This came in late last night from Spin Williams, visionary and permanent chair of The Meeting That Never Ends – a rolling idea development and dealmaking workshop.
Here at the Meeting That Never Ends, we were delighted to hear that Asian Carp have probably made it into the Twin Cities area. That is a wonderful thing for a city to have – immigrants! And while their mysterious rituals (they leap out of the water!) and puzzling ways (they never stop eating!) may seem strange to you, it is that very sort of thing that gives a moribund culture an injection of vitality that can keep it fresh and alive. So, congratulations!
I'm An Achiever!
Complainers and isolationists will tell you that the new carp are dangerous because they upend the environment by multiplying faster, eating all the food and crowding out fish that were already in the river. In the business world, we call that “competition”! If those long-time fish are getting complacent about reproducing and have lost the “edge” necessary to fight for food, perhaps they deserve to be overwhelmed! Nobody guarantees you the right to be a big fish in a small stream forever! Somebody’s always gonna come along and knock you off your pedestal if you don’t stay sharp!
Rather than try more ineffective efforts to stop the A.C.’s, we at TMTNE decided this is a great time for Mississippi River watchers in the Twin Cities to do some outreach to those beleaguered local fish. Offer some training and personal coaching. A motivational speech or two could work wonders. Tell them to get off their scaly butts and start going fin-to-gill with these showy, airborne newcomers!
There are all sorts of opportunities to do this work, especially with the prevalence of catch-and-release fishing. It turns out that Twin Citians are already logging a lot of “face time” with our denizens of the deep in that moment after the fish is caught and before it’s tossed back in. Why not add a step and make it Catch-EMPOWER-and-Release? It should be second nature to all Minnesotans. Whenever we take a native fish out of the river, we should give it the support and encouragement it needs to get back in there and fight for resources. Remember – anyone on land OR underwater can up their game, given the right kind of kick in the tail!
I have a feeling if anyone could write a motivational talk that would work on a bluegill, it would be Spin Williams.
I have a dream.
Even reading Gettysburg Address or his Second Inaugural Address
Many football pregame and half-time pep talks, but that’s about the community feeling, team spirit, and wish to be moved, to feel the will of all at work. Best half-time pep talk was this, the complete speech. “I have nothing to say.” from a coach who over-talked. We had played as perfect a half as that team could and we now focused to do the same in the second half.
Every sermon by David Preuss at University Lutheran Church of Hope
A couple of sermons I gave at funerals. Well, to be honest I do not think you can move a congregation unless the sermon moves you. So many of my sermons moved myself. Sorry for the ego in this.
Many speeches I heard in my HS speech classes.
But the gold standard is I Had A Dream
“I do not think you can move a congregation unless the sermon moves you.” This really makes sense to me, Clyde. And it doesn’t sound like ego – you sound as surprised as anyone.
I believe I’m most moved by people who are doing more than just giving an outstanding speach. The I have a Dream speech is great, but greater still is Dr. King’s efforts to do what he talked about in the speech. I don’t think I would pay as much attention to the I Have a Dream speech if it wasn’t coming from a person who lived what he said. Also, I think Dr. King was able to make that speech because it grew out of his efforts to bring about the changes that he talked about.
I supose I have moved by some other kinds of speeches as well. There have been times when I was motivated by people who gave me a little talk about what I should be doing. In some case they might point out something that I needed to do that knew I should do and I did it. In other case I was moved in the other direction of not responding well due not agreeing with the speech, if you know what I mean.
Good point. I remember there was one TV appearance by Michele Bachman a few years back which raised several hundred thousand dollars for Elwyn Tinklenberg’s campaign. Alas, it wasn’t quite enough.
Does it count if it’s in a movie? Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Martin Sheen came up with some pretty good ones in The West Wing, too.
the best movie speech i’ve ever heard was delivered by character actor jo van fleet in a missing classic movie (missing because it is not in distribution) called “Wild River,” starring Montgomery Cliff and Lee Remick. It is an astonishing movie, moving and vivid, and jo van fleet’s speech is one of the high points in the history of film.
