I had one of those moments, this morning.
The students in my speech bootcamp killed doing their second speech. They were hot! The change in delivery skills from yesterday's introduction speech to today's 3 Point evocative was astonishing. Yesterday they read their speeches and many had little energy. Today their faces were off their papers, they smiled and made great eye contact, many had natural gestures, and they stood tall and spoke smoothly. Their performances were filled with honest emotion. It was terrific. I sat there and listened to the stories about parents and children and friends and just smiled and smiled, except when the stories were too sad. Three of the students themselves cried during their speeches but all stayed up in front of the room.
The tribute/eulogy that evoked the most tears across the room was about a dog. One student asked me yesterday if paying tribute to a dog was allowed. I said yes. Her speech was organized appropriately, followed all the structure rules, and was deeply moving. In the main point focused on the dog's courageousness, she talked about how he had blocked her childhood bedroom door from a father who had violent drunk rages. Wow.
I love to see the miracle of anxiety made invisible, courageousness come out, and I will miss it. It makes me smile so much.
It's not uncommon for the bootcamp students to excel in the second speech they have to write overnight. Nevertheless, this was an exceptional group. Now, I just hope that our second weekend together (November 1, 2, 3) they do as well on their informative and persuasive speeches.
Showing posts with label great speech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label great speech. Show all posts
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Another Wonderful Presentation
I'm a few days late in writing this because Lucky Seven actually performed last Thursday night.
This was another wonderful presentation. They gave their presentation on communication in a dental office. They had an attractive PowerPoint with pictures of people from the office. Their presentation was very well organized. I appreciated especially that they had a funny skit AND they made excellent use of their written sources (something some of the teams have neglected to do.) But the aspect of the presentation that I most appreciated was that they went beyond their original question and became critical thinkers and asked about the problem of "groupthink" in a low conflict work environment. Great work!
This was another wonderful presentation. They gave their presentation on communication in a dental office. They had an attractive PowerPoint with pictures of people from the office. Their presentation was very well organized. I appreciated especially that they had a funny skit AND they made excellent use of their written sources (something some of the teams have neglected to do.) But the aspect of the presentation that I most appreciated was that they went beyond their original question and became critical thinkers and asked about the problem of "groupthink" in a low conflict work environment. Great work!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Raw Notes on Watching the Inauguration in the Library
8:44 a.m.
I am in the library at COCC watching the inauguration with a cluster of colleagues. Barack H. Obama has just entered the scene on NBC. I am listening to my colleagues chat.
"I hear he was reading Thomas Jefferson when he was a little boy."
Feinstein speaking. She has a nice big burgundy wool coat. (One remembers her holding the head of her dying colleague in her lap in San Francisco so many years ago.) "The dream that echoed across history finally echoes from the walls of the White House." (not exact quote)
Rick Warren. He's plump with a blue shirt and tie. Everything is God's. "Hear oh Israel." "A hinge point of history." "Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses." Nice use of parallelism which I'll find and quote later. Now he is praying the "Our Father."
According to The West Wing the men don't get to wear great coats. They are stuck wearing heavy suit coats. I'll have to take a look. Nope -- they are wearing well-tailored long coats.
Aretha Franklin in a very lovely church hat with a big gray bow sparkling with crystals or diamonds. "Look at that hat," says a woman in the room. A librarian just entered with her two kids. There are about 10 people in the room. NBC's director of this event is showing lots of audience members (who look very cold) and lots of flags. Now we've cut to Los Angeles where there's a crowd watching outside on some big projection unit. Aretha is doing a great job with My Country 'Tis of Thee. (A song that she is giving a really beautiful jazz interpretation).
John Paul Stevens is now giving the oath to Joseph Biden. Biden wishes he had dark glasses. Ah, and he IS wearing a great coat! He looks relatively warm. There's that giant smile. They shake hands. The Justice has his robes over what looks like a lot of clothing.
Now, WOW, a six star quartet of numbers arranged by John Williams that includes Yo-Yo Ma and Itzak Perelman. The VP elect and Pres elect were just shown turning around backwards, craning their necks to see the musicians. A gift to be simple that one person here said was Dvorak. I said "No, it's a Shaker hymn that Dvorak stole."
