Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 229) – Lou Holtz

Lou Holtz - Have something to say; it doesn't matter where your hands are
Lou Holtz – American Football Player, Coach and Analyst

“All you need is something to say and a burning desire to say it. It doesn’t matter where your hands are.”

Lou Holtz

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mannerofspeaking

    1. Indeed. I love this quote, not because hand gestures and body language aren’t important; they are. I just think that they are not as important as other things.

  1. I agree with what I assume this is driving at – that gestures are less important than your message and your passion. It’s unfortunate that the quote says where your hands are doesn’t matter though. Because, as this video shows, it does matter!
    Still, thanks for posting a thought-provoking quote that’s got us discussing what it means in practice.

    1. Thanks, Craig. I simplified the second sentence to make my meaning clearer.

      As to the quote, I like it just the way it is precisely because of its “provocative” nature, at least as far as speakers are concerned. As I said way back in the very first “quote post”, my goal is to throw up quotes without comment and then let people express themselves as to what they think.

      As to the essence of the quote, I watched the video in your post. Yes, the speaker does move from our right to left, which is not ideal from the audience’s perspective, unless your mother tongue is Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, Kurdish or any other language that goes from right to left. (I have had a fair bit of practice speaking to audiences in the Middle East.) And yes, I teach this point in my courses. But at the end of the day, the gesture does not detract all that much from the message.

      I have seen a lot of novice speakers focus an inordinate amount of time on things like body language and staging relative to the structure and key message of the speech, and the speech suffers as a result. I think that speakers should watch Ken Robinson’s first TED Talk several times for a variety of reasons, and I know that you have. Yes, Robinson uses hand gestures but for extended periods, his hands are by his side doing nothing. And yet the talk is absolutely captivating because of, among many other things, his passion for reforming the way we educate our children.

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John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

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TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

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CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

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Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

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Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

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World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

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HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

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National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

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CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

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Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

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Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

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