Monthly Archives: March 2014

Learning from Academy Award Speeches

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Not many public speeches are remembered. Politicians rarely are remembered for a speech because they give the same one over and over and, not wanting to alienate a constituency, develop general enough points that they offend as few as possible. Business presentations are often limited to a specific audience and usually include a lot of data, which are not particularly stimulating.

That is not the case with Academy Award acceptance speeches. They are short. They are usually a “once in a life time” opportunity for such a speech and often have memorable lines.

As business people who are sometimes nominated for some honor, we can be reminded of important traits of speaking by looking at this very special kind of speech.

You are reminded to be prepared. You certainly know that being nominated does not mean you will win. But you might. Please have a speech prepared. Some acceptance speeches remind us vividly the importance of preparation, especially those that ramble on and on.

Anna Pacquin, best supporting actress in “The Piano,” did not say a word. She walked up to the podium and stood there staring out at the all-star audience with tears streaming down her face and then walked off the stage. Whether she was so overcome that she could not speak, or had not prepared a specific response, we are reminded that we should always have something prepared if we have any idea that we will be called upon to say a few words.

Some great lines have come out the Academy Award acceptance speeches. One of my favorites was from the winner of the best actor award for “The King’s Speech.” When Colin Firth stood to deliver his speech, he began with, “I think I’ve just reached the peak of my career.” This was a great way to acknowledge his award in a gracious and professional manner.

You are reminded to be organized. Organization can be a problem for some who thank everyone even remotely connected with their receiving the award. In fact, 1998 Best Supporting Actress winner, Kim Basinger, said, “I just want to thank everybody I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

Then there are long pauses and filler words followed by random statements that sometimes relate to their receiving the award and sometimes do not.

This year Matthew McConaughey had a well-organized speech with very few extraneous words or verbalized pauses. After a few thank yous, he said, “There are three things I need each day. Something to look up to, something to look forward to, and someone to chase.” He proceeded to tell what each is in his life.

Matthew McConaughey accepting the Academy Award for Best Actor in “Dallas Buyers Club.”

You are reminded to be brief. A few have a good grasp of how to say a lot in a short period of time. Perhaps the two best words to make up an acceptance speech and remind us of the value of brevity were words spoken by William Holden in 1954 and Alfred Hitchcock in 1967. When accepting their statues at the Academy Awards, both simply said “Thank you” and walked off.

So if you are ever even nominated for an award, remember: be prepared, be organized, and, above all, be brief.

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The Internet and Speech Data: Beware

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The ever-present internet can be a curse or a boon to the speaker. The internet allows you as a speaker to keep current on your topic without ever entering a library building; the library is at your fingertips.

But there can be a down side if you are not sensitive to the internet skills of your audience. For example, in a recent communication seminar with about 140 in attendance, I was going over the bibliography I had passed to them. I feel obligated to explain two or three of my sources because they were written so long ago.

One such book is The Luck Factor by Max Gunther. The original publication date was 1977. I explained that it was one of the first self-help books which made the point that I often make: we want to have a large number of resource people we can connect to. Gunther makes the point that the more people you know, the luckier you will become. Because I had not done recent research on the book, I stressed that it was out of print and difficult to find.

Less than a minute after I made that assertion, a participant raised his hand and said, “You can buy the e-book version on the internet for $5.23.”

It was a little embarrassing for me, but the statement got a good laugh. I needed some humor at that point and I was able to reinforce a previous point I had made about audiences: as a speaker, you must stay current with your information. Your audience can check on your data with their smartphones or tablets as they listen. (Later I discovered that the book was re-released in 2010 and is readily available—in case you’re interested!)

The unexpected in presentations is a factor that keeps you as the speaker from getting bored, even if you have delivered the material many times before. In the future, I will be even more aware of the audience’s ability to research my material as I speak.

Let’s Talk to Each Other

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I am a people watcher and enjoy observing how people behave in public. In the past two days, I have been disturbed by two experiences about parents ignoring their children and applying themselves to technology instead.

We were spending a Saturday morning at Findlay Market buying our usual scones and coffee and enjoying the atmosphere. Next to us were a father and his two small children. They were all having breakfast. The children seemed to be enjoying their food choices. I looked at the father and he was busy texting on his iPhone, completely ignoring the little ones. They were certainly taking care of themselves, but without any connection with the father.

Today we were having lunch at a local restaurant and sitting across from us was a family of four. The father was hard at work on his MacPro and the two children were busy with their computer games. The only person who seemed to be relaxing and enjoying her meal was the mother—and she had no one to talk to.

The privilege of talking to your family around a meal is a special one. Children grow up too fast and we need to savor each precious moment to learn what a child has to say and to laugh and enjoy the human contact. Besides, we are setting examples for our children with our style of communication. Thus it is not surprising to see young people obsessed with their iPhones, iPods, iPads, and other endless possibilities.

I propose a couple of suggestions to encourage families to talk to each other instead of having a keyboard or screen in front of them.

• Determine to eat one meal a day together without any technology—including television—at the table. Mealtime should be the hub of the family time together. When our children were growing up, a question each of us answered for the benefit of the family was, “What was the best part of your day?” That made us start with positive discussions and created an upbeat atmosphere for table conversation. Knowing they would be asked that question prompted our children to be alert to good things during the day.

• Set ground rules for when use of technology is acceptable in family time situations. You might have a time of day before or after a meal when texting or sending an email is appropriate behavior. As a parent, when the child wants to talk, your main responsibility is to listen and nothing else. This is not the time to multi-task. Your interest in what Jennifer or Jake has to say when they are young will probably be the extent to which they will keep sharing information with you when they are older.

No matter how advanced technology becomes, nothing can be as meaningful as a conversation around the dinner table.

Learning From Tony the Tour Guide

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I have listened to many tour guide speeches over the years, from the eucalyptus forest in Australia to the wilds of Alaska. Recently we took a boat tour along the shore of Haiti for another tour. Tony, our guide, had a clever speech that I’m sure he had delivered many times. But of course to the 75 of us on the trip it was a new speech. Tony did some creative things in his speech that all speakers could benefit from.

First he began with a startling statement. “I am going to tell you all there is to know about Haiti.” He then spoke for about five minutes giving us a history of the country. He stopped rather abruptly and this was a signal for the captain to turn on some native music. After a few minutes of this, Tony continued with his lecture. After the music break , we were now ready for more facts, such as that the tallest mountain in Haiti is 10,000 feet and Haiti means “land of mountains.” After another few minutes there was more music.

Then about 20 minutes into the trip, Tony’s direction changed in his speech. He now based his content on what we could see from the boat. When we passed a man in a small fishing boat, Tony waved and of course we all waved, too. He told about how fishing was a way of life for many islanders and provided interesting facts about the methods they used to catch fish.

Fishermen off the coast of Labadee, Haiti

 

Tony then began to break up some of his material with jokes. Tony, not trying to be a clever comic, would simply say, “I want to tell you a joke.” Then he would begin. We knew there was a punch line coming, and even though it was not very funny, the people on the boat smiled at his attempt to keep a fun atmosphere. He reinforced the idea that he wanted us all to have a good time on his watch.

Tony demonstrated key principles for us who speak regularly. You must engage as many senses as possible in your speech. You should break up the speech occasionally with a different medium, whether it is music, a video clip, a survey where everyone participates, or a funny story. He used his environment to help make his points by referencing what we were passing as we traveled, and near the end he even gave a pop quiz over one of the facts he presented.

Tony made it hard to doze or daydream because of the techniques he used to keep us wanting to hear more. We can certainly learn from the great speakers from the past, but we can also learn from Tony the tour guide from Labadee, Haiti.