Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) American Author, Politician, Scientist, Inventor

“Here comes the orator with his flood of words and his drop of reason.” – Benjamin Franklin

So today, we start a new series of posts: Speeches from Film. Over the months (and years) to come, I hope to look at a variety of speeches from the big screen to see what lessons can learn from them.

To start the series off, I have decided to show two short clips from a movie that I only saw a couple of days ago – Invictus.

I do not intend to turn this series into a film review, but I will say that I very much enjoyed the film. The story – which is true – is incredibly inspirational.

Let’s look at two short speeches from the film.

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Speech No. 1

The National Sports Council has just voted to change the colours, emblem and name of South Africa’s National Rugby Team, the Springboks. Upon hearing the news, Nelson Mandela (portrayed by Morgan Freeman) rushes to the meeting to persuade the Council to reconsider its vote.

Set out below is the text of the speech as it appears in the movie. (Note that it is longer than what you have just seen in the video, which is an abbreviated version. The text in italics is the part from the movie that is not in the clip.)

I believe that we can learn much from this speech in terms of how to persuade a hostile audience to our point of view.

———

Brothers, sisters, comrades, I am here because I believe you have made a decision with insufficient information and foresight. I am aware of your earlier vote. I am aware that it was unanimous. (Mandela lets the Council know from the outset that he disagrees with them. However, he is respectful of their authority and explicitly recognizes their vote and the fact that the vote was unanimous.)

Nonetheless, I believe we should restore the Springboks. Restore their name, their emblem and their colors, immediately. (He states his position clearly, forcefully and at the outset. There is no room for doubt. He still has his work cut out for him, but everyone knows where he stands. Coming clean with your audience at the outset will not likely win much support – you still need to show why – but it should earn you some respect for having the courage to state your convictions openly.)

Let me tell you why. On Robben Island, in Pollsmoor Prison, all of my jailers were Afrikaners. For 27 years, I studied them. I learned their language, read their books, their poetry. I had to know my enemy before I could prevail against him. (Here begins the argument. And Mandela is clever. He immediately seeks common ground with his audience. And that ground is obvious – the years of oppression that they all suffered under Apartheid. Of course, Mandela had it worse than most; but he doesn’t pity himself. Instead, he talks about the effort he went through to understand the “enemy” – a strong word – in order to prevail against him.)

And we prevailed, did we not? All of us here … we prevailed. (Again, seeking common ground. And also letting the audience know, subtly, that they have already won. There is no need to continue to fight.)

Our enemy is no longer the Afrikaner. They are our fellow South Africans, our partners in democracy. (This comes as a shock to many in the audience, but Mandela has to get his point out: times have changed; we need to work together to build the country. It is here that he starts to appeal to his audience to think about a higher ideal.)

And they treasure Springbok rugby. If we take that away, we lose them. We prove that we are what they feared we would be. (Emphasizing that rugby is something more than a sport for the Afrikaners; it is something that runs deep within them. Note the gesture with his fist. And note also the caution at the end that the Council risks becoming, in a sense, as oppressive as the Afrikaners had been in the past. This is a powerful rhetorical tool – showing your audience that their position is similar to something against which they are adamantly opposed.)

We have to be better than that. We have to surprise them with compassion, with restraint, and generosity. (Another call to a higher ideal.)

I know. All of the things they denied us. (Again recognizing the suffering of the audience in the past.)

But this is no time to celebrate petty revenge. This is the time to build our nation using every single brick available to us – even if that brick comes wrapped in green and gold. (But immediately appealing once more to the higher ideal and the importance of using every available resource to build the country.)

You elected me your leader. Let me lead you now. Who is with me on this? Who is with me? (Asserting his authority and ending with a call to action. Now, we might not be Nelson Mandela, but we can invoke authority in different ways such as through our position or experience.)

———

Speech No. 2

Seven minutes remain in extra time in the Rugby World Cup Final. South Africa trails New Zealand 12-9. The New Zealanders are pressing and if they score, South Africa is almost certainly lost. South Africa is called for a penalty and its captain, François Pienaar (portrayed by Matt Damon), huddles the team and gives them a 20-second inspirational speech.

A speech of this nature is usually given during intense situations such as a big sporting final. Still, there are things that we can learn about motivational speeches from these 30 words.

———

(First and foremost, Pienaar speaks with passion. This is vital. If you cannot be passionate about the subject, your chances of inspiring others are nil. Passion can come in different forms; it can be understated; but there must be passion.)

Heads up! Look in my eyes. (He gets the team’s attention from the outset. He makes eye contact to show the level of his commitment.)

Do you hear? Listen to your country! (Like Mandela in the earlier speech, Pienaar appeals to something bigger than the team. A nobler idea. It is unlikely that any of us are going to have 64,000 fans singing in the background when we speak, but we can still invoke noble images in the minds of our audience through our words.)

Seven minutes. Seven minutes! Defence! Defence! Defence! (He boiled his message down to the essentials: we have little time left and we must stop New Zealand if we want to win this game. Think of great speeches in history. For each one, isn’t there usually a key phrase or two that encapsulates the entire speech? Look for a memorable line that captures the essence of your message and that will resonate with your audience.)

This is it! This is our destiny! Kom bokke! (Let’s go Springboks!) (Ending on a high note; appealing to a lofty ideal; using inspirational words such as “destiny” – these are all key aspects of a successful motivational speech.)

———

I hope that you found the analyses useful. If you haven’t yet seen “Invictus”, I suggest you schedule it for a movie night in the near future.

