Storytelling with Impact | Public Speaking

Why Drones Need Our Better Angels

March 14, 2019/in Humanity, Peace Innovators, Public Speaking, Technology/by Mark Lovett

Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick PhD is an associate professor of political sociology. He teaches at the Kroc School of Peace Studies on the University of San Diego campus, and while his interests are varied, he’s most passionate when it comes to the study of social movements and social change, with an added emphasis on the role that technology plays in society.

Of particular interest is how the advent of small, commercially available drones will play out in our everyday lives. Austin opens his talk at the Kroc School’s Peace Innovators Conference by talking about how he and a grad student measured the size of a crowd during a protest in Budapest, Hungary. He’s a big believer in empowered people and accountable authorities.

This was a protest against the government’s plan to initiate a tax on internet usage. And while previous protests in Budapest had been relatively small, this one was predicted to be much bigger, and by using a drone to capture the event Austin was able to verify the size of the crowd, which was far greater than the government claimed. In the end, the government was forced to drop their plan. So in this case, drone technology served the public quite well.

Drones can help us see the world from a new perspective, and drones can hold the powerful to account. – Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

But Austin goes on to talk about what may lie ahead with the expanded use of drones, as they can be used, just like any other technology, for good or for evil. He reminds us that the internet has evolved from the information superhighway, to the dark web, in the span of just three decades. Despite best intentions, over time the technology has enabled criminals.

Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress. – Paul Virilio

Online banking provides great benefit, yet it also exposes us to having our account hacked. Mapping software can guide us to our destination, while at the same time tracking our every move and location. Social media sites can connect us to friends, but can also become a platform for hijacked political debates. A classic case of unintended consequences.

And drones are undergoing a similar evolution. Watch Austin’s talk to gain insight as to how our future may be affected, for better or worse, by the increased implementation of drone technology. Which of the scenarios presented will come to pass? Do you seen this technology serving society, or becoming a tool for the self-serving? Are you excited, frightened, cautious?

Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels

In short, technology has become a character in our personal story, and can shift the narrative in many ways. As you think about the trajectory of your story, and the wisdom you wish to share with others, think about how technology has affected, or could affect, your storyline.

Peace Innovators is a program from the Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego in which select faculty members prepare presentations that are focused on the human issues they address within their professional studies as well as class curriculum. I had the pleasure of working with each of these speakers as they prepared their talks.

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Using Story for Persuading, Influencing, or Most Importantly, for Understanding

March 7, 2019/in Audience, Public Speaking, Speaker Coaching, Storytelling/by Mark Lovett

If you spend time, as I do, reading about the art and practice of storytelling you will often come across reference to the notion of persuading or influencing as the objective of crafting and presenting the story that you have in mind. I hear this from other speaker coaches, as well as renowned public speakers, and it’s not wrong, but it’s never been the way I see things.

Having watched a few thousand talks, and worked with a few hundred speakers, the stories which impacted me the most were the ones that informed me, expanded my knowledge, or brought forward a new way of looking at an important issue, not those trying to convince me that their way of thinking was better than mine.

Persuading
Causing someone to do something, or believe something, through reasoning or argument

Influencing
Having an effect on someone with the desire to change their behaviors, beliefs, or opinions

Understanding
The ability to comprehend based on knowledge of a subject, problem, process, or situation

When working with speakers I’ll ask them to think about what their audience will understand differently after hearing their talk. And there’s not a single answer to that question, as each person will have a different mindset before your talk begins.

And while it’s impossible to know what everyone listening understands in the moment, it’s a productive exercise to at least define a number of general categories (half a dozen or so) and then write out how you see their thinking/understanding transform.

Take that view a level deeper as you think about your audience by age, income, gender, ethnicity, education. How would a native understand your talk differently than an immigrant? Or a college student, as compared to a politician or business leader?

This exercise will prove beneficial while editing your manuscript. Consider your choice of words, and how deep you take your explanation of the issue. Remember, it’s not about having the audience think like you, it’s about them thinking differently than before they heard your talk.

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Peacemakers at the University

February 14, 2019/in Career, History, Peace Innovators, Public Speaking/by Mark Lovett

One benefit of being a professional in higher education is the opportunity to change the lives of students at a critical point in their personal development. As young adults discover who they are and attempt to map out their future, or at least determine the direction they will take upon graduation, they need to know how they can make a difference.

As Dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego (USD), Patricia Márquez understands the perils of conflict, the importance of conflict resolution, and the need to develop peace professionals.

Dean Márquez doesn’t open her talk by referencing USD, or her own experience as an educator, but rather tells a historical tale that takes the audience back in time to “113 years ago, in 1895”. She goes on to explain how Charles Eliot, the president of Harvard University, decided to start a business school at the university. This combination of a second hand story and historical narrative is a compelling way to begin her talk about the importance of peace studies in a world that is dealing with conflict at every turn.

At three minutes into her talk Dean Márquez brings us a century forward into the present day, and for the first time introduces the topic of conflict resolution. She makes the case that just as business education became a foundational piece of our expanding economy, peace studies will become just as pivotal in shaping our collective future. This is an interesting way in which an audience comes to understand the merits of an idea by hearing about a similar, or parallel story that comes to the same conclusion. “We need professionals to build peace.”

