June 28th, 2016
I came across the new book put out by Chris Anderson a few weeks ago at the Kemptville Public Library. I was intrigued. The book provides great tips for people who'd like to try public speaking. The more I learned from this book, the more I could see how these same tips could be applied to writing a book as well.
The most challenging part of any speech is choosing a topic. You need to have a clear focus for your speech, something that an audience will find interesting. Chris encourages you to think about what makes you unique, that only you could share.
Once you have your intention, you need to find a structure to present this idea to the world. This depends on who you are speaking to and for how long. Chris describes a speech as a journey so you take the audience through steps from presenting your idea to how it applies to their lives, showing them why it matters to them.
Since TED talks last 18 minutes, the presenter must hook the audience, keep them curious and share information that teaches them something they didn't know-gifting them with new insight.
The book shares great tools on how to deliver a successful speech. It shows you how to connect to the audience so they see a human being speaking to them, someone who is fully present and engaged. Then we are taught about the power of storytelling to bring the audience into our world. Next comes the importance of explaining our idea in clear language-taking baby steps as we open their minds to new concepts. Chris also reveals tricks to persuade an audience to see things differently without coercion. He explains that we can engage them to come to the same conclusion as us through their very own "detective" work.
There is a great deal of practical advice throughout this book, from what to wear, whether to stand or sit and, the decision to use of visuals and technology or leave them out. An entire chapter is devoted to whether you should write out and memorize your speech or speak without notes. I find that it's best for me if I talk out loud about my idea first. Then I write the main concepts on a post-it and I try to create my speech around those points. Once I have a good flow from one concept to the next, I can rehearse it anywhere without my notes: in the shower, while I drive, as I cook supper etc. It becomes natural. If I have notes written down, I keep looking at my notes, I can never figure out where I am in the page and I tend to lose the intonation in my voice, not good.
If you are nervous about public speaking, as many people are, there is advice on ways to conquer your nerves and deliver a winning speech. The book teaches you how to start your speech, how to end it and ways to be innovative. The last chapter is philosophical. It urges us to share our story because we learn from one another and become better collectively as a result. If you plan to try public speaking, this book is an absolute gem. I have started writing out an 18 minute speech on the importance of prosocial education in our public education system. You never know. If you had 18 minutes to deliver a meaningful speech to impact a large audience what would it be?
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Showing posts with label storytelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label storytelling. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Friday, 24 June 2016
Story Corps
June 24th, 2016
I love Ted Talks! I listen to them while I clean the house or prepare meals and, occasionally when I go to bed later than the other members of my family. I learn so much from the various speakers who cover every topic imaginable from upcoming, state of the art technology, the importance of vulnerability, the advantage of online learning for children and neuroscience to species of underwater creatures.
Recently, I heard a fabulous speech by Dave Isay, the founder of Story Corps. He talks about his own experience and how it taught him the power of narrative. He started interviewing people for radio. He took on special projects interviewing people who had been through the same difficult experience. He learned so much about them through this process. He interviewed his own father who has since passed and he now has an even deeper commitment to do this work. He set up some booths in busy locations where a facilitator would help two individuals have a meaningful conversation. Dave shared a few emotional stories with the audience. A woman who has grown to love the young man who shot her son. An elderly man who expresses his love for his wife. A mother interviewed by her high functioning son with Asperger.
These conversations are authentic and deeply moving. David talks about a woman who interviews people in hospice care. She shares what she has learned from this experience in a book about what is really important in life. The people who are interviewed get a copy of their conversation but a second copy is sent to the archives. This means future generations could witness this interview. There are so many applications to this from interviewing people in long term care, schools or hospitals to the homeless and incarcerated.
Story Corps has booths set up in various locations, however, it has also created an app that enables anyone to create an interview and submit it to the archives. You follow the prompts, select from a list of potential questions and then send the story. This tool could be used by the military to document the healing process of soldiers with PTSD. It could be used by teachers to record the changes in their students from grade 1 to grade 8. Projects like my, Interviews with 40+ year olds, or my Mommy Monologues, could use this format.