Well, if I can use movie clips, I’ve said before how many things in ‘Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium’ strike me as so good! Plus there are lines from ‘All That Jazz’ that resonate with me.
mine would be the spontaneous speech joseph welch delivered to joseph mccarthy during the “army mccarthy hearings.” my mom and i watched that event on tv live. i was 12 at the time. i didn’t understand all the politics, but i could tell that mccarthy was a loathsome bully whose conduct threatened our very democracy.
and then at some point in the hearings, when mccarthy was running his mouth making horrible charges against all kinds of people, joseph welch snapped, unable to take any more. “have you no decency, sir? at long last, have you no decency?” i was astonished, i didn’t know what was happening, exactly, but i could tell that a gentleman had just delivered a fatal blow to someone i hated. the nobility and humanity of welch was perfectly apparent when set against the boorishness of mccarthy. i was stunned and moved.
The mention of McCarthy brought to mind Lillian Hellman’s wonderful and legendary retort to HUAC – “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions” – and I went looking for a clip of it, but it seems it does not exist. Surprising to me, because I was so sure I had seen documentary footage of that moment. The Wikipedia page on Hellman says that it’s disputed that Hellman actually made the statement before the committee as she had written it. It is not disputed, however, that she was blacklisted as a result of whatever it was she said.
the message in the great speech we remember is one where instead of speaking about specifics the discussion is about broad ideas. the examples given are small and personalized and the punchline grabs you by the throat.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
in the 80’s i was introduced to amway and the leader of our group was a guy who was a very big dog with amway so he knew all the big speakers and had them come to his shindigs. it was a kick and the motovation was a wonderful thing to behold.. as i got into the group a little deeper and a little deeper i got to see that the rah rah type of motovation is like breakfast cereal and needs to be maintained after the inital rush has passed.
the mlk jfk type of speech is one tht you wish you were able to remember the words to but that the essence of is carried with you for a lifetime with snippits being recalled as they are needed. i look forward to the ted speeches i have on my daily calander to listen to to get cranked up about something new today. recently it was the progress in human genomes and where that will take us. the subject is open it is the message that comes through.
Both of my children are excellent public speakers, both won several regional speech awards. But my son’s graduation speech was a wonderful moment. He was always the outcast, the bullied, the nerd, the brain, the socially unfit. He wanted to go to UMD for his senior year, but I told him I preferred he stayed in HS and faced some of these issues. That going to UMD was more of a retreat than an advance. I did not order it, but he agreed. His classmates chose him as one of three to do speeches at graduation. His speech was very funny, poignant, insightful, all in 8 minutes, 6 of content, 2 of laughter and applause. His classmates gave him a standing ovation.
Getting there. I have a guest painter that is doing wonderful amazing things. I just try to stay out of her way. This weekend will be about lighting and base painting the floor. (She trusts me to do base colors! 🙂 )
We have completely sold out the week of school shows so that’s pretty amazing.
I have heard some wonderful presentations and speeches: Bishop Desmond Tutu, Maya Angelou, a few Easter Sunday sermons…but one that sticks with me is one I heard several times at work. One of my previous jobs was working at a non-profit that ran a summer business-themed camp for high school students. Each week of the camp was kicked off by the same motivational speaker – part comedy, part wisdom. The kids loved him. Two salient points I have kept with me: be enthusiastic about learning, no matter what you’re learning and (this one is sometimes harder for me, I admit…), “be more interested than interesting.” I have a pal who is expert at this – you can talk with him for an hour and come out of it with no idea of what he’s been up to for the past ___ months as he spent the whole time asking you questions. (Oh, and the other part about enthusiasm for learning: encourage it – give out praise lavishly, even if the answer is wrong, praise the enthusiasm and willingness to give it a shot and be wrong.)
My oldest son had attended one of those week-long business camps when he was in high school. It was held at a college somewhere between here and St. Cloud I think. He really enjoyed it. Called Business Ventures or something like that. Very cool.
That’s the one – Minnesota Business Venture (or MBV). When I was working at it we held some weeks at St. John’s, which may be where your son went. If he was there in the 90s, I may have been there, too. Whacky. I think they use St Cloud State campus now.
I know I’m forgetting some important talk or speech that I’ll remember later, with any luck. Another movie one was given by Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”… It seems these speeches come from a place of outrage, and lord knows there’s plenty of that around. Kind of like the bumper sticker – “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural speech and Winston Churchill’s Blood, Sweat and Tears speech are obvious choices and immediately came to mind.
Of more recent vintage, Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture at Carnegie Melon University was very moving and inspirational.
It was great fun – Beth-Ann made her Ordway stage debut in the costume competition before the film began. She was resplendent in a sky-blue sweater with a cloud pinned to it (“How do you solve a problem like Maria…How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?”) and a little bonus cloud in her hair. Good people-watching opportunity with a lot of audience members in costume…but if you had been there, tim, you might have been unnerved by the hordes of nuns.
