Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous, most quoted, and most recited speeches of all time. It is also one of the shortest among its peers at just 10 sentences.

In this article, we examine five key lessons which you can learn from Lincoln’s speech and apply to your own speeches.

This is the latest in a series of speech critiques here on Six Minutes.

Speech Critique – Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln

I encourage you to:

1. Watch the video with a recitation by Jeff Daniels;
2. Read the analysis in this speech critique, as well as the speech transcript below; and
3. Share your thoughts on this speech in the comment section.

Lesson #1 – Anchor Your Arguments Solidly

When trying to persuade your audience, one of the strongest techniques you can use is to anchor your arguments to statements which your audience believes in. Lincoln does this twice in his first sentence:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. [1]

Among the beliefs which his audience held, perhaps none were stronger than those put forth in the Bible and Declaration of Independence. Lincoln knew this, of course, and included references to both of these documents.

First, Psalm 90 verse 10 states:

The days of our years are threescore years and ten…

(Note: a “score” equals 20 years. So, the verse is stating that a human life is about 70 years.)

Therefore, Lincoln’s “Four score and seven years ago” was a Biblically evocative way of tracing backwards eighty-seven years to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. That document contains the following famous line:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

By referencing both the Bible and the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln is signalling that if his audience trusts the words in those documents (they did!), then they should trust his words as well.

How can you use this lesson? When trying to persuade your audience, seek out principles on which you agree and beliefs which you share. Anchor your arguments from that solid foundation.

Lesson #2 – Employ Classic Rhetorical Devices

Lincoln employed simple techniques which transformed his words from bland to poetic. Two which we’ll look at here are triads and contrast.

First, he uttered two of the most famous triads ever spoken:

• “…we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground.” [6]
• “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” [10]

• “… for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” [4]
  (the death of the soldiers contrasts with the life of the nation)
• “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” [8]
  (remember contrasts forget; say contrasts did)

How can you use this lesson? While the stately prose of Lincoln’s day may not be appropriate for your next speech, there is still much to be gained from weaving rhetorical devices into your speech. A few well-crafted phrases often serve as memorable sound bites, giving your words an extended life.

Lesson #3 – Repeat Your Most Important Words

In the first lesson, we’ve seen how words can be used to anchor arguments by referencing widely held beliefs.

In the second lesson, we’ve seen how words can be strung together to craft rhetorical devices.

Now, we’ll turn our attention to the importance of repeating individual words. A word-by-word analysis of the Gettysburg Address reveals the following words are repeated:

• we: 10 times
• here: 8 times
• dedicate (or dedicated): 6 times
• nation: 5 times

While this may not seem like much, remember that his entire speech was only 271 words.

By repetitive use of these words, he drills his central point home: Like the men who died here, we must dedicate ourselves to save our nation.

• “we” creates a bond with the audience (it’s not about you or I, it’s about us together)
• “here” casts Gettysburg as the springboard to propel them forward
• “dedicate” is more powerful than saying “we must try to do this”
• “nation” gives the higher purpose

How can you use this lesson? Determine the words which most clearly capture your central argument. Repeat them throughout your speech, particularly in your conclusion and in conjunction with other rhetorical devices. Use these words in your marketing materials, speech title, speech introduction, and slides as well. Doing so will make it more likely that your audience will [a] “get” your message and [b] remember it.

Lesson #4 – Use a Simple Outline

The Gettysburg Address employs a simple and straightforward three part speech outline: past, present, future.

• Past: The speech begins 87 years in the past, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the formation of a new nation. [1]
• Present: The speech then describes the present context: the civil war, a great battlefield (Gettysburg), and a dedication ceremony. The new nation is being tested. [2-8]
• Future: Lincoln paints a picture of the future where the promise of the new nation is fully realized through a desirable relationship between government and the people. [9-10]

How can you use this lesson? When organizing your content, one of the best approaches is one of the simplest. Go chronological.

• Start in the past, generally at a moment of relative prosperity or happiness.
• Explain how your audience came to the present moment. Describe the challenge, the conflict, or the negative trend.
• Finally, describe a more prosperous future, one that can be realized if your audience is persuaded to action by you.

Lesson #5 – State a Clear Call-to-Action

The final sentences of the Gettysburg Address are a rallying cry for Lincoln’s audience. Although the occasion of the gathering is to dedicate a war memorial (a purpose to which Lincoln devotes many words in the body of his speech), that is not Lincoln’s full purpose. He calls his audience to “be dedicated here to the unfinished work” [8], to not let those who died to “have died in vain” [10]. He implores them to remain committed to the ideals set forth by the nation’s founding fathers.

How can you use this lesson? The hallmark of a persuasive speech is a clear call-to-action. Don’t hint at what you want your audience to do. Don’t imply. Don’t suggest. Clearly state the actions that, if taken, will lead your audience to success and prosperity.

Speech Transcript – Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln

[1] Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

[2] Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

[3] We are met on a great battle-field of that war.

[4] We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

[5] It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

[6] But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground.

[7] The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

[8] The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

[9] It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

[10] It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Other Critiques of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

For further reading, you may enjoy these excellent analyses:

• Nick Morgan — The greatest 250-word speech ever written
• John Zimmer — The Gettysburg Address: An Analysis
• Christopher Graham — A poetical analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Similar Articles You May Like... 5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr. 2008 Election Night Speech Analysis – Obama and McCain How can you inspire your audience? Ask 10-year-old Dalton Sherman. Speech Critiques – McCain, Palin, Republican Convention 2008 Speech Critiques – Obama, Democratic Convention 2008

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most memorable speeches of all time.

It is worthy of lengthy study as we can all learn speechwriting skills from King’s historic masterpiece.

This article is the latest in a series of video speech critiques which help you analyze and learn from excellent speeches.

Speech Video: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream”

I encourage you to:

1. Watch the video;
2. Read the analysis in this speech critique;
3. Study the speech text in the complete transcript; and
4. Share your thoughts on this presentation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Speech Critique – I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Much of the greatness of this speech is tied to its historical context, a topic which goes beyond the scope of this article.

Instead, I’ll focus on five key lessons in speechwriting that we can extract from Martin Luther King’s most famous speech.

1. Emphasize phrases by repeating at the beginning of sentences
2. Repeat key “theme” words throughout your speech
3. Utilize appropriate quotations or allusions
4. Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments
5. Use metaphors to highlight contrasting concepts

Lesson #1: Emphasize Phrases by Repeating at the Beginning of Sentences

Anaphora (repeating words at the beginning of neighbouring clauses) is a commonly used rhetorical device. Repeating the words twice sets the pattern, and further repetitions emphasize the pattern and increase the rhetorical effect.

“I have a dream” is repeated in eight successive sentences, and is one of the most often cited examples of anaphora in modern rhetoric. But this is just one of eight occurrences of anaphora in this speech. By order of introduction, here are the key phrases:

• “One hundred years later…” [paragraph 3]
• “Now is the time…” [paragraph 6]
• “We must…” [paragraph 8]
• “We can never (cannot) be satisfied…” [paragraph 13]
• “Go back to…” [paragraph 14]
• “I Have a Dream…” [paragraphs 16 through 24]
• “With this faith, …” [paragraph 26]
• “Let freedom ring (from) …” [paragraphs 27 through 41]

Read those repeated phrases in sequence. Even in the absence of the remainder of the speech, these key phrases tell much of King’s story. Emphasis through repetition makes these phrases more memorable, and, by extension, make King’s story more memorable.

Lesson #2: Repeat Key “Theme” Words Throughout Your Speech

Repetition in forms like anaphora is quite obvious, but there are more subtle ways to use repetition as well. One way is to repeat key “theme” words throughout the body of your speech.

