Every speaker wants to know the answer to this question: How do I make my presentation more effective, more memorable and more exciting for the audience. Aristotle said it best in his book The Art of Rhetoric (ca 350BC):
Pathos – A passion for the subject.
Logos – A thorough knowledge of the subject.
Ethos – The acknowledged credibility to comment on the subject (requires Pathos and Logos).
Every aspect of speaking must address at least one (if not all three) of these areas. I hope to tell stories of how I used these in the many successful presentations I have offered to appreciative audiences.
Faith, Reason, And The Shroud Of Turin
Image of Shroud of Turin showing positive and negative displays by source: Dianelos Georgoudis, CC BY-SA 3.0 https:creativecommons.org licenses by-sa3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
As the “science guy” in school, I got a lot of questions. They weren’t science questions, unless it was for answers on the high school chemistry exam. (And they were asked during the actual taking of the exam!) No, my friends usually asked me questions about science fiction.
That irked me.
OK, so here’s something many people didn’t know about me back then. As much of a Trekker that I was (and still am – but only for Star Trek: TOS), I was no fan of science fiction. Sure, I liked 2001: A Space Odyssey (the movie, I hated the book). Yes, I read Isaac Asimov’s I Robot (during catechism class at St. Pius because I was bored, and it was on the bookshelf I sat next to).
But, in general, I found most science fiction too dystopian, too depressing, and, well, too Continue Reading “Faith, Reason, And The Shroud Of Turin”