Speak to Move, Not to Inform

In this TED video, Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, discusses his revolutionary approach to education:



Khan advocates flipping the traditional classroom model. How? Lectures happen at home, and homework happens at school.

At the Khan Academy, students first watch educational videos in order to learn the material at home at their own pace. The "homework" part happens the next day - in the classroom with the teacher there to help.

Khan points out that what is so remarkable about this approach is that technology is actually being used to humanize the experience of learning.

Khan's talk reminded me of the problem with speaking to a group in order to simply give them information. It is far more effective instead to speak to an audience in order to move them.

After all, people remember much more how they felt when they hear a speech, rather than the information they learned. Perhaps this is because people learn as distinct individuals, but they feel things as human beings.

From the Green Room: Speak to move, not to inform. Remember that the power of a live presentation can be fully actualized only when there is an emotional connection between the speaker and the audience.

Conan O'Brien and The Power of Unexpected Emotion

What made Conan O'Brien's farewell speech last Friday night so memorable?

Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhKTUPBvqSc


The content was clearly very moving. And his delivery was both clear and powerful.

But what really made us sit up and listen was the shock of seeing someone who always cracks jokes suddenly and unexpectedly speaks with full sincerity.

From the Green Room: The next time you speak, take a moment to drop your usual persona and try something radically different. If you're normally loud - get quiet. If you are very serious - act goofy. And if you are always the comedian, take a moment to speak personally and sincerely to your listeners.

Your audience will remember that moment not only because it's so unexpected, but because you had the courage to reveal another side of yourself.