1.1 What Is Public Speaking?
Challenge → Reaction
Challenge: How would you define public speaking? Come up with a “formal” definition of your own before reading further.
Reaction:
Why are you here? Not why are you reading this text at this very moment, but why are you in a public speakingSpeaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner for a specific purpose. class? Perhaps this course is required at your school and you’re uneasy about it, or maybe you excelled at speech and debate in high school and you’re looking forward to the challenge of a college-level public speaking course. However you arrived at this point, it’s important to understand what public speaking is and what it isn’t, as well as the overall journey you are embarking on as you learn.
A Historical Tradition
If you think back, you’ll note that great speeches have shaped history. Presidencies, nations, wars, cultures, and individuals have all been affected by words spoken by one person—generally—to many people on special occasions. Often these listeners were not simply affected, but moved to action. To understand the roots of public speaking, board a time machine and travel to ancient Greece. Meet people like Aristotle, for example, and watch crowds of listeners gather. What’s called the “oral tradition” was strong then; culture, philosophy, and history were handed down from one generation to the next orally through speech. Some oratorsAn orator is a skilled and eloquent public speaker. were so powerful that they could move a crowd to action. History records that an orator named DemosthenesA Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. addressed a crowd, along with a second orator, whose name has since been forgotten. When the two speakers were finished, the people yelled, “What a beautiful, well-delivered speech! . . . Let’s march with Demosthenes!” Demosthenes activated people with his words and won the verbal battle between the two speakers. Often, good speakers make people think or even discuss, but great speakers like Demosthenes have the persuasive ability to move people beyond thinking to action.
“A time comes when silence is betrayal.” —Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights leader, 1929–1968
Sources: Image kropic1/Shutterstock.com; Martin Luther King, Jr., “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” Digital History, April 4, 1967, https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?psid=3621&smtid=3
The same thing is true today with new, dynamic traditions such as TED Talks online. If you want your listeners to change somehow, using your speaking expertise is exactly what you’ll need to do. In this text, you’ll see many examples of speeches delivered by well-known intellectuals, activists, entertainers, and designers, among others. Some students who take a class like this one get practical results right away. They win real-life custody battles, for example, or succeed in getting a much-needed raise, or meet a sales target they never expected to meet in a million years. Students like you become speakers who have learned how to move their listeners to action.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an iconic speaker who moved listeners to action. He combined incredible passion and powerful delivery in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the Washington Mall to create his time-honored message about freedom. His words are so well known that most of us can recite them from memory.
People with winning public speaking skills have impact, from famous politicians like Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama to contemporary young actors and activists like Yara Shahidi, whose quote opens this chapter, and Millie Bobby Brown, who rose to fame as “Eleven” in Stranger Things. She advocates for children's rights and was named UNICEF’s youngest-ever Goodwill Ambassador. These public speakers help shape our current culture, and they also contribute to history. We can almost hear the voices of outstanding speakers in our heads. They project power through their spoken words, while injecting knowledge, passion, and sometimes humor. Words have power—for good or ill—that changes the world.
A Contemporary Tradition
Why is TED so popular? Not Ted, your neighbor, but TED—Technology, Entertainment, and Design—the sophisticated venue for speeches about “ideas worth spreading.” Although it’s expensive to buy a ticket to a real, physical TED conference and listen in person, it’s free to listen online and learn from some of the best speakers in the world. TED has helped bring public speaking into the public eye (and ears) as cool, classy, and captivating media that can literally change your life. According to Carmine Gallo, TED expert, the best TED Talks—all with millions of views to their credit—have nine characteristics. They do the following:
Communicate passion. Join over ten million other viewers to listen to Matthieu Ricard, French biochemist turned Buddhist monk. Neuroscientists who use fMRI tests to measure the areas of the brain that light up when people are happy have never seen results that even come close to Ricard’s results, earning him the label, “the happiest man in the world.” His passion for his subject is contagious.
Matthieu Ricard on “The Habits of Happiness”
“Somehow, consciously or not, directly or indirectly, in the short or the long term, whatever we do, whatever we hope, whatever we dream—somehow, is related to a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness.”
Transcript| 0.104 to 5.104 | (images whooshing) (dramatic ambient music) |
| 12.464 to 15.93 | (audience clapping) |
| 15.93 to 19.65 | - So, I guess this is a result of globalization |
| 19.65 to 23.52 | that you can find Coca-Cola tins on top of the Everest |
| 23.52 to 25.448 | and Buddhist monk in Monterey. |
| 25.448 to 28.35 | (audience laughing) |
| 28.35 to 33.35 | And so I just came two days ago from the Himalayas |
| 33.39 to 34.65 | to your kind invitation. |
| 34.65 to 37.56 | So I would like to invite you also for a while |
| 37.56 to 39.153 | to the Himalayas themself, |
| 40.68 to 44.19 | and to show the place where |
| 44.19 to 46.65 | meditators like me |
| 46.65 to 49.2 | who began with being a molecular biologist |
| 49.2 to 53.073 | in Pasteur Institute and found their way to the mountains. |
| 55.14 to 60.033 | So these are a few images I was lucky to take and be there. |
| 62.1 to 67.1 | This the Mount Kailash in Eastern Tibet, wonderful setting. |
| 67.53 to 69.717 | This is from Malboro country. |
| 69.717 to 72.8 | (audience laughing) |
| 74.79 to 78.303 | This is turquoise lake. A meditator. |
| 79.29 to 80.94 | This is the hottest day of the year |
| 80.94 to 84.42 | somewhere in Eastern Tibet, on August 1st. |
| 84.42 to 87.57 | And the night before, we camped, |
| 87.57 to 91.017 | and my Tibetan friends said, "We're going to sleep outside." |
| 91.944 to 94.14 | And I say, "Why? We have enough space in the tent." |
| 94.14 to 96.105 | They say, "Yes, but it's summertime." |
| 96.105 to 99.188 | (audience laughing) |
| 100.77 to 103.56 | So now we are going to speak of happiness. |
| 103.56 to 104.55 | As a Frenchman, |
| 104.55 to 107.7 | I must say that there are a lot of French intellectuals |
| 107.7 to 111.363 | that seems that happiness is not at all interesting. |
| 111.363 to 112.444 | (audience laughing) |
| 112.444 to 114.18 | And I just wrote an essay on happiness. |
| 114.18 to 115.59 | And there was a controversy, |
| 115.59 to 118.087 | and someone wrote an article saying, |
| 118.087 to 121.319 | "Don't impose on us the dirty work of happiness." |
| 121.319 to 122.377 | (audience laughing) |
| 122.377 to 124.62 | "We don't care about being happy. |
| 124.62 to 126.78 | We need to live with passion. |
| 126.78 to 129.18 | We lacks the ups and downs of life. |
| 129.18 to 130.2 | We lack our suffering |
| 130.2 to 132.655 | because it's so good when it cease for a while." |
| 132.655 to 136.32 | (audience laughing) |
| 136.32 to 139.92 | This is what I see from the balcony of my hermitage |
| 139.92 to 141.39 | in the Himalayas. |
| 141.39 to 143.01 | It's about two meters by three, |
| 143.01 to 144.992 | and you're all welcome anytime. |
| 144.992 to 147.03 | (audience laughing) |
| 147.03 to 150.483 | Now, let's come to happiness or well-being. |
| 152.07 to 153.33 | And first of all, |
| 153.33 to 156.45 | you know, despite what the French intellectuals say, |
| 156.45 to 159.48 | it seems that no one wakes up in the morning |
| 159.48 to 161.945 | thinking, "May I suffer the whole day?" |
| 161.945 to 162.9 | (audience laughing) |
| 162.9 to 167.58 | Which means that somehow, consciously or not, |
| 167.58 to 171.84 | directly or indirectly, and the short and the long term, |
| 171.84 to 175.203 | whatever we do, whatever we hope, whatever we dream, |
| 176.34 to 180.15 | somehow is related to a deep, profound desire |
| 180.15 to 182.193 | for well-being or happiness. |
| 183.36 to 186.75 | As Pascal said, "Even the one who hangs himself, |
| 186.75 to 191.013 | somehow is looking for cessation for suffering. |
| 191.91 to 193.617 | He finds no other way." |
| 194.73 to 198.03 | But then if you look in the literature East and West, |
| 198.03 to 201.3 | you can find incredible diversity |
| 201.3 to 202.77 | of definition of happiness. |
| 202.77 to 207.09 | Some people say, only believed in remembering the past, |
| 207.09 to 209.88 | imagining the future, never in the present. |
| 209.88 to 212.58 | Some people say happiness is right now |
| 212.58 to 215.793 | is the quality of the freshness of the present moment. |
| 217.17 to 220.38 | And that led to Henri Bergson, the French philosopher, |
| 220.38 to 222.66 | to say, "All the grand thinkers of humanity |
| 222.66 to 226.14 | have left happiness in the vague so that they could define, |
| 226.14 to 228.567 | each of them could define in their own terms." |
| 229.41 to 230.61 | Well, that will be fine |
