# Transcript: The power of words ## Description Together, we will explore answers to questions such as: How to capture and hold the audience’s attention How to craft arguments that are effective How to bring emotion into your speech How to persuade without manipulating How to tell powerful stories that people want to identify with Who is Martin Vasquez? Martin Vasquez graduated from the Theatre Faculty of AMU Prague and later also from the Theatre Faculty of JAMU Brno as part of his doctoral studies. He has completed numerous trainings and internships in communication, including abroad in Germany, Austria, and France. Since 2000, his trainings and workshops have been attended by employees of companies such as Česká spořitelna, ČSOB, Vodafone, 02, Nestlé, Heineken, Škoda Auto, Lego, LINET, as well as people from public administration and non-profit organizations. For the past 17 years, he has passionately devoted himself to improvisational theatre. In 2012, he founded the research and development center for improvisation called IMPRO INSTITUT, which offers courses and workshops for both corporate clients and the public. In 2013, he published the book “Be masters of improvisation!” with Grada publishing, followed by “Training masters of improvisation” in 2015. He coaches speakers for TEDx Prague conferences and has supported numerous start-ups within IMPACT HUB Prague and Start-It ČSOB. He also lectures at several universities such as VŠE Prague and FFUK Prague. ## Transcript **[00:00:00]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:00:30]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:00]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:30]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:32]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:34]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:36]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:38]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:40]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:42]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:44]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:46]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:48]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:50]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:52]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:54]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:56]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:58]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:00]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:02]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:04]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:06]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:08]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:10]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:12]** 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www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:26]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:28]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:30]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:32]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:34]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:36]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:38]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:40]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:42]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:44]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:46]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:48]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:50]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:52]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:54]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:56]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:58]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:10:00]** And the fact that we were able to record it into language, **[00:10:04]** that we were able to remember it, **[00:10:06]** that we were able to pass it on, **[00:10:08]** this know-how that we could pass to someone else, **[00:10:11]** actually pushed us forward significantly, **[00:10:13]** because individually we didn't have to repeat mistakes, **[00:10:16]** that someone before us had already made. **[00:10:19]** Even though it sounds tempting, most of us still make mistakes, **[00:10:24]** that someone before us already made, **[00:10:27]** we fall into them, we do it anyway, **[00:10:29]** but I dare say that to some extent, especially through passing it on, **[00:10:33]** we were able to limit it. **[00:10:35]** And Harari says that about 40,000 years ago, **[00:10:40]** this ability to pass on our know-how, **[00:10:43]** has actually lasted until today. **[00:10:45]** Among other things, TEDx or TEDtalks are proof of this, **[00:10:49]** that someone simply stands in front of others **[00:10:51]** and at the same time passes on some know-how of **[00:10:54]** what they have achieved in their life or what they have verified as a good strategy. **[00:10:59]** What significantly accelerated TEDtalks forward, **[00:11:04]** was video. **[00:11:06]** Remember, YouTube was launched in the second year, **[00:11:09]** Does anyone remember? **[00:11:12]** 2004, that's the correct answer. **[00:11:14]** YouTube was launched in 2004, and in 2006 Chris Anderson decided **[00:11:18]** to make all those videos recorded at TEDtalks **[00:11:22]** publicly available. **[00:11:24]** Everyone warned him and said it was a bad idea, **[00:11:26]** because if someone watches the video, they wouldn't attend the next conference, **[00:11:30]** since they could just watch it later. **[00:11:33]** But the opposite turned out to be true. **[00:11:35]** People who saw how the atmosphere worked, **[00:11:38]** how interesting the gathering of people and ideas was, **[00:11:40]** felt the need to come to all the next ones, **[00:11:42]** so all the following conferences were sold out. **[00:11:46]** The model of someone telling a story and others listening, **[00:11:50]** which