Hello world!
As a keynote speaker, author and public speaking coach, I use two phrases when I teach my clients the kills of oratory. One is from the movies; the other from American history.
- “What we have here is failure to communicate.” The Captain said that to Luke (Paul Newman) in Cool Hand Luke (1967). Here’s the full line:
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don’t like it any more than you men.
The captain isn’t the only one who utters the words. Later in the movie, the main character, Luke (Paul Newman), still cocky despite being cornered by prison guards, openly mocks the Captain with the famous line.
If you haven’t seen the film, do yourself a favor and rent it tonight. You’ll love it or I’ll eat some “shaky pudding!” (you’ll catch my joke when you watch the film)
2. “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
A proverb advising the tactic of caution and non-aggression, backed up by the ability to do violence if required.
The widespread use of this proverb began with American president Theodore Roosevelt. In a speech in Chicago in April 1903, he said:
There is a homely old adage which runs: ‘Speak softly and carry and big stick; you will go far.’ If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoughly efficient navy, the Munroe Doctrine will go far.
The proverb is sometimes cited as being of African origin, although I can find no evidence for that. If it truly was an ‘old adage’ in 1903 it ought to be easy to find earlier citations of it, but I can find none. It is certainly possible that Roosevelt coined the phrase himself.
I use the phrase “Speak clearly and carry a big stick” because I believe that mastering oral communication gives you power. Look at what a skinny black kid from South Chicago did with his the gift of public speaking! He became President of the United States!
My blog, i admit, is my first and is a work-in-progress. There is much more on my web site http://www.4clearcommunication.com.
Tom Roberts, M.A.
San Francisco, CA
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July 4, 2009 at 10:12 am
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