Made a late dinner after I got home. Had a sudden craving for schnitzel with noodles.
I see according to FB, an aquaintance from Rochester won (?!) with her portrayal of the Captain’s Dead wife? The costume doesn’t look like much. I like the cloud pinned to your hat better.
Yes, I suppose people liked her idea because it was original. There were lots of Marias and several brown paper packages tied up in string and that sort of thing, but the dead wife was a new one. Maybe she had a cadre of supporters in the audience too. Beth-Ann got a rousing round of applause for her originality also – to my ears it sounded like she was in the top three to five.
Part of my job is dealing with various speakers that come through the theater. It might be the ‘Monster.com’ guy for student success day (they have basically the same speech year to year) or it might be the the staff member talking about his trip to Greenland. Usually they’re interesting and only occasionally do they venture off into ‘wacko / conspiracy theory’ topics.
Sometimes I get the Navy Rock Band too!
Or ‘Calculus, the Musical’!
…yes, I’m avoiding work. However I did just get my flu shot. I’ve done all my networking for the lighting (lighting is more and more about the numbers: channels, dimmers, DMX address’, patching) and now had lunch and trying to figure out Office 2010 that got put on the computer over night.
I can think of the WORST speech ever – Ayn Rand’s 40 something page rant at the end of Atlas Shrugged… Still can’t believe I made it through that book.
If anyone else would like to join us, the music starts at 8, doors open at 7:30, tickets available at the door. 836 North Prior Avenue (north of University, west of Fairview).
OMG that is funny. The man was an embarassment to the Presidency. My oldest son gave me a calendar for 2008 called “The Final Countdown” or something like that. It featured the stupidest pictures and the most incomprehensible, convoluted quotes from Dubya — and there were MANY of them each month. It counted down the number of days Bush had left in office up to Jan. 20. I thoroughly enjoyed that calendar.
I finally thought of the “sunscreen speech” I was thinking of – attributed to Kurt Vonnegut, supposedly at the MIT’s 1997 commecnement. It was actually a column by Mary Schmich from the Chicago Tribune. Quite short, and I think it’s worth noting here…
Trail Baboon 
I have a dream.
Even reading Gettysburg Address or his Second Inaugural Address
Many football pregame and half-time pep talks, but that’s about the community feeling, team spirit, and wish to be moved, to feel the will of all at work. Best half-time pep talk was this, the complete speech. “I have nothing to say.” from a coach who over-talked. We had played as perfect a half as that team could and we now focused to do the same in the second half.
Every sermon by David Preuss at University Lutheran Church of Hope
A couple of sermons I gave at funerals. Well, to be honest I do not think you can move a congregation unless the sermon moves you. So many of my sermons moved myself. Sorry for the ego in this.
Many speeches I heard in my HS speech classes.
But the gold standard is I Had A Dream
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“I do not think you can move a congregation unless the sermon moves you.” This really makes sense to me, Clyde. And it doesn’t sound like ego – you sound as surprised as anyone.
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Nothing to fear but fear itself–the whole speech is superb
Nixon’s farewell speech
HHH’s speech at, what was it, the 48 Democratic national convention
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Good morning to all,
I believe I’m most moved by people who are doing more than just giving an outstanding speach. The I have a Dream speech is great, but greater still is Dr. King’s efforts to do what he talked about in the speech. I don’t think I would pay as much attention to the I Have a Dream speech if it wasn’t coming from a person who lived what he said. Also, I think Dr. King was able to make that speech because it grew out of his efforts to bring about the changes that he talked about.
I supose I have moved by some other kinds of speeches as well. There have been times when I was motivated by people who gave me a little talk about what I should be doing. In some case they might point out something that I needed to do that knew I should do and I did it. In other case I was moved in the other direction of not responding well due not agreeing with the speech, if you know what I mean.
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Good point. I remember there was one TV appearance by Michele Bachman a few years back which raised several hundred thousand dollars for Elwyn Tinklenberg’s campaign. Alas, it wasn’t quite enough.
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Does it count if it’s in a movie? Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Martin Sheen came up with some pretty good ones in The West Wing, too.
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the best movie speech i’ve ever heard was delivered by character actor jo van fleet in a missing classic movie (missing because it is not in distribution) called “Wild River,” starring Montgomery Cliff and Lee Remick. It is an astonishing movie, moving and vivid, and jo van fleet’s speech is one of the high points in the history of film.