still happens now, with me speaking here, **[00:11:52]** I say some words to you and you listen, **[00:11:56]** has existed for tens of thousands of years. **[00:11:58]** The fact that we have been able to continue it **[00:12:01]** shows that it is simply an effective strategy. **[00:12:03]** So even today, you are sitting here correctly, I try to pass something on to you, **[00:12:07]** and you take something away from it. **[00:12:09]** I am quite skeptical about this, **[00:12:11]** I always set a goal when I speak for an hour somewhere, **[00:12:14]** that if people take away three to five ideas, **[00:12:17]** I consider that an internal success, **[00:12:19]** because we live in a time when you are overwhelmed with so much information, **[00:12:23]** that it is extremely difficult to pick out the good ones, **[00:12:27]** the necessary ones to keep and not forget. **[00:12:31]** The fact that people sit around a fire and share know-how **[00:12:36]** gave us all an evolutionary advantage. **[00:12:40]** We were able to continue life more effectively, **[00:12:44]** much more successfully, and to this day we should ask ourselves, **[00:12:52]** when you present somewhere, speak, say words, **[00:12:56]** there should be an answer to the question, **[00:12:59]** why should people listen to you? **[00:13:01]** When you present, when you stand somewhere, **[00:13:04]** when you teach someone something, **[00:13:07]** always ask yourself this question. **[00:13:09]** Is there a reason why people should listen to me? **[00:13:12]** Is there such a reason? Do I have an answer to it? **[00:13:15]** Yesterday, I gave a lecture at GYP, **[00:13:17]** Gymnázium Jana Palacha, and there were several dozen students sitting there **[00:13:23]** and I was lecturing about how to present your idea. **[00:13:27]** And I always ask myself this question. **[00:13:29]** Is there a reason why they should listen to me? **[00:13:32]** Is there a reason why we should focus on this? **[00:13:35]** And I always try to state it explicitly at the beginning. **[00:13:39]** For the people sitting in the hall or listening to me, **[00:13:43]** so that there is a reason. **[00:13:45]** However, even the best speakers, from time to time, **[00:13:48]** have given speeches where people didn’t know the reason. **[00:13:52]** And I want to show a video here that is authentic, **[00:13:55]** both are speaking, he has a lecture somewhere. **[00:13:58]** Look, I marked that boy with a red circle, **[00:14:01]** let’s take a look at him. **[00:14:03]** He beautifully dozed off, I’ll move forward here. **[00:14:27]** By the way, the video is much longer, he actually falls asleep later, **[00:14:32]** the boy is completely collapsed like this. **[00:14:35]** And what I like about it is that the speaker just keeps talking, **[00:14:40]** keeps talking, but of course he can’t see for himself, **[00:14:42]** probably no one ran upstairs to the balcony, **[00:14:44]** I can say, someone is dozing off behind you, **[00:14:46]** but it’s simply a beautiful proof **[00:14:48]** that even if you are Barack Obama and expected **[00:14:50]** to be a great speaker, someone can still fall asleep in the audience. **[00:14:53]** So now I will keep looking at the audience, **[00:14:55]** to see if someone up there is dozing off, **[00:14:57]** it’s 8:45 and it can happen that fatigue hits you. **[00:15:01]** However, what wakes people up are information, **[00:15:05]** and now I divided them into four categories. **[00:15:07]** The first type of information is new. **[00:15:09]** Our brain is set up to, **[00:15:11]** handle new information, we have a part of the brain, **[00:15:14]** called the hippocampus, it’s like an information sorter, **[00:15:17]** and if your brain recognizes that the information is new, **[00:15:22]** that it hasn’t heard before, it immediately increases **[00:15:25]** the alertness of the organism and you wake up more. **[00:15:28]** Secondly, there is information that is urgent. **[00:15:31]** It’s happening now, it’s happening here, it’s with the neighbors, **[00:15:34]** something is burning behind me, and so on. **[00:15:36]** So all the information that is urgent, warning, **[00:15:39]** and somehow stirs us, that also wakes us up. **[00:15:42]** Then there is information that is beneficial to us. **[00:15:45]** We see some gain there, it moves us forward somehow. **[00:15:48]** Or those warning pieces of information, **[00:15:51]** they give us a strategy on what to avoid. **[00:15:54]** Here I will refer once again to Yuval Noah Harari, **[00:15:57]** to say it correctly, who said that people are basically **[00:16:00]** wired to know what to eat **[00:16:03]** and what can eat them. **[00:16:05]** These two streams of information are important to us. **[00:16:08]** And if it also has some urgency, like it's happening right now, **[00:16:11]** watch out, or it's new information we didn't know at all, **[00:16:14]** it wakes us up significantly. **[00:16:16]** So my advice is, next time you speak somewhere, **[00:16:19]** presenting and wanting to engage someone, **[00:16:22]** give information people haven't heard yet. **[00:16:25]** Secondly, it needs to be alarming, urgent for them. **[00:16:28]** It is currently important. **[00:16:30]** Then it must be beneficial to them, they must gain something from it, **[00:16:33]** and at the same time it warns them about something that threatens them. **[00:16:36]** If you look at the news of the last two years, **[00:16:39]** when I talk about covid, notice how they constantly worked with this. **[00:16:43]** Just now there are some new measures again, it was urgent, **[00:16:46]** because we announced it all this morning. **[00:16:49]** It will protect you, or it could kill you. **[00:16:52]** And actually, the whole journalism was built on that, **[00:16:55]** which is right, because journalism grows on this. **[00:16:58]** But it's good to realize that you also have to take some things **[00:17:02]** with a grain of salt and step back and ask, **[00:17:04]** is this really beneficial for me, or is it really