A new book, The Great Speeches of Modern India, catalogs religious, economic and political speeches of the 19th and 20th Century. The author, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, presents a view of modern Indian history through the speeches of her leaders.

I have not been able to locate a convenient source for the book, but this review contains some fascinating commentary. He contrasts speeches by world leaders such as Churchill, Gandhi and Nehru, who wrote their own content, with today’s reliance on speech writers ‘ghosting’ the speech which began with JFK and Ted Sorensen. Modern politicians, he claims “don’t feel confident enough to handle the language in the succinct way a speech-writer can.”

Mukherjee observes the distinction between great speakers and great speeches:

Great speakers do not always make great speeches. The yardstick for judging the latter is whether the words retain their power with the passing of time. Nehru was not a great orator in the traditional sense of the term, his voice was not loud and words did not come in a torrent as they do with great orators, he did not pause for effect but he made many memorable speeches and coined phrases that have become part of the nation’s vocabulary.

Finally, he refers to the stunning address given by Vivekananda at the Chicago World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893. The 7,000 delegates went into rapture and responded with a standing ovation that lasted for more than three minutes:

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. l thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of the millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.

Since India is one of the great sources of speeches given in the English language, this book, when it more widely available, will be a valuable addition to any speakers’ library.

The British Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that, surprise, surprise, German executives are not known for delivering inspirational speeches.

It seems Teutonic boss’s rely on statistics and charts at the expense of compelling rhetoric:

German managers are generally good at their jobs in a technical sense, but preparation for public appearances seldom goes beyond a series of PowerPoint charts. These are often prepared by somebody else, and there are far too many. When the number is truly overwhelming, the presentation is nothing but a slide show and not a speech at all.

There is simply not a presentation culture in Germany, and the saying goes that “German manager’s work better than they talk”. Der Spiegel complains of an excessive concentration on facts and figures at the expense of charisma and conviction. It seems that the mentality and ideology of dealing with hard facts in a depersonalised manner is at odds with a healthy emphasis on giving impressive presentations in public. Voice and the use of both talk and body language tend to be neglected.

I can’t help but think of the John Cleese Fawlty Towers sketch where he goose-steps around the dining room instructing his staff “Don’t mention zee war!”. For while it may be tasteless to refer to the Second World War in relation to contemporary German managers, it’s undeniable that many British and American executives (and politicians) openly admire Winston Churchill and ape his rhetorical style and freely quote him.

This puts modern German executives at a severe disadvantage. After all, the Holocaust aside, their wartime leader was a renowned public speaker. He used his public speeches to persuade his audiences and, one could argue, never forgot to include a call to action (it just happened to be one the world would have been better without). But I doubt German managers can freely quote or mimic the rhetorical style of ‘Corporal Hitler’. So who do they use as a model for their speeches? Apparently no-one. Stripped of all emotion (since their role models are negative ones) they face down their audience with facts and figures.

The Telegraph article concludes with a plea for effective presentation coaching for German executives:

They should rely less on manuscripts and charts and more on presenting well. A successful presentation will grab the attention of the audience and ensure that they believe in what they are told and in the person telling it.

There are many executives in the English-speaking world who would do well to heed that advice.

Every night when the speeches and awards end, the bar closes and the majority of NSA Members are tucked up in bed dreaming of miles of aisles, there’s only one place left to party, network, grab a drink or three and enjoy a stogie: the private suite where the Cigar PEG meets. The idea of a Cigar PEG (a PEG in NSA-speak is a “Professional Expert Group”) originated in 1998 by chairperson and chief party animal Ed Rigsbee. This year the Cigar PEG hosted a fantastic party aboard the USS Midway as well as their open-bar suite in Room 477 at the hotel.

Ed and his Cigar PEG colleagues offer people an opportunity to unwind after a busy day at the convention. The $75 membership fee and the monies raised by the various auctions go toward charity.

For a complete background on the Cigar PEG, including photo galleries of members enjoying life, visit their website. If you plan to attend the 2008 convention in New York City and want to avoid paying $7 for well drinks at the hotel bar, consider joining the Cigar PEG. Do the math.

Click on the podcast icon below to hear Ed share his views on the value of the Cigar PEG.

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Each year the National Speakers Association honors five of its members with the coveted CPAE Award (Council of Peers Award for Excellence). There are only 120 living members who have the CPAE designation.

