#6 - Work With Words

Childish Lessons for Grownup Speakers

Communication Lessons from Children's Literature

Principle

Precept

Example

Say something significant

Many good stories have commentary on life.

Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson

Use clear, simple language

Written for children – short, simple language used.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell

Let audience fill in with imagination

pictures with no dialog – reader fills in sounds.

Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

Use visuals

picture books can bring a clarity or stronger vision.

You Are Special, Max Lucado

Metaphors to communicate principles

Some books are fantasy, fairy tales; are symbolic.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis

Be accurate

Accurately describes the lifestyle and environment of characters.

Where the Red Ferns Grow, Wilson Rawls

Be authentic

The characters have believable depths and behaviors.

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Be creative

Creativity engages the audience and can increase the enjoyment.

The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle, Hugh Lofting
  1. Introduction
    1. Katherine Paterson's book Bridge to Terabithia
    2. Friendship between 11 yr old Jess, Leslie, and their imaginary kingdom Terabitha
    3. Read Bridge pp45-46
  2. Communication Lessons from Childrens' Literature
    1. In those few paragraphs Paterson does three things
      1. Says something significant - Male-female friendships at age 11
      2. Uses simple language - written for grade-school kids
      3. Trusts audience to fill in with experience
    2. These three principles from Childrens' books can help us write our grown-up speeches
  3. Say something significant
    1. The best talks give us something we desire to remember. They teach us.
    2. Often means social issues - Ari's talk on trip to Israel with students
    3. It can also include talks on gardening, time-management techniques, etc.
    4. What's important is to speak on a top your audience cares about
  4. Use simple language
    1. Read Lion, p 75
    2. Uses simple language to tell a story filled with symbolism
    3. Audience cannot review the speech if they miss something
    4. You need to know your audience and speak to them
      1. Here - general language is best
      2. Technical setting, appropriate jargon is useful to effectively communicate with peers
      3. When in doubt, simplify
    5. The Chronicles of Narnia are appropriate for children because of the simple language, but because the content is significant also enjoyable to adults
  5. Let audience use imagination
    1. Wild Things, Wild Rumpus
    2. Children's books are short, and there isn't space for detailed descriptions
    3. Here, Sendak shows us the rumpus, but doesn't describe it, allowing us to fill in the motions and sounds
    4. In our short speeches, we don't have time for detailed descriptions, so we trust our audience to fill in the gaps
    5. Last year Jim spoke about rigging a sailboat. He pantomimed the rigging process, leaving it up to us to visualize the boat.
    6. We can do the same - give our audience the necessary description, and trust them to expand the imagery with imagination so we can keep it brief
  6. Close
    1. Says something significant
    2. Uses simple language
    3. Trust the audience to flesh out descriptions from experience