In my last post I talked about the pointlessness of passion. And here are a few speakers who were brilliant with no discernible passion… Because it’s my opinion (and only an opinion) that- If you look at the most often mentioned ‘great speakers’ you’ll sometimes find passion, but more often you’ll find other things that…
Here’s a lovely trashing of Ed Miliband’s conference speech last week. It’s by the elegantly uptight Martin Shovel and if you haven’t visited his blog yet. Please do, it’s really rather good. Here’s his view. Ed Miliband’s bargain basement speech. I thought Ed’s speech was like the worst ever bullshit bingo entrant. Someone in the…
My occasional and much admired colleague, Charles Crawford, shows how using metaphor to make a powerful point, but gently, is an art that never loses it’s impact done well. To do it we have to understand 3 things- That metaphors are comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar…
I know my Spanish, French and US friends will forgive me for this, but here’s a lovely post from Max Atkinson- Rhetoritician (?) is that a word, on Deputy Prime Minister’s Speech at the Lib Dem (Lost demoralised and broken political party of UK coalition government) conference yesterday. Max Atkinson’s Blog: Clegg’s conference speech: 1 plus &…
Winston Churchill’s finest hour as a leader came in the dark days of 1940-42. His belligerence and oratory stood out in the world at war. Politics aside, it’s a great speech for a few simple reasons- It matches the mood- Britain was scared, the future looked grim, the mood was sombre, we were alone. It starts where…
A great post from Stefan Lindegaard, on his excellent blog 15inno, from Denmark. It’s Steve Jobs again. Stefan shows a great clip of ‘God’ speaking at the 1984 unveiling of that TV advert and suggests that- The story-telling, the buildup of an us-versus-them feeling and the general control of the audience by Jobs – without using slides…
If you want a great example of how to create interesting and relevant ‘keynotes’ from the unlikely combination of sources as varied as sport, psychology, pharmacology, dog training, infomercials, gynaecology and business- among many others, look no further than here- Malcolm Gladwell’s blog. gladwell dot com – malcolm gladwell, blink, tipping point and new yorker…
What a row! 2 of the UK’s best known sports pundits have, or about to, been fired for being indiscreet while wearing microphones. I don’t much like soccer, and I don’t much like what I’ve seen of Richard Keys (for 20 years, Sky Sports’ anchor for soccer at the highest level), but I’ve always admired…
You’ve got to love Vladimir Putin haven’t you? OK, Probably not. And maybe have some sympathy with him? OK, definitely not. But you have to admit that he is bloody funny. Asked to comment, in a generally testy press-conference, on China’s huffy fit about Liu Xiaobo receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace, (well he won’t actually receive it,…