Tag Archives: Eric Hoffer

Just Because You Can’t Sing…

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Meryl Steep will star in a movie entitled “Florence,” the story of the ridiculously awful yet famous opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins. Reading this reminded me of one of my favorite quotations from her. It applies to speaking as well as any endeavor we fear to attempt. She said, “People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.”

I wonder how many would-be speakers avoid the platform because they may be awful. I would rather be able to say, “People may say I can’t speak, but no one can ever say I didn’t speak.” I’ve heard some pretty awful speakers who still had powerful messages.

One of my favorite examples is author and philosopher Eric Hoffer. He is best known for his book, The True Believer. He was popular on college campuses in the late sixties, and I heard him speak on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

Let me be blunt: He was a terrible speaker. He was the “poster child” for all the bad habits I warn against.

  • He leaned on the lectern throughout his presentation.
  • He had no enthusiasm in his delivery.
  • His dress was that of a longshoreman, not at all like the dressy attire of many of the audience members.
  • He rambled with no main idea in sight and no structure to his material.

Yet when he finished he received a standing ovation! The audience would not let him leave the lectern. They continued to ask questions and encouraged him to continue. Even though he was a terrible speaker, his ideas were thought-provoking and original. He spoke from a point of view new to many of us and he did so with narratives we could not resist listening to.

If you are uncertain about your speaking skills, I urge you: Just speak! Give your opinion at the next board meeting. Share your ideas at the monthly departmental debriefing. You may not be a great speaker, but your ideas are valuable and need to be heard. An audience can overlook mediocrity when the speaker has something to say.

Don’t misunderstand; I certainly want all of us to keep improving our speaking skills. If you have a message that needs to be heard, however, don’t let your lack of skills keep you from being heard.

Remember what Florence Foster Jenkins said, “People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.” Give speaking your best effort—or whatever your new endeavor might be. Don’t let it be said that you never tried.

Earning Respect: Experience and Knowledge

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Unless you are an NBA fan, you probably don’t know much about Tom Thibodeau. He was recently named NBA Coach of the Year for leading the Chicago Bulls to the best record in the NBA this season. What is unusual is that he is not a former professional basketball player like many coaches in the professional ranks.

What do you suppose gives him the ability to motivate his exceptional players who make millions and have been treated as prima donnas since they were in junior high school? The key is his experience and knowledge of the game. He has spent over two decades as a journeyman assistant with six NBA teams and several years as an assistant at the college level.

General Manager of the Chicago Bulls, Gar Forman, believes players listen to Thibodeau because they know this guy prepares and has a plan. One of his former bosses from Harvard said, “He just happens to be someone who understood the NBA, could relate to players, was willing to outwork everyone, and knew what he was talking about.”

Knowledge and experience go a long way in any career; that is why a teacher who has been in the classroom for ten years is going to be paid more than the person who is in the second year of teaching. These two traits are especially true with the public speaker.

If you want to earn the respect of your audience show that through your experience and knowledge on your topic. In fact some speakers whose delivery is poor and speech organization is nonexistent may still have great attention because the audience can tell he/she knows more about the topic than anyone else.

Eric Hoffer, American philosopher and author of The True Believer, was self-taught and a poor public speaker. Yet he mesmerized an audience of university faculty I was a part of at Appalachian State University in 1967 because of the fascinating information he shared. I was amazed at how well he controlled the speaking situation because of his knowledge.

Use one of the two traits to gain the other. If you don’t have experience, then learn all you can about the subject. Then use your knowledge to practice what you have learned and thus gain experience. The age of the speaker will certainly affect the amount of experience he or she may have, but you can gain knowledge at any stage in life and use that to earn respect.

You know you have enough knowledge when you have so much good material for your presentation that you struggle knowing what to leave out. On the other hand, if you don’t have enough material to fill your 20 minutes, you will find the speaking situation very challenging. I have found this to be true in my years of coaching executives as well as students.

Certainly delivery, organization, and word choice are important factors in a speech, but first build your knowledge and experience base.

Stephen D. Boyd, Ph.D., CSP, is Professor Emeritus of Speech Communication, College of Informatics, Northern Kentucky University, near Cincinnati. He presents keynotes and seminars to corporations and associations whose people want to speak and listen effectively. Visit his site to read other valuable articles on effective speaking and listening.