If you count the frequency of words used in King’s “I Have a Dream”, very interesting patterns emerge. The most commonly used noun is freedom, which is used twenty times in the speech. This makes sense, since freedom is one of the primary themes of the speech.

Other key themes? Consider these commonly repeated words:

• freedom (20 times)
• we (30 times), our (17 times), you (8 times)
• nation (10 times), america (5 times), american (4 times)
• justice (8 times) and injustice (3 times)
• dream (11 times)

“I Have a Dream” can be summarized in the view below, which associates the size of the word with its frequency.

Lesson #3: Utilize Appropriate Quotations or Allusions

Evoking historic and literary references is a powerful speechwriting technique which can be executed explicitly (a direct quotation) or implicitly (allusion).

You can improve the credibility of your arguments by referring to the (appropriate) words of credible speakers/writers in your speech. Consider the allusions used by Martin Luther King Jr.:

• “Five score years ago…” [paragraph 2] refers to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address speech which began “Four score and seven years ago…” This allusion is particularly poignant given that King was speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
• “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” [and the rest of paragraph 4] is a reference to the United States Declaration of Independence.
• Numerous Biblical allusions provide the moral basis for King’s arguments:
  • “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” [paragraph 2] alludes to Psalms 30:5 “For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.“
  • “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” [paragraph 8] evokes Jeremiah 2:13 “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.“
  • More biblical allusions from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech can be found here.

Lesson #4: Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments

Your speech is greatly improved when you provide specific examples which illustrate your logical (and perhaps theoretical) arguments.

One way that Martin Luther King Jr. accomplishes this is to make numerous geographic references throughout the speech:

• Mississippi, New York [paragraph 13]
• Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana [14]
• Georgia [18]
• Mississippi [19]
• Alabama [22]
• New Hampshire [32], New York [33], Pennsylvania [34], Colorado [35], California [36], Georgia [37], Tennessee [38], Mississippi [39]

Note that Mississippi is mentioned on four separate occasions. This is not accidental; mentioning Mississippi would evoke some of the strongest emotions and images for his audience.

Additionally, King uses relatively generic geographic references to make his message more inclusive:

• “slums and ghettos of our northern cities” [paragraph 14]
• “the South” [25]
• “From every mountainside” [40]
• “from every village and every hamlet” [41]

Lesson #5: Use Metaphors to Highlight Contrasting Concepts

Metaphors allow you to associate your speech concepts with concrete images and emotions.

To highlight the contrast between two abstract concepts, consider associating them with contrasting concrete metaphors. For example, to contrast segregation with racial justice, King evokes the contrasting metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of segregation) and sunlit path (of racial justice.)

• “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” [paragraph 2]
• “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” [3]
• “rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice” [6]
• “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” [7]
• “sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” [19]

How can you employ contrasting metaphors in your next speech?

Speech Transcript: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Note: The formatting has been added by me, not by MLK, to highlight words or phrases which are analyzed above.

[1] I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

[2] Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

[3] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

[4] In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

[5] But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

[6] We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

[7] It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

[8] But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

[9] The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

[10] We cannot walk alone.

[11] And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

[12] We cannot turn back.

[13] There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

[14] I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

[15] Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

[16] And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

[17]I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

[18] I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

[19] I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

[20] I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

[21] I have a dream today!

[22] I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

[23] I have a dream today!

[24] I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

[25] This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

[26] With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

[27] And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

[28] My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

[29] Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

[30] From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

[31] And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

[32] And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

[33] Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

[34] Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

[35] Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

[36] Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

[37] But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

[38] Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

[39] Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

[40] From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

[41] And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

[42] Free at last! Free at last!

[43] Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Similar Articles You May Like... Speech Analysis: Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln 5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech 2008 Election Night Speech Analysis – Obama and McCain How can you inspire your audience? Ask 10-year-old Dalton Sherman. Speech Critiques – McCain, Palin, Republican Convention 2008 Speech Critiques – Obama, Democratic Convention 2008

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Is fifth grader Dalton Sherman the next Barack Obama?

Of course, it’s far too early to tell, but that’s how he refers to himself in an interview on the Ellen show, where my wife first saw this extraordinary young man who can teach us all something about inspirational speaking.

This article reviews the keynote address at the Dallas Independent School District (D.I.S.D.) Teachers’ Conference delivered by a 5th grade student: 10-year-old Dalton Sherman from Charles Rice Learning Center.

This article is the latest in a series of video speech critiques which help you analyze and learn from excellent speeches.

View Dalton Sherman Speech Video

I encourage you to:

1. Watch the video;
2. Read the analysis in this speech critique; and
3. Share your thoughts on this presentation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Speech Critique — Dalton Sherman

This speech is remarkable for many reasons, including:

• Repetition of signature phrases
• Connecting personally with audience members
• Vocal variety which signals key statements
• Humor throughout
• The rule of three

These areas are discussed in the speech critique below.

Repetitive Refrain – “Do You Believe…”

Dalton repeats the signature phrase 11 times during his keynote speech. [Note that numbers in brackets refer to the time in the speech.] These lines emphasize the central theme that teachers and students need to believe in each other.

1. “Do you believe in me?” [0:43]
2. “Do you believe that I can stand up here fearless and talk to over 20,000 of you?” [0:51]
3. “Do you believe in me?” [1:12]
4. “Do you believe in my classmates?” [2:05]
5. “Do you believe that every single one of us can graduate ready for college or the workplace?” [2:15]
6. “Do you believe in your colleagues?” [4:32]
7. “Do you believe in yourself?” [5:50]
8. “Do you believe that what you’re doing is shaping not just my generation, but that of my children and my children’s children?” [6:01]
9. “Do you believe that every child in Dallas needs to be ready for college or the workplace?” [6:40]
10. “Do you believe that Dallas students can achieve?” [6:50]
11. “Do you believe in me?” [7:45]

On many occasions, this phrase follows a pause in delivery. By doing this, the repeated refrain also bookmarks the major divisions of the speech (the students, your colleagues, yourself, then back to students). This 4-part structure is highlighted in one of the lines near the end of the speech:

• “We need you to believe (1) in us, (2) in your colleagues, (3) in yourselves, and (4) in our goals.” [7:10]

More and More Repetition

Sherman uses other repetitive figures of speech. Among these, here are two of the most powerful:

• “I can do anything…
  be anything …
  create anything …
  dream anything …
  become anything …
  because you believe in me.” [1:28]

• “We need you” is repeated five separate times in the speech, making this a secondary theme (along with “Do you believe?”). [5:47, 6:34, 6:58, 7:02, 7:10]

Make it Personal

Sherman makes the speech personal by calling out specific groups within the massive audience. On every instance, his reference draws applause from that segment of the audience.

• Early in the speech, Dalton calls out personnel from his own school, Charles Rice Learning Center. [1:10]
• “Let me ask you a question, Dallas I.S.D.” (Dallas Independent School District) [1:55]
• He refers to several large geographic regions: Sunnyside Dallas [3:10], Pleasant Grove [3:20], Oak Cliff [3:25], North Dallas [3:35], West Dallas [3:38]
• Finally, he refers to the different educational roles in sequence. Nearly everyone in his audience should fall into one of these groups; the effect is that his message seems personal for everyone.
  “So whether you’re a councilor, or a librarian, a teacher’s assistant, or work in the front office, whether you serve up meals in the cafeteria, or help keep the halls clean, or whether you’re a teacher or a principal… we need you.” [5:15]

Lower and Slower Voice to Emphasize Key Points

Dalton Sherman delivers most of his speech with a loud and energetic voice. However, on four different occasions, he slows down and lowers his voice to deliver key points. This vocal variety is a signal to the audience that important words are coming, and the lines become more memorable as a result.

