Yesterday, I gave my 39th manual speech at my beloved Toastmasters Club Prestigious Speakers Barcelona. It was a project from the Advanced Communication Series “Special Occasion Speeches”. My task: to present an award in three to four minutes.

I took advantage of the occasion and presented a special award to a special friend.

Here’s what I said…

Tonight is a . . . → Read More: To A Special Friend]]>

Yesterday, I gave my 39th manual speech at my beloved Toastmasters Club Prestigious Speakers Barcelona. It was a project from the Advanced Communication Series “Special Occasion Speeches”. My task: to present an award in three to four minutes.

I took advantage of the occasion and presented a special award to a special friend.

Here’s what I said…

Tonight is a special night.

Tonight is a special night because I present a special award to a special friend.

When is a friend a special friend?

A friend is special when you love to spend time with him.

A friend is special when you can share with him your deepest emotions.

And above all, a friend is special when he’s there for you when you need him the most.

I present this award tonight to one of my best friends. I present it to one of your best friends. I present this award to our club, our beloved club Prestigious Speakers Barcelona.

And don’t we all love to spend time with this special friend?

For eight years I’ve attended every single meeting I could. I sacrificed business meetings. I postponed dinners with other friends. I even skipped Champions League semi final games of Barça!

Our special friend has also a social side… Puig de la Balma! Memories, memories, memories – fading away in the mist [blob] of time.

Don’t we all love to spend time with our special friend?

And don’t we all share our deepest emotions with our special friend?

What about Rose sharing her heartbreaking story about her best friend Mercé?

What about Carol Ann moving us with her moving speeches?

What about Julia appealing to the emotions of an emotional Jesús only days ago?

Don’t we all share our deepest emotions with our special friend?

And isn’t our special friend there for us when we need him the most?

He was certainly there for me when I was hitting the base on my economical rollercoaster ride three years ago. Then he was there for me. I longed to be with him. He let me smile. He gave me hope. He encouraged me to endure and to take one more step beyond failure.

Some of you need him too. Today more than ever.

Isn’t our special friend there for us when we need him the most?

Prestigious Speakers is a special friend because we love to spend time with him.

Prestigious Speakers is a special friend because we can share with him our deepest emotions.

Prestigious Speakers is a special friend because he’s there for us when we need him the most.

For all these reasons I’m honored to present this special award tonight to our special friend – Good, Better, Prestigious Speakers Barcelona – for the sixth time in a row President’s Distinguished club!

Determination is a word of many meanings.

According to Merriam-Webster, determination can mean – among others:

I love moderation. Moderation is a great way to put your public speaking skills into practice and raise your personal bar of spontaneity.

On May 10 2013, I seized another opportunity to moderate an event. For me as a passionate Toastmaster it wasn’t any event. It was one of the semi finals of our International Speech Contest . . . → Read More: How To Create Professional Moderation Cards]]>

I love moderation. Moderation is a great way to put your public speaking skills into practice and raise your personal bar of spontaneity.

On May 10 2013, I seized another opportunity to moderate an event. For me as a passionate Toastmaster it wasn’t any event. It was one of the semi finals of our International Speech Contest of Toastmasters International’s District 59 (Continental Europe).

Seven contestants from seven European regions had made it all the way through their clubs, areas and divisions. In Antwerp, Belgium, they’d follow up on their dream to win the District and move on to the World Championship of Public Speaking in Cincinnati, Ohio, in August.

In this post I want to focus on one important aspect of moderation: the moderation cards.

For the Antwerp event I produced one single card. For other events like the one at F.C. Barcelona’s Camp Nou I’d created a series of cards. The process is always the same.

I produce my moderation cards in a four-step-process:

1. Design cards (content) in Powerpoint or Keynote (see moderation card below).
2. Print out pages in a DIN A5 format.
3. Print out the same number of pages in a DIN A5 format showing the logo of your company or the event (see Toastmasters logo above).
4. Combine content (front side) and logo (flipside) pages and plastify them in a copy shop.

The fourth step, the plastification of the moderation cards, gives them a professional look – TV-style. Given that it’s a low cost process, I’d always plastify my cards. Apart from the professional look, the cards don’t get spoiled so easily.

And the winner is… 

If you are a Toastmaster and you face the challenge to chair a speech contest in the future, please feel free to use my template as a starting point. I’m looking forward to your feedback!