| 230.61 to 234.393 | if it was just a secondary preoccupation in life. |
| 235.29 to 238.32 | But now if it is something that's going to determine |
| 238.32 to 241.17 | the quality of every instant of our life, |
| 241.17 to 245.043 | then we better know what it is, have some clearer idea. |
| 246.15 to 249.6 | And probably the fact that we don't know that |
| 249.6 to 252.66 | is why so often, although we seek happiness, |
| 252.66 to 254.73 | we seem to have turned our back to it. |
| 254.73 to 256.2 | Although we want to avoid suffering, |
| 256.2 to 258.393 | it seems we're running someone towards it. |
| 259.68 to 262.443 | And that also come from some kind of confusions. |
| 263.46 to 267.03 | One of the most common one is happiness and pleasure. |
| 267.03 to 271.02 | But if we look at the characteristic of those two, |
| 271.02 to 275.403 | pleasure is contingent upon time, upon its object, |
| 276.45 to 278.52 | upon the place. |
| 278.52 to 282.243 | It is something that changes of nature, |
| 283.41 to 286.89 | beautiful chocolate cake, first serving is delicious. |
| 286.89 to 290.508 | Second one, not so much. Then we feel disgust. |
| 290.508 to 292.89 | (audience laughing) |
| 292.89 to 294.42 | That's the nature of things. |
| 294.42 to 295.383 | We get tired. |
| 296.97 to 298.44 | I used to be a fan of Bach. |
| 298.44 to 300.66 | I used to play it on the guitar and, you know, |
| 300.66 to 302.64 | I can hear it two, three, five times. |
| 302.64 to 307.64 | If I had to hear it 24 hours nonstop, might be very tiring. |
| 307.71 to 308.91 | If you're feeling very cold, |
| 308.91 to 311.91 | you come near a fire, it's so wonderful. |
| 311.91 to 313.83 | Then after some moments you just go a little back |
| 313.83 to 315.13 | and then it start burning. |
| 316.08 to 319.653 | It sort of uses itself as you experience it. |
| 322.56 to 326.4 | And also again, again, it can also, it's something that you, |
| 326.4 to 328.83 | it is not something that is radiating outside. |
| 328.83 to 330.96 | Like you can feel intense pleasure, |
| 330.96 to 333.933 | and some others around you can be suffering a lot. |
| 335.61 to 338.43 | Now, what there will be happiness? |
| 338.43 to 340.77 | And happiness, of course, is such a vague word. |
| 340.77 to 342.183 | So let's say well-being. |
| 345.06 to 346.29 | And so I think the best definition, |
| 346.29 to 349.26 | according to the Buddhist view, |
| 349.26 to 351.18 | is that well-being |
| 351.18 to 354.753 | is not just a mere pleasurable sensation. |
| 356.61 to 360.483 | It is a deep sense of serenity and fulfillment. |
| 362.73 to 363.563 | A state |
| 365.04 to 368.94 | that actually pervades |
| 368.94 to 372.6 | and underlies all emotional states, |
| 372.6 to 375.453 | and all the joys of sorrows that can come one's way. |
| 377.01 to 379.14 | Why you, that might be surprising. |
| 379.14 to 382.65 | Can we have this kind of well-being while being sad? |
| 382.65 to 384.72 | In a way, why not? |
| 384.72 to 387.123 | Because we are speaking of a different level. |
| 390.48 to 393.363 | If, look at the waves coming near the shore. |
| 394.35 to 397.3 | When you are at the bottom of the wave, you hit the bottom. |
| 398.34 to 400.05 | You hit the solid rock. |
| 400.05 to 402.69 | When you are surfing on the top, you're all elated. |
| 402.69 to 405.44 | So you go from elation to depression, there's no depth. |
| 407.13 to 410.31 | Now if you look at the the high sea, |
| 410.31 to 414 | there might be beautiful, calm ocean like a mirror. |
| 414 to 416.19 | There might be storms. |
| 416.19 to 420.483 | But the depth of the ocean is still there, unchanged. |
| 421.95 to 423.36 | So now how is that? |
| 423.36 to 425.01 | It can only be a state of being, |
| 425.01 to 429.6 | not just a fleeting emotion, sensation, even joy |
| 429.6 to 431.97 | that can be the spring of happiness, |
| 431.97 to 433.47 | but there's also wicked joy. |
| 433.47 to 435.42 | You can rejoice in someone's suffering. |
| 436.89 to 440.133 | So now how do we proceed in our quest for happiness? |
| 441.51 to 445.05 | Very often we look outside. |
| 445.05 to 448.05 | We think that if we could gather this and that, |
| 448.05 to 449.04 | all the conditions, |
| 449.04 to 451.893 | something that we say everything to be happy, |
| 452.76 to 454.74 | to have everything to be happy. |
| 454.74 to 457.32 | That very sentence already be |
| 457.32 to 460.47 | the doom of destruction of happiness, to have everything. |
| 460.47 to 462.663 | If we miss something, it collapses. |
| 464.31 to 465.63 | And also when things go wrong, |
| 465.63 to 468.12 | we're trying to fix things outside so much. |
| 468.12 to 472.32 | But our control on the outer world |
| 472.32 to 476.583 | is limited, temporary, and often illusory. |
| 477.6 to 482.04 | So now look at the inner conditions, and it's stronger. |
| 482.04 to 485.7 | Isn't it the mind that translates the outer condition |
| 485.7 to 487.68 | into happiness and suffering? |
| 487.68 to 489.51 | And isn't that stronger? |
| 489.51 to 492.57 | We know by experience that we can be |
| 492.57 to 494.61 | in what we call a little paradise |
| 494.61 to 497.523 | and yet be completely unhappy within. |
| 499.5 to 501.69 | The dilemma was once in Portugal |
| 501.69 to 503.97 | and there was lot of construction going on everywhere. |
| 503.97 to 506.67 | So one evening he said, "Look, you're doing all these things |
| 506.67 to 510.69 | but isn't it nice also to build something within?" |
| 510.69 to 512.91 | And he said, "Unless that, |
| 512.91 to 515.37 | even you get a high-tech flat |
| 515.37 to 520.37 | on the 100 floor of a super modern and comfortable building, |
| 520.77 to 522.45 | if you're deeply unhappy within, |
| 522.45 to 523.8 | all you are going to look for |
| 523.8 to 525.35 | is a window from which to jump. |
| 527.91 to 529.74 | So now at the opposite, |
| 529.74 to 531.27 | we know a lot of people who, |
| 531.27 to 534 | in very difficult circumstances, |
| 534 to 537.3 | managed to keep serenity, inner strength, |
| 537.3 to 539.373 | inner freedom, confidence. |
| 540.42 to 542.34 | So now if the inner conditions are stronger, |
| 542.34 to 545.37 | of course, the outer conditions do influence. |
| 545.37 to 548.97 | And it's wonderful to live longer, healthier, |
| 548.97 to 551.76 | to have access to information, education, |
| 551.76 to 556.76 | to be able to travel, to have freedom is highly desirable. |
| 556.95 to 558.6 | However, this is not enough. |
| 558.6 to 563.6 | Those are just auxiliary help conditions. |
| 563.76 to 567.123 | The experience that translate everything is within the mind. |
| 567.96 to 569.58 | So then when we ask oneself |
| 569.58 to 574.2 | how to nurture the conditions for happiness, |
| 574.2 to 575.55 | the inner conditions, |
| 575.55 to 579.483 | and which are those which will undermine happiness? |
| 580.32 to 583.68 | So then this needs to have some experience. |
| 583.68 to 585 | We have to know from ourself. |
| 585 to 587.49 | There are certain state of mind that are conducing |
| 587.49 to 590.04 | to this flourishing, to this well-being. |
| 590.04 to 592.743 | What the Greek call eudaimonia, flourishing. |
| 594.36 to 597.873 | There are some which are adverse to this well-being. |
| 599.13 to 601.383 | And so if we look from our own experience, |
| 602.82 to 607.11 | anger, hatred, jealousy, arrogance, |
| 607.11 to 610.923 | obsessive desire, strong grasping, |
| 611.76 to 613.74 | they don't leave us in such a good state |
| 613.74 to 616.08 | after we have experienced it. |
| 616.08 to 619.023 | And also they are detrimental to others' happiness. |
| 620.43 to 624.45 | So we may consider that the more those are invading our mind |
| 624.45 to 626.88 | and like a chain reaction, |
| 626.88 to 630.093 | the more we'll feel miserable, we'll feel tormented. |
| 631.08 to 634.56 | At the opposite, everyone knows deep within |
| 634.56 to 638.19 | that an act of selfish generosity from the distance |
| 638.19 to 641.13 | without anyone knowing anything about it, |
| 641.13 to 644.13 | we could save a children's, a child's life, |
| 644.13 to 645.27 | make someone happy. |
| 645.27 to 648.75 | We don't need a recognition, we don't need any gratitude. |
| 648.75 to 650.65 | Just the mere fact of doing that |
| 651.66 to 656.16 | feels such a sense of adequation with our deep nature. |
| 656.16 to 658.51 | And we would like to be like that all the time. |
| 659.37 to 663.3 | So is that possible to change our way of being, |
| 663.3 to 664.713 | to transform one's mind? |
| 666.03 to 669.57 | And those negative emotion or destructive emotion |
| 669.57 to 671.523 | inherent to the nature of mind, |
| 672.54 to 675.45 | is change possible in our emotions |
| 675.45 to 678.21 | in our traits, in our moods? |
| 678.21 to 681.36 | So for that we have to ask what's the nature of mind? |
| 681.36 to 684.183 | And if we look from the experiential point of view, |
| 685.92 to 688.163 | there is a primary quality of consciousness. |
| 688.163 to 693.163 | That is the mere fact to be cognitive, to be aware. |
| 693.57 to 695.313 | Consciousness is like a mirror |
| 695.313 to 698.52 | that allows all images to rise on it. |
| 698.52 to 701.61 | You can have ugly faces, beautiful faces, the mirror, |
| 701.61 to 705.12 | the mirror allows that, but the mirror is not tainted, |
| 705.12 to 709.44 | it's not modified, it's not altered by those images. |
| 709.44 to 712.44 | Likewise, behind every single thought |
| 712.44 to 717.24 | there is the bare consciousness, pure awareness. |
| 717.24 to 718.68 | This is the nature. |
| 718.68 to 722.61 | It cannot be tainted intrinsically with hatred or jealousy |
| 722.61 to 725.069 | because then if it was always there, |
| 725.069 to 728.79 | like a dye that would permeate the whole clot, |
| 728.79 to 731.37 | then it would be found all the time somewhere. |