sufficiently warning me. **[00:17:09]** Not to get overwhelmed by it. **[00:17:12]** Why we care so much is that we don't want to make bad decisions. **[00:17:17]** The vast majority of people are scared stiff **[00:17:20]** that they might make some bad decision somewhere. **[00:17:22]** They bought bitcoins badly. **[00:17:24]** That happened to me. About 8 years ago. **[00:17:26]** My friend Martin Valeš came to me and said, **[00:17:28]** hey, what if we bought some bitcoins. **[00:17:30]** I said, what would we do with them? **[00:17:34]** And after years, I thought, what a terrible shame we didn't do it, **[00:17:37]** we had them stored somewhere. **[00:17:40]** But the moment when we decide, **[00:17:44]** because when you decide, none of us, **[00:17:48]** and it's basically in our mind, at the core of our mind, **[00:17:51]** we can't make bad decisions. **[00:17:53]** We always decide the best we can at the moment. **[00:17:58]** You get some information and decide the best for yourself, **[00:18:02]** as you are currently able. **[00:18:04]** That later, after years, you realize, I shouldn't have gone with that, **[00:18:07]** or I shouldn't have gone there, or I shouldn't have bought that, **[00:18:10]** that's another matter. **[00:18:12]** But at the moment you decide, you decide as best as you can. **[00:18:15]** And we need to gather information for that, **[00:18:18]** we need words we hear or read, **[00:18:21]** or someone tells us in a video about what's happening here, **[00:18:24]** or our friends who give us recommendations. **[00:18:28]** You know that Czechs are the best trainers, **[00:18:31]** Czechs are the best investors, **[00:18:34]** Czechs are the best hygienists, doctors, and many more. **[00:18:37]** Which was also proven during the two-year course of covid, **[00:18:41]** that we were able to advise everyone and knew exactly how it was. **[00:18:45]** However, at the moment we decide, **[00:18:48]** if we are truly afraid of something, it's a bad decision. **[00:18:51]** And some people are even paralyzed by it. **[00:18:54]** You walk into a supermarket, now there are 52 types of toilet paper, **[00:18:58]** and you don't know, you're paralyzed by deciding, **[00:19:01]** this is called decision paralysis. **[00:19:04]** And it's really hard for us because we want to decide well. **[00:19:07]** That's why we gather information and why people, **[00:19:10]** who have good information, good words, **[00:19:13]** and can talk about it, are helpful to us. **[00:19:16]** And I want to give one historical example here. **[00:19:21]** It's called Kargokaut. Hands up in the audience, who has heard of it? **[00:19:25]** Oh, no one. **[00:19:28]** See, now I have new information. **[00:19:31]** I might have urgent information for you, **[00:19:34]** in any case useful and maybe even somewhat warning. **[00:19:38]** Kargokaut. Kargokaut generally means, **[00:19:41]** that a civilization, say on an island, **[00:19:45]** that encountered a god that exceeded their understanding, **[00:19:49]** that is, say 150 years ago, someone arrived on some island **[00:19:53]** and there was a god unknown to the native population, **[00:19:57]** so they began to worship it, like those cargo cults. **[00:20:00]** who brought that god, so they started worshiping that god itself. **[00:20:04]** If anyone has seen The Gods Must Be Crazy, **[00:20:07]** if you remember when that Coca-Cola can falls, **[00:20:09]** I'm speaking now about the commercial, something similar is actually a cargo cult. **[00:20:13]** And the cargo cult had its most notable response **[00:20:18]** during World War II in the Pacific, **[00:20:21]** where on islands with either Japanese or American military bases, **[00:20:27]** the native population observed **[00:20:33]** the soldiers stationed there and watched what they did. **[00:20:38]** And the reason was that cargo was falling from the sky, **[00:20:42]** planes dropped containers with Coca-Cola, cigarettes, **[00:20:47]** alcohol, food, and everything else, and they couldn't explain **[00:20:51]** where it came from. So they thought that if they repeated **[00:20:55]** what the military crew did, the cargo would fall for them too. **[00:20:59]** So they started, here you see, they made uniforms, **[00:21:03]** made roughly similar weapons, then made **[00:21:07]** roughly similar radars and also roughly similar planes. **[00:21:11]** They perfected all this over several years, **[00:21:15]** regularly stood by the flagpole, raised the American flag, **[00:21:19]** it was called the John Frum, the John Frum USA cult, **[00:21:24]** and they hoped the aid would fall. **[00:21:28]** In 1945, the crews gradually withdrew and moved away, **[00:21:32]** flew away again, but the cult continued. **[00:21:36]** Even though nothing fell, the cult persisted. **[00:21:40]** Anthropologists even observed that it intensified, **[00:21:44]** because it can't be possible, if we repeat it, why doesn't it fall? **[00:21:48]** Why I mention this is that we all live with certain beliefs, **[00:21:52]** we all live in a kind of cargo cult, **[00:21:56]** we all have these habits, these stereotypes, **[00:22:00]** that we perform in life so that some cargo falls for us, **[00:22:04]** so that something returns to us. And we are very sensitive **[00:22:08]** when someone starts interfering and says, **[00:22:12]** please, what you do regularly, or what you do often, **[00:22:16]** or what you think, is not right, you do it unnecessarily, **[00:22:20]** it has no benefit for your health, you are completely a needless believer, **[00:22:24]** say a Christian, it won't bring you anything, you will die and there will be nothing after death, **[00:22:28]** and so on. And we are very sensitive about it. This old system, **[00:22:32]** this system that the natives created. **[00:22:36]** Imagine going to the newly elected **[00:22:40]** Cardinal Graumner today and telling him, that's nonsense, **[00:22:44]** this is the Catholic Church, nothing will fall, there is no afterlife. **[00:22:50]** Similarly, even after white people arrived **[00:22:54]** after the war and told them, hey, you're doing this completely unnecessarily, **[00:22:58]** these runways you have here, the wooden planes, the fact that you regularly **[00:23:02]** raise the flag, it won't do anything, nothing will fall anymore. **[00:23:06]** For them, it was unacceptable. And I chose this as an analogy, **[00:23:10]** as a metaphor to show you that it is very hard **[00:23:14]** to convince other people. That it is something truly challenging for us. **[00:23:22]** And when Honza and I talked about what it should not miss, **[00:23:26]** since it's called the power of the word, he said it should include **[00:23:30]** how to persuade others, how to choose arguments, **[00:23:34]** how to lead them to some insight. So my answer right at the start is **[00:23:38]** that it is not easy at all. When someone has been raising the flag for 40 years, **[00:23:42]** dragging wooden planes on the runway, it's quite hard for them to accept **[00:23:48]** what you tell them, that it's pointless. No, don't do that, do it differently. **[00:23:52]** Persuasion happens in steps, it's a process, it happens gradually, **[00:23:57]** and some things help and some don't, and I want to talk about that now. **[00:24:01]** The first thing that helps is what we call the knowledge gap, **[00:24:06]** which means the gap between the knowledge of the person who comes to you **[00:24:10]** and the knowledge you have. At the same time, the knowledge gap means **[00:24:15]** you have some gap in knowledge that provokes you to fill it. **[00:24:20]** Because our mind thinks in gestalts, in wholes, we like closed things, **[00:24:25]** I don't know about you, but most people need to finish things, **[00:24:30]** of course there are chronic non-finishers, but most people need to finish things, **[00:24:35]** they need to close the gestalt, and if there is some provoking gap, **[00:24:40]** meaning it's not finished yet, not complete, **[00:24:43]** it provokes us and we feel the need to fill it. **[00:24:46]** So this knowledge gap is a great tool when you need to bring people **[00:24:51]** to some new knowledge, create this gap and fill it with something interesting. **[00:24:56]** In TED Talks, we also call it the jaw dropping moment, **[00:25:00]** which means the moment when people's jaws drop and they say wow, **[00:25:04]** I didn't know that, wow, this is interesting, **[00:25:07]** this is a moment that truly interests me. **[00:25:09]** And at that moment, interest is created. **[00:25:12]** It's good to respond to the jaw dropping moment with a moment **[00:25:16]** when people realize something and say aha, so that's how it works, **[00:25:20]** Yeah, now I understand it better. **[00:25:22]** Here I want to refer to a book from my childhood, it was called I Know Why. **[00:25:26]** Is there anyone here who lived through the '70s and is still alive? **[00:25:30]** Sure, great, great. **[00:25:32]** So that book, I think it was published, I’m not exactly sure, **[00:25:36]** whether it came out in '81 or '82, but it was a fundamental book in my life, **[00:25:40]** it answered how the sewage system works, where the garbage goes, **[00:25:44]** how it’s processed, I don’t know, paper and so on. **[00:25:48]** Until then, I was learning about the size of coal mines in North Bohemia. **[00:25:53]** I wasn’t interested at all, I got a C in geography, **[00:25:56]** but this book was crucial for me, yeah, I Know Why. **[00:26:00]** So if I were to summarize it for you, you need to create in people, **[00:26:04]** a wow, I don’t know this, I want to know it, and secondly, aha, so that’s how it works. **[00:26:09]** And then there’s an important part, which is that you actually explain it to them. **[00:26:15]** That you have well-built arguments for them, **[00:26:19]** and that you can explain it to them. **[00:26:21]** And here it’s important that your explanation is clear. **[00:26:25]** One of the hardest things I see even in TED Talks, **[00:26:31]** is for people to be clear enough. **[00:26:33]** So that difficult topics, say some neuropsychology or biopsychology, **[00:26:37]** can be transformed into words, and that’s where the power lies, **[00:26:41]** where the words are so understandable that even someone **[00:26:44]** who has never encountered it before can understand it. **[00:26:48]** So I consider clarity very important, **[00:26:53]** and at the same time it’s an art to give exactly that clarity, **[00:26:56]** which creates a mental image for people and they say, **[00:26:59]** yeah, now I get it. **[00:27:01]** Would anyone here be from London? **[00:27:04]** When the subway arrives, you always hear Mind the Gap, **[00:27:07]** and you realize there’s a gap between the train and the platform. **[00:27:11]** So my advice, if you take nothing else from this lecture today, **[00:27:15]** is to create a gap in your listeners’ minds, **[00:27:22]** which they want to fill, and at the same time you must be clear enough, **[00:27:26]** so there’s something to fill that gap with, and they don’t say, **[00:27:29]** no, this is foreign, I don’t understand it, and I reject it. **[00:27:32]** That clarity is the key to people wanting to listen to you, **[00:27:36]** so your words are strong enough. **[00:27:39]** And I have a little saying: don’t show that you understand, **[00:27:42]** show it so that they understand. **[00:27:46]** That’s my advice whenever you’re giving a lecture, **[00:27:49]** Whenever you speak somewhere or have a presentation, **[00:27:53]** speak so that people understand. **[00:27:56]** A good colleague of mine, Vojta, founded a company called Visibility, **[00:28:00]** which focuses on online marketing, and he says, **[00:28:03]** I always sit in meetings trying to be the dumbest crayon in the box. **[00:28:08]** That means I ask questions when I see someone doesn't understand, **[00:28:11]** I immediately start explaining and help people **[00:28:15]** to understand complicated things, **[00:28:18]** like online marketing and all the processes involved. **[00:28:22]** I have a clip here from a TED Talk that shows this. **[00:28:26]** Hans Rosling published a wonderful book here with us. **[00:28:29]** Factfulness. **[00:28:31]** He has, if I'm not mistaken, six or seven talks, **[00:28:35]** which you can find on TED.com. **[00:28:37]** Each one is interesting and very easy to understand. **[00:28:48]** This clip represents 1 million people. **[00:28:51]** Our teachers told us **[00:28:53]** that in 1960 there was an industrialized world with 1 million people. **[00:28:58]** And in the developing world, they said, there were 2 million people. **[00:29:03]** And they lived there. **[00:29:04]** There was a big difference between 1 million in the industrialized world **[00:29:08]** and 2 million in the developing world. **[00:29:11]** In the industrialized world, people were healthy, **[00:29:15]** well-nourished, fast, and had few children. **[00:29:19]** And their goal was to buy a car. **[00:29:23]** In 1960, there were people who bought, **[00:29:26]** for example, a Volvo. **[00:29:29]** This was a worldly economic matter. **[00:29:32]** But in the developing world, far from that, **[00:29:36]** their goal was to have more children, **[00:29:39]** to have food for the day. **[00:29:42]** And their goal was to buy basic necessities. **[00:29:47]** It was a big issue in the world when I created it. **[00:29:51]** And the difference between the race and the other **[00:29:54]** created a world issue, **[00:29:57]** which we still use linguistically when we talk about... **[00:30:00]** about both and about dividing the world. **[00:30:03]** But the world has changed. **[00:30:05]** And it is ready to create this emergence **[00:30:08]** and such a taxonomy of the world. **[00:30:11]** And find out. **[00:30:31]** And that book, I bought it, I got it, **[00:30:34]** and I don't even remember if I got it for Christmas. **[00:30:37]** Anyway, I devoured it in just a few days **[00:30:40]** and I thought, if anyone can simply **[00:30:43]** explain complex sociological and economic facts, **[00:30:46]** it's him. **[00:30:48]** And that's the huge strength. **[00:30:50]** If my lecture is called The Power of the Word, **[00:30:53]** I say, a word that is understandable, **[00:30:56]** clear, and in a simple way **[00:30:59]** and that has power. **[00:31:01]** And by the way, Hanka Roslinka is **[00:31:03]** a huge role model in this. **[00:31:05]** The reason we need to understand this **[00:31:08]** is that we suffer anxiety from things we don't understand. **[00:31:11]** We fear things we don't understand. **[00:31:13]** It was obvious at the beginning, **[00:31:15]** I'll refer to it again here, **[00:31:17]** and this is the last time, I won't talk about it anymore, **[00:31:19]** but COVID, when people really didn't know, **[00:31:22]** I remember, from around March 13, 2020, **[00:31:25]** the first state of emergency came. **[00:31:27]** At that time, I didn't even know what a state of emergency was. **[00:31:29]** I was just driving from Brno to Prague by car **[00:31:31]** and at every gas station there was police, **[00:31:33]** monitoring the area. **[00:31:35]** I thought, is a war starting, **[00:31:37]** or what is actually happening. **[00:31:39]** And I remember that inner anxiety. **[00:31:41]** Ignorance, or not knowing, **[00:31:43]** or inability to make sense of it. **[00:31:45]** So that's why we so desperately need **[00:31:47]** to orient ourselves in it. **[00:31:49]** Probably none of you are afraid of lightning anymore? **[00:31:51]** Or raise your hand if **[00:31:53]** anyone here is afraid of lightning? **[00:31:55]** Okay. It's a terrible thing. It can kill a person. **[00:31:57]** But we are not afraid. We have some knowledge. **[00:31:59]** We know where to take shelter. **[00:32:01]** How to defend yourself. **[00:32:03]** That having some kind of lightning rod on the roof of the house. **[00:32:05]** However, I already mentioned it here, **[00:32:07]** at the beginning we didn't know, **[00:32:09]** what was coming for us. **[00:32:11]** How to react to it. How to protect our families. **[00:32:13]** I have two children, two daughters. **[00:32:15]** 14, 16 years old. **[00:32:21]** Some of us might now be dealing with **[00:32:23]** electricity or gas prices. **[00:32:25]** We get caught up in some inner anxiety. **[00:32:27]** So anyone who can **[00:32:29]** explain well what is actually happening, **[00:32:31]** calm us down in some way, **[00:32:33]** now is not the time to panic. **[00:32:35]** On the contrary, it is necessary **[00:32:37]** to invest in this. **[00:32:39]** That's always how he addresses us, **[00:32:41]** and his words have **[00:32:43]** enormous power. **[00:32:45]** And another recommendation. **[00:32:47]** If you want people to listen to you, **[00:32:49]** give them advice **[00:32:51]** or let them understand why it is happening. **[00:32:53]** Not just what it looks like, **[00:32:55]** what it actually is, but why it is happening. **[00:32:57]** Why these processes are happening. **[00:32:59]** Here I also refer to my favorite book. **[00:33:01]** Now I know why. **[00:33:03]** I have an exercise here. **[00:33:05]** Do you know how many colors **[00:33:07]** your mobile phone can display if it has **[00:33:09]** an LED display? **[00:33:15]** No? More? **[00:33:19]** Okay. **[00:33:21]** Your display can show, if you have **[00:33:23]** a standard LED display, 16.5 million colors. **[00:33:25]** And the exercise is, **[00:33:27]** now try to explain **[00:33:29]** to your neighbor how that is possible. **[00:33:31]** For a minute. Turn around **[00:33:33]** to your neighbor and explain to them, **[00:33:35]** how it is possible that your display can show **[00:33:37]** 16.5 million