Learning To Speak

Last summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to present a series of lectures aboard the Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 on behalf of Oxford University. I did so on a transatlantic crossing between New York and Southampton, UK.

To prepare for the talks, I spent considerable time observing seasoned, practiced, expert speakers and lecturers in action. I learned much about the art of oratory from doing so. I must say, I learned from the very best: I heard such luminaries as Sandra Day O'Connor, Salman Rushdie, Dan Pink, and Tom Friedman. I attended dozens of lectures and I heard just about all the different types of speakers that exist -- writers, motivators, social scientists, astronomers, more writers, meteorologists, biologists, palenentologists, archeologists, journalists, jurists, and more writers. It was truly an interesting experience.

I am pleased to say that public speaking is alive and vibrant in this country, TV, Internet, movies, etc non-withstanding.

I wrote an article for Rake Magazine, tracing out my journey down the road of public presentation. The article just came out. You can read it here. Then, go out and hear a lecture