1. “… is to believe that we can reach our highest potential.” [2:55]
2. “As you know, in some cases, you’re all we’ve got.” [3:50]
3. “… who love us when sometimes it feels like noone else does.” [4:10]
4. “If you don’t believe — well, I’m not going there.” [7:22]

Humor Both Implicit and Explicit

The premise of this speech — a 10-year-old fifth grader giving the keynote address at a teachers conference — seems wonderfully absurd, and this fact alone provides much implicit humor in the speech. Numerous audience outbursts testify to their enjoyment.

In addition, Dalton’s speech includes a couple explicitly humorous lines:

• “You better, because next week, we’re all showing up in your schools — all 157,000 of us.” [2:32]
• “We all know, that sometimes, we kids can make it tough.” [5:00]

Rule of Three

The classic speechwriting Rule of Three technique is present a couple times in this speech:

• “You’re the ones who feed us,
  who wipe our tears,
  who hold our hands or hug us when we need it.” [4:00]
• “Believe in them.
  Trust them.
  And lean on them when times get tough.” [4:50] (refers to colleagues)

Did Dalton Sherman write this? Was he coached?

The speechwriter? As pointed out by this Dallas Morning News article, school district officials wrote the speech. The full speech text is also available here.

The coach? The article also reveals that Dalton was coached by his parents and an oratory coach from his school for several months. His preparations involved delivering the speech three times a week at his family’s church.

For these reasons, some Internet critics attack Dalton Sherman, suggesting that he’s a puppet reciting someone else’s words.

What do you think? I think this underscores how good you can be if you devote yourself to consistent practice and obtain speech coaching.

Although the delivery of some lines is choppy (which indicates memorized, but unnatural text), the majority of the speech is wonderfully delivered. As the video demonstrates, Dalton nails most of the choreographed body language, and he receives loud applause from his audience.

As just one example of this young man’s personal speaking strength, consider the opening to his speech. Despite standing before 20,000 while delivering this keynote address, Dalton Sherman still has the presence to wait for applause to die down before beginning [0:30 - 0:39]. Many adults have the tendency to talk over the audience applause, but he avoids this temptation. This a testament to the courage of this remarkable young man, and demonstrates that he has considerable talent.

Dalton Sherman on Ellen: “… the next Obama”

Here’s the appearance of Dalton Sherman on the Ellen show.

When asked what he wants to do when he grows up, Dalton responds that he wants to be a news reporter and “the next Obama.” Aim high, young man!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dalton Sherman on Oprah

Update — After this Six Minutes article was originally published, Dalton Sherman appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in an episode seeking to highlight some of the world’s smartest and most talented kids.

What did you think?

I’d love to hear your opinion on Dalton Sherman’s keynote speech.

If you are a teacher or have a career working with youth, does this speech inspire you? Does the speech achieve its goal as the keynote address at a school district conference to start the year?

Similar Articles You May Like... Video Critique: J.A. Gamache (Toastmasters, 2007) Speech Critique: Steve Jobs (Stanford, 2005) Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) Video Critique: Al Gore (TED, 2006) Critique: Lessig Method Presentation Style (Dick Hardt, Identity 2.0, OSCON 2005) Speech Critique: Elizabeth Gilbert @ TED (Author of Eat, Pray, Love)

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Do you write your speeches with encyclopedic diction?

Do you draw your speechwriting inspiration from legal documents?

Technical writing, essays, financial reports, and legal writings all have their place — but none of them belong in your speechwriting.

Speeches which use simple, conversational language are more enjoyable to listen to, easier to follow, and more likely to be remembered.

The fourth Toastmasters speech project guides you to use simple, but descriptive language in your speeches. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

Why is This Speech Important?

The aims for this speech project focus on your selection of words and phrases:

• Choose words and grammar which communicate clearly.
• Choose words and grammar which appeal to the senses.
• Eliminate jargon.

Tips and Techniques

1. Choose Descriptive or Story-based Topics

Any topic can work, but to flex your speechwriting muscles, choose a topic which lends itself to vivid descriptions. Speeches based around stories or experiences will challenge you to select words and phrases to transport your audience from their chairs to the setting where your speech takes place.

2. Use Sensory Language

Make your audience see what you see, feel what you feel, taste what you taste, smell what you smell, and hear what you hear. In short, draw upon all five senses to create a completely immersive description. Transport your audience to a movie theatre by describing:

• Sight: the dizzying special effects of the martial arts scene
• Smell: the wafting aroma of buttered popcorn
• Sound: the booming surround-sound effects which made you jump from your seat
• Taste: the sweet licorice Twizzlers which melt in your mouth
• Touch: the claustrophobic squeeze of your knees pressed into the seatback in front of you

3. Use Repetition Wisely

Repetition of phrases throughout a paragraph, and repetition of sentences throughout your speech make your speech memorable. Wrap your speech around a signature phrase.

4. Avoid Topics About Words or Language

I often see Toastmasters choosing topics for project 4 which are about words or some other aspect of language, like poetry or figures of speech. For example, both Barren Words and Metaphors (by Oleg) and Swearing (by Andrew E. Scott) are very interesting speeches with language themes.

However, I recommend against choosing this type of topic. Rather than talking about words, let the focus be on your use of words, phrases, and grammar. Similarly, for project 5 (your body speaks), you should choose a topic that allows you to use your body, not a topic that is about body language. Further, in project 8 (get comfortable with visual aids), you will learn more by using visual aids to enhance your message rather than talking about projectors or flip charts.

What I Did for Speech 4

I wanted to choose a topic that would allow me to employ sensory words, so I elected to speak about my recipe for barbecued hamburgers.

The title of my speech was Recipe for Love, although it came to be known by its signature phrase (“the Meat, the Method, and the Merge”).

Speech Organization

The speech was organized quite simply around the burger preparation process:

• Introduction — I introduced the topic by placing it in the context of things which had been said the previous week and were thus familiar to the audience.
• The Meat — Preparation of the burger patties
• The Method — Cooking the patties
• The Merge — Combining the patties with the bun, “fixings”, and condiments
• Conclusion — Quick summary which restated the signature phrase in the speech.

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices employed in this speech:

• Alliteration: “tasty tips”, “brilliant barbecued burgers”, “the meat, the method, and the merge”, “personally prepared patties”, “manufacturing a mouthwatering masterpiece for your mate”
• Repetition: “the meat, the method, the merge” was used throughout the speech

Sensory words and phrases

I deliberately crafted the speech so that it would appeal to all five senses:

• Sight — “could cause flames to shoot up, enveloping your burgers”, “pleasing cross-hatch pattern”, “feast for the eyes as well as the palette”
• Smell — “The spiced butter will start to percolate through the meat and will release aromas that will make you the envy of the neighborhood”
• Sound — “you’ll hear the pleasing crackle of the barbecue”
• Taste — “spicy butter mixture”, “crisp lettuce, ripe tomato, onions with pop, sweet pickles, chili peppers, smoky bacon”
• Touch — “take each patty in the palm of your hand, and press down forming a valley”, “massage the patty into a pleasing thickness and shape”

Topic Ideas for Toastmasters Speech 4

Example #1

The Impossible Task by Sara Piaskowy (written)

• Alliteration: “The task seems impossible, insurmountable, the idea is incomprehensible!”, “Sometimes it is staccato, sometimes smooth”
• Repetition: “smell” repeatedly (see below), “Now I LOVE mangos. Love in capital letters L.O.V.E. mangos.”; “I have learned how…” used in three consecutive sentences; “Burkina Faso has…” in four consecutive sentences near the conclusion.
• Simile: “the time like sand slipping through the hour glass”, “hit you like a brick wall”, “the strength and intensity of the heat makes you feel like the sun has come unhinged and is on a trajectory path headed straight towards you”
• Metaphor: “colors that can lift even the saddest of moods”
• Sensory phrases
  • Sight — “a river of motos zooming past”, “Ruffles and feathers and zigzag hem lines”
  • Sound — descriptions of music, “when there is no music… the sound of the language is what is entrancing”, “sing song, up and down, loud and soft quality to what I hear”
  • Touch — descriptions of dry, reddish dust everywhere; extreme heat
  • Smell — “there are several types of smells; there are rancid smells, urine smells, the smell of garbage, a body odor smell, dried fish smells, and don’t forget the smell of exhaust or the unpleasant odor of burning plastic which somehow wafts through your house unannounced.”
  • Taste — mangoes and other fruits, rice with red sauce, etc.