DOWNLOAD the Toastmasters Contest Chair Moderation Card Template

At the very beginning of my public speaking seminars I ask the participants to write down two of their concrete expectations they have regarding the training. In a second step I combine the concepts of less is more and getting to the point. I ask them to mark the more important expectation. Finally, I invite the . . . → Read More: The Myth Of Perfection]]>

At the very beginning of my public speaking seminars I ask the participants to write down two of their concrete expectations they have regarding the training. In a second step I combine the concepts of less is more and getting to the point. I ask them to mark the more important expectation. Finally, I invite the first non-volunteer to reduce that phrase to one word and tell the group about it in approximately 30 seconds. Others follow the same procedure.

Usual suspects of that list of one-worded expectations are: self-confidence, stage fright, spontaneity, humor, persuasion, tips, tools, structure or storytelling.

This week and for the first time I heard a new word: perfection.

Interesting, I thought. That big-hearted, humorous and loud gentleman wanted to become perfect in public speaking. The question is: Can one become perfect in public speaking?

Public speaking is a mountain without a peak. Perfection – the 100% speech – can never exist. Even if you think you gave the 100% speech, someone in the audience will criticize certain aspects. As public speakers we constantly fight the windmills of perception.

Perception is subjective. For that man with a black spot on his nose in the third row, your dramatic pauses might be just perfect. But for his Indian wife next to him those pauses might be too long. In the row behind her a woman in her late sixties might feel inspired by your quotation by Indira Gandhi, while her 12-year-old grandson couldn’t care less. His friend on his right wearing a Cincinnati Reds cab might love your excessive hand gestures, while the analytical math student sitting next to him might consider your body language not authentic.

My seminar couldn’t meet the expectations of that big-hearted, humorous and loud gentleman. Perfection in public speaking – that’s a myth. Yet, climbing up that mountain without a peak, that gentleman went from good to great. And that is… excellent!

What a blast weekend! From May 10 to 12 2013 more than 400 Toastmasters from all over Continental Europe came together in Antwerp, Belgium, to celebrate our 2013 Spring Conference of Toastmasters International’s District 59.

Like every time I learned SO SO SO much!

Apart from fantastic speeches and workshops we had the honor and pleasure to have . . . → Read More: My Favorite Food Is Wine]]>

What a blast weekend! From May 10 to 12 2013 more than 400 Toastmasters from all over Continental Europe came together in Antwerp, Belgium, to celebrate our 2013 Spring Conference of Toastmasters International’s District 59.

Like every time I learned SO SO SO much!

Apart from fantastic speeches and workshops we had the honor and pleasure to have Ed Tate with us – as a workshop leader and keynote speaker. The 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking shared many remarkable and memorable lines with us.

Here is a selection of personal favorites:

• Feel the fear and do it anyway.
• Invite people into your reliving room. – Craig Valentine
• The four thoughts of any audience: So what! Who cares? What’s in for me? It’s all about me!
• The bad first-two-minutes-combination: A nervous speaker meets a skeptical audience.
• The number one fear is not public speaking. The number one fear is public embarrassment.
• The number one goal of a speaker is: Make the message memorable.
• You are either remarkable or invisible. – Seth Godin
• Intellectually or emotionally – you don’t have to connect emotionally, unless you want to be remembered. – Patricia Fripp
• Stories are Velcro to a person’s mind. – Jack Canfield
• Four elements of a story: Head (think), Heart (connect), Humor (laugh), Heavy Hitting (learn)
• If you’re not funny, you don’t have to be… unless you want to get paid.
• The more ordinary an event, the better the story.
• Once upon a story…
• Stories are for the ear, narration is for reading.
• Always tell your stories in present tense.
• Not numbers are important, findings are.
• Start telling your stories in the middle.
• The confused mind never buys.
• We’re not here to stick our toes into the water; we’re here to make waves.
• To change your attitude either takes a split second or a lifetime.
• How do you measure darkness?
• Weaknesses don’t exist. You have varying degrees of strengths measured from zero.
• You cannot have less than none.
• Weaknesses? We’ve been sold a lie!
• It takes 80% more energy to change the water temperature from -1 to +1 degrees Celsius than it takes to change it from +1 to +3 degrees Celsius.

Ed Tate played a key role in our conference, but there were many, many more exciting people and phrases.