| 731.37 to 733.47 | We know we're not always angry, |
| 733.47 to 736.41 | always jealous or always generous. |
| 736.41 to 739.29 | So because the basic fabric of consciousness |
| 739.29 to 741.15 | is this pure cognitive quality |
| 741.15 to 743.76 | that differentiated it from a stone, |
| 743.76 to 745.26 | there is a possibility for change |
| 745.26 to 747.57 | because all emotions are fleeting. |
| 747.57 to 750.48 | That is the ground for mind training. |
| 750.48 to 752.79 | Mind training has been on the idea |
| 752.79 to 755.28 | that two opposite mental factors |
| 755.28 to 757.53 | cannot happen at the same time. |
| 757.53 to 759.51 | You could go from love to hate, |
| 759.51 to 762.75 | but you cannot at the same time to have the same object, |
| 762.75 to 766.2 | the same person want to harm and want to do good. |
| 766.2 to 769.893 | You cannot in the same gesture shake hand and give a blow. |
| 770.88 to 773.97 | So there are natural antidotes to emotion |
| 773.97 to 776.463 | that are destructive to our inner well-being. |
| 777.9 to 779.463 | So that's a way to proceed. |
| 780.3 to 783.87 | Rejoicing compared to jealousy, |
| 783.87 to 786.39 | a kind of sense of inner freedom |
| 786.39 to 789.963 | as opposite to intense grasping and obsession. |
| 791.28 to 795.573 | Benevolence, loving kindness against hatred. |
| 796.47 to 798.33 | But, of course, each emotion |
| 798.33 to 800.253 | then would need a particular antidote. |
| 801.39 to 803.97 | Another way is to try to find a general antidote |
| 803.97 to 808.293 | to all emotions, and that's by looking at the very nature. |
| 809.34 to 814.34 | Usually when we feel annoyed, hatred or upset with someone |
| 815.1 to 817.2 | or obsessed with something, |
| 817.2 to 819.6 | the mind goes again and again to that object. |
| 819.6 to 820.98 | Each time it goes to the object, |
| 820.98 to 825.15 | it reinforces that obsession or that annoyance. |
| 825.15 to 829.14 | So then it's a self-perpetuating process. |
| 829.14 to 831.18 | So what we need to look now is, |
| 831.18 to 833.33 | instead of looking outward, we look inward. |
| 834.27 to 835.65 | Look at anger itself. |
| 835.65 to 837.15 | It looks very menacing |
| 837.15 to 842.15 | like a bellowing monsoon cloud, thunder storm. |
| 842.19 to 844.2 | But we think we could sit on the cloud. |
| 844.2 to 846.9 | But if we go there, it's just mist. |
| 846.9 to 850.02 | Likewise, if you look at the thought of anger, |
| 850.02 to 853.89 | it will vanish like frost under the morning sun. |
| 853.89 to 856.89 | If you do this again and again, the propensity, |
| 856.89 to 859.29 | the tendencies for anger to arise again |
| 859.29 to 862.74 | will be less and less each time you dissolved it. |
| 862.74 to 864.81 | And at the end, although it may rise, |
| 864.81 to 866.16 | it will just cross the mind |
| 866.16 to 869.85 | like a bird crossing the sky without leaving any track. |
| 869.85 to 872.313 | So this is the principle of mind training. |
| 873.66 to 877.17 | Now, it takes time |
| 877.17 to 882.17 | because we, it took time for all those faults in our mind, |
| 882.24 to 884.22 | the tendencies to build up. |
| 884.22 to 886.83 | So it will take time to unfold them as well. |
| 886.83 to 890.01 | But that's the only way to go, mind transformation. |
| 890.01 to 893.37 | That is the very meaning of meditation. |
| 893.37 to 896.31 | It means familiarization with a new way of being, |
| 896.31 to 898.05 | new way of perceiving thing, |
| 898.05 to 900.48 | which is more in that equation with reality, |
| 900.48 to 901.95 | with interdependence, |
| 901.95 to 904.56 | with the stream and continuous transformation |
| 904.56 to 907.44 | which are being and our consciousness is. |
| 907.44 to 909.36 | So the interface with cognitive science, |
| 909.36 to 910.59 | since we need to come to that |
| 910.59 to 911.67 | and what was the subject |
| 911.67 to 914.88 | of we have to deal in such a short time, |
| 914.88 to 916.17 | with brain plasticity. |
| 916.17 to 918.9 | Brain was taught to be more or less fixed. |
| 918.9 to 922.05 | All the normal connection in numbers and quantities. |
| 922.05 to 924.84 | We're taught till the last 20 years, |
| 924.84 to 926.1 | taught to be more or less fixed |
| 926.1 to 928.65 | when we reached the adult age. |
| 928.65 to 931.92 | Now recently, it has been found that it can change a lot. |
| 931.92 to 933.39 | A violinist, as we heard, |
| 933.39 to 935.67 | who have done 10,000 hours of violin practice, |
| 935.67 to 937.95 | some area that controls the movements |
| 937.95 to 940.83 | of fingers in the brain change a lot, |
| 940.83 to 943.773 | increase in reinforcement of the synaptic connections. |
| 944.76 to 948.06 | So can we do that with human qualities, |
| 948.06 to 952.32 | with loving kindness, with patience, with openness? |
| 952.32 to 955.413 | So that what those great meditators have been doing. |
| 956.76 to 961.76 | Some of them who came to the labs like in Madison, Wisconsin |
| 962.01 to 964.335 | or in Berkeley did |
| 964.335 to 967.353 | 20 to 40,000 hours of meditation. |
| 968.31 to 969.87 | They do like three years retreat |
| 969.87 to 971.73 | where they do meditate 12 hours a day. |
| 971.73 to 973.02 | And then the rest of their life, |
| 973.02 to 974.88 | they would do that three, four hours a day. |
| 974.88 to 978.097 | They are real Olympic champions of mind training. |
| 978.097 to 981.3 | (audience laughing) |
| 981.3 to 982.59 | This is the place where the meditate. |
| 982.59 to 985.08 | You can see it's kind of inspiring. |
| 985.08 to 989.33 | Now here with 256 electrodes. |
| 989.33 to 992.413 | (audience laughing) |
| 994.32 to 995.64 | So what did they find? |
| 995.64 to 999.753 | Of course, same thing, scientific embargo. |
| 1000.62 to 1002.54 | A paper has been submitted to "Nature." |
| 1002.54 to 1004.94 | Hopefully it will be accepted. |
| 1004.94 to 1007.04 | It deals with the state of compassion, |
| 1007.04 to 1008.57 | unconditional compassion. |
| 1008.57 to 1010.43 | We ask meditators who have been doing that |
| 1010.43 to 1012.32 | for years and years and years, |
| 1012.32 to 1014.96 | to put their mind in a state |
| 1014.96 to 1017.18 | where is nothing but loving kindness, |
| 1017.18 to 1019.67 | total availability to sentient being. |
| 1019.67 to 1021.8 | Of course, during the training, we do that with object. |
| 1021.8 to 1024.35 | We think of people suffering, we thought of people we love. |
| 1024.35 to 1025.73 | But at some point it can be a state |
| 1025.73 to 1027.323 | which all pervading. |
| 1028.7 to 1030.233 | Here is a preliminary result, |
| 1031.19 to 1033.41 | which I can show because already been shown. |
| 1033.41 to 1038.41 | The bell curve shows 150 controls. |
| 1038.54 to 1040.46 | And what is being looked at |
| 1040.46 to 1042.41 | is the difference between the right |
| 1042.41 to 1044 | and the left frontal lobe. |
| 1044 to 1045.29 | In very short, |
| 1045.29 to 1048.23 | people who have more activity on the right side |
| 1048.23 to 1049.7 | of the of the prefrontal cortex |
| 1049.7 to 1053.03 | are more depressed, withdrawn. |
| 1053.03 to 1055.583 | They don't describe a lot of positive affect. |
| 1056.63 to 1059.39 | It's the opposite on the left side, |
| 1059.39 to 1062.93 | more tendance to (indistinct), to happiness, |
| 1062.93 to 1066.14 | to express, and curiosity, and so forth. |
| 1066.14 to 1068 | So there's a basic line for people |
| 1068 to 1070.13 | and also it can be changed. |
| 1070.13 to 1072.878 | If you see a comic movie, you go off to the left side. |
| 1072.878 to 1075.05 | If you're happy about something, |
| 1075.05 to 1076.07 | you'll go more to the left side. |
| 1076.07 to 1077.48 | If you have a lot of depression, |
| 1077.48 to 1078.88 | you'll go to the right side. |
| 1079.91 to 1084.91 | Here, the minus 0.5 is a four standard deviation |
| 1085.82 to 1088.55 | of a meditator who meditate on compassion. |
| 1088.55 to 1091.2 | It's something that is totally out of the bell curve. |
| 1092.63 to 1093.56 | So I have no time |
| 1093.56 to 1096.32 | to go into all the different scientific results. |
| 1096.32 to 1097.97 | Hopefully they will come. |
| 1097.97 to 1098.93 | But they found that, |
| 1098.93 to 1103.25 | this is after three and a half hours in fMRI. |
| 1103.25 to 1105.05 | It's like coming out of a spaceship. |
| 1107.57 to 1110.3 | Also, it has been shown in other labs, for instance, |
| 1110.3 to 1113.6 | Paul Ekman's labs in Berkeley, |
| 1113.6 to 1115.79 | that there, some meditators are able also |
| 1115.79 to 1117.77 | to control the emotional response |
| 1117.77 to 1119.84 | more than it could be taught, |
| 1119.84 to 1121.58 | like the startle experiments for instance. |
| 1121.58 to 1123.14 | If you sit a guy on the chair |
| 1123.14 to 1125.36 | with all this kind of apparatus measuring your physiology |
| 1125.36 to 1127.94 | and it's kind of a bomb that goes off. |
| 1127.94 to 1130.1 | It's a so instinctive response, |
| 1130.1 to 1131.48 | that in 20 years, |
| 1131.48 to 1134.623 | you never saw anyone who would not jump. |
| 1134.623 to 1135.456 | Somehow- |
Tell compelling stories. Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights attorney and head of the Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal representation to poor defendants, earned the longest standing ovation of any TED speaker. A full 65 percent of Stevenson’s talk focused on personal stories, proving that appealing to the emotions of the audience is powerful.
Bryan Stevenson on “We Need to Talk about an Injustice”
“Ultimately, you judge the character of a society, not by how they treat their rich and the powerful and the privileged, but by how they treat the poor, the condemned, the incarcerated. Because it’s in that nexus that we actually begin to understand truly profound things about who we are.”
