Learn by Listening
Everyone will tell you that to learn how to give a speech, you need to practice. Just get up there and speak. It makes sense. I say it myself. You learn by doing.
But what isn’t often said is this. One of the best ways to improve your speaking is to listen — and pay attention — to good speeches.
Along those lines, I offer this speech by Sir Ken Robinson at Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
It’s long (almost an hour), but it’s worth the time.
His talk is what I consider a hybrid. Half (college-level) lecture. Half speech. It could have been more tightly structured. He could have made his point a little more forcefully. And he could have addressed the question, “So what do we do now?”
But I love his use of stories and images. I love how chatty and personable he was while talking intelligently and passionately about important issues. And I love how thoughtful and thought-provoking he was. I favor speeches that challenge the way I think about issues worth caring about.
Any speeches you’d recommend?
Tags: Leadership Speeches
May 27th, 2009 at 10:55 am
A recommended speech (it went viral on YouTube): the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch , the Carnegie Mellon University professor dying of pancreatic cancer.