Like these ones:

• Content is overrated. – Peter Zinn (laughing)
• If you see me happy, you know I’m screwed. – Daniel M.
• Our time will be rewarded with the learning, even if it goes wrong. – Tobias Rodrigues
• Your attitude as a leader is more important than your skills. But skills are important to turn you into a great leader. – Me, inspired by Ed Tate’s keynote training
• Sales is like sex. Everyone says he’s good at it. – Jack Vincent
• Don’t ask, don’t get! – Jack Vincent
• Business questions are challenge-based questions. – Jack Vincent
• In conflict management you listen with your eyes. – Tobias Rodrigues

Finally, here is my absolute favorite line of the conference:

• My favorite food is wine. – Ginny Slocum

Public speaking is a mountain without a peak. But phrases and lines like those ones motivate us to keep moving uphill.

See you at the next District 59 Conference in Budapest this fall.

How many times do we miss a great chance to start a great conversation? How many times do we make a comment about that stupid weather at a cocktail party? How many times do we sit in . . . → Read More: When Curiosity Meets Ethos]]> I have two fetishisms in public speaking: your voice and your first sentence. Let’s focus on the latter in this post.

How many times do we miss a great chance to start a great conversation? How many times do we make a comment about that stupid weather at a cocktail party? How many times do we sit in an internal business meeting with a number of new faces and we all say the same introductory lines: Hello, my name is Florian Mueck. I’m from the Markets department, and I’m looking forward to working with all of you guys. 

Boring!!!

The first sentence is holy, sacred, divine. The first sentence determines your conversational fate. Al Pacino would say, The first sentence makes all the difference – between winning and losing, between living and dying!

In one of my former posts, What Do You Do For A Living?, I reflected on the anti-elevator speech, as Cliff Suttle calls it. In the meantime I’ve started to impart workshops on the first sentence, in which people come up with creative ways of how to respond to that cliché question, What do you do for a living?, with more impact.

Here are some of the answers:

1. I enjoy my job with all five senses.
2. 15-20 thousand € in 365 days.
3. I create concepts and find solutions.
4. I’m a sponge.
5. I enthuse many people every day.
6. I let it shine.
7. I’m the witch with the cloth.
8. I ask the right questions.
9. I solve problems and take decisions.
10. I read newspaper and delegate tasks.
11. I wait until it’s Friday, so I can drink champagne with my colleagues.
12. I motivate my team in order to reach our goals.
13. I build the road to a full house.
14. I creatively process groceries on the fourth continent.
15. I’m a passionate persuader.
16. I build bridges.
17. I boost your charisma.
18. I’m the devil’s advocate of product management.
19. I help others grow.
20. I’m a frozen food fan.

Two success factors

Analyzing these and other first sentences of anti-elevator speeches, for me, there are two main success drivers – curiosity and ethos.

Whether it’s a public speech in front of 500 people or a one-to-one dialog – curiosity is a wonderful driver of audience attention. Think about those cliff-hangers in “Prison Break, “24″ or “Lost”. When you answer that cliché question you have one goal: you want the other ones to be curious to know more. If they want to know more, you’ve won. Hence, your first sentence must reveal something, but not everything. It must be blurry, not clear. It must be mysterious leaving room for imagination.

Ethos - one of the three pillars of rhetoric – means credibility. How credible are you as a speaker? What is the level of your authority? Do they admire you from the start or do you only cause a quick and cheap laugh that crackles instantly? From my point of view, aside from creating curiosity, your first sentence must also transmit professional ethos.

In the curiosity-ethos-matrix below you see my subjective ratings of those 20 before mentioned first sentences:

First sentences with the highest impact transmit a high level of ethos and create a large momentum of curiosity.

What exactly do I like about the green numbers?

1. I enjoy my job with all five senses. – People who enjoy their job are passionate about it. People who are passionate about their job, tend to do an excellent job. This is a subtle indicator of professionalism. See, hear, touch, smell, taste – the five senses open the door to a room of fantasy. I’m hooked.

5. I enthuse many people every day. – It may be a humbly bold statement, but how can you enthuse many people every day, if you’re not good at what you’re doing? For sure, I want to know how the originator of this phrase does it! I’m hooked.

7. I’m the witch with the cloth. – I love this one. And you would too, if you knew the person who said it. The phrase tells us that she has something to do with cleaning, but it’s the witch part that makes it mysterious. I’m definitely hooked.

8. I ask the right questions. - Short and sweet. Someone who knows how to ask the right questions, knows his turf. It could be sales, it could be general management. It’s an intriguing answer asking for more. I’m hooked.

13. I build the road to a full house. – What a powerful phrase! Metaphorical, constructive, success-driven. Curiosity and ethos – 100%! I’m hooked.

14. I creatively process groceries on the fourth continent. – You can say, I’m a chef. Or you say what this gentleman came up with. The four continents raise the bar of ethos. The word creatively makes the phrase more intriguing. I’m hooked.