Are conversational. Practice may (or may not) make things perfect, but it does make them look easy. “Dr. Jill” (Jill Bolte Taylor), a brain researcher, tells the powerful story of experiencing a stroke from the inside out in her TED Talk, now with over 29 million views. Believe it or not: her conversational tone was achieved by rehearsing two hundred times! Having a genuine conversation, as if communicating with each individual in the audience, makes speakers seem like real people, not hyped-up, on-stage performers. When engaged in conversation, our brains somehow realize that they must hold up their part of the bargain by paying attention to what’s coming up.
Jill Bolte Taylor on “My Stroke of Insight”
“Then I realized, ‘Oh, my gosh! I'm having a stroke!’ And the next thing my brain says to me is, ‘Wow! This is so cool!’”
Teach listeners something new. The human brain is hungry for a freshly packaged idea, a surprising fact, or a new take on things. Ideally, as a speaker, you want a “huh?” response from listeners, as if to say, “Really? I didn’t know that!” Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert’s TED Talk challenges the traditional view that unless we get what we want, we’ll be miserable. Now with over 20 million views, his intriguing research suggests otherwise.
Dan Gilbert on “The Surprising Science of Happiness”
“The lesson I want to leave you with, from these data, is that our longings and our worries are both to some degree overblown, because we have within us the capacity to manufacture the very commodity we are constantly chasing when we choose experience.”
Transcript| 0.78 to 5.78 | (gentle music) (videos whooshing) |
| 12.969 to 15.998 | (audience applauding) |
| 15.998 to 17.73 | - When you have 21 minutes to speak, |
| 17.73 to 20.73 | 2 million years seems like a really long time, |
| 20.73 to 23.28 | but evolutionarily 2 million years is nothing. |
| 23.28 to 25.2 | And yet in 2 million years |
| 25.2 to 29.01 | the human brain has nearly tripled in mass, |
| 29.01 to 32.4 | going from the 1.25 pound brain of our ancestor here, |
| 32.4 to 35.07 | Habilis, to the almost three pound meatloaf |
| 35.07 to 38.73 | that everybody here has between their ears. |
| 38.73 to 43.05 | What is it about a big brain that nature was |
| 43.05 to 45.9 | so eager for everyone of us to have one? |
| 45.9 to 48 | Well, it turns out when brains triple in size |
| 48 to 49.8 | they don't just get three times bigger, |
| 49.8 to 51.72 | they gain new structures. |
| 51.72 to 54.69 | And one of the main reasons that our brain got so big is |
| 54.69 to 57.75 | because it got a new part called the frontal lobe, |
| 57.75 to 61.11 | and particularly a part called the prefrontal cortex. |
| 61.11 to 63.54 | Now, what does a prefrontal cortex do for you |
| 63.54 to 66.66 | that should justify the entire architectural overhaul |
| 66.66 to 69.96 | of the human skull in the blink of evolutionary time? |
| 69.96 to 73.02 | Well, turns out the prefrontal cortex does lots of things, |
| 73.02 to 75.9 | but one of the most important things it does is |
| 75.9 to 78.9 | it is an experience simulator. |
| 78.9 to 82.56 | You know, flight pilots practice in flight simulators |
| 82.56 to 85.53 | so that they don't make real mistakes in planes. |
| 85.53 to 88.08 | Human beings have this marvelous adaptation |
| 88.08 to 91.89 | that they can actually have experiences in their heads |
| 91.89 to 94.17 | before they try them out in real life. |
| 94.17 to 96.69 | This is a trick that none of our ancestors could do, |
| 96.69 to 99.93 | that no other animal can do quite like we can. |
| 99.93 to 101.52 | It's a marvelous adaptation. |
| 101.52 to 103.44 | It's up there with opposable thumbs |
| 103.44 to 105.56 | and standing upright in language as one |
| 105.56 to 108.54 | of the things that got our species outta the trees |
| 108.54 to 110.64 | and into the shopping mall. (audience laughing) |
| 110.64 to 114.18 | Now, all of you have done this. |
| 114.18 to 115.013 | I mean, you know, |
| 115.013 to 118.08 | Ben and Jerry's doesn't have liver and onion ice cream, |
| 118.08 to 120 | and it's not because they whipped some up, |
| 120 to 121.56 | tried it and went, "yuck." |
| 121.56 to 124.59 | It's because from without leaving your armchair |
| 124.59 to 126.967 | you can simulate that flavor and say, |
| 126.967 to 129.003 | "yuck" before you make it. |
| 131.19 to 133.95 | Let's see how your experience simulators are working. |
| 133.95 to 135.69 | Let's just run a quick diagnostic |
| 135.69 to 137.76 | before I proceed with the rest of the talk. |
| 137.76 to 140.43 | Here's two different futures that I invite you |
| 140.43 to 143.1 | to contemplate and you can try to simulate them |
| 143.1 to 145.65 | and tell me which one you think you might prefer. |
| 145.65 to 148.23 | One of them is winning the lottery, |
| 148.23 to 151.14 | This is about $314 million, |
| 151.14 to 153.813 | and the other is becoming paraplegic. |
| 154.83 to 156.78 | So just give it a moment of thought. |
| 156.78 to 159.54 | You probably don't feel like you need a moment of thought. |
| 159.54 to 163.29 | And interestingly, there are data on these two groups |
| 163.29 to 165.75 | of people, data on how happy they are. |
| 165.75 to 168.78 | And this is exactly what you expected, isn't it? |
| 168.78 to 170.37 | But these aren't the data. |
| 170.37 to 171.63 | I made these up. |
| 171.63 to 172.8 | These are the data. |
| 172.8 to 175.59 | You failed the pop quiz and you're hardly five minutes |
| 175.59 to 177.78 | into the lecture because the fact is |
| 177.78 to 180.48 | that a year after losing the use of their legs |
| 180.48 to 182.91 | and a year after winning the lotto, |
| 182.91 to 186.78 | lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy |
| 186.78 to 187.613 | with their lives. |
| 187.613 to 190.92 | Now, don't feel too bad about failing the first pop quiz |
| 190.92 to 193.35 | because everybody fails all of the pop quizzes |
| 193.35 to 194.88 | all of the time. |
| 194.88 to 197.19 | The research that my laboratory has been doing, |
| 197.19 to 198.66 | that economists and psychologists |
| 198.66 to 200.19 | around the country have been doing |
| 200.19 to 203.46 | have revealed something really quite startling to us. |
| 203.46 to 205.26 | Something we call the impact bias, |
| 205.26 to 208.86 | which is the tendency for the simulator to work badly. |
| 208.86 to 211.29 | For the simulator to make you believe |
| 211.29 to 214.02 | that different outcomes are more different |
| 214.02 to 215.28 | than in fact they really are. |
| 215.28 to 217.83 | From field studies to laboratory studies, |
| 217.83 to 220.14 | we see that winning or losing an election |
| 220.14 to 222.45 | gaining or losing a romantic partner, |
| 222.45 to 224.22 | getting or not getting a promotion, |
| 224.22 to 227.94 | passing or not passing a college test, on and on, |
| 227.94 to 230.61 | have far less impact, less intensity, |
| 230.61 to 234.99 | and much less duration than people expect them to have. |
| 234.99 to 237.87 | In fact, a recent study, this almost floors me, |
| 237.87 to 241.62 | a recent study showing how major life traumas |
| 241.62 to 244.44 | affect people suggests that if it happened |
| 244.44 to 246.99 | over three months ago with only a few exceptions |
| 246.99 to 249.963 | it has no impact whatsoever on your happiness. |
| 251.61 to 252.443 | Why? |
| 253.32 to 256.95 | Because happiness can be synthesized. |
| 256.95 to 259.147 | Sir Thomas Brown wrote in 1642, |
| 259.147 to 261.24 | "I am the happiest man alive. |
| 261.24 to 264.27 | I have that in me that can convert poverty to riches, |
| 264.27 to 266.01 | adversity to prosperity, |
| 266.01 to 268.53 | and I am more invulnerable than Achilles. |
| 268.53 to 271.35 | Fortune hath not one place to hit me." |
| 271.35 to 274.08 | Kind of remarkable machinery does this guy have in his head? |
| 274.08 to 276.87 | Well, it turns out it's precisely the same |
| 276.87 to 280.56 | remarkable machinery that all of us have. |
| 280.56 to 283.08 | Human beings have something that we might think |
| 283.08 to 285.72 | of as a psychological immune system, |
| 285.72 to 287.43 | a system of cognitive processes, |
| 287.43 to 290.16 | largely non-conscious cognitive processes |
| 290.16 to 293.88 | that help them change their views of the world |
| 293.88 to 296.4 | so that they can feel better about the worlds |
| 296.4 to 298.59 | in which they find themselves. |
| 298.59 to 300.96 | Like Sir Thomas, you have this machine. |
| 300.96 to 305.46 | Unlike Sir Thomas, you seem not to know it. |
| 305.46 to 307.59 | We synthesize happiness |
| 307.59 to 310.17 | but we think happiness is a thing to be found. |
| 310.17 to 311.7 | Now, you don't need me |
| 311.7 to 313.89 | to tell you give you too many examples |
| 313.89 to 316.41 | of people synthesizing happiness I suspect. |
| 316.41 to 318.51 | Though I'm gonna show you some experimental evidence. |
| 318.51 to 320.7 | You don't have to look very far for evidence. |
| 320.7 to 322.65 | I as a challenge to myself |
| 322.65 to 324.66 | since I say this once in a while in lectures, |
| 324.66 to 326.28 | I took a copy of "The New York Times" |
| 326.28 to 327.54 | and tried to find some instances |
| 327.54 to 329.01 | of people synthesizing happiness. |
| 329.01 to 331.267 | And here are three guys synthesizing happiness. |
| 331.267 to 333.39 | "I'm so much better off physically, financially, |
| 333.39 to 335.25 | emotionally, and almost every other way. |
| 335.25 to 337.11 | Mentally, almost every other way. |
| 337.11 to 338.22 | I don't have one minute's regret. |
| 338.22 to 339.48 | It was a glorious experience. |
