Tag Archives: public speaking

Becoming Zeus

A thunderstorm came through today that forced the question “Did Zeus build himself a vacation home here?”  A lot of other people did and the mountains are fantastic, so who knows?  Maybe he stopped by to fix it up prior to a short sell.

Anyway, it made me think about the odds of getting struck by lightning (576,000:1) or inspired by it (1:1).  As exciting as it would be to get hit, a young man was hit here just a few days ago (and he’s doing fine) so I figure the odds are even longer.  And standing out in the rain holding up a tall metal rod would just look stupid.  So instead I spent some time being inspired.  And wouldn’t you know it, I got hit anyway!

A few weeks back I introduced my PURPOSE acronym (here) which begins with the three essential attributes of effective presentations: Passion, Utility and Recall.  A few weeks later I followed that with a more detailed discussion of Passion (here).  But since then I have struggled with an effective way to communicate the critical importance of Utility.  Then today, in a flash of lightning, it struck me: my answer sits in the hands of Zeus.  …the Thunderbolt!

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Know Your PURPOSE

This week’s post is an introduction to the method I use to craft meaningful stories, and the acronym I’ve created to share it.  – Robert

We have all been there before: sitting in our seats listening to a darned good speaker who makes us laugh and reflect and nod like bobble-head dolls, all on cue.  And then, three to five minutes after the speaker is done, we can’t remember what it was that kept us so engaged much less what we were supposed to do with it.  Any time this happens the presenter failed either to ask this question… “What is your purpose?” or to deliver on its answer.

The first time it was asked of me had nothing to do with speaking.

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