A gorgeous sunrise starts this video (that’s fyi if you just have a second vs 3 minutes for the whole screening!)
In the spirit of new beginnings and perspective, Happy Good Friday.
Today started at DC’s Lincoln Memorial for some reflection as the sun peeped up. It was a vibrant moment. That sunrise and this Good Friday have stimulated new views toward Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address for me.
It’s oddly alluring and startling all at once to be struck by a favorite text or speech in a different way (…after perceiving it in a certain light for years).
Have you ever crossed a similar bridge?
That altered perspective happened with one idea in particular with the Gettysburg Address, more fleshed out in the video moments above.
Remember his thought here, with this line?
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation [our nation] …can long endure.”
His use of the word testing stands out anew here. It’s a strong assertion, truthful in light of the huge civil strife, and also daunting. For whatever reason, I hadn’t fully considered the fact the president could’ve been testing his own certitude for how we would prevail. This is startling, a concept I haven’t consciously digested. Naive though it may be to feel this — I crave a president’s certainty, especially one like Lincoln during this gigantic national pivot!
Grappling with and rethinking the world’s great speeches motivates this new video series “Rhetoric Relived.” Sunrise moments are irreplaceable for refreshed perspective; so it’s my fond hope to keep recording on site at dawn.
Lincoln’s speech is a pillar of oratory strength, with critique of it widely offered in our nation’s robust speech history. His efficiency with ideas, nobility, and sense of reverence has drawn my attention in the past. But for some reason, this Good Friday and living in DC have sparked a renewed take on what he asserted with that line.
Is it obvious he doubts, even slightly, the tenacity of our national life? Maybe! It’s taken me years though (and more coffee!) to really stop and look at his assertion there. It is beautiful, strong, and unnerving still…just thinking our decisions as a country henceforth from Gettysburg just may derail us.
Or hopefully instead our country’s decisions and nation will “have a new birth of freedom…and not perish from the earth.”).
What strikes you in a different light - an exchange with another, a decision, an outcome, or something else?
And here’s the 3 point takedown with more context and examples in the 3 minute video:
1. Prepare a distinct point of view in a one-sentence assertion.
2. Use that one-sentence assertion as a way to standout and distinctly introduce yourself to the audience at the start (vs leaning on background info like professional title, business sector, and client list).
3. Suggest (3) questions to the panel’s moderator beforehand and then serve as the lead respondent for those questions. Other panelists may offer supportive commentary for these certainly; but secure the opportunity with the moderator to take the lead — and answer first to these selected questions.
Washington, DC offers rich archives about oratory, rhetoric, and the power of ideas.
It’s all gone down here: presidential inauguration addresses, worldwide movements (& the voices who marched them forward), and states of the union that comprise our nation’s history. I love this city so.
When near the US Capitol today:
I was a few hundred meters from where Elizabeth Cady Stanton first delivered her Solitude of Self speech to Congress back in 1892.
Her persuasive ideas and what stood out:
There’s ample room to analyze this speech (her ultimate appeal for women’s suffrage to the Senate hearing committee). What keeps coming to mind is her focus on ‘individuality of the human soul’ and a pointed focus on the nature of self-dependence.
A favorite excerpt:
“The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread — is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty. Because as an individual she must rely on herself. To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of property is like cutting off the hands. To refuse political equality is to rob “the ostracized of all self-respect…”
What voices have influenced your thinking about access to opportunity and self-reliance?
Happy Women’s History Month!
And here’s to self-dependence, self-assertion, and celebration of progress.
More resources and ways to celebrate International Women’s Day:
There are so many great ideas on how to start a video blog and express one’s self to the camera. From the perspective of growing as a public speaker, I heartily see videoblogging as a fantastic development tool.
I really enjoyed it because of her genuine, comical nature which she shared.
Her video also demonstrated these three tips for getting a video blog off the ground (which can apply to shaping your mindset when talking to the camera in general).
And the 3 tips are:
1. Seek honesty vs perfection.
The camera is a 100% truth finder. Faking it? It sees it. Doubting your ideas or words? The camera (and thus audience) sees that too. She (Lisa) didn’t shy away from the fact she was nervous about talking to the camera. Expressing her anxiety openly fit into the topic of her overall video blog.
2. Assert clear intent.
Did Lisa have a distinct message, as if giving a media Q&A? No and that was absolutely fine (and more natural). She did however assert clear, simple intent and purpose for the video i.e. to share her big goals to improve physically and professionally.
3. Create momentum through editing, a layered viewpoint, or storyboarded structure.
Stimulating energy in the cut itself can be done with different editing decisions. It can be achieved by showing enthusiasm and conviction for your topic. Choosing a specific content structure enables energy to come across too. This was Lisa’s approach: choosing a simple consecutive structure. Lisa conveys uncertainty about her structure in the video itself. It works however.
She relayed one-by-one different goals she wants to accomplish this year. That added vocal variety and thus stimulus from an audience’s vantage point (yet without losing focus on the main purpose of her cut).
What ideas and tips do you like to use when “getting your video blog on?”
It sometimes can be a challenge for me to articulate joy without uttering a word. But then an expression comes along from other people, offered with a glance or gesture that conveys joy without restraint.
