When a Wordsmith is Passionate
Taylor Mali is a rare find. He is an American slam poet, humorist, trainer and voiceover artist. He is also an especially passionate public speaker.
For those who have the pleasure of introducing him at a speaking event, however shouldn't have the time to prepare their very own introduction, Mali offers this short autobiography on his website:
“[Taylor Mali] measures his life in quite a lot of methods: He has 10 years of experience as an expert spoken phrase artist; he has one e-book, one DVD, and four cds; for 10 months, he was the official voice of Burger King; he was a national poetry slam champion 4 times; thrice he appeared on the HBO authentic collection “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry”; for nine years he taught school, high school, and middle college; and as soon as, in a single SCRABBLE game, he earned a rating of 581; however MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL, after listening to his work, 607 individuals have advised him they may now change into teachers. Please help me welcome the man who wants to create one thousand new lecturers, Taylor Mali.”
I found Mali a number of months ago by probability on YouTube. I was immediately hooked. His raw type, his skill to forge easy phrases into a strong message, and his ardour make him an extremely compelling speaker.
Here is considered one of my favourite works of his. It is entitled “Undivided Attention”.
Even though slam poetry is a really specialized type of public speaking, there is much that we can learn from Mali for our personal speeches. For example:
* He's obsessed with his subject.
* He makes terrific use of vocal variety.
* He is aware of when to pause for effect.
* He uses simple but efficient gestures; for example, when talking in regards to the crane holding the piano.
* He makes great use of (a) alliteration: “It dangles, spinning slowly, in April air … Chopin shiny”; (b) simile: “hanging just like the second-to-final notice of a concerto” and “Let me educate like a Steinway.”; and (c) consonance: “so hinderingly dangling” and “the neck of the movers’ crane”.
* He uses triples and repetition: “on the sting of the seat, the edge of tears, the edge of eight stories up going over”.
Keep in mind these points the next time you have to give a speech. Think about the text as you draft it. Use similes, alliterations and different grammatical units - judiciously, in fact - so as to add flair to your words. Think about where a pause can be powerful. Take into consideration the place a gesture would help. Above all, take into consideration what the subject means in your audience and why they need to care. Then infuse your supply with passion.
To finish this post, I want to share another of my favourite poems by Taylor Mali. It's entitled “What Instructor’s Make”.
For those who have the pleasure of introducing him at a speaking event, however shouldn't have the time to prepare their very own introduction, Mali offers this short autobiography on his website:
“[Taylor Mali] measures his life in quite a lot of methods: He has 10 years of experience as an expert spoken phrase artist; he has one e-book, one DVD, and four cds; for 10 months, he was the official voice of Burger King; he was a national poetry slam champion 4 times; thrice he appeared on the HBO authentic collection “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry”; for nine years he taught school, high school, and middle college; and as soon as, in a single SCRABBLE game, he earned a rating of 581; however MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL, after listening to his work, 607 individuals have advised him they may now change into teachers. Please help me welcome the man who wants to create one thousand new lecturers, Taylor Mali.”
I found Mali a number of months ago by probability on YouTube. I was immediately hooked. His raw type, his skill to forge easy phrases into a strong message, and his ardour make him an extremely compelling speaker.
Here is considered one of my favourite works of his. It is entitled “Undivided Attention”.
Even though slam poetry is a really specialized type of public speaking, there is much that we can learn from Mali for our personal speeches. For example:
* He's obsessed with his subject.
* He makes terrific use of vocal variety.
* He is aware of when to pause for effect.
* He uses simple but efficient gestures; for example, when talking in regards to the crane holding the piano.
* He makes great use of (a) alliteration: “It dangles, spinning slowly, in April air … Chopin shiny”; (b) simile: “hanging just like the second-to-final notice of a concerto” and “Let me educate like a Steinway.”; and (c) consonance: “so hinderingly dangling” and “the neck of the movers’ crane”.
* He uses triples and repetition: “on the sting of the seat, the edge of tears, the edge of eight stories up going over”.
Keep in mind these points the next time you have to give a speech. Think about the text as you draft it. Use similes, alliterations and different grammatical units - judiciously, in fact - so as to add flair to your words. Think about where a pause can be powerful. Take into consideration the place a gesture would help. Above all, take into consideration what the subject means in your audience and why they need to care. Then infuse your supply with passion.
To finish this post, I want to share another of my favourite poems by Taylor Mali. It's entitled “What Instructor’s Make”.