colors. **[00:33:49]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:33:51]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:33:53]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:33:55]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:33:57]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:33:59]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:01]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:03]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:05]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:07]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:09]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:11]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:13]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:15]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:17]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:19]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:21]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:23]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:25]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:27]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:29]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:31]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:33]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:35]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:37]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:39]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:41]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:43]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:45]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:47]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:49]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:51]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:53]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:55]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:57]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:34:59]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:35:01]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:35:03]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:35:05]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:35:07]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:35:09]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:35:11]** Do you know how that's possible? **[00:35:13]** It's interesting that men... **[00:35:15]** I have a question here, how many of you... **[00:35:17]** or how many colors can men name? **[00:35:19]** At least just roughly... **[00:35:21]** I'm asking... **[00:35:23]** Some say salmon. I'm asking about the number of colors. **[00:35:25]** At least an estimate. **[00:35:27]** 20, 30? **[00:35:31]** Excuse me? **[00:35:33]** Okay, 16 colors. **[00:35:35]** Alright, 16 colors. **[00:35:37]** And women? **[00:35:39]** 16. **[00:35:41]** 16.5 million colors. **[00:35:45]** I think, **[00:35:47]** we'll be happy if you know 50, 60, **[00:35:49]** maybe 100 colors if you really focus on it. **[00:35:51]** And the phone can display **[00:35:53]** this many, **[00:35:55]** but we can't even recognize them all. **[00:35:57]** But why am I explaining and showing this? **[00:35:59]** Because we use **[00:36:01]** technology more and more often **[00:36:03]** that we don't understand. **[00:36:05]** And we are... **[00:36:07]** It's like a knockout, **[00:36:09]** raising a flag, pulling planes. **[00:36:11]** We actually use technology we don't understand how it works. **[00:36:13]** And yet we use it. **[00:36:15]** And we believe we're using it correctly. **[00:36:19]** And anyone who can **[00:36:21]** explain simply **[00:36:23]** how it works, **[00:36:25]** even if it's just pixels on your phone, **[00:36:27]** so it's actually liberating for us, **[00:36:29]** because we have the ability **[00:36:31]** through a person, **[00:36:33]** who can simply and skillfully explain it to us. **[00:36:35]** We gain another superpower. **[00:36:37]** We understand how it works. **[00:36:39]** For example, I **[00:36:41]** greatly respect my parents, **[00:36:43]** who are over 70, **[00:36:45]** I won't say the exact age, **[00:36:47]** but they constantly use technology, **[00:36:49]** they are always learning. **[00:36:51]** Whenever I visit, they say, **[00:36:53]** Marta, come here, come here, show us how this works, **[00:36:55]** show us. We want to use it too, **[00:36:57]** we want it to work. **[00:36:59]** That it's a necessity and the direction **[00:37:01]** we simply need to take, **[00:37:03]** but if someone in their 40s or 50s **[00:37:05]** internally gives up and says, **[00:37:07]** I resign from this, it's too fast, **[00:37:09]** I won't develop further, that's a big mistake. **[00:37:11]** The point is not to overwhelm yourself **[00:37:13]** with information, but the point is **[00:37:15]** to understand why. **[00:37:17]** I already talked here about **[00:37:19]** clarity, about simplicity, **[00:37:21]** and now I want to talk about overview. **[00:37:25]** Some of you might know, **[00:37:27]** when I read that a literary work **[00:37:29]** is aesthetic when it is clear. **[00:37:31]** And now I don't know if it was Aristotle or Plato, **[00:37:33]** one of them said it, **[00:37:35]** I wasn't able to find it, I searched yesterday, **[00:37:37]** but I couldn't find it, but I heard it **[00:37:39]** at the theater faculty when I studied there. **[00:37:41]** This clarity of speech **[00:37:43]** gives your speech aesthetics **[00:37:45]** and at the same time gives strength **[00:37:47]** because we can understand it. **[00:37:49]** Here I want to offer **[00:37:52]** and I chose a speaker, **[00:37:54]** whom we had here once today, **[00:37:56]** come listen to him, I couldn't find subtitles for this video, **[00:37:58]** so for those of you **[00:38:00]** who might not fully understand him, **[00:38:02]** I'll also provide the text. **[00:38:21]** That makes my life dangerous, **[00:38:23]** even if it wasn't my semicolon. **[00:38:25]** If there was **[00:38:27]** an Arab or American reason, **[00:38:29]** which wasn't fundamental, **[00:38:31]** or a reason that was fundamental, **[00:38:33]** the fundamental one to my civility. **[00:38:35]** It's the fundamental thing, **[00:38:37]** that I am the semicolon of my brother, **[00:38:39]** that I am the semicolon of my sister, **[00:38:41]** who make us work in this country. **[00:38:43]** That's what invites us **[00:38:45]** to create our simple meanings, **[00:38:47]** and yet we will end up **[00:38:49]** as one American family. **[00:38:51]** E pluribus unum. **[00:38:53]** Out of many, one. **[00:38:55]** Yet. **[00:38:57]** Yet. **[00:38:59]** Yet. **[00:39:01]** Yet. **[00:39:03]** Yet. **[00:39:05]** Yet. **[00:39:07]** Yet. **[00:39:09]** Yet. **[00:39:11]** Yet. **[00:39:13]** Yet. **[00:39:15]** Yet. **[00:39:17]** Yet. **[00:39:19]** Yet. **[00:39:21]** Yet. **[00:39:23]** Yet. **[00:39:25]** Yet. **[00:39:27]** Right. **[00:39:29]** Right. **[00:39:31]** Right. **[00:39:33]** Right. **[00:39:35]** Right. **[00:39:37]** Right. **[00:39:39]** Right. **[00:39:41]** Right. **[00:39:43]** Right. **[00:39:45]** Right. **[00:39:47]** Right. **[00:39:49]** Right. **[00:39:51]** Right. **[00:39:53]** Right. **[00:39:55]** Right. **[00:39:57]** Right. **[00:39:59]** Right. **[00:40:00]** the males of that hall, and at the same time, thanks to that broadcast, many others, and actually I don't want to claim it was only because of that speech, but he actually won the election. **[00:40:11]** Let's look at the text. I said the text should be clear or the speech should be clear, and he says there, I believe we are united as one people, **[00:40:19]** if on the south side of Chicago there is a child who cannot read, then I care about that child, even if it's not my child. Notice how he always uses **[00:40:29]** simple sentences, three-clause sentences. I highly recommend, if you ever give a speech, use three-clause sentences. **[00:40:36]** He sometimes uses a bit more, but the clarity of how he says it is something that touches us internally. Of course, then he uses the phrase, **[00:40:45]** this is not liberal America, conservative America, this is the United States of America. Did you see how he uses the trio, the clarity? **[00:40:54]** And then he has the part with the basic belief, I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper. And that is what ensures this country's functioning. **[00:41:04]** Notice how he always uses one argument, then another, and concludes by drawing something important for us from it. **[00:41:11]** That clarity is what I wanted to show you in this speech. I highly recommend, when you get home, watch it again. **[00:41:18]** Notice how he works with the pace, with the pause, how he always stops and how he lets the words resonate. **[00:41:27]** For me, a great role model, and by the way, it's very interesting to watch his speeches during his term, how they weakened over time. **[00:41:38]** Also, a very interesting speech for me was when he came to Prague, I really liked it. **[00:41:44]** Jon Favreau, who wrote his speeches, also wrote the Prague one. **[00:41:50]** And I really like the comparison in how he got more and more tired. **[00:41:57]** If you look at the speeches towards the end, he definitely didn't have that energy anymore, he didn't have the drive he started with. **[00:42:05]** The main reason I wanted to show you this is the clarity of the speeches, how well structured the sentences are. **[00:42:10]** Let's look at the structures. **[00:42:13]** If you're at a wedding and want to say a speech ad hoc, someone comes up to you, taps you on the shoulder, **[00:42:21]** hey, it would be good if you said something now, I recommend this simple structure. **[00:42:25]** I see, I feel, I wish. **[00:42:27]** Ladies and gentlemen, I see that today people have come who are... **[00:42:31]** And now I will talk about the wedding so you feel like you are at a wedding. **[00:42:36]** I see people who came here for the groom Honza Mašek, came to be with him at this special moment. **[00:42:45]** And I feel this is a moment that brings some liveliness and joy to life for both him and us, **[00:42:52]** and that this is a moment we will remember together. **[00:42:55]** And I wish that we meet here again in 30 years, when Honza will be an older man sipping his cup of tea **[00:43:03]** and we can wish him again in another 30 years with his wife, whose name is Martina. **[00:43:12]** Something like that, to use. **[00:43:14]** The second structure we often use for TED Talks, **[00:43:19]** is very simplified, of course it has many additions, but it's easy to remember. **[00:43:24]** The jotropping moment, I mentioned it here before, some aha moment, **[00:43:27]** meaning people say, wow, I haven't heard this before, then there's the aha, this interests me, **[00:43:31]** I understand it, I get it, and then there's a moment we call the take away, **[00:43:35]** where people should really take something with them, **[00:43:38]** some idea, something to remember and start applying in their lives. **[00:43:44]** I always have an example for this. **[00:43:47]** Notice I didn't take it from TED Talks now, but from Kennedy's speech. **[00:43:53]** Ask not what your country can do for you, **[00:43:56]** there's the jotropic moment, my country won't do anything for me, **[00:44:00]** but ask what you can do for your country. **[00:44:04]** Aha, and at the same time it touches you, you say, **[00:44:08]** I should take something away from this, you take something with you. **[00:44:13]** For feedback, a simple structure again. **[00:44:16]** Situation, behavior, impact. **[00:44:19]** Describe the situation where you observed the other person's behavior, **[00:44:23]** how it affected you, what impact it had on you, **[00:44:26]** and what impact it also has on them or on the mutual relationship. **[00:44:30]** So again, a simple structure. **[00:44:33]** Then a structure that describes solving situations or problems. **[00:44:37]** Clearly describe the context, describe the problem itself, **[00:44:41]** what it brings and at the same time the possible solutions, **[00:44:46]** and let others either choose, give them the option to choose, **[00:44:50]** or offer one of the options yourself. **[00:44:54]** Here I thought to liven it up with a quote, **[00:44:59]** Franklin Roosevelt, 1933. **[00:45:01]** The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. **[00:45:04]** At the start of the economic crisis, when he