Wendi could really use a little time travel back to the “puritan” days that she so fondly flouts as chivalrous… back when the rule of thumb ruled the land.

Screw that!

The only answer to Wendi and her ilk is rock and roll… thank god for modern America. Elvis baby, ELVIS!

His secretary was the mother of a woman who graduated a year below me– we sat down and talked for a number of minutes. I commented that things were a little simpler when I was going up– I was referring to the amount of drug use and production.

“Well, we had our fun.” She was referring to drugs and parties in the 70s– an interesting comment, given the office.

There was a major, and quite public case of child sexual abuse in the media, and we turned to the topic. “We don’t have enough resources to keep up; it’s a quarter of our caseload. Where do these people come from?”

Egads.

Well– what did she think things were like when I and her daughter were growing up? Had she– could she possibly– have managed to make herself unaware? Did she possibly think it was worse, now?

Did she think this had just started, out of thin air?

Federalism?

As the vocalist explained it to me, the narrative went something this–

he begins, speaking of the young women, coming to Kiev from the countryside to begin their lives, of nights in Kiev– of their natural beauty–

he leaves his country, and returns to Kiev from time to time–

as the young women, it seems to him, dwindle–

finally, he visits again, and there are none.

Where have the young women of my country gone?

Then, at the end of the song, he visits Dubai.

The most important thing for a public speaker to learn is to make eye contact with his audience. A really good public speaker learns how to read his/her audience. To make sure everyone in the room is listening. 80% is not good enuf. You should not be putting anyone in the room to sleep. If you are you have to adjust. To change gears you may have to stop and ask a question. If you have to, find out why you are losing folks.

As a speech judge I would want to know how well the speaker is maintaining his audience’s attention. And this you have to observe by looking at the audience and looking to see if the speaker is aware of his/her audience and making adjustments when he/she has to.

I recently went to a lecture by Farish Jenkins, the great Harvard evolutionary biologists, who discovered the missing link betwee fins and legs when fish became amphibians in the evolutionary chain in a field trip near the North Pole. At the end of the lecture Jenkins thanked the audience for its attentiveness. “I could see that I did not lose anyone for the entire lecture.Everyone really paid attention.” What he did not say was that he had maintained eye contact with every one in the room, maybe 50 people, for the entire hour and was aware that he was holding every last one of them’s attention. When you get to the point in public speaking that you can do that you know that you have mastered the art. Every really good public speaker knows this.

Jenkins was the fellow who more than anyone brought Larry Summers down. He was well respected as a nonidealogical scientist. His polite but relentless cross examination of Summers at faculty meetings finally conviced the faculty to vote no confidence.

A terrific fellow and a terrific speaker. One of the best I have ever heard.

It is a useful technique to apply here.

If Henry passes by, he may have some commentary.

…but Shalit’s speech was well done.

Okay… IMO, her speech isn’t bad, but her delivery distracts. She needs to focus more on the gist of what she is saying, and less on trying to entertain. Some of her most powerful words were just…forfeited.

If you don’t believe me, try reading a transcript of the speech and see if you aren’t more affected by her words.