A question about 'ON MESSAGE: Conversation, Comment & Communication'?

Ayd Instone motivational innovation creativity speaker
Should I be worried if the publisher of my new book, 'SEEN AND HEARD' (coming out in August 2014) appears to make such heavy use of KeyNoteComments on the above, title and/or anything else about the project (e.g how long should it be) will be especially welcome.

Another masterpiece from 3 years ago with loads of 3 Part Lists composed by Wobbly Williams

15 MARCH 2011
Results of the defend a doomed dictator speechwriting competition


In case you're wondering what this is all about, you can catch up on the details here:

Results
And the (first-past-the-post) winner is .... Julien Foster for speech D(see below). Second is ... Bryn Williams for speech F (see below).

What clinched it for Mr Foster was that his final line made all three judges (and me) laugh.

Judges Collins and Finkelstein concluded: 'We thought E and D were amusing, which we thought was the right way to approach the contest. They were both funny and just plausible enough. But, if we had to choose between them, D just gets the nod for the simple yet inexplicable reason that the David Steel gag at the end really made us laugh.'

Judge Grender noted "Enjoyed all of these and laughed out loud at the thought of Gaddafi saying 'Go back to your constituencies – and prepare for government'. But in the end it was F who demonstrated the rhetorical flair that all good pupils of Max Atkinson (or avid readers ofLend Me Your Ears) aspire to. The use of 'wind' contrasted with 'fire' was great. The liberal use of 3-part sentences had echoes of the rhetoric of Obama's best not Gaddafi's worst. 'Step back' so we can 'march forward' gave it a nice strong ending. Have not as yet noticed an ad onWorking for You for a new speech writer for Libyan dictator, but if one comes up you should most definitely send in your c.v."

Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to enter the contest by submitting such high quality speeches and to Phil Collins, Danny Finkelstein and Olly Grender for passing judgement on them.

Olly Grender will obviously be receiving a previously unannounced Brown Nose Award for weaving an advertisement for one of my books into her comments.

First Prize: Speech D by Julien Foster
Friends, Libyans, Countrymen! Lend me your ears.
I come to bury Colonel Gadaffi, not to praise him.

I’m not going to read to you from a document.
But speak to you from the heart.

I’m not going to address you in classical Arabic.
But talk to you in Libyan.

Above all, I’m not going to hide from you.
I’m going to say it as it is.
And it may be a bit messy. But it’ll be me.

We now have a huge opportunity for change.
It’s an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

We’ve seen it happening in Egypt, in Tunisia…
…and now, here, in Libya.

Not change brought about by foreign governments.
Not change brought about by traitors.
But change brought about by us, the people.

And there are some who are trying to resist that change.
So I say to you very simply:
Go back to your constituencies – and prepare for government.


Second Prize: Speech F Mugabe's Last Stand by Bryn Williams


The West proclaim the winds of change blow through Africa once more.


They can't contain their pleasure.
Their smugness betrays them.
It clings to every word.

But these aren't the winds of change that blew in the past.
The winds which freed us from the bonds of slavery.
The winds which spared us from the blight of exploitation.
The winds which saved us from the suppression of our colonial masters.

These aren't winds founded on freedom or liberation.
These aren't winds at all.

These are fires.
Fires fuelled by exploitation.
Fires stoked by the resource thirsty tyrants of the West.
Fires lit to incinerate the fabric of our culture.

The West have learned that regime change doesn't work.
Afghanistan and Iraq have failed.
They have failed for two reasons.
Their cultures, like ours, are unsuited to democracy.
Their governments, unlike yours, are under Western control.

The West have learned that regime change doesn't work.
They are not prepared to risk it a third time.

Zimbabwe,
Believe me.
The West are not empowering a change of regime.
The West are implementing a change of policy.

A return to the policy of the past.
A return to the policy of exploitation.
A return to colonisation.

If controlling the government doesn't work,
become the government.

You are hearing whispers of a better future from people who are faceless.

You are not hearing firm declarations from the leaders of the future.
You are not hearing solid plans to deal with the problems of today.
You are not hearing robust proposals to pay off the debts of the past.

Why are there no leaders
no plans and
no money?

Because they don't exist.

The whisperers exist.
The rumour mongers exist.
Enemies always exist.

Waiting to exploit you,
your family,
and your future.

Whether we like it or not
this policy of African exploitation is a political fact.

So I ask you to take a moment,
take a deep breath,
and take a step back.

Take a step back from the future of their making.
So, together, we can march forward
to a future of our choosing.

Wobbly Williams also knows about 3 part lists, poetics and alliteration!!!


Thank you to NSDesign who took part in the Men's 10k last weekend, see the photos here
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The Wobbly Day Out & The Wobbly Banquet
with the cast of Emmerdale...