BHB being sworn in with the "so help me God" that some dude didn't want him to use. Michelle giving him a Jackie Kennedy smile. He's president now. Someone says, "Isn't that his biggest job to preserve and protect the Constitution?" With the implication that the outgoing president, now the EX-President, did not do so.
The speech
"My fellow citizens. I stand here today humbled by the task before us." Good start and warning.
Thanks the ex pres for cooperation.
"Gathering clouds and raging storms" Weather metaphor to call upon us in a time of crisis. It's hard for us to make hard choices. "Sapping of confidence....a sagging fear that America's decline is inevitable." He promises our challenges will be met.
Didn't Bush also say that we would work together? We'll see if Obama can do it.
"Greatness is never a given, it must be earned....Not a path for the faint hearted." He calls on ournational spirit of risk taking, doing, etc. "For us they packed up ... For us they endured... For us they fought and died." History. Hard work. Worked till hands raw. America bigger than our differences.
Hat in the audience -- "Tuskegee Airman" Couple old black dudes wearing the sign of our past.
"Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off . . ." song quote.
"We will restore science to it's natural place." He talks about infrastructure building. Some who question our ability. Their memories are short. The ground has shifted beneath them. Stale political arguments no longer apply. We don't ask how big government is but whether or not it can do the job. He likes the Market but warns it can "spin out of control"
"Willingness to extend opportunity" for common good. "A charter to ensure the rule of law and the rights of man." We will not give up constitution for expedience sake. "We are ready to lead once more." "America a friend to all" who value peace and dignity.
Once again, he calls on history. Promises for security. To the terrorists, "You cannot outlast us and we will defeat you."
"Our patchwork heritage." "We cannot help but believe that our old hatreds will pass."
"We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
NBC had the script of the speech I know because when he's mentioning Americans in far off lands they cut to a camp in Baghdad where folks in desert camo are watching the speech.
"Honesty, hard work, ...., loyalty, patriotism" "These things are old, these things are true. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility."
Appeals to George Washington at Valley Forge. "Hope and virtue."
Colleague: "I'm glad he showed that fierceness. He was serious and fierce."
Now the poet, Elizabeth Alexander. In Reagan red with that bushy hair. "Praise song for the Day." Oh my gosh. She's not a good reader. She's not relaxed. A list of ordinary things, ordinary activities. Certainly a people's poem. "Say it plain, that many have died for this day."
Bearded, scruffy guy sitting on the floor: "Wow, you could write a book critiquing that. . . "
Final benediction by a man from the civil rights trenches. A prayer as rhymed poem. Asking for prayers for Obama. "We pray for not only our nation but by the community of nations."
Now there are 15 people in the room.
"We have sewn the seed of greed and corruption and reaped the whirlwind . . ." "We must turn to each other and not on each other." More parallelism. Look forward to time of peace. "when tanks shall be beaten into tractors." Ends with humor. "A time when black won't go back, brown can still around, yellow can be mellow, a red man can get ahead man."
I stood for the Star Spangled Banner, as did a couple of other folks. Much laughter in this room as NBC cameras lit on a girl in Times Square who screamed on seeing herself on television.
I may blog more deeply later on. But my initial reaction is, good speech, sufficient for the temper of our times.
I am in the library at COCC watching the inauguration with a cluster of colleagues. Barack H. Obama has just entered the scene on NBC. I am listening to my colleagues chat.
"I hear he was reading Thomas Jefferson when he was a little boy."
Feinstein speaking. She has a nice big burgundy wool coat. (One remembers her holding the head of her dying colleague in her lap in San Francisco so many years ago.) "The dream that echoed across history finally echoes from the walls of the White House." (not exact quote)
Rick Warren. He's plump with a blue shirt and tie. Everything is God's. "Hear oh Israel." "A hinge point of history." "Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses." Nice use of parallelism which I'll find and quote later. Now he is praying the "Our Father."
According to The West Wing the men don't get to wear great coats. They are stuck wearing heavy suit coats. I'll have to take a look. Nope -- they are wearing well-tailored long coats.
