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October 11, 2003
I went to Atlanta this
I went to Atlanta this week for work; my boss was keynoting a conference for women of color in technology. One of the other speakers was a motivational speaker and busines consultant. I don't want to say too much and reveal her identity... but watching her performance left me just wondering about the entire genre of motivational speakers. Why do these people find the need to bury their message - and this woman's message was EMPOWERING and strong and inspirational, by any estimation - beneath silly gimmicks and hype?
This woman's speech and message were dead on - and not just for this audience. What she said made sense, felt empowering... and I was one of the token white males in the room, sitting in the back working the a/v. Even I was nearly inspired by what she had to say. She is a first generation immigrant to the United States from the 3rd world - still has her accent! - and her whole bit is that immigrants remember the things most Americans have forgotten about the American dream - that anyone really can make it here, that there are fewer boundaries in America than anywhere else in the world, that you really can have everything you ever wanted here, that if you get knocked down, you just get up and try again... immigrants come here looking for a better life and thus have already taken a braver step than most of us ever could... so they remember the power of the Dream and have a stronger sense of faith in their own destinies and abilities than perhaps those of us who've been here for a few generations. Her whole thing is about trying to knock her audiences into remembering that in their own lives. It's a fascinating premise that she delivers very well, and she can be mesmerizing.
But she buries that empowering message in a sea of game-show entrance music, contrived "come on everybody, stand up and clap and dance with me" theatrics, and the hackneyed "I can't hear you, you're supposed to be chanting along with me on cue" gimmick. Most unbelievably, in the middle of her presentation, she actually stopped to sing to her audience, rendering five minutes of a more than slightly off key version of some Celine Dion-sounding song about bravery. The theatrics were already distracting me - but when she launched into her concert, that's when she lost me. She had this amazing speaking style and capability, plus a unique message that is virtually guaranteed to inspire... and yet she lost much of her credibility with me because of unnecessary theatrics.
She's not unique in her industry, by any means - it's not my intention to single her out. Like I said, I genuinely thought her message was empowering. But why do motivational speakers believe that standing up in front of people and speaking powerfully about an inspirational message is not enough? Why do they think they need to be over-the-top carnival hucksters in order to be motivational? Why do we as a society - whether in business presentations or political debates or anywhere else - seem to think that without some sort of flash or pretty wrapping or bright and shiny objects attached, we can't get our message across? Why are so many people afraid to rely on the power of words?
Maybe I am just uniquely biased because I am a writer for a living; I am in love with and in awe of the power of words and language. Fine - guilty as charged. But we always hear the complaint that oratory is a lost art, that there are no more great speakers like the giants of the past. I have to believe that if that's so, it's because no one has the courage anymore to allow the power of their words carry their message. And as a result, audiences no longer have the inclination or the attention span to understand or absorb messaging without some sort of flash attached to it. That truly frightens me.
There's a brilliant spoof out there floating around on the Internet about the Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation. I don't know who created it, but I wish I knew so I could shake his or her hand. Because that parody says everything I want to say about what we've become... *so* overly reliant on gimmicks, screen tricks, and using visual crutches to prop up our words that very few people are even capable of truly good speaking anymore. If Lincoln lived today, would he have been able to write the Gettysburg Address without using some cheesy and unnecessary prop? Would his audience even be able to absorb his message?
The brilliance of the Gettysburg Address was in the power of its ideas, and in the efficient beauty that those thoughts were captured. And I have to say that any truly remarkable thoughts still can be conveyed through words alone - if you need a visual crutch or a flashy attention getter, then it just means that you don't have any real confidence in what you're saying. The great ideas that have held our fascination and remembrance throughout history are remembered not for their visuals but for the power of their words. "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." "Give me liberty or give me death..." "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." "Ask not what your country can do for you..." "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Do you have a visual for any of those? How about for "I am the light, the truth and the way," or "Let my people go?" Religion has proven itself to be the most resilient of all human ideas - and yet the foundations of Judeo-Christian traditional are 4000 years old - long before the advent of visual cues.
I just wish we'd all learn to trust words again.