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yep that counts
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Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V’s speech before the battle of Agincourt is pretty stirring.
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I second Martin Sheen in “West Wing” and Branagh’s Henry V.
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Well, if I can use movie clips, I’ve said before how many things in ‘Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium’ strike me as so good! Plus there are lines from ‘All That Jazz’ that resonate with me.
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showtime
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mine would be the spontaneous speech joseph welch delivered to joseph mccarthy during the “army mccarthy hearings.” my mom and i watched that event on tv live. i was 12 at the time. i didn’t understand all the politics, but i could tell that mccarthy was a loathsome bully whose conduct threatened our very democracy.
and then at some point in the hearings, when mccarthy was running his mouth making horrible charges against all kinds of people, joseph welch snapped, unable to take any more. “have you no decency, sir? at long last, have you no decency?” i was astonished, i didn’t know what was happening, exactly, but i could tell that a gentleman had just delivered a fatal blow to someone i hated. the nobility and humanity of welch was perfectly apparent when set against the boorishness of mccarthy. i was stunned and moved.
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I don’t know if this will help folks.
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The mention of McCarthy brought to mind Lillian Hellman’s wonderful and legendary retort to HUAC – “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions” – and I went looking for a clip of it, but it seems it does not exist. Surprising to me, because I was so sure I had seen documentary footage of that moment. The Wikipedia page on Hellman says that it’s disputed that Hellman actually made the statement before the committee as she had written it. It is not disputed, however, that she was blacklisted as a result of whatever it was she said.
LikeLike
the message in the great speech we remember is one where instead of speaking about specifics the discussion is about broad ideas. the examples given are small and personalized and the punchline grabs you by the throat.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
in the 80’s i was introduced to amway and the leader of our group was a guy who was a very big dog with amway so he knew all the big speakers and had them come to his shindigs. it was a kick and the motovation was a wonderful thing to behold.. as i got into the group a little deeper and a little deeper i got to see that the rah rah type of motovation is like breakfast cereal and needs to be maintained after the inital rush has passed.
the mlk jfk type of speech is one tht you wish you were able to remember the words to but that the essence of is carried with you for a lifetime with snippits being recalled as they are needed. i look forward to the ted speeches i have on my daily calander to listen to to get cranked up about something new today. recently it was the progress in human genomes and where that will take us. the subject is open it is the message that comes through.
LikeLike
Both of my children are excellent public speakers, both won several regional speech awards. But my son’s graduation speech was a wonderful moment. He was always the outcast, the bullied, the nerd, the brain, the socially unfit. He wanted to go to UMD for his senior year, but I told him I preferred he stayed in HS and faced some of these issues. That going to UMD was more of a retreat than an advance. I did not order it, but he agreed. His classmates chose him as one of three to do speeches at graduation. His speech was very funny, poignant, insightful, all in 8 minutes, 6 of content, 2 of laughter and applause. His classmates gave him a standing ovation.
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good for him and good for you
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enjoy the perfect fall day on the north shore
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I.m a gone!!
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Morning–
My mind wanders; I have a hard time listening for long.
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Ben, How are things going Under the Sea?
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You in luck dere, under da muck dere?…
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Getting there. I have a guest painter that is doing wonderful amazing things. I just try to stay out of her way. This weekend will be about lighting and base painting the floor. (She trusts me to do base colors! 🙂 )
We have completely sold out the week of school shows so that’s pretty amazing.
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How many different kinds of theater nerd does it make me that I love painting floors?…
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Mine too. Usually I would rather not be sitting some place listening to a speech.
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I have heard some wonderful presentations and speeches: Bishop Desmond Tutu, Maya Angelou, a few Easter Sunday sermons…but one that sticks with me is one I heard several times at work. One of my previous jobs was working at a non-profit that ran a summer business-themed camp for high school students. Each week of the camp was kicked off by the same motivational speaker – part comedy, part wisdom. The kids loved him. Two salient points I have kept with me: be enthusiastic about learning, no matter what you’re learning and (this one is sometimes harder for me, I admit…), “be more interested than interesting.” I have a pal who is expert at this – you can talk with him for an hour and come out of it with no idea of what he’s been up to for the past ___ months as he spent the whole time asking you questions. (Oh, and the other part about enthusiasm for learning: encourage it – give out praise lavishly, even if the answer is wrong, praise the enthusiasm and willingness to give it a shot and be wrong.)
