Gathering and Discerning Information in the 21st Century
Celebrating over 16 years on the web.
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“Each of us believes himself to live directly within the world that surrounds him, to sense its objects and events precisely, and to live in real and current time. I assert these are perceptual illusions. Sensation is an abstraction, not a replication of the real world.” Vernon Mountcastle

Quote from YouTube Video: Kavli Prize Laureate Lecture – The Restless Brain

The Professional Speaking Guide

Developing Professional Speaking Skills:

Like any business or career one must develop the skills to become a professional. Many people have defined a professional speaking simply as one who gets paid to speak. Even though this is a valid measurement it lacks much of what you will need to succeeed in this challeging industry.

There are no rules. There are skills that can certainly make you a more polished presenter but up until this time there are top paid professional speakers that display all kinds of charateristics. Talk fast, talk slow, talk in mono tone or tremendous vocal variety. People who are short, tall, skinny and fat. People who are black, white, have heavy accents and those who don’t. What I am trying to say is that ther are no set rules. Everybody has their own unique characteristics and style and that is what we encourage you to develop.

Modeling yes, meaning to learn from the pro’s or people you admire the most on the platform but don’t become a second rate person your modeling but become a first rate yourself.

Secrets of Super Star Speakers, by Lilly Walters

Lilly Walters is a best selling author who run Walters International Speaking Bureau (http://www.walters-intl.com) In this book she surveyed 4000 people to find out who the greatest motivators and why are and listed 70 of them. Then she tried to find a common thread as to what made them the best. It seems there are unlimited qualities and strategies you can use because everybody is different in what they like to hear and see but her results may be worth a study. The following chart is what Lilly says is the most monumental reasons why people were motivated by those speakers. All categories were enormously significant in survey finding but notice what made the most value/impact.

Message 37%

       – content creates change

       – it was smart

       – God was in it

       – simple and easy to follow

       – focused, clear, practical

       – message or content was….

       – motivated and inspired

Real Life 21%

       – overcame adversity

       – first to do it]

       – character, integrity

       – life is an example

       – true and personal stories

       – humble, honest, believable, sincere, genuine

Style & Eloquence 14%

       – use of words

       – eloquence

       – voice

       – style, presense, appearance

       – charisma

Passion 9%

       – energy, enthusiasm, dedication, conviction, power

Involves by using humor and heart 6%

       – tears and emotion

       – humor, whit, entertainment, audience participation

Compassionate 5%

Connect 5%

Stories 4%

Science-fact-theory-hypothesis

Definitions key to discussions:

  • Fact: A fact is a statement that is true and can be proved with evidence.
  • Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon that can be tested by the scientific method. A hypothesis has not been tested.
  • Theory: Scientific theories are distinguished from hypotheses, which are empirically testable conjectures, and from scientific laws, which are descriptive accounts of how nature behaves under certain conditions. Theories have been rigorously tested and widely accepted by the scientific community who agree the theory best explains the observations or phenomenon we experience.
  • Scientific Method: The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
  • Empirical Evidence: Empirical evidence is the knowledge received by means of the senses, particularly by observation and experimentation.
  • Reality: Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
  • Delusion: A delusion is a belief that is held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.
  • Insanity: Insanity, craziness, or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns.