This 20-minute speech was forwarded to me by a very valued reader, who prefaced it with a simple “Wow! Check this!” And what I saw did not disappoint. Eve Ensler is known as the original creator of the Vagina Monologues and V-Day, a movement to stop violence against women and girls, which has so far raised $70 million to prevent violence and protect abused women. And after watching this video, now we can also get to know her as a passionate, intense speaker with a somewhat unconventional speaking style.
I’m going to assume that for many of the astute readers of this newsletter, you likely remarked on the same two issues that I did within the first minute of the speech: First, she’s sitting. Second, she’s got notes in her lap, which she refers to fairly often in the first 2 minutes, then minimally for the rest of the speech. This breaks some of the public speaking “rules” that we’re so familiar with: Stand up and move around, and don’t use notes (especially large papers stapled together). But what was also evident in the first minute of her speech was an intensity that caught my attention immediately, and made me want to hear more. Read the rest of this entry »
