The most memorable speeches are observations about the world at large, and remarks that unify, not observations about the speaker and his or her accomplishments and goals. To identify a speech given at a higher level, one that is not self-centered, simply count the number of times the word “I” is used vs. the number of times “we” occurs.
http://www.socializedpr.com/i-vs-we-in-presidential-rhetoric/
Read Bert Decker's succinct review here ...
http://www.bertdecker.com/experience/2009/01/the-inauguration-speech-pro-and-yes-con.html
Ian Griffin looks at it from a rhetorical standpoint. http://www.exec-comms.com/blog/2009/01/20/obama-the-lion-in-winter/
Read the speech here http://www.pivotalpublicpeaking.com/obama_inauguration.htm
Watch it here http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=PFU2opNwgZU&annotation_id=annotation_760255&feature=iv
and check out this fascinating tool Obama Inauguration Speech Word Tree http://adjix.com/kr43
By Christine Kent
Streamline the process of creating slides for your speaker
Not all of us who work in communications are blessed with a strong design sense—we’re usually good with words, and we leave the design and image creation to the experts. But communications people are eventually called on to create smart, informative and eye-catching slides for an executive presentation—usually under some insanely tight deadline.
For those times when you are pressed into the “slide jockey” role, Nancy Duarte, presentation design maven, offers some advice. Duarte says the task of creating a presentation for someone else is made tougher by the fact that executives believe they are defined by their presentation style.
Recently, I've become aware of some emerging trends regarding presentation styles and have recognized some individuals who seem to be at the forefront of these trends. Stylistically, these trends often involve rapid, compact presentations spoken over carefully chosen words and imagery to punctuate the points being made. These 'cut the crap' style presentations can be surprisingly informational and quite entertaining if delivered well. It's something that personally gets me motivated to attend events and makes me hopeful for the future of visual storytelling.
As humankind has evolved from telling stories on cave walls to seeing world leaders use PowerPoint (for better or worse) we've also evolved how narrative takes place. Here are some emerging trends I've been able to identify: http://adjix.com/428
I attend numerous conferences, symposia, and workshops each year—both as a participant and a contributor. I am increasingly frustrated with my colleagues’ and my own performance. In general, the issue is our misuse and overuse of the standard presentation format: bulleted slide after bulleted slide.
The inimitable Guy Kawasaki - we cannot hope to imitate, but we can learn from his style.
How would you have handled the time problem?
.... dedicated to uncovering innovative mapping solutions and fresh design ideas. ... the best maps are capable of displaying a stunning depth of geographic information, quickly and easily, in a way no other infographic can match. http://adjix.com/6j65
I had one of those thoughts when reading Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check. (a must read for every entrepreneur and marketer)
Guy gives tips about public speaking, and one of the tips was to overdress - never dress beneath the level of the audience. I totally agree. But it was Guy's reason not to underdress that made me go, "Really? That's the signal it sends?"
http://marketingtowomenonline.typepad.com/blog/2008/12/underdressing-for-public-speaking.html
MC’ing events and conferences at the top professional level is a real blast. The fundamental key is to make everyone else look like stars…then you’ll shine along with them.