This statement becomes her stake in the ground, the key idea that she will go on to explain in detail with specific examples of how this paradigm is playing out around the world. She then uses specific examples to illustrate the challenges we face in achieving peaceful coexistence. From New York City to Kibera, Nairobi, Mexico City and Cape Town, to the most common human desire, to live a better life, as exemplified by the flow of migrants.

“In an increasingly diverse, dense, and connected world, the question for us is how to build peaceful coexistence where the rights of all individuals are being met.”

How does your story relate to events in the past? Is there a parallel story that can highlight the path of your own narrative? Are there personal stories that provide current and relevant examples of how your idea or solution can change the status quo?

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De Oratore by Cicero – Book 2 – The Objectives of Oratory

February 7, 2019/in Cicero, History, Narrative, Public Speaking, Writing/by Mark Lovett

In addition to being a lawyer, politician and philosopher, Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) was also a preeminent Roman orator. Drawing on the teaching of Greek rhetoric and the craft of oration in Roman times, he composed De Oratore to highlight the principles he believed were at play whenever someone planned to speak on an important topic.

While political speeches and legal proceedings were at the forefront of public speaking during this time, the concepts presented here are valuable in the drafting of any nonfiction narrative. Written in 55 BC, and comprised of three books, De Oratore is a dialogue that is set in 91 BC.

Cicero shares a dialogue, reported to him by Cotta, among a group of excellent political men and orators, who came together to discuss the crisis and general decline of politics. They met in the garden of Lucius Licinius Crassus’ villa in Tusculum.

Lucius Licinius Crassus – Quintus Mucius Scaevola – Quintus Catulus
Marcus Antonius Orator – Gaius Aurelius Cotta – Publius Sulpicius Rufus

Marcus Antonius replies to Catulus:
…for who is ignorant that it is the first law in writing history that the historian must not dare to tell any falsehood and the next that he must be bold enough to tell the whole truth?

While there are many genres of storytelling that are wholly or partially fictitious in nature, personal storytelling is not one of them. Once a speaker deviates from the truth, the entire story becomes suspect. When your intent is to share your wisdom, experience and viewpoint, authenticity and accuracy will form the foundation. And if the audience sees cracks in that foundation, they will disregard your message.

Telling the ‘whole truth’ is trickier to address, as there are time constraints for every speech or presentation. It’s not uncommon that a client I’m working with has a story to tell that could easily consume many hours, yet they only have a 15 or 20 minute time slot. Crafting such a talk requires condensing some passages while cutting other scenes altogether, but in the end, the story must represent the truth and not be misleading in any way.

Antonius later offers:
Thus the whole business of speaking rests upon three things for success in persuasion; that we prove what we maintain to be true; that we conciliate those who hear; that we produce in their minds whatever feeling our cause may require.

Once again Antonius touches on the topic of truth, but introduces the notion of proving what you claim to be true. The audience must feel that the point you are proposing is not just your opinion, but rather an idea supported by evidence. This is especially true for any scientific or historical talk which includes material that is beyond the speaker’s direct experience.

Conciliation refers to a listener being satisfied, or won over, by your argument. This is a matter of logic, as your narrative must make sense, by exhibiting a logical flow, for the audience to accept it. The audience must also connect to your story emotionally. They should feel what you feel at each point in the narrative. It’s this resonance which aligns the listener’s experience with yours.

Keep these objectives in mind as you work on your story and decide which elements to include, the order they will be presented, and the manner in which they will be delivered.

[De Oratore excerpts from Delphi Complete Works of Cicero, Translated by J. S. Watson]

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Transcending the Border with Anchors Not Parachutes

January 14, 2019/in Humanity, Narrative, Peace Innovators, Public Speaking/by Mark Lovett

Ev Meade, PhD, director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, explores how universities can help to build peace in places beset by violence and shrouded in fear, but only if we learn to see ourselves as anchors, rather than parachutes.

Often times the best of intentions don’t deliver the intended results in the nonprofit world. This can happen when organizations approach a difficult situation with a short term solution, and impose their ideas upon those in need without understanding the root of the problem.

In Ev Meade’s view, those “parachute” tactics fall short of the mark. In order to effect real, long-lasting change, organizations need to think of themselves as “anchors” who become embedded into the community, seeking feedback from those who live in the area and thus know what’s really going on. At that point solutions can be crafted for the long term.

In his talk Ev speaks about the challenges of working in Sinaloa, Mexico, home of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, as well as the cartel’s former leader, Joaquín Guzmán, known as “El Chapo”.

Ev takes us into the community and describes what life is like for the residents, in one case highlighting the fact that “more than 90 percent of homicides do not produce an arrest.”

Despite the somber nature of the topic, Ev brings his passion and energy to the stage, with great use of vocal variation and pausing to support an evolving narrative that looks at failed policies, misconceptions and stereotypes, then presents a new way of dealing with troubled communities that involves an understanding of the facts and partnering with the community before becoming an anchor that can be relied upon.

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