Example #2

1, 2, 3… Full stop! by Shrilatha Putthi (written)

• Repetition — “3-speech Toastmaster” is repeated many times in the speech; “nightmarish nightmare”
• Similes — too many to list (how many did you find?). Many go culturally beyond my North American roots, but one must remember that Shrilatha’s audience would be quite familiar with these cultural references.
• Alliteration — “tormenting truth”; “fun and frolic”; “gloriously grand gold”
• Triad (several are alliterative too) — “dejected, disgusted, and devastated”; “enjoyment, excitement, entertainment”; “I was, I am, and I will be…”

Example #3

Get Your Motor Running by Karen Woodson (video)

• Simile: “hit me like a ton of bricks” [0:57]
• Sound: “and then the powerful statement ‘Gentlemen, Start your engines’ is announced over the loud roar of the audience” [1:25]
• Sight: “a night race when the lights reflect off the shiny paint” [2:25]; numerous references to flags of different colors flying
• Triad: “bone-jarring, teeth-gnashing, wheel-spinning crash” [4:05]
• Alliteration and Triad: “covered in confetti and either champagne, coca-cola, or gatorade” [5:55]
• Another descriptive phrase: “as the rubber burns… roar of the engines… only during ‘cautions’ do the crowds relax enough to sit down” [3:35];

Example #4

The House on Silver Spring Lake by Leena Oh (video)

The opening paragraph embodies the goals of this project wonderfully. Fifty-nine words, and Leena uses sensory phrases which draw upon all five senses:

Imagine waking up in the morning, the sun streaming through the pine branches into your bedroom window (sight). You hear birds chirping (sound), and woodpeckers tapping for their breakfasts (sound). It’s chilly, so you try to stay in the warmth of your covers (touch) as long as possible, but you can’t resist the smell of breakfast and coffee (smell) drifting up from the kitchen.

Further, note that of those 59 words, only three have more than two syllables: imagine, woodpeckers, and possible.

More Examples of How to Say It

Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you.

Written Speech Examples

• The Brain is Our Universe by Edwin Vinas
  Edwin provides a detailed analysis of his goals for the speech, and the audience reactions he hoped to provoke. This analysis includes a review of the rhetorical devices he employs.
• My Uncle Dinny by Séamus McInerney
  Filled with sensory phrases. e.g. “We would have tea stretched out before the cream coloured range. I can still smell the turf fire and hear the big clock ticking as it always did.“
• The Greatest Thing I’ve Done by Noryfel Bien
  The opening is especially strong for two reasons: 1) It darts through a series of descriptive experiences that are easily visualized. 2) It uses repetition effectively. “I haven’t” and “I’m not” are used multiple times before the key transition phrase “I am a teacher” which leads into the body of the speech.
• Are you getting the most out of your chocolate by Lu
  The choice of topic allows numerous taste, smell, and touch sensory phrases.
• Fueling the Cooking by Les Aquino
• Apocalypse Now by Nitesh Luthra
• You’re What You Eat for Your Breakfast by Amit Bhatnagar
• The Key to Understanding Me by comment dit-on

Video Speech Examples

• How to Keep a Conversation Going by Jason McGarva
• People Who Have Inspired Me by Pa Toastmasters member
• Why Skill Based Play is Good by Paul Miller
• Unknown by Capital Communicators member
• Kindergarten by Michelle Cohen
• Say Cheese by Sherry Lu
• Our Motivations by Eric Brown
• Unknown by Deepak Mittal
• Unknown by Daniel Habedank
• China is My Future by Beau
• The Decline of the U.S. Dollar by Elie Ishag
• Goodbye by Zeki Yimdirim
• How to eat during the holidays by Mary Ann
• The Art of Communication by Shenequa Mitchell
• The Language of Play by Emilie Staryak
• Profits of the Journey by Rosetta Ishag
• So Many Topics, So Little Time by John Armstrong
• The Endangered Species Act by Elizabeth Guzman
• Where Words Can Lead You by Arnie Buss
• Unknown by Tom Wilson

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series

The next article in this series examines Toastmasters Speech 5: Your Body Speaks.

Similar Articles You May Like... Toastmasters Speech 3: Get to the Point Speech Preparation #6: Add Impact with Rhetorical Devices Speech Analysis: Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln Speech Critique: Elizabeth Gilbert @ TED (Author of Eat, Pray, Love) Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

The previous article in the Speech Preparation Series showed you how to edit your speech for focus, clarity, and concision.

However, your speech can be focused, clear, and concise and still lack vitality.

If your speech is void of rhetorical devices, it is like a painting void of color.

On all technical points, a black and white sketch might clearly be a woman smiling, or group of men having a meal, but without color, it’s not the Mona Lisa or The Last Supper.

With many examples, this article demonstrates how you can inject rhetorical devices into your speech during the editing process.

Writing for Impact and Beauty

The study of rhetoric provides speechwriters with numerous rhetorical devices. When you use these devices, your presentations will be more impactful (easier to remember) as well as more beautiful (more pleasurable to listen to).

Of the very large number of rhetorical devices, we’ll investigate three types in this article:

1. Devices which involve sounds (often with repetition)
   e.g. alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia
2. Devices which involve repetition of words, phrases, or ideas (often with parallelism)
   e.g. anaphora
3. Devices which change the usual meaning of words
   e.g. metaphors, similes

Many other devices not discussed here are worthy of study:

• Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric
• Wikipedia: Figures of Speech

1. Rhetorical Devices: Sound

Sound-based rhetorical devices add a poetic melody to speeches. Not surprisingly, the net effect is that speeches are more pleasurable to listen to. Three of the most common forms are:

• alliteration — repetition of the same sound at the beginning of nearby words
  e.g. “what my wife wanted”, “her husband has had”
• assonance — repetition of the same vowel sound in nearby words
  e.g. “how now brown cow”
• onomatopoeia — a word which imitates the sound of itself
  e.g. “buzz”, “whoosh”, “meow”

2. Rhetorical Devices: Repetition of Words or Ideas

Two common forms involve repetition in successive clauses or sentences.

• anaphora — repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses or sentences
  e.g. Winston Churchill

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, [... many more ...] We shall never surrender.”

• epistrophe — repetition of a word or phrase a the end of successive clauses or sentences
  e.g. Emerson

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us.”

Repetition is a powerful technique used in other ways as well.

• Repetition is commonly used for emphasis.
• Repeating a word or phrase in different parts of the speech helps the audience make connections as if you were sewing your speech elements together with a thread.

3. Rhetorical Devices which change word meanings

Three common rhetorical devices by which words can take on new meanings are:

• Personification — giving human qualities to abstract ideas, inanimate objects, plants, or animals
  e.g. “The trees called out to me.”
• Metaphor — a comparison of two seemingly unlike things
  e.g. “Life is a highway.”
• Simile — same as metaphor, but using either “like” or “as”
  e.g. “Life is like a box of chocolates.”

These rhetorical devices, along with related concepts such as symbolism and analogies, are often the essence of storytelling as an effective means of communication.

Speech Critiques Showing Impact from Rhetorical Devices

Two of the speeches I previously critiqued are rich in the use of rhetorical devices:

• J.A. Gamache: Being a Mr. G. (Toastmasters, 2007)
• Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish (Stanford, 2005)

Why bother? I’m not a Greek orator

It’s true that your business colleagues may look at you funny if you deliver your next project status report sounding like Martin Luther King. While you may want to limit your use of these techniques a bit, don’t discount them entirely. Rhetorical devices in a business context are powerful. For example:

• Metaphors and analogies are excellent tools for explaining new concepts or new visions for your company.
• Repetition in a set of slides can be used to emphasize key results or recommendations.
• Devices like alliteration can be employed for slogans, mantras, etc.

Rhetorical Devices Example — Face the Wind

Below is one of the final drafts of my 2007 contest speech Face the Wind. Unlike the example shown in the previous article, the words highlighted are the result of many editing iterations, not just one.

• The left column has the speech text.
• The right column has a description of rhetorical devices used in the corresponding passage.

Key to Color-Coding

In addition to comments, I have provided color-coding for a few of the more commonly used rhetorical devices.

• Red marks alliteration.
  
• Green marks local repetition.
• Blue marks references to two phrases used throughout the speech: “strong roots” and “face the wind”.

Next in the Speech Preparation Series

Now that you have completed writing and editing your speech (for now), the next step is bringing it to life off the page. The next article shows you how to choreograph your speech with vocal variety, gestures, and staging.

Similar Articles You May Like... Toastmasters Speech 4: How to Say It Speech Preparation #5: Six Power Principles for Speech Editing Speech Preparation #4: Wrestling Writer’s Block to Write the First Draft Speech Preparation #1: How to Prepare a Presentation Speech Analysis: Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln 8 Speechwriting Lessons You Can Learn from Songwriters

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

This video critique analyzes many noteworthy elements of the presentation, including:

• a memorable speech opening and closing which feature the same prop;
• the callback technique for repetitive humor;
• emotionally charged writing; and
• a series of wonderfully choreographed gestures.

I encourage you to:

1. Watch the video;
2. Read the analysis in this speech critique; and
3. Share your thoughts on this presentation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Effective Prop for Strong Opening

J.A. opens his speech by blowing a train whistle and yelling “All aboard!” [0:30] This may be the greatest impact in the opening four seconds of a speech I’ve ever seen. It is simple and quick, but it transports the audience out of their chairs in a ballroom and onto a train.

Also note how J.A. expertly conceals the prop before its use (in his left hand, so that he could shake hands with his right), and then immediately pockets it afterwards. This is a good lesson: display the prop only when you are specifically using it. You don’t want the audience’s attention on the prop anymore, so don’t hold onto it, fidget with it, or leave it anywhere in view.

(Effective Prop for) Strong Closing

J.A. closes the speech exactly as he opened it: blowing the train whistle and yelling “All aboard!” This is wonderfully circular, and symbolically tells the audience not only that the speech is complete, but that we have neatly returned back to where we started.

Immediately preceding the whistle, J.A. says: “In the train of life, the world needs more Mr. and Mrs. G’s like you.” This is a well-crafted call to action for several reasons:

• metaphor (“train of life“)
• simile (“like“)
• personalized for audience (“you”)

“Mr. G.” – A Contemporary Hero

When first used in the speech title, “Mr. G.” creates mystery in the minds of the audience. Who is Mr. G.? The use of “mister” implies that it is someone J.A. respects (i.e. Mr. G. rather than simply G.), but that is a subtle clue.

Later, after the true identity is revealed, J.A. continues to use “Mr. G.” I think this gives the hero a more contemporary quality. This makes Gandhi seem more like a next-door neighbour than a great man who (to the audience) lived around the world in a faraway land sixty years ago. The word choice is an effective way to bridge the distance – in time, geography, culture, context – between the life of the hero and the lives of the audience members.

Repetition of Key Phrases

“Awww. How sweeeeet.”

• Three repetitions. J.A. first uses this phrase following the story of Gandhi and the two sandals [1:51]. He repeats it during the stories of giving shoes to a homeless person [2:33] and dancing with the hearing impaired crowd [5:00].
• J.A. uses virtually the same vocal variety and gesture every time.
• He gets a little laughter on the first use, and much more laughter on subsequent uses. This is not accidental. The callback technique creates a psychological connection between each use. Essentially, G.A. created a lightweight conditioned response for the audience to laugh whenever he used that phrase and that gesture.

“Dare to care.”

• Five repetitions. First used with “Gandhi dared to care.” [2:08] Used again at 2:43, 2:48, 5:05, and in the conclusion at 7:28.
• In all cases, this phrase is followed by a longer-than-average pause to indicate its importance.
• This is the signature phrase of the speech. “Dare to care” would have been a suitable title for the speech, although I prefer the title J.A. used for the mystery it created.

Emotionally Powerful

“Dance with me.
And we danced.
At last we understood each other.
Not a word was spoken.
Yet we were not silent anymore.
Our joy roared louder than a thousand voices.
Some words erupted from my heart.
I couldn’t hold them anymore.
I yelled.” [4:22]

These words and the complementary gestures – the foot beating the stage and dancing around – combine to create the most emotional moment in the speech. J.A. is marvelous in this segment:

• His dance and gestures draw the audience in.
• The vocal variety creates building excitement.
• Note the short sentences in this segment: nine sentences with just 44 words (less than 5 words/sentence). The short, simple sentences complement the up-tempo rhythmic beat of his feet.

Rich Figures of Speech

There are many other examples of clever speechwriting as well:

• Double meaning. “Just chatting…[pause] So to speak.” [3:24]
  The latter phrase – So to speak – has a double meaning here:
  1. Its usual meaning – to draw attention to the understatement preceding it. (To say that hearing impaired people just chat is an understatement.)
  2. In this case, the understatement is about speaking. This double meaning is apt to be particularly appreciated in an audience of public speakers.
• Simile. “My brain started melting like ice cream in a heat wave.” [5:32]
• Vivid exaggeration. “Sweat … pooled in my shoes.” [5:34] Later, this is followed by “I slushed back to my seat.” [5:52]
• Repeated word.
  • “Confused… Confused…” [5:39]
  • “Thank you. Yes, you. You. You. All of you!” [6:58] Audiences like to be complimented, as long as you are sincere as J.A. is in this segment.
  • “You.” J.A. uses this word 38 times (including derivatives “your” and “yourself”). The entire speech has 718 words. Over 5% of the words in the speech are explicitly audience-focused. The concentration of “you” words is especially high in the opening and conclusion.
• Anaphora and the Rule of Three.
  “A sandal of hope when you reach out.
  A sandal of joy when you listen to your heart.
  A sandal of courage when you dare to care.” [7:13]
  The first two are accompanied by great gestures. The third gesture is interesting, though I’m not certain what it is meant to represent.