| 339.48 to 340.68 | I believe it turned out for the best." |
| 340.68 to 342.96 | Who are these characters who are so happy? |
| 342.96 to 344.88 | Well, the first one is Jim Wright. |
| 344.88 to 346.86 | Some of you are old enough to remember he was |
| 346.86 to 349.44 | the Chairman of the House of Representatives |
| 349.44 to 351.51 | and he resigned in disgrace when |
| 351.51 to 353.49 | this young Republican named Newt Gingrich found |
| 353.49 to 355.35 | out about a shady book deal he had done. |
| 355.35 to 356.25 | He lost everything. |
| 356.25 to 358.83 | Most powerful Democrat in the country lost everything. |
| 358.83 to 361.56 | He lost his money, lost his power. |
| 361.56 to 363.757 | What does he have to say all these years later about it? |
| 363.757 to 366.96 | "I am so much better off physically, financially, mentally, |
| 366.96 to 368.04 | and almost every other way." |
| 368.04 to 370.8 | What other way would there be to be better off? |
| 370.8 to 373.41 | Vegetably, minerally, animaly? (audience laughing) |
| 373.41 to 374.693 | He's pretty much covered him there. |
| 374.693 to 376.703 | Moreese Bickham is somebody you've never heard of. |
| 376.703 to 380.7 | Moreese Bickham uttered these words upon being released. |
| 380.7 to 381.81 | He was 78 years old. |
| 381.81 to 384.54 | He'd spent 37 years in Louisiana state penitentiary |
| 384.54 to 386.31 | for a crime he didn't commit. |
| 386.31 to 388.44 | He was ultimately exonerated at the age |
| 388.44 to 390.39 | of 78 through DNA evidence. |
| 390.39 to 392.107 | And what did he have to say about his experience? |
| 392.107 to 393.24 | "I don't have one minute's regret. |
| 393.24 to 394.5 | It was a glorious experience." |
| 394.5 to 395.88 | Glorious? |
| 395.88 to 396.817 | This guy is not saying, |
| 396.817 to 398.22 | "Well there's some nice guys. |
| 398.22 to 399.053 | They had a gym." |
| 399.053 to 401.01 | It's glorious, a word we usually reserve |
| 401.01 to 403.98 | for something like a religious experience. |
| 403.98 to 406.38 | Harry S. Langerman uttered these words |
| 406.38 to 408.54 | and he's somebody you might've known but didn't, |
| 408.54 to 410.76 | because in 1949 he read a little article |
| 410.76 to 413.19 | in the paper about a hamburger stand owned |
| 413.19 to 414.93 | by these two brothers named McDonald's. |
| 414.93 to 416.88 | And he thought, that's a really neat idea. |
| 416.88 to 418.23 | So he went to find them. |
| 418.23 to 421.14 | They said, we'd give you a franchise on this for 3000 bucks. |
| 421.14 to 422.37 | Harry went back to New York, |
| 422.37 to 424.47 | asked his brother who was an investment banker |
| 424.47 to 425.91 | to loan him the $3,000 |
| 425.91 to 427.387 | and his brother's immortal words were, |
| 427.387 to 429.21 | "You idiot, nobody eats hamburgers." |
| 429.21 to 430.47 | He wouldn't lend him the money. |
| 430.47 to 431.73 | And of course, six months later |
| 431.73 to 433.8 | Ray Kroc had exactly the same idea. |
| 433.8 to 436.17 | It turns out people do eat hamburgers, |
| 436.17 to 440.1 | and Ray Kroc for a while became the richest man in America. |
| 440.1 to 441.3 | Oh, and then finally, |
| 441.3 to 443.1 | you know the best of all possible worlds. |
| 443.1 to 445.26 | Some of you recognized this young photo |
| 445.26 to 447.66 | of Pete Best who was the original drummer |
| 447.66 to 448.95 | for the Beatles. |
| 448.95 to 451.35 | Until they, you know, kinda like sent him out on an errand |
| 451.35 to 454.59 | and snuck away and picked up Ringo on a tour. |
| 454.59 to 457.02 | Well, in 1994 when Pete Best was interviewed, |
| 457.02 to 458.22 | yes, he's still a drummer. |
| 458.22 to 459.93 | Yes, he's a studio musician. |
| 459.93 to 460.807 | He had this to say, |
| 460.807 to 463.23 | "I'm happier than I would've been with The Beatles." |
| 463.23 to 465.69 | Okay, there's something important to be learned |
| 465.69 to 468.54 | from these people and it is the secret of happiness. |
| 468.54 to 470.88 | Here it is, finally to be revealed. |
| 470.88 to 473.61 | First accrue wealth, power, and prestige. |
| 473.61 to 476.25 | Then lose it. (audience laughing) |
| 476.25 to 478.95 | Second, spend as much of your life in prison |
| 478.95 to 480.183 | as you possibly can. |
| 481.08 to 484.47 | Third, make somebody else really, really rich. |
| 484.47 to 487.293 | And finally, never, ever join The Beatles. |
| 488.79 to 493.79 | Okay, now I, like Ze Frank, can predict your next thought |
| 493.95 to 495.63 | which is, "Yeah, right!" |
| 495.63 to 497.91 | Because when people synthesize happiness |
| 497.91 to 500.1 | as these gentlemen seem to have done, |
| 500.1 to 501.66 | we all smile at them, |
| 501.66 to 504.6 | but we kind of roll our eyes and say, "Yeah, right. |
| 504.6 to 506.287 | You never really wanted the job." |
| 506.287 to 508.02 | "Oh yeah, right! |
| 508.02 to 510.12 | You really didn't have that much in common with her |
| 510.12 to 512.28 | and you figured that out just about the time |
| 512.28 to 514.53 | she threw the engagement ring in your face." |
| 514.53 to 518.25 | We smirk because we believe that synthetic happiness |
| 518.25 to 519.66 | is not of the same quality |
| 519.66 to 522.03 | as what we might call natural happiness. |
| 522.03 to 523.38 | What are these terms? |
| 523.38 to 526.83 | Natural happiness is what we get when we get what we wanted. |
| 526.83 to 530.04 | And synthetic happiness is what we make when |
| 530.04 to 531.84 | we don't get what we wanted. |
| 531.84 to 534.87 | And in our society, we have a strong belief |
| 534.87 to 537.93 | that synthetic happiness is of an inferior kind. |
| 537.93 to 539.85 | Why do we have that belief? |
| 539.85 to 541.62 | Well, it's very simple. |
| 541.62 to 545.55 | What kind of economic engine would keep churning |
| 545.55 to 548.85 | if we believe that not getting what we want could make us |
| 548.85 to 551.85 | just as happy as getting it? |
| 551.85 to 555.06 | With all apologies to my friend Matthieu Ricard, |
| 555.06 to 557.97 | a shopping mall full of Zen monks is not going |
| 557.97 to 559.38 | to be particularly profitable |
| 559.38 to 562.083 | 'cause they don't want stuff enough. |
| 563.07 to 566.76 | I wanna suggest to you that synthetic happiness is every bit |
| 566.76 to 570.06 | as real and enduring as the kind of happiness |
| 570.06 to 572.04 | you stumble upon when you get exactly |
| 572.04 to 573.475 | what you are aiming for. |
| 573.475 to 575.91 | Now, I'm a scientist, so I'm gonna do this not with rhetoric |
| 575.91 to 578.67 | but by marinating you in a little bit of data. |
| 578.67 to 581.31 | Let me first show you an experimental paradigm |
| 581.31 to 585 | that is used to demonstrate the synthesis of happiness |
| 585 to 586.23 | among regular old folks. |
| 586.23 to 588.87 | And this isn't mine, it's a 50 year old paradigm called |
| 588.87 to 590.07 | the free choice paradigm. |
| 590.07 to 591.36 | It's very simple. |
| 591.36 to 594.18 | You bring in say, six objects, |
| 594.18 to 595.83 | and you ask a subject to rank them |
| 595.83 to 597.09 | from the most to the least liked. |
| 597.09 to 598.53 | In this case, because the experiment |
| 598.53 to 600.03 | I'm gonna tell you about uses them. |
| 600.03 to 601.83 | These are Monet prints. |
| 601.83 to 603.72 | So everybody can rank these Monet prints |
| 603.72 to 604.86 | from the one they like the most |
| 604.86 to 606.27 | to the one they like the least. |
| 606.27 to 608.167 | Now we give you a choice. |
| 608.167 to 610.71 | "We happen to have some extra prints in the closet |
| 610.71 to 613.23 | and we're gonna give you one as your prize to take home. |
| 613.23 to 615.93 | We happen to have number three and number four," |
| 615.93 to 617.377 | we tell the subject. |
| 617.377 to 619.05 | "There's a bit of a difficult choice |
| 619.05 to 621.54 | 'cause neither one is preferred strongly to the other, |
| 621.54 to 624.57 | but naturally people tend to pick number three |
| 624.57 to 627.69 | because they liked it a little better than number four." |
| 627.69 to 631.35 | Sometime later it could be 15 minutes, it could be 15 days. |
| 631.35 to 633.36 | The same stimuli were put before the subject |
| 633.36 to 635.887 | and the subject is asked to re-rank the stimuli. |
| 635.887 to 638.19 | "Tell us how much you like them now." |
| 638.19 to 639.42 | What happens? |
| 639.42 to 641.19 | Watch as happiness is synthesized. |
| 641.19 to 643.2 | This is the result that has been replicated |
| 643.2 to 644.55 | over and over again. |
| 644.55 to 646.44 | You're watching happiness be synthesized. |
| 646.44 to 647.99 | Would you like to see it again? |
| 648.96 to 650.077 | Happiness! |
| 650.077 to 652.38 | "The one I got is really better than I thought. |
| 652.38 to 655.14 | That other one I didn't get sucks." |
| 655.14 to 656.94 | That's the synthesis of happiness. |
| 656.94 to 660.697 | Now, what's the right response to that? |
| 660.697 to 663.33 | "Yeah, right!" |
| 663.33 to 665.49 | Now here's the experiment we did, |
| 665.49 to 667.59 | and I hope this is gonna convince you that "yeah, right" |
| 667.59 to 669.69 | was not the right response. |
| 669.69 to 670.83 | We did this experiment |
| 670.83 to 673.23 | with a group of patients who had intergrade amnesia. |
| 673.23 to 675 | These are hospitalized patients. |
| 675 to 677.31 | Most of them have Korsakoff syndrome, |
| 677.31 to 681.63 | polyneuritic psychosis that they drank way too much |
| 681.63 to 684.03 | and they can't make new memories, okay? |
| 684.03 to 685.53 | They remember their childhood, |
| 685.53 to 687.36 | but if you walk in and introduce yourself |