15. I’m a passionate persuader. – The art of rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Great historical orators like Aristotle, Demosthenes or Cicero were lawyers. They were passionate persuaders. Using this first sentence any lawyer could gain a lot more impact. I’d be hooked.

17. I boost your charisma. – My own phrase. I always use it. It works.

18. I’m the devil’s advocate of product management. – I grilled The Wisdom Hunter for almost 10 minutes, until she finally came up with the phrase devil’s advocate. Someone who challenges and questions everything for a better outcome. High ethos mixed with a high level of curiosity to learn more. I’m hooked.

19. I help others grow. – Lean and mean – like number 8. It burns the question mark into in the questioner’s brain: HOW? That conversation doesn’t end there. I’m hooked.

What is your first sentence?

Next time someone asks you the cliché question, What do you do for a living?, be prepared. Do it try-and-error-style. We often hear this question in life, which means we have many chances to refine our answer.

If you have a great one, please send it to me and we discuss it.

In April 2013 I spent two unforgettable days with unforgettable people, very unforgettable people.

Thanks to lead curator Aurelie Salvaire I could play an active role as presentation coach of those 13 TEDxBarcelona Change speakers. Speakers who had flown in from Nairobi, San Francisco, New York, and even Oslo! 14-year-old super brain speakers who investigate on HIV vaccines. . . . → Read More: A Tribute To Our TEDxBarcelona Change Heroes]]>

In April 2013 I spent two unforgettable days with unforgettable people, very unforgettable people.

Thanks to lead curator Aurelie Salvaire I could play an active role as presentation coach of those 13 TEDxBarcelona Change speakers. Speakers who had flown in from Nairobi, San Francisco, New York, and even Oslo! 14-year-old super brain speakers who investigate on HIV vaccines. Speakers who finally acknowledge the fact that Melinda Gates is, indeed, more important than her husband. Passionate speakers. Enthusiastic speakers. Speakers who don’t talk about positive disruption in the world, but who cause positive disruption.

I will never forget those two days in April 2013. This is my tribute to those 13 TEDxBarcelona Change heroes.

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Stigma, Choice and Change: Joya Banerjee

Joya means jewel in Spanish. And what a rhetorical jewel she is. In her talk Joya impresses us with her personal stories, her emotional transparency, her young-hearted, but mature ethos. We included a food analogy comparing global decision makers sitting in New York and Geneva with McDonald’s, while local people with local HIV problems need Paella programs. Her final lines calling everyone to action cause goosebumps. What a close! Congratulations, Joya!

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Cash Not Food – Giving Choices to the Poor People: Fran Equiza

Fran is already an experienced public speaker. He did very well in the rehearsals. What we sharpened was his message. Simplicity is king and he makes it simple: cash not food! I asked Fran during a coaching session: When you were younger, did you also think that the poor cannot handle money? He admitted it. I’m very proud of Fran that he included this self-criticism into his TEDx talk. These are the golden moments of rhetoric. When you point a finger at yourself, not at others. That is the moment when you turn into a role model to follow. Congratulations, Fran!

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The Best Shot: Paula Farias (in Spanish)

Paula speaks English, but she feels much more comfortable in Spanish. Her decision to use the latter for her TEDx talk is understandable, but sad for those who don’t speak Spanish. Paula is the quiet speaker, the logical thinker, the one who doesn’t need a Hollywood-style delivery to transmit. Paula transmits in a different way – like a radio announcer. Calm, story-driven, deep. We hung on her lips and we got the message: In warmer areas of the world we need vaccines that you can drink and that can resist higher temperatures. Simple message combined with strong, authentic delivery. Congratulations, Paula!

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Laughing Our Way to a Better World: Sindre Olav Edland-Gryt

Those Norwegians!! Funny guys. Sindre presented a hallmark viral campaign that turns our cliché-driven thinking upside down. The video clip received the expected laughter – a truly wonderful campaign. I won’t tell you too much, just watch it! Congratulations, Sindre!

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Arresting a Serial Killer: Georgina Tremayne

Georgina is wonderful person and a warm-hearted speaker. She gained a lot of impact during the rehearsals. It was great to see how she improved her gestures within only 24 hours. What Georgina does brilliantly in her talk is, she uses one person, one example, one case to get her message through. Less is more! For me, her highlight comes when she yells, He decided to rock the stage! at 4m 41s. Awesome. Congratulations, Georgina!

