extradition to the bathroom and a bite of ivory soap. So, step one is simply ‘stick to what you know.’ It’s best not to use words, ideas or concepts unless you have personal experience of all the pertinent definitions and pronunciations. No man should attempt to describe childbirth to a mother. "But," many speakers think, "I don’t know anything particularly interesting." Yes, we often sell ourselves short on the value of our own experiences. People tend to see their own lives as mundane and ordinary, dull beyond description. To find interesting experiences, go to what interests you. The old adage has it right – to be interesting, be interested. So, what interests you? When did you first become conscious of this interest? Start with your earliest memory of experiencing curiosity in whatever topic you choose. Curiosity is always the beginning of creation. When Albert Einstein was a toddler he got sick and had to spend a lot of time in bed. His uncle gave him a magnetic compass. The boy became enthralled with the needle which always pointed north in obedience to mysterious unseen forces. That curiosity propelled him into his life-long fascination with science, mathematics and physics. Now, to the audience and their wants, needs and expectations. This is tricky. Of course you want them to want what you offer, but how to know what they need? Well, if you are lecturing on quadratic equations, they will need to see you demonstrate your points on a blackboard of some sort. If your talk concerns a matter of geography, art, etc., they will need an illustration, map or slide. That sort of thing is basic. And you’ll want to meet their expectations, at least to justify the title of your talk. The tricky part is giving them something they do not expect. A speaker without a surprise is a bore. Think back to all the boring lecture courses you took in college. Weren’t the worst ones the most predictable? How do you find the surprising and unpredictable? "Think outside the box," would be the unsurprising and predictable answer. You must break out of the linear, rational habits of thought; fantasize, daydream, free-associate on the topic. Play the metaphor-making game – how is this topic like deep-sea diving, or playing the oboe, or house training a puppy? Mind-map it. (To learn about mind mapping, check out Tony Buzan’s web site: http://www.mind-map.com/ ) Other methods for surprising audiences? Surprise yourself. Break patterns, get out of your comfortable rut and learn something new. Finding surprise is the fun part. It would be great if I could give you the rule for creating surprise, but if you follow a rule, you’ll come up with something predictable. So to make a surprise, break a rule. Since rules are the province of your logical mind, look for other avenues to search for surprise. Your feelings might be a good place to start, your sense of humor, vulnerability, outrage. . . Anger is a terrific engine for the creative process. It’s the surprising and unpredictable that make great performances. In the movie "On the Waterfront," Marlon Brando, playing an early scene with Eva Marie Saint, picks up one of her gloves and, as they converse, he stretches it on over his own large hand. It is a gesture that gives the scene a complexity and power – welding the relationship with a kind of threatening tenderness. It was not in the script or the director’s mind, it was purely an impulse on Brando’s part. The boxer’s fist in the delicate lady’s glove was a perfect metaphor for the awkward fighter caught in a love scene. Having something to say would seem to be a requirement for anyone who intends to stand in front of an audience and represent themselves as a speaker. And yet, there are many who willingly mount the podium with less than a fully formed notion of a topic in mind. Polite and civilized modern audiences can only sit, helplessly captive, fantasizing about hooks, trap doors or nice, ripe tomatoes. It’s a sad and needless waste of time and attention. Everyone has a story to tell, a lesson to teach, a bit of wisdom to share with the world. Becoming a speaker provides us with the opportunity to explore and share the meaning of our lives. Sometimes this can benefit our audiences in ways that surprise even ourselves. A Thought to Ponder "Without deviation progress is not possible." - Frank Zappa, Musician ©2001-2003 Michael F. Landrum |
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