Expressive Gestures

J.A.’s use of body language in this speech was masterful. He demonstrates that gestures should not be random, or an afterthought. Gestures should be carefully crafted to complement and punctuate the words being spoken (or, occasionally, to express ideas in the absence of words). With gestures, he is able to express numerous emotions and ideas throughout his speech. In addition to those already mentioned, there are several more:

• Pride. “You are wearing a pair of sandals you proudly made yourself” complemented by glancing down at sandals with pride. [0:50]
• Motion. “The train starts to pull away” complemented by backwards walking (to the left). His movement makes it seem as though the stage is moving off to the right. [1:02]
• Displeasure. “I would have cursed my bad luck…” complemented by stomping around on stage and “sour puss” facial features. [1:09]
• Recalling a memory. “Big deal. It’s just a pair of sandals.” complemented by a gesture to the stage location where the sandals were removed earlier. [2:15]
• Bravery. “I jumped on the loudspeaker” complemented by a lateral jump to the left. [3:50]
• (Lack of) Physical fitness. “Well, actually, I climbed on the loudspeaker” complemented by cradling his stomach. [3:55]
• Yelling. Waving arms above his head. [4:00]
• Slow motion. Compare the waving of arms @ 4:15 to the earlier waving of arms @ 4:00. The latter gesture is much slower. This contrast shows that that latter waves were more deliberate, more heartfelt.
• Drum vibrations. Tapping of foot on stage to mimic the beating of a drum was masterful. [4:22]
• Sign language. “We love you too.” complemented by sign language. This is far more effective than simply saying “They signed back that they loved me too” without actions. [4:50]
• Nervous and confused. “Boy! Was I nervous! My heart was pounding…” complemented by various nervous gestures. [5:21]

Your Thoughts?

Did you enjoy this speech? What did you like most? How could this presentation be enhanced? Was the evaluation fair? Did I miss anything?

Similar Articles You May Like... Speech Critique: Steve Jobs (Stanford, 2005) Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) Video Critique: Al Gore (TED, 2006) Critique: Lessig Method Presentation Style (Dick Hardt, Identity 2.0, OSCON 2005) How can you inspire your audience? Ask 10-year-old Dalton Sherman. 5 Presentation Lessons from Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

The style and content are very different from his Apple product launch presentations, but no less worthy of study.

Noteworthy elements of this wonderful speech include:

• strong opening;
• simple classical structure;
• the Rule of Three;
• rich figures of speech; and
• a recurring theme of birth/death/rebirth.

My suggestion is to:

1. Watch the video.
2. Read the analysis below.
3. If you like, read the full speech text to gain further insights.
4. Share your thoughts on this presentation. What did you like? What could have been done better?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Strong opening: Praise the audience and show some humility

Jobs opens with a compliment for the audience: “I am honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.” He follows that by showing humility in admitting that he never graduated college. In just a few sentences, he has made the audience feel very good about themselves, and increased their receptiveness to his message.

Conversational Style

Contrast “Steven Wozniak and I started Apple” with “Woz and I started Apple.”

• The former is formal, and invokes an image of two entrepreneurs who founded Apple.
• The latter is conversational, and invokes an image of two close friends. Jobs chooses a conversational style, and this is a wise choice. His audience is composed of college graduates for whom graduation often means diverging paths from their close friends.

Simple structure and sentences

Jobs adopts a simple and traditional structure. Opening >> Three stories >> Conclusion. He guides the audience through the 14.5 minutes with simple sentences.

• “Today I want to tell you three stories.“
• “The first story is about connecting the dots.“
• “My second story is about love and loss.“
• “My third story is about death.“

Pauses and Timing

Jobs executes effective pauses before and particularly after key points to allow the audience time to digest his points.

• For example, he concludes his first story with an apparent reference to Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken: “even when it leads you off the well-worn path… and that will make all the difference.” This is followed by a full six seconds of silence. (5:16 – 5:22)

This speech is littered with humour, but I felt the comedic delivery was a bit lacking. Perhaps this was intentional – was his goal to imitate an academic orator? Regardless, the timing was off on several punch lines.

• For example, consider his delivery of “I didn’t even know what a pancreas was.” (10:07) The line is delivered with only a hint of emphasis and barely any pausing before or after. I would have liked more. This is a particularly tense moment in the speech, and the audience would benefit from stress-relieving laughter.
• A minute and a half later, he does a better job of injecting humour in the midst of a serious point: “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there.” (11:40) The timing is better here.

Rule of Three

Jobs structures his speech around three main points, and he applies the Rule of Three in many sentences and paragraphs.

• “I learned [1] about serif and san serif typefaces, [2] about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, [3] about what makes great typography great.” (3:39)
• “It was [1] beautiful, [2] historical, [3] artistically subtle…” (3:47)
• “... [1] started a company named NeXT, [2] another company named Pixar, [3] and fell in love…” (7:16) Jobs follows this up with three sentences which demonstrate how each of those turned out great.
• “[1] all external expectations, [2] all pride, [3] all fear” (9:33)
• “[1] It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. [2] It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. [3] It means to say your goodbyes.” (10:28).
• “… [1] don’t waste it living someone else’s life. [2] Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. [3] Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” (12:18)

Several of those (marked in bold) are additionally examples of anaphora – repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.

Figures of Speech Abound

Jobs employs numerous figures of speech in his remarks.

• An antithesis (or antitheton) is a figure of speech using the juxtaposition of contrasting words, often in a parallel structure. Jobs uses several well-crafted examples:
  • “If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in…” (4:34)
  • “Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” (4:40)
  • “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again…” (7:05) Note also the alliteration of “being a beginner.”
  • “…Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.” (11:55)
• Parallelism (and another example of anaphora): “… that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.” (1:38)
• Anadiplosis (repeating a phrase from the end of one sentence at the beginning of the next): “the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” (8:15) This example is effective, but rather loose due to the repetition of “the only way to.”
• Assonance (repetition of vowel sounds): “And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” (9:18)
• Repetition. In addition to the many examples highlighted previously, Jobs concludes his speech by repeating “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” three times. Repetition adds strength to key arguments, especially in a conclusion.

Recurring Commencement Themes: Birth, Death, and Rebirth

In a literal sense, Jobs talks about his birth in his first story, and about confronting death in his third story. However, this speech contains numerous other metaphorical references to these “circle of life” concepts:

• In addition to his physical birth, he relates how the original couple decided they wanted a girl (a symbolic “death” since his life with them was “snuffed out” due to gender). He then tells about how he experienced “rebirth” with his parents.
• His college career had a short “life.” The “death” of his formal academic career made way for the “birth” of his informal learning process.
• His relationship to Apple (in his 20′s) was “born”, grew, and then “died.” Later, when NeXT was purchased by Apple, his career at Apple is reborn.
• He uses the word “renaissance” (a rebirth or revival) to describe the current state of Apple.
• He receives the cancer diagnosis (a “death sentence”), but later is saved by an operation (a rebirth).
• The Whole Earth Catalog. Stewart Brand “brought it to life“, and “then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue.”

Interspersed with these stories, Jobs repeatedly ties it back to his audience. This is particularly clear in the conclusion when he relates these metaphors to his college audience one last time with “as you graduate to begin anew.”

Your Thoughts?

Did you enjoy this speech? What did you like from a public speaking perspective? How could this presentation be enhanced?

Similar Articles You May Like... Video Critique: J.A. Gamache (Toastmasters, 2007) Video Critique: Al Gore (TED, 2006) Critique: Lessig Method Presentation Style (Dick Hardt, Identity 2.0, OSCON 2005) Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) How can you inspire your audience? Ask 10-year-old Dalton Sherman. Speech Critique: Elizabeth Gilbert @ TED (Author of Eat, Pray, Love)

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

This was a fantastic presentation worthy of study. There is much to be learned from analyzing what Gore did well, and what he could have done better.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Humorous Opening Segment

The first six minutes of this sixteen-minute speech are devoted to establishing rapport with the audience. Gore does this with several humorous observations and stories.

Tamsen Salvador writes:

Whether you love him or hate him, Al Gore will make you laugh out loud. No kidding!

Kate Trgovac observes (and laments):

After a wry and witty bit of stand-up (Al, where was this passion, charisma and personality during the 2000 campaign?!?!), Gore got down to brass tacks.

Remarks like those from Kate are echoed often when people view this video. Let’s take a closer look at the techniques employed by Gore in this opening segment.