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Six Reasons Why Research is Cool: Quique Bassat

Quique rocked the TEDxBarcelona Change stage! His self-deprecating humor, his Fall of the Alpha Dog joke featuring Bill Gates, his natural attitude – Quique just rocked! For me as a coach, it was amazing to see how fast he could apply changes and ideas. There’s one point when he speaks about malaria killing an African child every 60 seconds. About one minute later he remarks that, Oh, by the way, another child has died. We added this to his script and Quique could handle it without problems. He rocked the stage from beginning to end! Congratulations, Quique!

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A Single Drop of Blood: Jordi Marti

We all have our styles. In my seminars I always say that no one should strive for becoming Steve Jobs or Barack Obama or Oprah Winfrey on stage. We all work on our own style and some of us have a unique style already. Jordi is certainly one of them. Playful, cheeky, enthusiastic, loud, smiling – great ingredients to succeed in the public speaking arena. He uses visual aids, he is engaging, he connects with the audience. A great performance. Congratulations, Jordi!

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Integrity by Design: Kate Michi Ettinger

Kate from San Francisco… what a great, humble lady she is!  This must’ve been her scariest 24 hours of her life! For 24 hours Kate was trying to hide from stage-fright, but her inner voice found her everywhere she tried to hide. Until… her real TEDx stage performance. I’m so so proud of Kate. She worked so hard on that speech and herself. She probably deserves the biggest applause. Congratulations, Kate!

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Resilience Revolution: Jordi Renart

Jordi flew in from Nairobi where he works for the UN. A super likable character from Barcelona – Jordi was my most challenging case. I wanted him to smile more, to use more vocal variety, to be more energetic! Off stage he does… much more. On stage he can do… much more. Yet, his message of cooperation in developing countries landed on robust ground. I advised Jordi to join Toastmasters in Nairobi to boost his delivery. He promised he would. Delivery aside, Jordi did step into the arena with the lions. Others don’t! Congratulations, Jordi!

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5 Keys to Success For Social Entrepreneurs: Lluis Pareras

I preach five ways to start a speech. Lluis used the polemic first sentence pattern: I’m the bad guy! One sentence and everyone in the audience was listening. Fantastic opening! With his injured knees Lluis couldn’t move on stage. But was it necessary? In his talk he is clear, to the point, he uses a 5-pillar structure, he conveys ethos, and he is 100% authentic. If I were a social entrepreneur in the health sector, I would talk to Lluis straight away. No doubt about that. Congratulations, Lluis!

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Games and Crowdsourcing for Medical Image Diagnosis: Miguel Luengo Oroz

Miguel gave a surprising, eye-opening, intriguing talk. Fighting malaria with video games? He shows how it works. I love Miguel’s natural style. He comes across very authentic. He is the same person on and off stage –  a rare species, at least without a lot of training. Congratulations, Miguel!

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The Beauty of Collaboration: Juliane Zielonka

The biggest change by far – from the moment she stepped into the room to the moment she gave her talk. Juliane has such a great, personal story to tell. She’s totally enthusiastic about changing the status quo of the doctor-patient-relationship. But she arrived in Barcelona with a fully written speech with small letters on three DIN A4 pages. She wanted to read it out loud. Hey, wait just a minute – this is TEDx, no way! The transformation began and more and more Juliane fought back her inner voice. In the end, she triumphed speaking freely without notes, with energy, with smile, with conviction. What a change! All of us – fellow speakers, organizers – we were just blown away by her performance! And the Sherlock Holmes-Dr. Watson analogy? Wow! Congratulations, Juliane!

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Grandes Proyectos, Pequeños Creadores: Berenguer Parras (in Spanish)

14 years old. Genius in terms of IQ. TEDx speaker. Humble. We’ll hear more of Berenguer in the future. When he heard me saying that we needed water next to the stage for the speakers he ran away and came back with 15 liters of water. The elevated IQ of Berenguer became evident when I told him to use the drainpipe at the end of his talk to connect the closing with the opening. I told him to use some color like green and he asked me, Why green? I responded that it didn’t matter, just any color to make the closing more intriguing. Berenguer ends his speech saying that the soul is purple. This guy is one of a kind. Congratulations, Berenguer!

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Thank you, Aurelie, Pelin, Johanna and all you other social gangsters who leave a mark behind for letting me be part of this great project. Thanks to you I received my call. I will support social entrepreneurs from now on – wherever, whenever I can!

Do you like one neighbor more than the other neighbors? Did you like some classmates at school more than others? Welcome to the club!

