21 Great Leaders: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Influence by Pat Williams
Book: 21 Great Leaders: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Influence by Pat Williams
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Authors: Pat Williams
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words to communicate grand ideas
. The more you study Dr. King’s life, the more you appreciate what a learned intellectual he was. He was extremely well read and well acquainted with great literature and great ideas. Yet he communicated his grand and sweeping thoughts in humble words. He never tried to impress his audiences with jargon or big words. He used language to serve God and people, not to serve his own ego.
Dr. King learned the beauty of simple words from his father, Daddy King. Whenever Martin began to “gain altitude” and become grandiose in his preaching, Daddy King (who always sat front and center) would lean forward and whisper, “Keep it simple, son, keep it simple.” 9
A number of years ago, an American president proposed a new policy of urban development. That policy, he said, would “strengthen linkages among macro-economic sectoral place-oriented economies.” Translation: his new policy would enable cities to cooperate together for mutual economic benefit. 10 You have to wonder why he didn’t just say so.
If you really want to impress people with your communication skills, always communicate clearly and concisely. When people understand you, they think you’re brilliant!
2.
Throw away the script and speak from your heart
. What do people remember from the “I Have a Dream” speech? The conclusion—the final one-third of the speech. There’s nothing wrong with the first two-thirds. During the first twelve minutes, Dr. King made a powerful case for human equality. But when Dr. King set aside his notes and talked about his dream, his words thundered. When Dr. King told us, “I have a dream,” an electric thrill went down our collective spine. His dream of America’s future gripped our hearts and captured our imaginations. He enabled us to see that dream through his eyes—and he made us want to take part in it.
How are the last five minutes of the speech different from the first twelve minutes? Answer: In the last five minutes, Dr. King spoke straight from his heart, no notes, no script.
You might say, “I can’t give a speech without notes! And I can’t memorize a speech word for word.” I’m not suggesting you memorize a speech by rote. Your audience wants you to share your convictions, your ideas, with spontaneous passion. You won’t find energy and enthusiasm in a stack of notes. You must communicate straight from your heart.
How did Dr. King deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech completely impromptu and unrehearsed? Actually, he didn’t. Two months earlier, Dr. King had given a speech at the Detroit Walk to Freedom (June 23, 1963). The organizers of the Detroit event included Rev. C. L. Franklin (father of singer Aretha Franklin), Harry Belafonte, and Mahalia Jackson. Dr. King’s Detroit speech contained many of the same phrases and ideas found in the last five minutes of the “I Have a Dream” speech. If you compare the two speeches side by side, you find many strong similarities—but they’re not the same speech.
Dr. King had practiced the Detroit speech many times. Mahalia Jackson had heard him talk about the dream at the Walk to Freedom—and she wanted to hear those stirring words again. So she called out to Dr. King, “Tell them about the dream!” Dr. King simply had to reach into the depths of his soul and pull out the ideas and passion he had delivered in Detroit two months earlier.
You can communicate powerfully, without notes, straight from the heart, just as Dr. King did. The key to delivering a compelling, heartfelt speech is always to have ready what I call a “signature speech”—a presentation you have crafted and rehearsed hundreds of times and can tailor to the occasion. You can stretch it out by adding a few stories or condense it by mentally editing your speech on the fly.
The beauty of a signature speech is that you can deliver that speech a thousand times—
and it will never be the same speech twice
! You know the outline, themes,
. The more you study Dr. King’s life, the more you appreciate what a learned intellectual he was. He was extremely well read and well acquainted with great literature and great ideas. Yet he communicated his grand and sweeping thoughts in humble words. He never tried to impress his audiences with jargon or big words. He used language to serve God and people, not to serve his own ego.
Dr. King learned the beauty of simple words from his father, Daddy King. Whenever Martin began to “gain altitude” and become grandiose in his preaching, Daddy King (who always sat front and center) would lean forward and whisper, “Keep it simple, son, keep it simple.” 9
A number of years ago, an American president proposed a new policy of urban development. That policy, he said, would “strengthen linkages among macro-economic sectoral place-oriented economies.” Translation: his new policy would enable cities to cooperate together for mutual economic benefit. 10 You have to wonder why he didn’t just say so.
If you really want to impress people with your communication skills, always communicate clearly and concisely. When people understand you, they think you’re brilliant!
2.
Throw away the script and speak from your heart
. What do people remember from the “I Have a Dream” speech? The conclusion—the final one-third of the speech. There’s nothing wrong with the first two-thirds. During the first twelve minutes, Dr. King made a powerful case for human equality. But when Dr. King set aside his notes and talked about his dream, his words thundered. When Dr. King told us, “I have a dream,” an electric thrill went down our collective spine. His dream of America’s future gripped our hearts and captured our imaginations. He enabled us to see that dream through his eyes—and he made us want to take part in it.
How are the last five minutes of the speech different from the first twelve minutes? Answer: In the last five minutes, Dr. King spoke straight from his heart, no notes, no script.
You might say, “I can’t give a speech without notes! And I can’t memorize a speech word for word.” I’m not suggesting you memorize a speech by rote. Your audience wants you to share your convictions, your ideas, with spontaneous passion. You won’t find energy and enthusiasm in a stack of notes. You must communicate straight from your heart.
How did Dr. King deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech completely impromptu and unrehearsed? Actually, he didn’t. Two months earlier, Dr. King had given a speech at the Detroit Walk to Freedom (June 23, 1963). The organizers of the Detroit event included Rev. C. L. Franklin (father of singer Aretha Franklin), Harry Belafonte, and Mahalia Jackson. Dr. King’s Detroit speech contained many of the same phrases and ideas found in the last five minutes of the “I Have a Dream” speech. If you compare the two speeches side by side, you find many strong similarities—but they’re not the same speech.
Dr. King had practiced the Detroit speech many times. Mahalia Jackson had heard him talk about the dream at the Walk to Freedom—and she wanted to hear those stirring words again. So she called out to Dr. King, “Tell them about the dream!” Dr. King simply had to reach into the depths of his soul and pull out the ideas and passion he had delivered in Detroit two months earlier.
You can communicate powerfully, without notes, straight from the heart, just as Dr. King did. The key to delivering a compelling, heartfelt speech is always to have ready what I call a “signature speech”—a presentation you have crafted and rehearsed hundreds of times and can tailor to the occasion. You can stretch it out by adding a few stories or condense it by mentally editing your speech on the fly.
The beauty of a signature speech is that you can deliver that speech a thousand times—
and it will never be the same speech twice
! You know the outline, themes,
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