Is it clear how your home impacts your life? Frankly I haven’t often reflected on it. I’m embarrassed to admit that. And learning about refugees through The Blue Key Campaign has crystalized for me how much the experience of a home is worth. It has motivated personal action too; and I’m honored to be a champion for the cause of refugees and the Blue Key campaign.
It’s an incredible anchor, isn’t it?
Or how else would you describe home? How would you like to describe the experience of home and its impact on your life? I’m more fully valuing what a gift it is to have the opportunity to dwell in a home day in and day out.
Impacting family, community and business.
On a personal level, home has been the place to grow our marriage of 11 years. It’s a hub for reflection, contentment, togetherness, and relief. It’s been a safe place of fun for family and friends and our kittens. On a business level too, it’s been an anchor for my work – providing a place for clients and I to find solutions as a team.
Yet beyond the borders of my little safe home, there are over 43 million people forcibly displaced from their homes and countries worldwide.
What you and $5 can do:
The Blue Key Campaign also taught how $5 can show support to those without a home — refugees specifically impacted by war, violence, and loss of stability. I invite you to learn more at The Blue Key – to show support in different ways and even get a blue key symbol of your own.
For some eye-to-eye contact and a story:
There’s a lot of emotional depth to the question. Is it daunting to answer? Sometimes I find that it can be a daunting thing to ponder.
Is your home and its impact on your life worth $5?
The Blue Key Campaign is an effort led by the United States based nonprofit, USA for the UNHCR, which supports the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNCHR).
More stories and insight:
Khadija Omar, a Tunisian refugee photographed at right, who gave up her child to protect her child’s welfare;
Shonali Burke, a great Blue Key advocate and why she’s turning blue;
A 10 minute video tutorial on persuasive speaking, laughter, & yoga too…
After sifting through LiveYourTalk’s video archives, I edited one of my workshops into a shorter version. It’s based on a 4-prong approach to preparing persuasive presentations, plus tips for using more vocal flexibility and understanding the impact of silence.
Are you attending Blogworld this year? If so, by golly join us!
It will be a highly fun, highly interactive session and inspire results for any woman wanting to take the stage.
And wait – there’s more!
Think fun, prizes, and learning to:
Identify your strengths as a public speaker and how to articulate your expertise;
Learn how to craft a strong speaker proposal;
Strengthen your public speaking skills in a fun, supportive, and feedback-rich environment.
Then the second half combines the chance for attendees to practice their pitch in a fun American Idol-esque environment. For this part of the workshop, we’ll invite participants to pitch to the audience for a few minutes — then receive motivating feedback and ideas to take your proposal to its next level of success.
Going to BlogworldLA?
Then I (Aliza too) welcome you big time to this workshop.
And whether or not you’re going to Blogworld…
Have a great week….and in the spirit of our workshop, ’speak up’ and exercise your voice for the greater good wherever you may be.
Welcome to this week’s edition of the #silent10 video project - which combines the practice of silent meditation with social video. The goal: to make the meditative benefits of silence more shareable online.
Want to share 10 seconds of silence?
UPDATE:
Friend and Simply Leap founder Lauree Ostrofsky just submitted her 10 seconds of silence. Her gaze and face are wonderful, just wonderful.
The Friday Fiscal Tickle video experiment
A few years ago my husband and I really wanted to get our personal finances together. That commitment led to a renewed interest in world financial news. And at the time, I wondered if online video could make the whole approach to learning such subject matter more playful (and somehow digestible to my learning style). All this brought an informal (SILLY!) video project to life – called the Friday Fiscal Tickle series.
Over months of time, app. 22 mini video cuts shaped the ‘tickle’ series at roughly 90 seconds each. Each clip is a micro digest about global fiscal events where I play around on camera as a news anchor and multiple personalities.
It was an absolute blast.
The goal frankly was to somehow crack myself up with the camera on, to just have fun. I learned a lot. Strangely it was clear these videos were accessible online and public; but back then I don’t believe I fully internalized the fact folks would potentially watch.
Does that make a hill of sense?
Later as my business took shape, I re-allocated time toward that and away from this tickle-video playground. But eventually the series took on a whole new level of developmental impact, beyond the just-having-fun aspect.
What Friday Fiscal Tickle taught as a public speaker and speaker coach — is that loss of self-consciousness is a great, great liberator.
Every blue moon ‘tickle’ video would come to mind. Nice friends or colleagues would ask about it. Or (gulp…) sponsors at events where I’d be speaking would mention: “Hey that tickle series is fun.”
Then the mental games would begin in my head. And questions like these would swirl around in self-doubt:
-Is Fiscal Tickle video too goofy?
-Does the series send the absolute wrong image to prospects, partners, or heck – Mom and Dad?
Then the moment-of-clarity struck and this realization suppressed all other doubt:
“Holy Smokes, how liberating! Those videos were a blast. They were fun. And somehow, the fact that others were allowed to observe the goofiness was not a concern. Those cuts created a chance to not be so self-conscious, to storyboard concepts, to play, to create, to deliver.”
Is that not a vision of confidence for a pubic speaker?
…it is at least for this speaker and coach at this end of the netz.
It was a liberating realization!
So to celebrate this re-commitment to fun self expression, a Friday Fiscal Tickle episode will be re-published here at Live Your Talk intermittently.
What do you think?
What project or topic is so fun and stimulating that your paranoid sense of self slips away….and authentic expression takes over?
