POWER. AUTHORITY. ENERGY.

These are the apt descriptions of Ed Tate, the 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking.  Many of our members are fortunate enough to hear him speak at the Shanghai Toastmasters Conference on May 7-9, 2010, and we were all inspired not only by nature of his content, which was rich beyond expectation, but his presence on stage, his enthusiasm about his work, and his connection with the audience.

What can I say? He really knows what he’s talking about.  The section on “14 Ways to Open and Close a Speech” had clear and humorous examples.  One of the methods I just tried was to open with a part from the middle of the story.  It was an effective and fresh approach, and something that I can try more often for speeches that consist of one long story.  I’m thinking my ‘Prison Break’ story could be so re-structured.  Ed also gave us some Secrets to Story Telling.  First, he used his 4H:  Head, Heart, Humor ,and Heavy Hitting (the message), which forces the story teller to highlight the essence of the story: to make us think, feel, and learn a message.  He also used the Kate Lutz story telling framework, which emphasized four aspects of story telling: People, Place, Action and Resolution (the lesson or message).  According to his training style, Ed allowed us to use this technique to write up a story on the spot, by working in a group of three.  I chose to tell the story of taking Ed and Anasa (his partner) touring around Beijing.  It just happened a few days ago, it was fresh, and for me, was such an enjoyable experience.  In my guts, I felt that it was a story worth telling.

And it is through the “framework” that Ed had taught us, that I was able to “frame” the story into an interesting plot.  The key is to keep the focus on the lesson, the message of the story.  As I worked through the framework, identified the People (Ed, Anasa, and me), the Place (in the car, at the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Bird’s Nest), the Action (talking, joking, climbing, etc…), and then I got to the Resolution, and I was stuck.  What was the one important lesson for me in this experience?  I thought about it, and hey...I learned that even Championship Speakers are "normal" people.  So, then I had to go back to the storyline, and frame the ‘action’ so it reflects the lesson:  In the beginning, I was feeling nervous and intimidated before meeting Ed and Anasa at the hotel.  The conflict with man versus himself (my own false perception of people). Then in the plot, I only included actions which specifically helped me resolve this conflict.  As Ed mentioned, keep it simple, and exclude anything that’s not relevant.

Thank you, Ed, for the lessons you taught us.  If you want to learn more about him, please visit website: http://www.edtate.com.

Hubert Lin