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Speak to Engage week 3 teleseminar recording: Complete the package

Click the link to listen to the call or use the player below.

Little Boy in the Dragon’s Den

Watch this excellent presentation by a 9-year-old boy pitching his business idea to the Dragon’s Den (a group of investors on a BBC reality tv show), in hopes of winning £5,000.

He’s prepared. He has a great opening and closing. He takes questions. He tells a story. He’s assertive. He doesn’t fill the time with nervous chatter or apologies. He handles adversity gracefully. He even demonstrates a talent. And yet, he doesn’t come across as slick or mechanical.

This kid’s got quite a future ahead of him!

70 years of history in three minutes

Watch the opening credits of the movie “The Kingdom.”

As a vehicle for information and setting up the backstory of the movie, the sequence, just over three minutes long, is stellar. The compelling and educational montage combines text, music, still photos, and film and audio clips to tell the story of the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia since 1932.

There is no way to embed this clip, so please click the link above.

Recommended Reading

One of my favorite books on language is Michael Erard’s book, “Um…Slips, Stumbles and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.” Here’s the description from Amazon:

“This original, entertaining, and surprising book is a natural history of things we wish we didn’t say (but do), as well as a look at what happens in American culture (and others) when we do (and wish we didn’t). Covering a vast array of verbal blunders, from Spoonerisms to malapropisms to “uh” and “um,” linguist and author Erard provides a look into the science to explain why they happen and a look at society for how they’re received in everyday life, in politics, and in the popular culture. One exceptional chapter covers where we got the sense that good speaking is necessarily umless; another chapter explains how Sigmund Freud got into slips of the tongue to begin with — and how he wasn’t the first to hunt and collect them. Full of entertaining examples, Um… is essential reading for talkers and listeners of all stripes.”

Highly recommended! He also has a great essay on Slate.com, in praise of verbal stumbles.