• By my count, he gets nineteen laughs from the audience during this time (@ 0:54, 1:01, 1:11, 1:17, 1:30, 1:54, 2:00, 2:12, 2:18, 2:55, 3:02, 3:12, 4:27, 5:05, 5:11, 5:22, 5:26, 5:37, 5:48).
• Primarily self-depracating humour. Not only is this form of humour generally safe, but this humanizes Gore effectively.
• Storytelling! I love it.
• Lots of smiles.
• Delivery and comedic timing is superb.
• Vocal variety is fantastic in several impersonations:
  • Restaurant customer: “He’s come down a long way…”
  • Man on runway: “Call Washington! Call Washington!”
  • News reporter voice.
  • Bill Clinton: “Congratulations…”
• Gore is holding the slide remote during this entire opening sequence, despite not using it once. Why? Holding objects (e.g. remotes, pens, papers, props) can limit mobility to use arm gestures, so he would have been better off picking up the remote only when he needed to use it.

The Fifteen Call-to-Action Slides

A set of 15 text slides forms the core of the presentation. The text of these slides is reproduced here (coloring inspired by Ferry Simatupang):

1. Reduce emissions from your home energy use (better design, insulation, green electricity)
2. Reduce emissions from your car and other transportation (buy a hybrid, light rail, carpool, biking)
3. Buy the most energy-efficient appliances and other products. Be a green consumer.
4. Live a “carbon neutral” life. It’s easier than you think. Reduce; then offset the rest.
5. To find out how, go to: www.climatecrisis.net Use the carbon calculator.
6. Then make your BUSINESS Carbon Neutral. (It’s not as hard as you think.)
7. Then, whether you work in the T, E, or D — INTEGRATE climate solutions into all your innovations.
8. Invest sustainably — in companies and funds that are part of the solution.
9. Become a catalyst for change in your community. Teach others about the Climate Crisis.
10. Raise awareness by promoting “An Inconvenient Truth” in your community.
11. Send someone to Nashville who can learn how to give my slide show in your community.
12. Become politically active – Speak up! Contact your elected officials! Make our Democracy work!
13. Urge the U.S. to join the rest of the world community in capping and trading carbon emissions.
14. Help with the mass persuasion campaign when it is launched this Spring.
15. Let’s call it the “Climate Crisis” It really is a “Planetary Emergency”

Highlight colors. What is the symbolism for the use of green and red here? I cannot figure it out. I thought perhaps green was going to indicate environment friendly phrases, and red the opposite. But, that relationship isn’t used consistently. I think it would have been better to stick to one highlight color.

Text-only slides. This presentation follows one that Gore gave to the same audience earlier in the conference which was highly visual, so I suppose it balances out. Still, audiences prefer more visuals and less reading from the slides.

Tornado slide transition effect. Why was the bizarre swirling effect used to lead into each of the 15 main slides? Perhaps the letters magically falling into place is a metaphor to show how some complex theories are leading to some simple actions? It’s possible, but that isn’t the impression I had.

A better alternative? He’s trying to convince the audience that there are very simple actions they can take. Yet, there’s this complex set of letters flying around the screen that looks anything but simple. A simple appear or wipe effect would have been cleaner.

“Teach others. Learn about it. Talk about it.” (Slide 9) I particularly liked this slide. Simple and effective. A clear call-to-action within a set of calls-to-action.

Audience Awareness and Interaction

T, E, and D. Slide 7 directly references the Technology, Entertainment, and Design groups in the audience. The best presentations are customized for the audience, and Gore demonstrates this.

Ask for Help. Gore asks for help twice from “those of you who are good at branding.” Techniques like this help create a conversation rather than a presentation.

Contextual Ad-libbing. Gore refers to Larry Lessig and other speakers from the conference. This reinforces that he’s not just giving a speech. He is part of the shared experience (the conference) just as he hopes the audience will be part of the shared solution (climate).

Asking a Question with Purpose. Gore asks: “How many people here serve on the Board of Directors of a corporation?” (14:20) Many hands go up. This is textbook audience interaction, but many speakers stop there. Instead, a few seconds later (14:25), he follows up with: “You will have legal liability if you do not urge your CEO…” The emphasis here on you is made more powerful with the earlier question which prompted many audience members to raise their hands. (i.e. “Oh, I raised my hand… when he says YOU, he must mean ME.”)

Other Observations

Unnecessarily complex language. Recapitulate is the only one I caught. Gore otherwise uses fairly simple, easily understood language.

“Killer app.” (8:45) “CCS is going to become the killer app” Is this phrase mainstream? Or is this more readily understood in technology circles? I liked it, but I have a technical background. It might not be as effective in other audiences.

Failed humour. (7:05): “I know that you wanted some more bad news about the environment.” It seems like he’s looking for laughs here, but doesn’t get any. He also doesn’t get a laugh on his follow-up line: “I’m kidding”. It was reassuring to know that his humour wasn’t all perfect. He demonstrates good technique by not dwelling on the failed joke. He just moves on.

Inconsistent phrases. He uses “It is easier than you think” and then later “It’s not as hard as you think.” Consistency would be better, considering this phrase is one of the key take-home messages from his presentation.

Left hand in his pocket. I suppose one could argue that this adds to a very conversational style. Nonetheless, I don’t like it because if his hand is in his pocket, then it isn’t readily available to punctuate his words with gestures.

Not political? (15:47) “This is not a political issue… We are one.” I agree that it isn’t political, but Gore’s words and gestures are sending mixed messages.

• He gestures to the audience’s right when he refers to Republicans. He gestures left for Democrats. When you’re trying to take politics out of it, perhaps it is better not to reinforce this left-right polarity?
• Earlier in his opening, he takes a crack at the current Republican administration: “What in the world could be wrong in Washington. [pause] I remembered it could be a bunch of things.” If he truly wants to remove the politics from the situation (and I believe he does), partisan jokes should be removed. He’s clearly capable of delivering humour which is safer.

Repetition makes for memorable phrases. (~11:44). “People do what you pay them to do.” Great line, with repetition of “do“. This is followed shortly by: “…based on the short term returns, you’re going to get short term decisions.” Again, repetition of words “short term ” makes for a memorable phrase. Great energy in this segment.

Oops. (14:41) “The market will work to solve this problem” (turn to screen, pause, then turn back to audience) “… if… if we can accomplish this.” The slight glitch in delivery here weakened this point. I’m glad I’m not the only one to botch lines once in a while.

Emotional peak. (~14:50) The segment ending with “we have to buy a lot of those ads” felt like the emotional peak of the presentation. Gore is emphatic with his voice, his facial expressions, and his gestures. I loved the emotion in this segment.

Other Opinions

Loïc Le Meur:

Al Gore gave a mind blowing speech…

Bruno Guissani:

It shows both the “old” Gore – lecturing us about global warming with depth of knowledge and intensity – as well as the “new” Gore that many seem to have discovered only recently – funny and passionate and convincingly authentic.

Finally, here is just one of many comments from TED participants, many who witnessed the presentation live. [If you ever doubt what effect one presentation lasting 16 minutes can have, read all of these comments.]

My wife and I came to TED uncertain about Al Gore and not thrilled to hear him. He seemed fake to us in the national political election he had gone through. His presentation profoundly changed our view of him even more than his message. We bought the messages. We did not buy the message presenter. At TED, he gave a sense of his humor, three-dimensionality, commitment to the cause, ability to criticize himself. We left with a positive attitude toward him and a commitment to help. — David and Heidi Hoffman

Similar Articles You May Like... Video Critique: J.A. Gamache (Toastmasters, 2007) Speech Critique: Steve Jobs (Stanford, 2005) Critique: Lessig Method Presentation Style (Dick Hardt, Identity 2.0, OSCON 2005) Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) Video Critique: Majora Carter – Greening the Ghetto (TED 2006) Six Simple Techniques for Presenting Data: Hans Rosling (TED, 2006)

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

I recently returned to the presentation with a more critical view.