New Pace recently wrote an article about the value of mentoring. It was in the context of mentoring for managing one’s business processes; however, the principles apply with equal weight to mentoring for leadership, personal development or public speaking.

What should one expect from a good mentoring relationship? Drawing on what it has read in the Harvard Business Review, New Pace has identified three characteristics that it considers most important:

Good mentoring:

• tells you things you may not want to hear, but leaves you feeling that you have been heard;
• leaves you with the desire to become better; and
  
• makes you feel secure enough to take risks and seize opportunities.

Solid benefits, indeed.

Working with a good mentor can help you improve your public speaking skills significantly. In future posts, we’ll examine some of the aspects of mentoring in more detail.

Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961) American Author and Journalist

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.” – Ernest Hemingway

PowerPoint ≠ Teleprompter

A PowerPoint presentation is not a teleprompter. You read a teleprompter; that’s what it’s for. If you’re reading your PowerPoint presentation, you’re doing it wrong! Reduce your text and learn your material.

You can read this . . .

Photo courtesy of Steve Jurvetson

. . . but you should not read that!

Photo courtesy of Leo Sauermann

(NB – In fairness to the fellow in the second photo, I should note that the picture was taken on a PowerPoint Karaoke night during which participants have to make an impromptu presentation using a PowerPoint slideshow that they have not seen before. Challenging, but a lot of fun! And contestants are forgiven for having to read, at least a little bit.)

Jean de la Bruyère (1645 - 1696) French Essayist and Satirist

“There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting and public speaking.” – Jean de la Bruyère

According to Kawasaki, a PowerPoint presentation should have 10 slides maximum, last no more than 20 minutes, and contain no font smaller than 30 points. Although he designed the rule for presentations to venture capitalists, Kawasaki says that it applies to “any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.”

Let’s look at Kawasaki’s rationale for the 10-20-30 Rule:

• 10 slides

“Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting—and venture capitalists are very normal. … If you must use more than ten slides to explain your business, you probably don’t have a business.”

• 20 minutes

“Sure, you have an hour time slot, but you’re using a Windows laptop, so it will take forty minutes to make it work with the projector. Even if setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you give your pitch in twenty minutes, and you have forty minutes left for discussion.”

• 30-point font

“The reason people use a small font is twofold: first, that they don’t know their material well enough; second, they think that more text is more convincing. … Force yourself to use no font smaller than thirty points. I guarantee it will make your presentations better because it requires you to find the most salient points and to know how to explain them well.”

The entire article by Kawasaki can be found here. Alternatively, below is a short clip in which Guy himself explains his rule. It humorous, insightful and worth two minutes of your time.

In a recent post, I slammed the 1-6-6 Rule of PowerPoint as being a bunch of nonsense. What do I think of the 10-20-30 Rule? I like it, even if I don’t necessarily agree that one must rigidly adhere to each of its elements:

• 10 slides

Will your presentation implode if you have eleven slides? I suspect not. In fact, when thinking about this issue, I was reminded of this scene from the 1984 classic mock musical documentary This is Spinal Tap (key part starts at 1:18):

But I agree 100% with the philosophy. Do not try to overload your presentation with information. Your audience will not be able to absorb it. Hit the key points. You can always provide more details afterwards.

• 20 minutes

Same issue, really. Would a well-crafted 25-minute presentation be so terrible? Probably not. But here too, I like Kawasaki’s minimalist approach. Rigorously sticking to 20 minutes will force you to think about what is important and what can be omitted. And nobody is going to hold it against you if you speak for less than your allotted time. By keeping the presentation brief, you can expand on points of interest to your audience during the Q&A session.

• 30-point font

An excellent suggestion. Keeping your font large will force you to choose your words judiciously and will also make it easier fo your audience to read your slides. (Of course, you should not just use text – be sure to add some visuals.)

So there you have it. A PowerPoint “rule” worth considering the next time you have a presentation coming up.

Philip Crosby (1926 - 2001) American Businessman and Author on Management Theory

“The audience only pays attention as long as you know where you are going.” – Phil Crosby

"Tell me when it's over."

Photo courtesy of Barbara Nixon

It sounds like information overload, but judge for yourself. Click on the logo below to watch the presentation.

I think that the presentation is clever. A few caveats:

• I do not think that every slide was necessary.
  
• I failed to grasp the point of certain slides, but that could be because of my unfamiliarity with the company. (The presentation seems to be geared towards a Cincom audience.)
• I think that better images could have been found for some slides.
• I’m not sure that the number of slides should have been announced at the beginning of the presentation as I found my self regularly checking our progress. (NB: Even though the presentation speaks of 118 slides, the counter shows 120.)
  

Having said that, I found the presentation engaging. Many of the images were fantastic. The supporting music was well chosen. Overall, there was little text to read. On those slides where there was lots of text, it was clear that we were not supposed to read every word but rather get a general sense of the point. I followed along and did not get bored.

Now, I cannot be sure, but I am guessing that this presentation was an introduction to a more detailed talk. It is an interesting way to use a slide show – as an introduction to the main presentation. And it also shows that it is possible to present many slides to an audience in an interesting way.

You have probably guessed from the logo above that the presentation was made using software from a company called SlideRocket. According to its website, “SlideRocket goes beyond traditional presentation tools by harnessing the power of the Internet and making everything available to you in an integrated and intuitive online interface. SlideRocket is provided in a software-as-a-service model in a variety of price points starting at free.”

Check out SlideRocket and see whether it might be useful for you. And the next time you are looking for an innovative way to give a slide presentation, perhaps you can find some inspiration from what you’ve just seen.