Comments on: Dealing With the Uninteresting Manual http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/ Listening * Thinking * Public Speaking * Self Improvement Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:29:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: 70 Public Speaking Blogs: The Public Speaking Blogosphere | Six Minutes http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-257 70 Public Speaking Blogs: The Public Speaking Blogosphere | Six Minutes Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:16:30 +0000 http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-257 [...] Dealing With the Uninteresting Manual [...] […] Dealing With the Uninteresting Manual […]

]]> By: John Spaith http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-251 John Spaith Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:23:12 +0000 http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-251 Here here for plagiarism! Since plagiarism is just using someone else's material without giving credit, if you give credit it's not plagiarism anymore. You may run afoul of intellectual property laws though - showing 1000 people "Star Wars", giving credit to George Lucas but not paying him probably won't cut it :). John Here here for plagiarism! Since plagiarism is just using someone else’s material without giving credit, if you give credit it’s not plagiarism anymore. You may run afoul of intellectual property laws though - showing 1000 people “Star Wars”, giving credit to George Lucas but not paying him probably won’t cut it :).

John

]]> By: TIDISTRICT44 http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-250 TIDISTRICT44 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:10:35 +0000 http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-250 A secret I use when in speaking-block-mode is to simply PLAIGERISE. I recall presenting a story about LOUISE MAY ALCOTT ("The Gibson Girl" during the American Moonshine-days) for my Storytelling (speech #1 Folktale) manual. This story was broadcasted as a PAUL HARVEY Rest of the Story sometime earlier. This presentation being plaigerized, none-to-the-knowledge of my clubbies, I presented that and won BEST SPEAKER for that meeting! Although, for my own benefit, I did re-do that same presentation in the integrity in which the T.I. program is intended, so it is all legal. A secret I use when in speaking-block-mode is to simply PLAIGERISE.
I recall presenting a story about LOUISE MAY ALCOTT (”The Gibson Girl” during the American Moonshine-days) for my Storytelling (speech #1 Folktale) manual.
This story was broadcasted as a PAUL HARVEY Rest of the Story sometime earlier. This presentation being plaigerized, none-to-the-knowledge of my clubbies, I presented that and won BEST SPEAKER for that meeting!
Although, for my own benefit, I did re-do that same presentation in the integrity in which the T.I. program is intended, so it is all legal.

]]> By: John Spaith http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-248 John Spaith Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:15:16 +0000 http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-248 Tom - yes, absolutely you can recycle like this. I gave almost the same speech three times for different projects because I gave it at different clubs. John Tom - yes, absolutely you can recycle like this. I gave almost the same speech three times for different projects because I gave it at different clubs.

John

]]> By: Tom Coldaba http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-247 Tom Coldaba Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:09:58 +0000 http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-247 John, Can you recycle your speech to fit another speech in the manual? For example, my icebreaker was on my native city of Manila. Can I use the visual aid speech to walk the audience through the culture of Manila? I could use most of my ice breaker speech in my visual aid speech except that I will be showing pictures? Tom John,

Can you recycle your speech to fit another speech in the manual?

For example, my icebreaker was on my native city of Manila. Can I use the visual aid speech to walk the audience through the culture of Manila? I could use most of my ice breaker speech in my visual aid speech except that I will be showing pictures?

Tom

]]> By: Jason Black http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-246 Jason Black Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:32:56 +0000 http://my.spaith.com/blog/2007/11/13/dealing-with-the-uninteresting-manual/#comment-246 Funny. I actually really liked the Folk Tale assignment, and here's why: The club I'm in (Microsoft Early Birds) has a hugely diverse membership. Being at Microsoft, we have people from all over the world. Easily more than half of our members have English as their second language. But more interestingly, from a speech-crafting perspective, is that the audience for my speeches LACKS the shared set of cultural references that typifies a "standard American audience." Which means that when I write a speech, I can't draw on references to well known TV shows, rock bands from the 80s, or whatever and expect my audience to know what I'm talking about. It's a real challenge sometimes, but on the whole, I feel it forces me to write better speeches. So when I saw the Folk Tale assignment, I rushed to do it because it gave me the chance to turn that very problem into an opportunity: rather than bemoaning an inability to use cultural references, rather, I took the opportunity to TEACH my audience an American cultural reference. I told them an American folk tale--the story of Brer Rabbit and the Briar Patch. It was a great excuse to give a little bit of insight into a part of American history that a lot of people in my audience, having grown up elsewhere, won't be familiar with (the deep South in the time of slavery), and tell them a funny story at the same time. So my advice, John, would be to think about exactly why the concept of a Folk Tale speech is off-putting to you, and see if you discover a problem that can be turned into an opportunity. If you do that, I bet you'll get real excited about the speech, real fast. Funny. I actually really liked the Folk Tale assignment, and here’s why:

The club I’m in (Microsoft Early Birds) has a hugely diverse membership. Being at Microsoft, we have people from all over the world. Easily more than half of our members have English as their second language.

But more interestingly, from a speech-crafting perspective, is that the audience for my speeches LACKS the shared set of cultural references that typifies a “standard American audience.” Which means that when I write a speech, I can’t draw on references to well known TV shows, rock bands from the 80s, or whatever and expect my audience to know what I’m talking about. It’s a real challenge sometimes, but on the whole, I feel it forces me to write better speeches.

So when I saw the Folk Tale assignment, I rushed to do it because it gave me the chance to turn that very problem into an opportunity: rather than bemoaning an inability to use cultural references, rather, I took the opportunity to TEACH my audience an American cultural reference. I told them an American folk tale–the story of Brer Rabbit and the Briar Patch. It was a great excuse to give a little bit of insight into a part of American history that a lot of people in my audience, having grown up elsewhere, won’t be familiar with (the deep South in the time of slavery), and tell them a funny story at the same time.

So my advice, John, would be to think about exactly why the concept of a Folk Tale speech is off-putting to you, and see if you discover a problem that can be turned into an opportunity. If you do that, I bet you’ll get real excited about the speech, real fast.

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