An amazing time was had by all, massive thanks to everyone involved! Check it outhere (there are also more photos here)





Thursday 4th September
Our annual golf day with a difference!
Once again taking place at the beautiful surroundings of The Carrick, we invite you to enter a team into our competition to not only win the round, but of course to win the now coveted Strider Cup.
For more details or to book your 4-ball please contact Maisie

 




 

Saturday 6th September
Glasgow Green

Team building with a difference...

Your chance to see what fellow participants are really
willing to do in the name of helping a good cause!

We are looking for teams to take part in this
wobbly, wonky and spectacular inflatable assault course.
Check out the details here, and email Maisie or
call 0141 585 6470 to book your team

 


Houstoun House
Thursday 20th November
Not to be missed!!!
Find out all you need to know here

You can still buy our Kilimanjaro EP online!
To buy on Amazon
click here
And to watch the video have a lookhere

Wobbly Walk VII: this year we are taking on a section of the Fife Coastal Path from 11th-14th September. To find out more have a look at theevent page or contact Maisie

Copyright © 2014 Funding Neuro, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have previously interacted with Bryn Williams, Maisie Hamilton, Funding Neuro or Wobbly Williams

Our mailing address is:
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Why does the Tory media spend so much time attacking the PM?

David Cameron speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on 25 June 2014.

In the wake of the hacking trial yesterday, I still don't understand why the Conservative-supporting press and media are so anti-Cameron.

Can anyone enlighten me on this???

3 part lists revisited again!


Today Mendip District Council only collect our recycling boxes, but NOT our green wheelie bins - see the late great Gail Jefferson, above, on 3 part lists (and at http://maxatkinson.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/why-so-many-lists-of-three-mystery.html).

Who'd have thought any local authority smart enough to know about Gail and the power of three part lists?!

Not to mention a pub at Lulworth Cove in Dorset which has a welcoming three part list on its wall that reads:

SLEEPING 
EATING 
DRINKING!!!


Trailer for my new book coming out in 2014 and featuring extracts from this blog


TURN A DEAF EAR
CONVERSE, COMMENT, COMMUNICATE

MAX ATKINSON

By the same author

Discovering Suicide: Studies in the Social Organization of Sudden Death (1978) London, The Macmillan Press

Order in Court: The Organisation of Verbal Interaction in Judicial Settings (with Paul Drew) (1979) London, The Macmillan Press.

Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis (edited with John Heritage) (1984) New York, Cambridge University Press

Our Masters’ Voices: The Language & Body Language of Politics, London and New York, Methuen, 1984, (reprinted by Methuen, 1986, reprinted by Routledge, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, reprinted and transferred to digital printing by Taylor and Francis 2005)

Lend Me your Ears: All you need to know about making speeches and presentations (2004) London, Vermilion; Random House, New York, Oxford University Press 2005), translated into Russian and Spanish (2014)
Comments on the title and/or anything else about the project (e.g how long should it be) will be especially welcome.

"20 is plenty" in the Somerset village where I live

Readers of this blog and/or any of my books such as "Lend Me Your Ears", "Our Masters' Voices", "Speech-making and Presentation MADE EASY" and/or anyone attending one of my courses will know that poetic elements often play a really crucial part in effective communication by the greatest speakers of all time.
But, thanks to Mendip District Council and/or Somerset County Council, you can forget what so-called experts like me drone on about in their courses. Why else would they entertain us with needlessly expensive  road signs like the one you see on entering Old Ditch:

"TWENTY IS PLENTY"

Time, methinks, I retired, don't you think....

And I did actually retire on 29th April 2014, but am still running courses and writing books!

What's news about meeting and talking to an Afro-Carribean cyclist in deepest Somerset?

Today, during an hour's walk through the beautiful countryside near my home, I was surprised to meet an Afro-Carribean dressed in full kit for a long stint at cycling.

It was a very expensive bike with the latest in gear-changing equipment. 

  1. Should I have been surprised?
  2. Should I be ashamed? 
  3. Should I have noticed?
  4. Does the noticing mean I'm a prejudiced bastard because he spoke with an upper-class English accent.


  1. But I do confess to being surprised.
  2. I do feel ashamed by my reaction.
  3. I should not have noticed.
  4. I was wrong to be surprised by his upper-class English accent...
I hope that no one will notice and/or come up with better answers than mine in a generation's time (I am 70 years old) - especially when I'm related by marriage to someone as charming as Ade, who moved his family to Australia hoping to escape a life marred by color-prejudice in the UK.

Comments, as ever, welcome!

Blogging begins again

After a few weeks off with depression, a second opinion is demonstrating that it can be 'cured'.

Now finances are looking as healthy as they ever were, I'd like to thank loyal readers for continuing to visit.

Only trouble is that my Mac computer is misbehaving - on which, more anon...

And comments, as ever, are welcome.