Rob's blog
One more reason to love Portland: 27 years of speech recordings discovered at PSU
The invaluable Ian Griffin reports on a fantastic discovery by a Portland State University archivist: a box of reel-to-reel recordings of campus speeches by figures such as LSD advocate Timothy Leary, Robert F. Kennedy speaking a few short weeks before his assassination, Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling speaking on the effects of radioactive fallout a few … Continue reading →
Well, that’s one way to wing it in an emergency
When I arrived at Jilin, I found that one panelist […] had a conflict and had to cancel [….] But when [the other panelist] showed up at Jilin University’s Friendship Guesthouse, he said he wasn’t planning to talk about Snowden; he thought he was speaking on conflict resolution.So that left me with two hours to … Continue reading →
I’d like to thank Demosthenes…
After last night’s Oscar ceremony, Nancy Duarte has a few suggestions for any public speaker hoping to outdo Academy Award-winning artists (which is a surprisingly low bar, although there were a few standouts): personal is powerful; plan ahead; strike the right note and watch the clock. For people used to delivering scripted lines with directorial … Continue reading →
Didn’t like the State of the Union? Make your own!
More and more interconnected world, pass the new economy work for them. And found a way that benefits all of its people. Further extending it as due to the several classes, but it is noteworthy that the rights, but the foundation for such a movement as the necessity of fighting the war; or a governor … Keep reading →
You can run (on at the mouth), but you can’t hide
More than 50 lies, half-truths, and instances of disingenuous spin. Rob Ford’s speech lasted 16 minutes, therefore Rob Ford took liberties with reality, on average, three times per minute. And that was in a speech where nobody asked him about drugs, alcohol, or criminal behaviour. via Torontoist One crucial thing speechwriters need to remember: the … Keep reading →
How many ways can I say I’m sorry?
The New York Times has strung together lines from notable apology speeches into one big, remorseful Frankenpentance.Tragically missing, though, is anything from Rob Ford’s rambling, defensive apology from last November. Where’s “I know I have let you down and I can’t...
I’m guessing this won’t make one of those “Parents who are doing it right” lists.
(Inspired by this, via Alexandra Samuel.)
Nancy Duarte’s Resonate is free on iBooks
This is worth a heartfelt OMG: Nancy Duarte’s Resonate is now available as a free download from iBooks. You need an iPad or a Mac to use this version, but it has all sorts of interactive goodness and bonus material, including lots of video. I’ve gone on about Resonate at length before, but to recap: … Keep reading →
So now I’m a meme.
There's a lot I love about the web. And as passionate as I am about attribution and misappropriation, I'm still kind of smitten by the way an image can take on a life of its own. Case in point: Back in 2007, my laptop was stolen. Mainly as catharsis, I posted these...
Every blog post needs an image. Here you go.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License. So feel free.
On murdering one’s darlings, dahling
Having reviewed my posts over the last several years, I've realized that they're almost entirely made up of darlings. In fact, if you check the source code, you'll see I make liberal use of the little-known <darling> tag. (By the way, a lot of folks attribute...
Nick Selby’s convocation speech is why speakers shouldn’t settle for just meeting expectations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98nNpzE6gIs Sophomore Georgia Tech student Nick Selby welcomed this year's first-year students in unforgettable style. There are lots of things a speaker or speechwriter could take from this clip: the use of crescendo, knowing your...