Storytelling is such an ancient and powerful ritual. We learn so much about life, each other and ourselves through stories. I would love to set up a booth in a local long term care facility and interview every older adult who is living there. You could record an entire generation one facility at a time. My brain is bubbling with possibilities right now but it doesn't have to be big. If you'd like to interview a loved one today, just download the Story Corps app and get started. Everyone has a story. Share yours today.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
I love Ted Talks! I listen to them while I clean the house or prepare meals and, occasionally when I go to bed later than the other members of my family. I learn so much from the various speakers who cover every topic imaginable from upcoming, state of the art technology, the importance of vulnerability, the advantage of online learning for children and neuroscience to species of underwater creatures.
Recently, I heard a fabulous speech by Dave Isay, the founder of Story Corps. He talks about his own experience and how it taught him the power of narrative. He started interviewing people for radio. He took on special projects interviewing people who had been through the same difficult experience. He learned so much about them through this process. He interviewed his own father who has since passed and he now has an even deeper commitment to do this work. He set up some booths in busy locations where a facilitator would help two individuals have a meaningful conversation. Dave shared a few emotional stories with the audience. A woman who has grown to love the young man who shot her son. An elderly man who expresses his love for his wife. A mother interviewed by her high functioning son with Asperger.
These conversations are authentic and deeply moving. David talks about a woman who interviews people in hospice care. She shares what she has learned from this experience in a book about what is really important in life. The people who are interviewed get a copy of their conversation but a second copy is sent to the archives. This means future generations could witness this interview. There are so many applications to this from interviewing people in long term care, schools or hospitals to the homeless and incarcerated.
Story Corps has booths set up in various locations, however, it has also created an app that enables anyone to create an interview and submit it to the archives. You follow the prompts, select from a list of potential questions and then send the story. This tool could be used by the military to document the healing process of soldiers with PTSD. It could be used by teachers to record the changes in their students from grade 1 to grade 8. Projects like my, Interviews with 40+ year olds, or my Mommy Monologues, could use this format.
Storytelling is such an ancient and powerful ritual. We learn so much about life, each other and ourselves through stories. I would love to set up a booth in a local long term care facility and interview every older adult who is living there. You could record an entire generation one facility at a time. My brain is bubbling with possibilities right now but it doesn't have to be big. If you'd like to interview a loved one today, just download the Story Corps app and get started. Everyone has a story. Share yours today.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Tuesday, 14 June 2016
Stories We Tell
June 14th, 2016
Last night, I rented out a movie from the North Grenville Library. My friend Chris recommended it. The girls were at gymnastics with my husband so I had the whole house to myself. I prepared a lovely bath and settled in to watch this documentary.
Sarah Polley, the film director, interviews her family members. They are all reminiscing about Sarah's mother. The two older sons, from her mother's first marriage, give her a less-than-flattering review about their mother. Later, we witness the pain behind the anger of each son. They were raised by their father when their mother left them to pursue a love life with another man. There is a hint that their father was not a safe person when one of the boys states: "Surely she must have realized that leaving us meant she could no longer protect us".
Sarah's sisters came from the mother's union with her second husband. He was an actor. She fell in love with the character he was playing and, therefore, was disappointed when he turned out to be less exciting than she had imagined. They married and had children together but she was thirsty for life and exhausted this man who preferred to be left alone. He did not provide the attention and romance she so longed for. When an opportunity came up to go to Montreal to be in a play, she jumped at the chance. Her husband encouraged her to go to Montreal, desperate for some respite.
Sarah's mom met her father while acting in Montreal. They had a passionate affair and Sarah was conceived. When Sarah's mother passed away, it was her father who raised her. They were alone in the house and became very close. There were rumours that Sarah's father was not the man she loved but another man who lived in Montreal. She went about finding out who he was. When she did find her biological father, he told her about his affair with her mother. They developed their relationship and Sarah told the family about him but she did not tell her father. She feared that it would break his heart.
When a reporter discovered that Sarah's father was not her biological father, he decided to write about it and this forced Sarah to tell her father the secret about his paternity. This revelation brought them even closer. This is such an interesting documentary because it is really the story of one woman, Sarah's mother as told by different individuals who each loved her in their own way.
Each family has a story that they agree on, they fan the flames of this story because it binds them together. In private, in their own families, with their partners and children, they elaborate on this story, focusing on the elements that portray them in a certain way. They may see themselves as the peacemaker, the black sheep, the voice of truth, the one who broke the cycle, the caregiver etc.