• Was the presentation really that good?
• Was it the style, the substance, or both?
• More importantly, what can we, as presenters, learn from it?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Style, Substance, or Both?

Hardt’s talk uses the Lessig Method or Lessig Presentation style. (Hardt credits Lawrence Lessig on his last slide.) In fact, this talk has often been cited (example1, example2) as one of the more noteworthy examples of the Lessig Method of presentation. Lessig himself comments on the presentation:

Dick Hardt is brilliant. Watch (and copy) the style.

The Lessig style is certainly the first thing one notices about this presentation. Martin Davidsson writes:

It’s hard to not pay attention to this style of presentation.

I would go one step further and suggest that it is hard to pay attention to anything other than the style of presentation.

Does the style of presentation overwhelm the message, or is the message effectively conveyed? Tony MacDonell argues the latter:

I … was totally impressed by the clarity of his presentation in comparison to most web 2.0 discussions that are generally vague.

I agree with Tony on this point. I doubt that Hardt’s goal is to do a spectacular job of illustrating the “Lessig Method”. His chief motivation is to deliver his pitch, and he has done this very well.

Aside from the Lessig Presentation Method which frames this talk, Hardt has employed numerous techniques which contribute to a strong presentation.

Speech Opening

Opening “Who am I?” segment. Rather than seeming like a “let me quickly introduce myself so that I can get on with my real talk”, the introductory “Who am I?” segment is core to the presentation (after all, this is a talk about identity) and is consistent with the presentation style used throughout.

“if you don’t know Dick” (00:56) – This is a reference to Hardt’s past successes. ActiveState, a company he founded, used a catchy marketing slogan – “If you don’t know Perl, you don’t know Dick” This is a subtle reference, perhaps too subtle. However, the live audience for this talk was likely quite familiar with the reference, so he gets a pass. He makes another reference to this phrase at 14:54.

Lots of Humour

He gets plenty of laughs at 1:18, 1:52, 2:22, 2:50, 3:20, 6:14, 6:26, 8:00, 11:00, and 12:32, and there are other funny bits as well. There is even some “hidden” humour, such as the pictures of Mona Lisa and Lady Diana in the photo ID at 3:00.

Keeping the Big Picture In Mind

Know (and identify with) your audience. Hardt cycles through books, magazines, and movies which he enjoys (at 2:24). This is not filler. Since it is likely his audience shares these likes with him, the implicit message is: “Hey, I’m just like one of you.” This message is made even more powerful when he follows up with the Porsche logo. “Join my Identity 2.0 crusade… we will all drive cars like this together.” Later in the presentation, the words “Simple and open wins” are used; again, this ties in with his the majority view of his audience.

Know the context of your presentation. The lightweight identity reference (13:08) was essentially a negative one (translation: “It’s lightweight. My solution is better”), but Hardt was aware that this concept was being presented later in the day at the same conference. He mentions this, and I think he threw in the conciliatory “it solves part of the problem” on-the-fly to avoid appearing like he is stomping on a fellow presenter. This is a savvy move!

Know your marketing needs. “Sxip is pronounced as in ‘skip.’” (14:09) Hardt is a pro at marketing and branding. He doesn’t need me to tell him how important it is for people to know the correct pronunciation of your (or your company’s) name. Further, Hardt understands that this presentation needs to be audience- and message-focused, so he keeps references to his own company minimal.

Repetition

“Trust”. This word appears over and over again in the presentation slides, at 2:45, 2:54, 3:20, 3:40, 4:27, 5:11, 6:06, 6:31, and 10:14. Does this imply that Hardt is trustworthy? That his digital identity solution can be trusted? Either way, it’s a win for him.

More repetition. Several words/phrases/slides are repeated in this talk. For example, “I was Canadian, I live here, I went to UBC, and I’m over 21.” (3:05) The words and slides are a repeat of those used previously. They are repeated again at 6:39 and 14:38. The British Columbia flag is repeated numerous times as well. Mental strain is a risk when you thrust hundreds of slides on an audience in fifteen minutes. By repeating images/words previously used, Hardt lessens this strain.

Lessig Techniques

Honor by Association. In the sequence where Hardt mentions Sxip (and its pronunciation), the previous three slides are industry heavyweights: Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. Although his words are not saying “We are great just like them”, this sequence of slides creates this impression in the mind of the audience. “Honor by association” can be suggested with the rapid-fire Lessig method.

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify. One of the chief benefits of the Lessig Method is that each slide contains just a single word/phrase/picture idea. Even within this format, Hardt further simplifies his images by using highlighting to point to the parts of the image which are important (4:21 and 4:34). Later (at 8:25), he simplifies a very simple image by introducing it in three stages.

Use of contrast. Most of the words in the presentation are presented in black text on a white background. Starting with “directory entry, Identity 1.0, …” (6:26), several phrases are presented as white text on a black background. This formatting is used again at 7:05, 7:13, 7:18, 7:20, 7:42, 8:07, 14:48, and 14:51. The bad, different, or old ideas are clearly distinguished from the others in the talk.

Summary of presentation chunks

At 5:20, a summary of the talk so far is given before moving on to the next topic. This divides the talk between “what you already know” and “what new things I’m going to tell you”.

Analogies Abound

The primary analogy between “real world identity” (photo ID) and digital identity is key. The talk hinges on this. But other analogies are used as well (e.g. DOS/Windows vs Identity 1/2) to enhance the understandability of the message.

Room for Improvement

The presentation wasn’t perfect. For example:

• I found the logic lacking around 9:30-10:00, and in a few other places.
• The use of XML to itemize points at 10:51 is odd. I know that his live audience will all recognize this as XML, but why use it? It seems gratuitous.
• Contrary to the very effective use of white text on black (as noted above), I am confused by the use of white text on blue for “Kim Cameron’s Identity Weblog” (12:47). This is the only white-on-blue usage in the slides.
• “But” is presented at various times with italics or bolding or red color. Why the mixed bag of formats? I found it a bit distracting, so I think it would be better to stick with consistent formatting of “but.”

Comments from Reviewers

Nonetheless, the strengths of this presentation far outweigh the weaknesses. There’s no wonder that it has received such high praise from many reviewers.

Alex Barnett:

First class

The You Blog:

It’s a tour-de-force.

Noah Campbell:

a great example of an engaging presentation style that keeps your attention for 15 minutes. …any longer and I would have been exhausted.

Elizabeth Lane Lawley:

Wow.

Now that’s a good presentation. Visually effective, great style, good enough to survive transformation into a low-bitrate streaming presentation.

Knowhr.com lists the Identity 2.0 talk as one of the the Top 10 Best Presentations Ever (alongside Dr. Martin Luther King) :

Hardt’s preparation and energy sets the standard for presentation quality. He uses hundreds of slides in this 20-minute, high buzz work. Heck, I didn’t even care about virtual identity and still watched this one five or six times. It has a chance of becoming my presentation Dirty Dancing (which I’ve seen 100 times), where “nobody puts baby in the corner.”

Finally, several user comments from del.icio.us:

One of the nicest presentations I’ve ever seen. A must-see for anyone who ever does any presentations (that is – for pretty much everyone). — taw

I bookmarked this as a great example of the “Lessig” presentation style. Dick has made this quite an art. — Rolias

Dick Hardt gives the best presentation ever. Wow! – frankroche

Similar Articles You May Like... Video Critique: J.A. Gamache (Toastmasters, 2007) Speech Critique: Steve Jobs (Stanford, 2005) Video Critique: Al Gore (TED, 2006) Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) How can you inspire your audience? Ask 10-year-old Dalton Sherman. 5 Presentation Lessons from Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.