| 687.36 to 689.22 | and then leave the room when you come back |
| 689.22 to 690.873 | they don't know who you are. |
| 691.98 to 695.34 | We took our Monet prints to the hospital |
| 695.34 to 698.79 | and we asked these patients to rank them |
| 698.79 to 699.92 | from the one they liked the most |
| 699.92 to 702 | to the one they liked the least. |
| 702 to 703.59 | We then gave them the choice |
| 703.59 to 705.9 | between number three and number four. |
| 705.9 to 707.317 | Like everybody else, they said, |
| 707.317 to 708.81 | "Gee, thanks doc, that's great. |
| 708.81 to 709.86 | I can use a new print. |
| 709.86 to 711.81 | I'll take number three." |
| 711.81 to 715.38 | We explained we would have number three mailed to them. |
| 715.38 to 718.32 | We gathered up our materials and we went outta the room |
| 718.32 to 719.823 | and counted to a half hour. |
| 720.81 to 722.61 | Back into the room. |
| 722.61 to 724.29 | We say, "Hi, we're back." |
| 724.29 to 727.8 | The patients, bless them, say, "Oh doc, I'm sorry. |
| 727.8 to 728.91 | I got a memory problem. |
| 728.91 to 730.2 | That's why I'm here. |
| 730.2 to 731.587 | If I've met you before I don't remember." |
| 731.587 to 732.96 | "Really, Jim, you don't remember? |
| 732.96 to 734.887 | I was just here with the Monet prints." |
| 734.887 to 737.947 | "Sorry doc, I just don't have a clue." |
| 737.947 to 739.59 | "No problem, Jim. |
| 739.59 to 741.36 | All I want you to do is rank these |
| 741.36 to 743.46 | for me from the one you like the most |
| 743.46 to 745.89 | to the one you like the least." |
| 745.89 to 746.723 | What do they do? |
| 746.723 to 747.556 | Well, let's first check |
| 747.556 to 749.58 | and make sure they're really amnesic. |
| 749.58 to 753.87 | We ask these amnesic patients to tell us which one they own, |
| 753.87 to 757.29 | which one they chose last time, which one is theirs. |
| 757.29 to 759.45 | And what we find is amnesic patients, |
| 759.45 to 761.88 | just guess these are normal controls. |
| 761.88 to 762.75 | If I did this with you |
| 762.75 to 765.12 | all of you would know which print you chose. |
| 765.12 to 767.07 | But if I do this with amnesic patients, |
| 767.07 to 768.99 | they don't have a clue. |
| 768.99 to 771.663 | They can't pick their print out of a lineup. |
| 772.77 to 775.17 | Here's what normal controls do. |
| 775.17 to 777.24 | They synthesize happiness, right? |
| 777.24 to 779.07 | This is the change in liking score. |
| 779.07 to 780.84 | The change from the first time they ranked |
| 780.84 to 782.43 | to the second time they ranked. |
| 782.43 to 785.01 | Normal controls show that was the magic I showed you. |
| 785.01 to 787.477 | Now I'm showing it to you in graphical form. |
| 787.477 to 789.39 | "The one I own is better than I thought. |
| 789.39 to 792 | The one I didn't own, the one I left behind, |
| 792 to 794.64 | is not as good as I thought." |
| 794.64 to 797.01 | Amnesic do exactly the same thing. |
| 797.01 to 798.99 | Think about this result! |
| 798.99 to 801.9 | These people like better the one they own |
| 801.9 to 804.183 | but they don't know they own it. |
| 805.447 to 809.85 | "Yeah, right," is not the right response. |
| 809.85 to 813.15 | What these people did when they synthesized happiness |
| 813.15 to 815.7 | is they really truly changed |
| 815.7 to 820.7 | their affective hedonic aesthetic reactions to that poster. |
| 820.95 to 822.827 | They're not just saying it because they own it, |
| 822.827 to 825.933 | 'cause they don't know they own it. |
| 827.49 to 830.76 | Now, when psychologists show you bars, |
| 830.76 to 832.74 | you know that they are showing you averages |
| 832.74 to 834.36 | of lots of people. |
| 834.36 to 837.81 | And yet all of us have this psychological immune system |
| 837.81 to 840.09 | this capacity to synthesize happiness. |
| 840.09 to 843.21 | But some of us do this trick better than others |
| 843.21 to 847.41 | and some situations allow anybody to do it more effectively |
| 847.41 to 849.213 | than other situations do. |
| 850.8 to 855.42 | It turns out that freedom, the ability to make up your mind |
| 855.42 to 859.59 | and change your mind, is the friend of natural happiness. |
| 859.59 to 860.97 | 'cause it allows you to choose |
| 860.97 to 863.88 | among all those delicious futures that |
| 863.88 to 865.74 | and find the one that you would most enjoy. |
| 865.74 to 869.16 | But freedom to choose to change and make up your mind |
| 869.16 to 872.1 | is the enemy of synthetic happiness. |
| 872.1 to 873.42 | And I'm gonna show you why. |
| 873.42 to 875.19 | Dilbert already knows, of course, |
| 875.19 to 876.023 | you're reading the cartoon |
| 876.023 to 876.856 | as I'm talking. |
| 876.856 to 878.947 | "Dogbert's Tech Support, how come may I abuse you?" |
| 878.947 to 881.437 | "My printer prints a blank page after every document." |
| 881.437 to 883.387 | "Why would you complain about getting free paper?" |
| 883.387 to 885.547 | "Free, aren't you just giving my own paper?" |
| 885.547 to 887.43 | "Egad, man, look at the quality of the free paper |
| 887.43 to 888.78 | compared to your lousy regular paper. |
| 888.78 to 891.427 | Only fool or a liar would say that they look the same." |
| 891.427 to 893 | "Huh, now that you mention it, |
| 893 to 895.027 | it does seem a little silkier." |
| 895.027 to 896.227 | "What are you doing?" |
| 896.227 to 899.1 | "I'm helping people accept the things they cannot change." |
| 899.1 to 902.61 | Indeed, the psychological immune system works |
| 902.61 to 905.16 | best when we are totally stuck. |
| 905.16 to 906.426 | When we are trapped. |
| 906.426 to 908.88 | This is the difference between dating and marriage, right? |
| 908.88 to 910.38 | I mean, you go out on a date with a guy |
| 910.38 to 911.213 | and he picks his nose, |
| 911.213 to 912.9 | you don't go out on another date. |
| 912.9 to 915.33 | You're married to a guy and he picks his nose, |
| 915.33 to 916.41 | yeah, "He has a heart of gold. |
| 916.41 to 917.88 | Don't touch the fruitcake, right?" |
| 917.88 to 921.363 | You find a way to be happy with what's happened. |
| 922.53 to 925.47 | Now what I wanna show you is that people don't know this |
| 925.47 to 928.02 | about themselves and not knowing this can work |
| 928.02 to 930.81 | to our supreme disadvantage. |
| 930.81 to 932.52 | Here's an experiment we did at Harvard. |
| 932.52 to 934.11 | We created a photography course |
| 934.11 to 935.91 | a black and white photography course, |
| 935.91 to 937.23 | and we allowed students to come in |
| 937.23 to 939.48 | and learn how to use a dark room. |
| 939.48 to 941.43 | So we gave them cameras, they went around campus |
| 941.43 to 943.95 | they took 12 pictures of their favorite professors, |
| 943.95 to 946.29 | and their dorm room, and their, you know, their dog, |
| 946.29 to 947.28 | and all the other things they wanted |
| 947.28 to 949.41 | to have Harvard memories of. |
| 949.41 to 951.72 | They bring us the camera, we make up a contact sheet, |
| 951.72 to 953.316 | they figure out which are the two best pictures |
| 953.316 to 956.22 | and we now spend six hours teaching them about dark rooms. |
| 956.22 to 957.6 | And they blow two of them up |
| 957.6 to 959.88 | and they have two gorgeous 8 by 10 glossies |
| 959.88 to 961.02 | of meaningful things to them. |
| 961.02 to 963.9 | And we say, "Which one would you like to give up?" |
| 963.9 to 965.137 | They say, "I have to give one up?" |
| 965.137 to 968.97 | "Oh yes, we need one as evidence of the class project. |
| 968.97 to 970.32 | So you have to give me one. |
| 970.32 to 971.61 | You have to make a choice. |
| 971.61 to 974.31 | you get to keep one and I get to keep one." |
| 974.31 to 977.37 | Now, there are two conditions in this experiment. |
| 977.37 to 979.597 | In one case, the students are told, |
| 979.597 to 981.93 | "But you know, if you wanna change your mind, |
| 981.93 to 983.94 | I'll always have the other one here. |
| 983.94 to 985.68 | And in the next four days |
| 985.68 to 989.7 | before I actually mail it to headquarters, I'll be glad to," |
| 989.7 to 990.667 | yeah, headquarters, (audience laughing) |
| 990.667 to 992.94 | "I'll be glad to swap it out with you. |
| 992.94 to 994.83 | In fact, I'll come to your dorm room |
| 994.83 to 996.21 | and give just give me an email. |
| 996.21 to 998.4 | Better yet, I'll check with you. |
| 998.4 to 999.48 | You ever wanna change your mind? |
| 999.48 to 1001.1 | It's totally returnable." |
| 1001.1 to 1002.09 | The other half of the students |
| 1002.09 to 1003.927 | are told exactly the opposite. |
| 1003.927 to 1005.87 | "Make your choice, and by the way, |
| 1005.87 to 1008.84 | the mail is going out, gosh, in two minutes to England. |
| 1008.84 to 1010.94 | Your picture will be winging its way over the Atlantic. |
| 1010.94 to 1012.77 | You will never see it again." |
| 1012.77 to 1015.26 | Now half of the students in each |
| 1015.26 to 1017.6 | of these conditions are asked to make predictions |
| 1017.6 to 1019.01 | about how much they're going to come |
| 1019.01 to 1021.17 | to like the picture that they keep |
| 1021.17 to 1023 | and the picture they leave behind. |
| 1023 to 1025.67 | Other students are just sent back to their little dorm rooms |
| 1025.67 to 1030.59 | and they are measured over the next three to six days |
| 1030.59 to 1032.39 | on their liking and satisfaction with the pictures. |
| 1032.39 to 1033.32 | And look at what we find. |
| 1033.32 to 1037.28 | First of all, here's what students think is going to happen. |
| 1037.28 to 1039.2 | They think they're gonna maybe come to like |
| 1039.2 to 1041.78 | the picture they chose a little more |
