Speak with Conviction

As 2010 winds to a close, we thought we'd end on this poem by Taylor Mali entitled, "Speak with Conviction." One of the tougher aspects about presenting in sabha requires that we establish credibility for ourselves and for the audience. It's hard to talk about doing tilak chandlo when we ourselves don't do it or to talk about not eating out when we ourselves have Papa John's Pizza on speed dial.

However, one of the subtle aspects of credibility we may often forget is our tone. Our reservations about speaking about something we have not yet fully accepted can translate out to what we are saying in sabha which can of course bring down the message - Swamishri's message - that we wish to impart upon our audience.

So let's take a listen to Mali's poem, and resolve to speak with conviction and not confusion in the year to come.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Try your hand at simple.

Chappaiya stories for shishus is an interesting idea in distilling a complex story and making it palatable to shishus. The first S in Made to Stick SUCCES model is Simple and that is exactly what this sites strives to do. Now you can try your hand at making a Simple story - and in the process helping out some shishu with a new bedtime story. Really a win - win situation. Hit up the link and get simple.

Everyone likes classical Indian music - they just don't know it yet.

In a recent post we linked a talk from Ben Zanders wherein he used all the best practices of giving a talk to prove that everyone loves (western) classical music - they just do not know it. In the talk below Dhanashree Pandit-Rai uses all the same techniques to do a complimentary talk to prove that everyone loves Indian classical music - they just do not know it. This talk is exceptional. She has a simple message, she starts with something unexpected, she uses credible and concrete examples, and while not chock full of stories - they stories are sprinkled in for good measure. The music itself conveys emotion. She hit all the Made to Stick principles.

Let's look at Resonate! We will be talking more about this book (as we read and understand it). However since the Ben Zanders example was tied to the ideas in Resonate! we can see that this talk also gives us the comparisons that Duarte explains is essential in a great talk. She uses the contrast of western and Indian classical music to take us on a journey. Leaving us on a high note (no pun intended) that opens the door to the appreciation of classical Indian music.

There are many ways to use these ideas in sabha. For example, we could use some of her ideas to create an amazing kirtan translation/kirtan based katha. Have a listen it is truly worth it.