The highlight of the formal dinner on the last night of the conference was the CPAE Awards. I tracked down one of these distinguished speakers after the banquet to find out how it feels to win an Award like this.

Susie Vanderlip is a Youth and Family Issues expert from Orange County, California. She created quite a stir when she came onstage to accept her Award in character as a gang member from her schools talk. She transformed before our eyes into the foxy lady she is in real life, resplendent in evening gown and jewelry. Quite a transformation.

Susie’s latest book 52 Ways to Protect Your Teen presents the realities with which teens across all socio-economic groups are confronted. She addresses drug and alcohol abuse, rape, violence, depression and self-mutilation issues. She wrote the book based on lengthy one-on-one conversations with 25,000 individual teens following her LEGACY OF HOPE® assemblies at their schools and youth conferences. Since 1991, she has presented to one million teens and adults in 47 states and Canada.

On Thursday evening her NSA peer’s recognized her achievements.

Click on the podcast icon below to hear Susie’s reaction to the CPAE Award, recorded a few short minutes after the event ended.

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My 14-year-old son, Neil, accompanied me to NSA and attended the Youth Leadership Conference. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my colleague from Sun Microsystems, Mark Ivey, who first persuaded me join NSA and told me how much his kids had enjoyed the Youth Leadership event.

I sat down with the Chair of the event Sunjay Nath to hear the story of the Youth Leadership Conference.

Next year in New York the leader will be Rory Vaden. If you have a child aged between 10 and 16 you owe it to them to check out what Sunjay says by clicking on the podcast icon below. Neil is already booking his ticket to Times Square.

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After hearing from Ian Percy I decided to ask around to see what conference attendees thought of the ‘disruptions’ he had set out to achieve. Were they able to deal with issues they don’t agree with?

Jenny de St. Georges is a fellow member of the NSA Northern California chapter. She’s a long-term member of NSA and has attended many past conferences. She found the majority of first-time conference attendees have been disappointed by Ian Percy’s Agenda. Her extensive network of contacts with International attendees were frankly confused by the event.

She makes an impassioned plea for ‘Speakers speaking to speakers’ in future events.

To hear Jenny, click on the podcast icon below.

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In the final hours of the 2007 NSA Conference I sought out the person responsible for the Agenda – Ian Percy, CSP, CPAE.

This conference has been seen by more than a few as a radical departure from past NSA Conferences. Heated discussions took place in the hallways over everything from the agnostic tone of Randy Gage’s speech on Prosperity Consciousness to the tone of the five minute “Om” chant, and, as was humorously observed, the glazed-over tones of the NSA Youth singing in praise of Afghanistan’s largest cash-crop, the tall Poppy.

So I asked Ian: What have people been saying to you about this year’s conference?

To hear what he says, you know what you need to do. That’s right – click on the podcast icon below.

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Immediately after talking with Fripp, I had a brief conversation with Las Vegas resident, NSA member, inspirational speaker and author Judi Moreo.

Her most recent book You Are More Than Enough: Every Woman’s Guide To Purpose, Passion & Power is in it’s second edition within two months. In this powerful book, Judi shares ideas and techniques which clarified her path and made easier her journey to becoming the person she knew she could be.

To hear Judi talk about the process she used to write the book as well as her views on the conference, click on the podcast icon below.

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One of the joys of a Conference like the NSA meeting is the serendipity of chance encounters. I lucked out after lunch when I met Patricia Fripp, doyenne and past-President of the National Speakers Association. She invited me to sit up front at the same table with the past-NSA presidents. We heard a keynote by Ross Schafer which made a huge impact on the audience.

Fripp is one of the best speech coaches in the country. Her website has a great collection of free articles sure to be of interest to every business or professional speaker.

Hear Fripp’s unique take on the Conference by clicking on the podcast icon below.

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I was introduced to Holly Stiel by Barry Wishner of the NSA Northern California Chapter.

Holly is known as the World’s Greatest Concierge. She offers superior customer service training that works for a wide variety of clients, from major hotel chains to Nordstrom, Hewlett-Packard and numerous state and local tourist boards. She is probably the only conference attendee who owns a forest in Gualala.

She can be reached via her website.

To listen to the interview click on the podcast icon below.

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