| 1041.78 to 1043.67 | than the one they left behind. |
| 1043.67 to 1046.7 | But these are not statistically significant differences. |
| 1046.7 to 1048.65 | It really, it's this very small increase. |
| 1048.65 to 1050.42 | And it doesn't much matter |
| 1050.42 to 1051.74 | whether they were in the reversible |
| 1051.74 to 1053.03 | or irreversible condition. |
| 1053.03 to 1055.7 | Wrongo, bad simulators. |
| 1055.7 to 1057.59 | Because here's what's really happening |
| 1057.59 to 1061.01 | both right before the swap and five days later |
| 1061.01 to 1063.17 | people who are stuck with that picture, |
| 1063.17 to 1066.47 | who have no choice who can never change their mind |
| 1066.47 to 1068.66 | like it a lot. |
| 1068.66 to 1071.69 | And people who are deliberating, "Should I return it? |
| 1071.69 to 1072.59 | Have I gotten the right one? |
| 1072.59 to 1073.64 | Maybe this isn't the good one. |
| 1073.64 to 1074.84 | Maybe I left the good one," |
| 1074.84 to 1076.34 | have killed themselves. |
| 1076.34 to 1077.63 | They don't like their picture. |
| 1077.63 to 1080.3 | And in fact, even after the opportunity to swap has expired, |
| 1080.3 to 1083.84 | they still don't like their picture. |
| 1083.84 to 1084.673 | Why? |
| 1084.673 to 1088.31 | Because the irreversible condition is not conducive |
| 1088.31 to 1090.89 | to the synthesis of happiness. |
| 1090.89 to 1093.8 | So here's the final piece of this experiment. |
| 1093.8 to 1097.4 | We bring in a whole new group of naive Harvard students |
| 1097.4 to 1100.46 | and we say, "You know, we're doing a photography course |
| 1100.46 to 1103.25 | and we can do it one of two ways. |
| 1103.25 to 1105.56 | We could do it so that when you take the two pictures |
| 1105.56 to 1107.42 | you'd have four days to change your mind. |
| 1107.42 to 1109.31 | Or we're doing another course where you take |
| 1109.31 to 1111.44 | the two pictures and you make up your mind right away |
| 1111.44 to 1112.273 | and you can never change it. |
| 1112.273 to 1113.78 | Which course would you like to be in? |
| 1113.78 to 1118.34 | Duh, 66% of the students, two thirds, |
| 1118.34 to 1120.32 | prefer to be in the course where |
| 1120.32 to 1122.39 | they have the opportunity to change their mind. |
| 1122.39 to 1123.223 | Hello! |
| 1123.223 to 1125.99 | 66% of the students choose to be in the course |
| 1125.99 to 1128.81 | in which they will ultimately be deeply dissatisfied |
| 1128.81 to 1133.28 | with the picture because they do not know the conditions |
| 1133.28 to 1137.42 | under which synthetic happiness grows. |
| 1137.42 to 1140.42 | The Bard said everything best, of course, |
| 1140.42 to 1142.46 | and he's making my point here, |
| 1142.46 to 1144.267 | but he's making it hyperbolically. |
| 1144.267 to 1145.82 | "Tis nothing good or bad, |
| 1145.82 to 1147.77 | but thinking makes it so." |
| 1147.77 to 1151.01 | It's nice poetry, but that can't exactly be right. |
| 1151.01 to 1153.14 | Is there really nothing good or bad? |
| 1153.14 to 1155.81 | Is it really the case that gallbladder surgery |
| 1155.81 to 1159.05 | and a trip to Paris are just the same thing? |
| 1159.05 to 1163.67 | Nah, there, that seems like a one question IQ test. |
| 1163.67 to 1167.03 | They can't be exactly the same in more turgid prose |
| 1167.03 to 1168.56 | but closer to the truth |
| 1168.56 to 1170.54 | was the father of modern capitalism, |
| 1170.54 to 1173.877 | Adam Smith, and he said this, this is worth contemplating. |
| 1173.877 to 1176.78 | "The great source of both the misery and disorders |
| 1176.78 to 1180.02 | of human life seems to arise from overrating |
| 1180.02 to 1183.59 | the difference between one permanent situation and another. |
| 1183.59 to 1185.9 | Some of these situations may, no doubt, |
| 1185.9 to 1188.93 | deserve to be preferred to others, |
| 1188.93 to 1193.93 | but none of them can deserve to be pursued |
| 1194.33 to 1197.36 | with that passionate ardour, which drives us |
| 1197.36 to 1201.41 | to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice |
| 1201.41 to 1204.11 | or to corrupt the future tranquility of our minds, |
| 1204.11 to 1207.77 | either by shame, from the remembrance of our own folly |
| 1207.77 to 1211.88 | or by remorse for the horror of our own injustice." |
| 1211.88 to 1216.56 | In other words, yes, some things are better than others. |
| 1216.56 to 1219.17 | We should have preferences that lead us |
| 1219.17 to 1222.17 | into one future over another. |
| 1222.17 to 1225.89 | But when those preferences drive us too hard and too fast |
| 1225.89 to 1228.05 | because we have overrated the difference |
| 1228.05 to 1232.22 | between these futures, we are at risk. |
| 1232.22 to 1235.97 | When our ambition is bounded, it leads us to work joyfully. |
| 1235.97 to 1239.18 | When our ambition is unbounded it leads us to lie, |
| 1239.18 to 1242.27 | to cheat, to steal, to hurt others, |
| 1242.27 to 1244.28 | to sacrifice things of real value. |
| 1244.28 to 1247.31 | When our fears are bounded we're prudent, |
| 1247.31 to 1249.14 | we're cautious, we're thoughtful. |
| 1249.14 to 1252.98 | When our fears are unbounded and overblown |
| 1252.98 to 1255.74 | we're reckless and we're cowardly. |
| 1255.74 to 1257.36 | The lesson I wanna leave you with |
| 1257.36 to 1260.12 | from these data is that our longings |
| 1260.12 to 1263.21 | and our worries are both to some degree overblown |
| 1263.21 to 1266.06 | because we have within us the capacity |
| 1266.06 to 1270.456 | to manufacture the very commodity we are constantly |
| 1270.456 to 1273.89 | chasing when we choose experience. |
| 1273.89 to 1276.633 | Thank you. (upbeat music) |
Include a “whoa . . .” moment. When you watch a live performance, you want a story to tell when you get home: “and then, hundreds of balloons dropped from the ceiling.” FX, or special effects, make on-stage or on-screen moments memorable. You could call it a “w-h-a-a-a-a-a-a-t?” moment or a “whoa” moment, but every great presentation has at least one. Listen to Harvard professor Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk, now with more than 69 million views, about the power of body language, not only in shaping how others see us, but in how we see ourselves. Amy ends her talk with some show-stopping moments in which she tells her story about surviving a brain injury, being pulled from college, and “faking it,” not just until she made it, but until she became it. Her hushed audience suddenly breaks into wild applause as she concludes with her personal story—a “whoa” moment.
Amy Cuddy on “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are”
“Don’t fake it til you make it. Fake it til you become it.”
Can be fun and funny. Humor lights up the human brain, and laughter brings audience members together. As Will Rogers is often attributed to have said, “Everything is funny, as long as it’s happened to someone else.” Humor is relaxing and reflective; it can bring a new perspective to a very stressful situation. Shawn Achor’s TED Talk about positive psychology, now with more than 25 million views, is so witty that the audience laughs continually, although his message about happiness and success is serious and profound!
Shawn Achor on “The Happy Secret to Better Work”
“When I started talking about this research [on positive psychology] outside of academia, with companies and schools, the first thing they said to never do is to start with a graph. The first thing I want to do is start with a graph. This graph looks boring, but it is the reason I get excited and wake up every morning. And this graph doesn’t even mean anything; it's fake data.”
Are well timed. TED Talks are meant to be provocative, not definitive. Speakers don’t tell everything they know about a topic, just the “executive summary,” so that listeners will continue thinking and perhaps explore ideas on their own later. Although the shortest TED Talk is less than sixty seconds long, generally TED speakers must say what they have to say in eighteen minutes or less; that’s the rule—as long as a coffee break and short enough to go viral.
Paint pictures in listeners’ minds. One picture is worth a thousand words, they say. TED recommends creating powerful messages, both in terms of visual aids you choose and words you select. Instead of giving a traditional dry lecture with (the average) forty words per slide, top TED speakers stun the audience with a memorable image that enhances meaning, or they put a few simple words in a large white font on a black screen, for example. TED Talks that work are rich multimedia experiences. They demonstrate that words + images + a speaker should work together, rather than making listeners choose which one to pay attention to.
Are true to themselves. Now with more than three billion combined views on the TED site annually, as well as in blogs and on YouTube, TED Talks are getting better and better, as TED curator Chris Anderson points out. Audiences don’t want robot-like presentations in which speakers try to imitate others; they want speakers to be themselves. While everyone can learn from the best, speakers who are authentic and real are those most likely to be successful. If you ever have an opportunity to give a TED Talk—or even during your speeches for class—always be your best self.
Exercise: If I Only Had a Goal
Think about this class and what you’d like to gain from it. Some students take a public speaking class because they want to earn course credit or fulfill a requirement. But they could gain so much more from the experience if they only had a goal. Goal setting is critical to success in learning and in life, and it’s important to set goals right up front.