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My oldest son had attended one of those week-long business camps when he was in high school. It was held at a college somewhere between here and St. Cloud I think. He really enjoyed it. Called Business Ventures or something like that. Very cool.
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That’s the one – Minnesota Business Venture (or MBV). When I was working at it we held some weeks at St. John’s, which may be where your son went. If he was there in the 90s, I may have been there, too. Whacky. I think they use St Cloud State campus now.
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I know I’m forgetting some important talk or speech that I’ll remember later, with any luck. Another movie one was given by Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”… It seems these speeches come from a place of outrage, and lord knows there’s plenty of that around. Kind of like the bumper sticker – “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
Have a glorious day, Babooners!
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural speech and Winston Churchill’s Blood, Sweat and Tears speech are obvious choices and immediately came to mind.
Of more recent vintage, Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture at Carnegie Melon University was very moving and inspirational.
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the last lecture was great
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I love listening to syndrome experts present talks about rare disorders. It’s very narrow but cool…probably the equivalent of painting theatre floors.
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Still planning on the Ordway tonight, Beth-Ann? Give me a call if you see this. 651-227-0751.
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hope it was fun i didnt check my calander. it was there
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It was great fun – Beth-Ann made her Ordway stage debut in the costume competition before the film began. She was resplendent in a sky-blue sweater with a cloud pinned to it (“How do you solve a problem like Maria…How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?”) and a little bonus cloud in her hair. Good people-watching opportunity with a lot of audience members in costume…but if you had been there, tim, you might have been unnerved by the hordes of nuns.
Made a late dinner after I got home. Had a sudden craving for schnitzel with noodles.
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thanks for the recap. glad it was fun. schnitzle ist zehr gut abend fraulein ya?
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Linda was mistaken for one of the VonTrapp children in her sailor suit
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I see according to FB, an aquaintance from Rochester won (?!) with her portrayal of the Captain’s Dead wife? The costume doesn’t look like much. I like the cloud pinned to your hat better.
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Yes, I suppose people liked her idea because it was original. There were lots of Marias and several brown paper packages tied up in string and that sort of thing, but the dead wife was a new one. Maybe she had a cadre of supporters in the audience too. Beth-Ann got a rousing round of applause for her originality also – to my ears it sounded like she was in the top three to five.
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Part of my job is dealing with various speakers that come through the theater. It might be the ‘Monster.com’ guy for student success day (they have basically the same speech year to year) or it might be the the staff member talking about his trip to Greenland. Usually they’re interesting and only occasionally do they venture off into ‘wacko / conspiracy theory’ topics.
Sometimes I get the Navy Rock Band too!
Or ‘Calculus, the Musical’!
…yes, I’m avoiding work. However I did just get my flu shot. I’ve done all my networking for the lighting (lighting is more and more about the numbers: channels, dimmers, DMX address’, patching) and now had lunch and trying to figure out Office 2010 that got put on the computer over night.
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I can think of the WORST speech ever – Ayn Rand’s 40 something page rant at the end of Atlas Shrugged… Still can’t believe I made it through that book.
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You have far more perseverance than I.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqJiCDElWmo
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What a riot.
OT – James Keelaghan performing this evening at the Celtic Junction.
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Are you going, PJ?
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Yes, do you want to join us?
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Yes, that would be great. Love James Keelaghan.
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If anyone else would like to join us, the music starts at 8, doors open at 7:30, tickets available at the door. 836 North Prior Avenue (north of University, west of Fairview).
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Ah, thanks for that, tim.
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OMG that is funny. The man was an embarassment to the Presidency. My oldest son gave me a calendar for 2008 called “The Final Countdown” or something like that. It featured the stupidest pictures and the most incomprehensible, convoluted quotes from Dubya — and there were MANY of them each month. It counted down the number of days Bush had left in office up to Jan. 20. I thoroughly enjoyed that calendar.
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OT – Played a new game last night at s-i-l’s house, Mexican Dominoes. Was a lot of fun – I’m gonna find a set for one of our game nights.
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Also called Mexican train
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Do you have a set of the dominoes? I’m imagining I can find them at Games by James of something…
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I bought them as a gift at Creative Kidstuff
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Good to know – thanks!
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I finally thought of the “sunscreen speech” I was thinking of – attributed to Kurt Vonnegut, supposedly at the MIT’s 1997 commecnement. It was actually a column by Mary Schmich from the Chicago Tribune. Quite short, and I think it’s worth noting here…
http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/poetry/mary-schmich.html
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Can’t argue with any of that.
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good one
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