Aretha Franklin in a very lovely church hat with a big gray bow sparkling with crystals or diamonds. "Look at that hat," says a woman in the room. A librarian just entered with her two kids. There are about 10 people in the room. NBC's director of this event is showing lots of audience members (who look very cold) and lots of flags. Now we've cut to Los Angeles where there's a crowd watching outside on some big projection unit. Aretha is doing a great job with My Country 'Tis of Thee. (A song that she is giving a really beautiful jazz interpretation).
John Paul Stevens is now giving the oath to Joseph Biden. Biden wishes he had dark glasses. Ah, and he IS wearing a great coat! He looks relatively warm. There's that giant smile. They shake hands. The Justice has his robes over what looks like a lot of clothing.
Now, WOW, a six star quartet of numbers arranged by John Williams that includes Yo-Yo Ma and Itzak Perelman. The VP elect and Pres elect were just shown turning around backwards, craning their necks to see the musicians. A gift to be simple that one person here said was Dvorak. I said "No, it's a Shaker hymn that Dvorak stole."
BHB being sworn in with the "so help me God" that some dude didn't want him to use. Michelle giving him a Jackie Kennedy smile. He's president now. Someone says, "Isn't that his biggest job to preserve and protect the Constitution?" With the implication that the outgoing president, now the EX-President, did not do so.
The speech
"My fellow citizens. I stand here today humbled by the task before us." Good start and warning.
Thanks the ex pres for cooperation.
"Gathering clouds and raging storms" Weather metaphor to call upon us in a time of crisis. It's hard for us to make hard choices. "Sapping of confidence....a sagging fear that America's decline is inevitable." He promises our challenges will be met.
Didn't Bush also say that we would work together? We'll see if Obama can do it.
"Greatness is never a given, it must be earned....Not a path for the faint hearted." He calls on ournational spirit of risk taking, doing, etc. "For us they packed up ... For us they endured... For us they fought and died." History. Hard work. Worked till hands raw. America bigger than our differences.
Hat in the audience -- "Tuskegee Airman" Couple old black dudes wearing the sign of our past.
"Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off . . ." song quote.
"We will restore science to it's natural place." He talks about infrastructure building. Some who question our ability. Their memories are short. The ground has shifted beneath them. Stale political arguments no longer apply. We don't ask how big government is but whether or not it can do the job. He likes the Market but warns it can "spin out of control"
"Willingness to extend opportunity" for common good. "A charter to ensure the rule of law and the rights of man." We will not give up constitution for expedience sake. "We are ready to lead once more." "America a friend to all" who value peace and dignity.
Once again, he calls on history. Promises for security. To the terrorists, "You cannot outlast us and we will defeat you."
"Our patchwork heritage." "We cannot help but believe that our old hatreds will pass."
"We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
NBC had the script of the speech I know because when he's mentioning Americans in far off lands they cut to a camp in Baghdad where folks in desert camo are watching the speech.
"Honesty, hard work, ...., loyalty, patriotism" "These things are old, these things are true. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility."
Appeals to George Washington at Valley Forge. "Hope and virtue."
Colleague: "I'm glad he showed that fierceness. He was serious and fierce."
Now the poet, Elizabeth Alexander. In Reagan red with that bushy hair. "Praise song for the Day." Oh my gosh. She's not a good reader. She's not relaxed. A list of ordinary things, ordinary activities. Certainly a people's poem. "Say it plain, that many have died for this day."
Bearded, scruffy guy sitting on the floor: "Wow, you could write a book critiquing that. . . "
Final benediction by a man from the civil rights trenches. A prayer as rhymed poem. Asking for prayers for Obama. "We pray for not only our nation but by the community of nations."
Now there are 15 people in the room.
"We have sewn the seed of greed and corruption and reaped the whirlwind . . ." "We must turn to each other and not on each other." More parallelism. Look forward to time of peace. "when tanks shall be beaten into tractors." Ends with humor. "A time when black won't go back, brown can still around, yellow can be mellow, a red man can get ahead man."
I stood for the Star Spangled Banner, as did a couple of other folks. Much laughter in this room as NBC cameras lit on a girl in Times Square who screamed on seeing herself on television.
I may blog more deeply later on. But my initial reaction is, good speech, sufficient for the temper of our times.
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