For the purposes of this exercise, let’s assume that everyone wants things from this class, like credits, a grade, and a requirement fulfilled by a public speaking course. But try thinking beyond surface goals to deeper, more specific ones by filling in the phrase, “By the end of this course, I’d like to know how to ___________________.” Choose something specific you’d like to work on. For example, perhaps you gave a speech in high school, and your teacher mentioned that you really need to work on gesturing naturally or transitioning between main points or not reading from your notecards. Perhaps you’d like to get better at PowerPoint or learn alternative presentation e-tools like Beautiful.ai, Canva, Visme, Google Slides, Sway, or Prezi. You may not (or may) want to make a living as a famous speaker, but everyone can improve—from the basic elements of good public speaking to more advanced, slick details that make you look like a pro.
After you identify a specific, achievable goal related to your public speaking class, find a partner, read what you’ve both written, and spend five minutes or so talking about your expected major, where you grew up, and so forth. Do you share a key goal for the course? Do you have different goals? Does one of you have a unique goal?
After you have had an opportunity to share your goals, introduce your partner to the rest of the class by identifying their goals and providing some background details you’ve just learned so that everyone can get to know one another. If you’re taking the course for which you’re reading this text online, your instructor may modify this exercise by making it a discussion board or blog assignment. However you do it, remember that identifying goals at the beginning of a learning experience is always the best way to start!
A Conversation . . . but Different
The basic act of forming an idea and verbally communicating it to another person is something you’ve been doing for a long time. In fact, we’ve all been speaking our native tongue since we were toddlers, spouting profound insights like “all gone milk” or “bye-bye doggie” to family members. Eventually, those short phrases became real conversationsThe spoken exchange of thoughts and feelings, although we now often use electronic alternatives.. Your friends and family communicate with you via texts and phone calls, and in college your professors communicate with you over email or via a learning management system. Conversation—regardless of exactly how we do it—is an all-consuming part of being human.
People don’t fall asleep during conversations, but they often do during presentations—and that’s because many presentations don’t feel conversational.
Conversation is usually spontaneous; it doesn’t require much planning (although we all know people who could benefit by thinking more before opening their mouths!). Or a conversation can be somewhat planned, like when you think about how to ask an instructor for an extension on a project or how to persuade a store clerk to let you return an item even though you’ve lost your receipt. And there’s always the dreaded break-up conversation, which some people do via text, or email, or by simply ghosting a partner, but many of us still do in person. The good news is, without your even realizing it, the conversations you’ve been having all your life have provided you with some basic knowledge that can help you polish your public speaking skills, such as the following:
Organizing your thoughts. You decide what ideas are most important and communicate them in an order that makes sense to you. Starting off with a demand (like a higher salary offer in a final job interview) is usually less successful than building up to a request by itemizing solid reasons first. Imagine how this interview would go:
Interviewer: “Tell me why you think you’re qualified for this new position.”
You: “Oh, sure, we can get to that. But first, let me say that I could never work here for the salary you mentioned.”
After dropping that bomb, you’d be lucky if the interview went on much longer. Instead, it’s important to sell the interviewer first on why you’re worth more. The order in which you communicate your ideas counts!
Reading your audience. As you speak, you interpret others’ reactions: their words, gestures, eye contact, and body language. If someone bristles visibly to something you say, you may change your strategy in the middle of the conversation. Here’s an example you may remember: if you got a “no” from one parent as a kid, rather than arguing, you’d immediately think of a way to try for a “yes”:
You: “Can I go out tonight? My homework is done.”
Parent: “No, you know you have chores to do around the house.”
You: “But I mowed Grandma’s yard yesterday without even being asked.”
Parent: “Yeah, you did. Okay, you can go out.”
Score!
Thinking on your feet. In many conversations, you don’t know the exact path your words will take. You jump right in because something accidentally slips out of your mouth or because you have strong feelings. Ultimately, being able to think on your feet quickly (and still say exactly what you want) is a highly valued skill in many contexts.
Public speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate way, however, is speaking to inform, persuade, inspire, or entertain an audience. It can also be a way to show respect or pay tribute, as in presenting a lifetime achievement award or giving a eulogy at a funeral. Unlike words on a page or a screen, a speech’s total effect is produced by the combined force of its content and delivery. Public speaking:
Requires preparation. “Formal” speeches are outlined, researched, planned, edited, and rehearsed before they are delivered. If you graduate first in your high school class, you have the honor of delivering the valedictorian’s address to hundreds of students and their families at commencement. In that kind of situation, you wouldn’t just wing it and hope for the best. You would definitely prepare ahead of time. If your speech is to take place virtually, technology represents yet another layer of preparation required.
Follows a particular structure. Speeches have an organized structure and usually must stick to preset time limits. You may lay out a problem and then propose a solution, for example, like political candidates do, thereby helping listeners follow where you’re taking them in your speech. And sticking to the requested time frame is important, too. If your boss asks for a thirty-minute presentation, and you only speak for five minutes, you’ve just shown your level of commitment to the job. Likewise, if your audience was told you’ll end your presentation at a certain time, but it drags on, you’ll lose people—psychologically, if not physically as they opt out.
Requires more formal language. Clear language and proper grammar are expected; speakers must use terms that the audience understands, ban “uhms” and “likes,” and avoid slang and accidental coarse language. Speaking in an overly casual tone might be appropriate for a late night comedian on a set, but not for a public speaker on stage.
Is designed for impact. Both verbal and nonverbal communication are essential to delivering a message with impact. So are both logic and emotion. Watch some of the best speakers of the past on YouTube or prominent thinkers today on TED Talks. You’ll see that natural but forceful gestures and strong but controlled emotions accompany powerful words.
Goes by quickly. Although we can capture presentations electronically and review them, and transcriptsWord-for-word written record of spoken words. can be read after the fact, the initial power of a speech is in the moment. Being a part of an audience where words are soaring (or falling flat, for that matter) can’t necessarily be reproduced electronically. To get the full effect, you have to “be there.”
Exercise: What Does It Take to Become a Competent Speaker?
Experts believe that competent public speaking requires eight skill areas that relate to you and your speech. Look at the eight statements below and decide how confident you are now, at the beginning of your public speaking course. If you choose mostly low numbers, this course will build on your self-perceived areas of expertise; if they are high, you will have repeated opportunities for improvement. Throughout this course, think about these eight areas and determine if your initial assessment was too high, too low, or right on the mark. We’ll revisit these eight statements at the end of the text.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Strongly Agree | Agree | Not Sure | Disagree | Strongly Disagree |
I am confident I can choose and narrow a public speaking topic that is appropriate for an audience and occasion.
I am confident I can communicate a thesis statement and specific purpose in a way that fits an audience and occasion.
I am confident I can provide supporting material or evidence (including electronic and non-electronic presentation aids) appropriate for the audience and occasion.
I am confident I can use an organizational pattern that is appropriate to the topic, audience, occasion, and purpose.
I am confident I can use language that’s appropriate to the audience and occasion.
I am confident I can vary my voice, talk at a good rate (not too fast or slow), and change the loudness of my speech to keep my listeners engaged.
I am confident of my pronunciation (sounds), articulation (stress on the right syllable, rhythm, etc.) and grammar.
I am confident I can use gestures, movement, and other physical and nonverbal behaviors that support my verbal message.
A Result of Critical Thinking
Whether you’re trying to decide which app to download, which candidate to vote for, or how to write a speech, you use your critical thinking skills, or your ability to objectively analyze and evaluate an issue. Recognizing the value of critical thinking goes back centuries: “Critical thinking . . . involves the ability to recognize the relationship between ideas. Socrates taught critical thinking to his students. In fact, the Socratic methodA form of cooperative, argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions for the sake of exercising critical thinking and uncovering underlying assumptions., which encourages argument between opposing viewpoints in order to discover truth, also serves the purpose of enhancing critical thinking. Plato and Aristotle also taught critical thinking, encouraging students to recognize that often things are not as they appear on the surface.”
When it comes to speeches, thinking critically about the content of your speech ensures that you understand what you’re saying and how your audience may respond. It also means that you’ve thought carefully about what to include in your speech and how to organize it so that your listeners respond as you’d like. What will my main points be? What kind of evidence will I need to support my argument? Your argumentThe reasons you provide to persuade others that an idea is right or wrong or true or false., the reasons you provide to persuade others that an idea is right or wrong or true or false, leading to a particular conclusion, should be at the forefront of your mind.
Oddly enough, in order to become a better thinker, you need to think hard about thinking. This means examining your thinking processes and figuring out how to improve them. Would people call you gullible or skeptical? An effective critical thinker is someone who considers both problems and solutions, pros and cons, and facts and fiction by reading closely, listening carefully, and researching deeply and thoroughly. Critical thinking requires you to find out more than the kinds of predigested bullets, bits, and bytes that characterize the busy times we live in.
Critical thinking skills are key when it comes to preparing successful presentations, but they’re also important when you listen to a speech. Speakers must persuade you to “buy” what they are selling, so your ability to spot problems in their arguments will help you avoid being misled. For example, politicians have a reputation for making promises they may or may not keep, like “Read my lips: no new taxes” (George H. W. Bush) or “We will seek no wider war” (Lyndon B. Johnson). History proved otherwise.
Advertisers will try to convince you to believe that a product will make you feel safe, or happy, or more attractive. Are their claims supported by evidence or are they hoping for an emotional response that will have you whipping out your credit card? Ask yourself: why should I believe this? instead of simply thinking, this is fun to watch or no wonder this won an award for the best advertisement of the year. Although this text will discuss critical thinking throughout, to help sharpen these skills as you read and complete exercises, an intentional learning system is part of the built-in infrastructure. You will notice that every so often you’re asked to answer a question before you’ve even read about the topic. That’s to show you what you know (and what you don’t know) about what’s coming up. You may look at the Challenge question and think to yourself, oh, that’s easy. But when you try to put your thoughts into words in terms of a Reaction, it’s harder than you thought it would be—or you flat out don’t know the answer. That’s okay; you’ll find the answer as you continue reading, gain some insights, and then put what you’ve learned into action as a public speaker. The infrastructure is the Challenge → Reaction → Insight → Action system; see it in action in Figure 1.1. At the end of each chapter, you’ll be asked to share your Insights and plans for Action. The Challenge → Reaction → Insight → Action system works! Use it to maximize your learning.
Figure 1.1 How People Learn
Source: Constance Staley