Arcane Wisdom

Last night, at rehearsal for the play Born Yesterday, I answered questions about a curious machine that was now onstage for two of our younger cast members. Both were in their twenties. Neither had ever seen a...record player.

Yipes!

How can a record player be so strange?

Time marches on. Do the stories and examples you use in your speeches march on as well?

Are you using outdated words? Outdated models? Outdated images? Can anyone under 30 relate? Or under 40? Ok, 50?

Just a thought.

"...the musical fruit..."

Now for something a little bit silly.

Back when my wife and I were dating, she invited me to a family dinner with her children. A little getting to know you time.

Her son, Tom (that is to say my step-son, Tom) decided to share the following rhyme:

"Beans, beans the musical fruit,
the more you eat 'em,
the more you toot!
The more you toot,
the better you feel.
So eat beans with every meal!"

Hmm. Thank you for sharing. I'm guessing that's what you may be thinking.

Hey, that's what I was thinking.

Tom was 12 at the time. Today he is an aeronautical engineer, but then, he was 12.

So, what's MY excuse? I'm not 12.

Well, I call this my Musical Fruit example of speech construction.

????????????????????

Hey, look at it. You have your introductory remark: Beans, beans the musical fruit."

Then your story or example: "the more you eat 'em the more you toot!"

Next, the point of your story: "The more you toot/ the better you feel."

And your call-to-action conclusion: "So eat beans with every meal!"

(What can I say I am given to homespun analogies. Remind me to tell you about my Damp Sponge Theory of learning.)

So, think about the musical fruit when constructing your speech.

Start with an intriguing opening.
Tell a story or give an example.
Make a point.
Then tell your audience how to use the information you gave them.

Easy-peasy! Or maybe, tutti-fruity!