Neighbors, classmates or colleagues – as a leader and motivator of a team you also favor some people over others. Or don’t you?

I do. When I give my seminars sometimes I face those sarcastic, cynical . . . → Read More: INTRINSIC The Series: Fairness]]>

Do you like one neighbor more than the other neighbors? Did you like some classmates at school more than others? Welcome to the club!

Neighbors, classmates or colleagues – as a leader and motivator of a team you also favor some people over others. Or don’t you?

I do. When I give my seminars sometimes I face those sarcastic, cynical characters. Negative, extroverted people – I call them bad apples. What happens is that, at times, my – even if it’s still constructive – tone gets a bit rougher when I talk to them compared to communicating with other seminar participants.

During the lunch break I sit down next to them. On purpose. I talk about more private stuff. I build bridges of trust. As a trainer and motivator I cannot allow to lose one single team member. As a trainer and motivator I want to be fair to everyone.

Being fair is another personal trait of motivators. Not being treated fair, at least the perception of it, inevitably ends in frustration. Frustration is poison for intrinsic motivation – the self-driven force to act.

The opposite of intrinsic motivation is extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is driven by factors like paychecks, company cars, extra payments or bonus. Especially bonus payments are a great challenge for leaders of teams. As a board member’s technical assistant I once had the chance to witness the bonus payment process from the front row. Never again!

Who gets what and why? A nightmare for leaders of teams. Even the most sophisticated 360º feedback rounds, the most advanced attempt to objectify individual levels of performance – you will never fully get rid of this subjective component of personal liking.

A few years ago an old friend of mine and top executive coach, Bernhard Pelzer, told me an anecdote about poker coins. There was a team of eight employees. Following the advice of Bernhard their boss had decided to replace their standard bonus payment process by a more creative and playful approach. All team members sat around a table. In the middle of the table: poker coins. The total sum of the coins equalled the amount of bonus payments available. Then, those team members were asked to distribute the total amount among themselves.

What a great team approach! How fair is that! For sure, it helped raising their levels of intrinsic motivation.

It’s hard to be fair to everyone all the time. It’s like in rugby or football. There are fouls throughout the game. But afterwards everybody shake hands. They respect each other. As a motivator, make sure they come to you after the game and want to shake hands.

Intrinsic motivation desires fairness. Be fair!

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Read other posts of this series…

On April 27 2013, I had the great honor and pleasure to speak at SenseCamp Barcelona. At this fantastic get-together of almost 100 social entrepreneurs from all over Europe I held a 30-minute keynote workshop on Social Good Rhetoric as part of my pro bono activities.

During the lunch break I placed 80 multi-color envelopes on the chairs. . . . → Read More: Social Good Rhetoric]]>

On April 27 2013, I had the great honor and pleasure to speak at SenseCamp Barcelona. At this fantastic get-together of almost 100 social entrepreneurs from all over Europe I held a 30-minute keynote workshop on Social Good Rhetoric as part of my pro bono activities.

During the lunch break I placed 80 multi-color envelopes on the chairs. Since people tend to open any closed envelope that falls into their hands right away, I threw the phrase Whatever you do, Daniel, do NOT open the envelope on the multiple screens. Since Daniel is one of the driving forces behind SenseCamp the crowd showed smiling faces before the workshop even began.

I started the workshop with the polemic first sentence pattern:

I’ve got bad news for you. I’ve got bad news. Everything I will tell you in the next 30 minutes, everything I will communicate, everything you will write down on that sheet of paper in the envelope is old. Very old. 2,300 years to be exact. [...] The good news is, this s*** just works!

After the opening I asked Daniel and the rest of my audience to open the envelopes. In the envelopes those enthusiastic, young social entrepreneurs found one sheet of paper showing this image:

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In thirty minutes including three 3-4 minute working breaks, accompanied by animating music, they all filled in personal information for boosting their personal social good rhetoric. We focused on the three pillars of rhetoric.

In the first pillar, Logos, they collected five water-proof and logical arguments for their social projects.

In the second pillar, Ethos, they looked for three stories or incidents in their past, which make them a credible person to promote their specific project.

In the third pillar, Pathos, they searched for emotional stories they can share in the future to appeal to the emotions of their audiences like potential collaborators or investors.

In the remaining time I gave them more tips on how to start and end a pitch presentation. After 30 minutes all of them were equipped with powerful munition for their weapons of peace.

If you’re a social entrepreneur and want to know more about Social Good Rhetoric, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Thank you, SenseCamp gangsters, it was a blast working with you!