If you could be a fly on the wall in the home of each family member, you could hear each interpretation of their family of origin. There would be a variety of alliances among family members who share common recollections. In families with multiple siblings, there is usually one person who sees one or both parents differently. This can cause conflicts and alienation within the family. All of this is heightened when a loved one dies.
In order to explore how this plays out in your own family, start by listing the names of family members in a circle from eldest to youngest (including parents), in a clockwise direction. Under each family name, write one sentence that would sum up their view of the family. If you're not sure, ask them to sum it up for you using five words or less. Then create lines between family members who have a strong alliance. One family member might have multiple alliances. Then draw jagged or pointy lines between family members who do not speak to each other, fight a lot or generally don't get along. Use a triangle to show triangulations among family members (when family members join forces against another family member).
Where are you in this system? How did your alliances and coalitions take place? What is the source of your conflict with other family members? How are these dynamics played out in other areas of your life? What is the story you tell yourself in order to make sense of it all and preserve your sense of self? This is a fascinating exercise and it forces you to accept, if only for a moment, that there may be more to other family members than what you see and, that your story is not the only one-the right one. There are many interpretations, each with a grain of truth. Happy digging!
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Last night, I rented out a movie from the North Grenville Library. My friend Chris recommended it. The girls were at gymnastics with my husband so I had the whole house to myself. I prepared a lovely bath and settled in to watch this documentary.
Sarah Polley, the film director, interviews her family members. They are all reminiscing about Sarah's mother. The two older sons, from her mother's first marriage, give her a less-than-flattering review about their mother. Later, we witness the pain behind the anger of each son. They were raised by their father when their mother left them to pursue a love life with another man. There is a hint that their father was not a safe person when one of the boys states: "Surely she must have realized that leaving us meant she could no longer protect us".
Sarah's sisters came from the mother's union with her second husband. He was an actor. She fell in love with the character he was playing and, therefore, was disappointed when he turned out to be less exciting than she had imagined. They married and had children together but she was thirsty for life and exhausted this man who preferred to be left alone. He did not provide the attention and romance she so longed for. When an opportunity came up to go to Montreal to be in a play, she jumped at the chance. Her husband encouraged her to go to Montreal, desperate for some respite.
Sarah's mom met her father while acting in Montreal. They had a passionate affair and Sarah was conceived. When Sarah's mother passed away, it was her father who raised her. They were alone in the house and became very close. There were rumours that Sarah's father was not the man she loved but another man who lived in Montreal. She went about finding out who he was. When she did find her biological father, he told her about his affair with her mother. They developed their relationship and Sarah told the family about him but she did not tell her father. She feared that it would break his heart.
When a reporter discovered that Sarah's father was not her biological father, he decided to write about it and this forced Sarah to tell her father the secret about his paternity. This revelation brought them even closer. This is such an interesting documentary because it is really the story of one woman, Sarah's mother as told by different individuals who each loved her in their own way.
Each family has a story that they agree on, they fan the flames of this story because it binds them together. In private, in their own families, with their partners and children, they elaborate on this story, focusing on the elements that portray them in a certain way. They may see themselves as the peacemaker, the black sheep, the voice of truth, the one who broke the cycle, the caregiver etc.
If you could be a fly on the wall in the home of each family member, you could hear each interpretation of their family of origin. There would be a variety of alliances among family members who share common recollections. In families with multiple siblings, there is usually one person who sees one or both parents differently. This can cause conflicts and alienation within the family. All of this is heightened when a loved one dies.
In order to explore how this plays out in your own family, start by listing the names of family members in a circle from eldest to youngest (including parents), in a clockwise direction. Under each family name, write one sentence that would sum up their view of the family. If you're not sure, ask them to sum it up for you using five words or less. Then create lines between family members who have a strong alliance. One family member might have multiple alliances. Then draw jagged or pointy lines between family members who do not speak to each other, fight a lot or generally don't get along. Use a triangle to show triangulations among family members (when family members join forces against another family member).
Where are you in this system? How did your alliances and coalitions take place? What is the source of your conflict with other family members? How are these dynamics played out in other areas of your life? What is the story you tell yourself in order to make sense of it all and preserve your sense of self? This is a fascinating exercise and it forces you to accept, if only for a moment, that there may be more to other family members than what you see and, that your story is not the only one-the right one. There are many interpretations, each with a grain of truth. Happy digging!
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
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