You may be familiar with Matt Latimer’s book Speech*Less about his career as a speechwriter in Washington during the Bush administration.
Apparently, President Bush had learned at Yale that all speeches should have an introduction, three points, a peroration, and a conclusion.
(What’s a peroration? It’s the wrap-up, in which you remind the audience, in new words, what has been proven and what you urge them to do.)
Matt the speechwriter found this template lacking in creativity. “To hell with Yale,” says Matt on page 188 of his book. “I’d gone to the University of Michigan, where we learned that speeches should be fun.”
I agree. A speech without the spirit of humor, or joy, or playfulness is about as exciting as a mashed-potato sandwich.
To stimulate your creativity as a speechwriter or presentation developer, I give you Mr. Tom Waits.
Tom Waits is a good model for creativity, because on National Public Radio, Tom interviewed himself (itself a creative act,) asks himself some creative questions, and comes up with creative answers.
For instance, he asks himself what’s the most curious record in his collection.
His answer? “In the seventies a record company in LA issued a record called ‘The best of Marcel Marceau.’ It had forty minutes of silence followed by applause and it sold really well. I like to put it on for company. It really bothers me, though, when people talk through it.”
Then he asks himself what’s wrong with the world.
“We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge.
Quantity is being confused with abundance, and wealth with happiness.
Leona Helmsley’s dog made $12 million last year… and Dean McLaine, a farmer in Ohio, made $30,000.
It’s just a gigantic version of the madness that grows in every one of our brains. We are monkeys with money and guns.”
Click on the link and read the rest of it. It’s playful and will invite your creativity to e-merge with your business savvy.