TED, inspiration, sermons, and shining eyes
One of the things I try to instill in people I supervise is that if, when, you have the opportunity to address a group of people, they will be far more likely to engage with what you say if they feel you are talking to them, not reading a script.
The relationship between the speaker and the script is not a simple one – it's better to use a script than to waffle on spontaneously and end up being boring. But you have to know how to write a script that isn't an essay.
TED talks are a huge inspiration. The brief is that the speaker has a maximum of 20 minutes to talk, no notes, and they have to say something informative and inspirational. Beyond that, they can say pretty much anything. This one is fascinating – it's about music, it's about quite a few other things, and it's inspirational as a model for public speaking. But it's also about the capacity of people to listen. How do we talk, in order to get people to listen – not just to our words, but to attend to something even beyond that? Sermons are not just about what we say. They are about creating a space where people can listen to themselves, and to God. How do you know if you're hitting the button? This speaker says it has to do with shining eyes.
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
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Maggi, I think there’s a problem with the link in this post as it links to google reader at the moment.
This is WONDERFUL. I got a hold of my grandfather’s pipe a few years back and smoke it every once in a while, but this is exactly why I’ve avoided all of these recent “theology and pipe smoking” posts on blogs all over the place.
One would think that such hip young emergentish folks could spot a cliché when it smacked them in the face.
Wasn’t this Dave Tom in the 90s?
It was Dave Tom, and probably still is, but at least he’s old enough to have gravitas as well as a pipe, and he was doing it before it was trendy!
I have been thinking quite a bit, over the last year or two, about public speaking and whether a script limits the connection to the audience. I am not sure that the effectiveness of the communication is determined by whether a script is, or is not, used. For example, at Greenbelt this year Rob Bell spoke most definitely without a script in front of him – and it was great entertainment. Dave Tomlinson sat quietly and spoke from a script. For me, the lasting impact has been from Dave. And I got Dave’s CD and people have passed it round until somebody said this is so good we must listen to this together at our PCC Meeting. Part of what I think makes a good talk is if it comes from a deep authentic place, something that really matters to the speaker and is delivered with openness and vulnerability. Shining eyes can result from both scripted and unscripted talks.
By the way I really enjoyed your own talk at Greenbelt (as did my daughter) – I said hi to you after the talk and mentioned how much I benefit from your blog. You suggested that I might like to add a comment sometime – so here it is!