Talk about an interesting talk or a lecture

• When
• Where
• Who was the speaker
• How did you feel about it

This is my favourite topic. When I was a student, I wasn’t very interested in any speech or talks. However, since I started my job as a teacher, I have enjoyed these talks a lot. I did hear a talk from a lecturer who comes from ABC University. He is a TESOL teacher, so the way he gave the talk really impressed me. Sitting in a big hall and listening to a talk actually isn’t a boring thing. The lecture presented different methodology in teaching English for high school students. Then, the talk visualized a variety of games to motivate students’ interests, such as snakes, battleships or puzzles. I have to admit that they are very creative and funny. Moreover, I did learn a lot from this talk, especially the games since I’ve never thought that games are really effective in class but they proved me wrong. The students like them a lot, which makes me believe in those new teaching methods. I think I will listen to these talks more when I have time.

OR

I have heard numerous speeches, lectures and commentaries throughout my life, but the one speech that still gets better of me and teaches me so much was the speech of Steve Jobs at Stanford. I remember, googling something about Steve Jobs a few years back because I wanted to know about him and fumbled onto his speech. There have been some speeches that I have heard before and some motivational videos that have struck me but nothing was better than his speech.

It was the commencement speech of Stanford graduate students and Steve chose to tell three stories of his life. The stories of connecting dots, He talks of how we need to trust whatever our heart is saying and whatever is happening in the present, because no matter what, all these things will certainly do connect in the future and if we do it in the best way, it is going to stay with us for a longer period of time. And the fact that our all learning is going to get connected makes it possible to be able to just trust at whatever is happening in the present and move on with life. The next story was about love and loss. He talks of how he got fired from his own company and then went on to find love and create new ventures and finally returns back to his own company. He speaks of the fact that if you love what you do, life is going to be beautiful. The third story was about death. “If you live each day as if your last, someday it will be right.” And it is very powerful because when you know every day that you may die soon, is when you start living life like never before. Finally, when he closes his speech, he says, stays hungry stay foolish. And I think it is a very powerful message.

It was after that speech that I started closely following Steve Jobs and I realized that there is a lot that can be learnt from him. The way he lived his life on his three philosophies and that helped him create a new history for the world. The reason that I loved the speech was that he was not talking about hard work and sacrifice and things that people get scared off. He was talking about simple plain things, love and loss. There was no reason not to understand him and whatever he said just struck me in my heart because it was so damn true.

OR

Speeches are funny things!  Some people are really good at public speaking, and others just aren’t.  I think it is very difficult to talk in front of other people in an engaging way but when people do this really well, then you remember the occasion and how you felt at the time too.  Obviously, really bad speeches can be memorable too, but I’m not going to talk about any of those today.

I want to tell you about a short speech I heard in a work context, I’ll tell you who gave the speech, what it was about and why I think it was so good.

The speech was given by a manager in a place I was working.  He was giving a speech to say goodbye to one of our colleagues who was leaving to set up as an independent consultant, but who had worked at the organisation a very long time, perhaps forty years.  Everyone was sad to see this person go, as they were very popular, but we all wished them well and understood why they felt they needed to move on.  It was a reasonably big workforce, so about sixty of us had gathered in the open-plan office to say goodbye and present a gift to our departing friend and co-worker.

I think sometimes ‘leaving do’s’ can be really awkward and embarrassing  Everyone stands around self-consciously and there is an excruciating and brief ‘goodbye and thank you’ from the boss, and then everyone stares at the poor person who is leaving whilst they rip open and read a rapidly bought card and mumble their  thanks for a rather anonymous gift. This, however, was different.  Our manager had made a real effort to prepare a good speech that was funny, well-researched, engaging and genuinely affectionate.  For example, one of the things he did, was going back to our colleague’s original application form and he put together a quiz for all of us to do, in which we had to guess what hobbies and qualifications they had declared all that time ago.  It was a great way to ‘break the ice’ and involve everyone, and the results were hilarious.  Even the colleague who was leaving was amazed at the contents of his original form.  He also thanked the colleague for some very specific work that he had done and read out comments from others that he had been collecting over the last couple of weeks which were mini-testimonials and statements of appreciation from other colleagues.

I think the speech was good because it involved everyone, shared funny (but not too private) stories that were relevant to the leaver and the effort our boss had put into preparing it showed his respect and admiration for the colleague who was departing.  The quiz also gave everyone something to talk about, so people could chat and mingle a bit after the presentation. It was also not too long!  It held interest and was appropriate for the context.

For me, the speech was a really good example of how to communicate effectively on such an occasion.  It was perfectly judged and helped bring the team together even though someone was leaving, and made me – and others too – feel happy and lucky that we worked in such a caring team.