was showing the way out, how it sounds. **[00:45:10]** Story structure, very simply, **[00:45:13]** stories can of course be told very complexly, **[00:45:16]** but a simple story structure in four steps. **[00:45:19]** At the beginning, you also need to describe the context, who the hero is, **[00:45:22]** where it takes place, etc. **[00:45:24]** Then there must be a challenge, something that pulls the hero out **[00:45:27]** from his everyday life. **[00:45:29]** Suddenly, he finds himself in something extraordinary, learns some information, **[00:45:32]** and a flood of obstacles appears before him that he must overcome. **[00:45:35]** Then, roughly, when you go to the cinema, **[00:45:38]** you watch for 50 minutes as he overcomes those obstacles, **[00:45:41]** and then there is some meaningful goal. **[00:45:44]** Here I want to emphasize that if the story has no meaningful goal, **[00:45:47]** it's better not to tell it at all. **[00:45:49]** Because watching a story about someone overcoming obstacles **[00:45:52]** and still overcoming them today, okay, I need to know, **[00:45:56]** that it has meaning, otherwise I don't want to listen. **[00:45:59]** Because we often have little meaning in our own lives, **[00:46:02]** so we need to hear a meaningful goal. **[00:46:05]** And here, if you are in a leadership position, **[00:46:08]** if you are someone who manages people, **[00:46:11]** my recommendation is to talk about those meaningful goals. **[00:46:14]** I often observe something like a 13% increase, **[00:46:18]** we achieve 20% more turnover, etc. **[00:46:23]** I don't want to go into that now. **[00:46:25]** I often miss a meaningful goal there. **[00:46:28]** How it will be better once we achieve it. **[00:46:30]** What will improve for us, specifically for specific people, **[00:46:33]** once we reach those goals, once we fulfill them, **[00:46:36]** once we perhaps overcome them. **[00:46:38]** How life will be better, what will change in our lives. **[00:46:41]** Talk about those meaningful goals, **[00:46:43]** because that is the basic DNA of a story. **[00:46:45]** A hero overcoming obstacles who doesn't reach any goal **[00:46:48]** is a completely pointless story. **[00:46:50]** There was some meaningful goal. **[00:46:52]** Here I again took from the famous quote **[00:46:55]** I can offer you nothing but blood, toil, sweat, and tears **[00:46:58]** from Vincent Churchill, who in 1940 **[00:47:01]** responded to Hitler's aggression and said, **[00:47:04]** it won't be easy. **[00:47:06]** We will have to fight, losses will be necessary, **[00:47:09]** but we will fight on land, sea, and air, **[00:47:12]** to achieve victory. **[00:47:14]** And that is a meaningful goal. **[00:47:16]** Freedom, a free country, and our shared life. **[00:47:19]** That's a meaningful goal. **[00:47:21]** Another structure I highly recommend is, **[00:47:24]** when you refer to a historical event, **[00:47:27]** or want to describe an analogous event **[00:47:30]** to highlight someone's own behavior **[00:47:33]** and bring about some change. **[00:47:35]** So describe the situation you're in, **[00:47:38]** describe the analogy, it's like, **[00:47:41]** or it's like when in the year 19... **[00:47:44]** Notice how often parents use this. **[00:47:47]** Well, my mom and I at your age, **[00:47:50]** this analogy still feels a bit stormy to me, **[00:47:53]** here the analogy, I at your age, you can clearly see it, **[00:47:56]** Three Nuts for Cinderella, if you remember the fairy tale, **[00:47:59]** how it says, I at your age. **[00:48:02]** Analogies work very well, **[00:48:05]** when you want to ensure transfer and bring about change, **[00:48:09]** so people start doing things differently. **[00:48:12]** Use analogies. **[00:48:14]** One of the good analogies is that you capture the situation well. **[00:48:18]** Because when a 16-year-old, **[00:48:21]** which is my daughter, you start using analogies, **[00:48:24]** from the 70s or 80s, **[00:48:27]** she says, Dad, it's totally different today, you don't get it at all. **[00:48:30]** So you need to understand the situation well. **[00:48:33]** I took the liberty of quoting Zelensky, **[00:48:40]** who very often uses analogies in all his speeches, **[00:48:45]** pulling out some historical event. **[00:48:48]** Here he had one for Americans. **[00:48:51]** Remember Pearl Harbor on that terrible morning of December 7, 1941. **[00:48:56]** Honza and I talked about this before we started. **[00:48:59]** I read somewhere in some newspaper headlines, **[00:49:03]** that Zelensky prepares his speeches himself. **[00:49:06]** I can't imagine that. **[00:49:08]** He never said that directly anywhere. **[00:49:11]** I assume other people write them for him, **[00:49:14]** he must have at least 8 to 10, **[00:49:16]** because it's not possible for him to write such good speeches at this pace. **[00:49:19]** What I credit with high quality is the delivery. **[00:49:21]** That's what I attribute the high quality to. **[00:49:25]** He is truly an excellent orator, **[00:49:27]** he is really capable of formulating sentences very well. **[00:49:32]** Notice how he can express himself directly for Twitter. **[00:49:37]** A concise expression that after a few months **[00:49:40]** can easily become mine. **[00:49:43]** The way he says it, we won't, when you attack us, **[00:49:47]** show our backs, but our faces. **[00:49:50]** Notice how this becomes mine, **[00:49:52]** which then doesn't fade away. **[00:49:54]** He is truly great at this, that he formulates well. **[00:49:57]** Whether you like him or not, **[00:49:59]** whether you have a pillow at home, **[00:50:00]** that you sleep on or not, **[00:50:02]** he is a great orator. **[00:50:04]** He is a great orator and has excellent preparation, **[00:50:06]** he has great practice, **[00:50:08]** and at the same time he has perfectly **[00:50:10]** written speeches. **[00:50:12]** I'll continue **[00:50:14]** with those structures. **[00:50:16]** Vision, commitment, and call to action. **[00:50:18]** If you want to commit to something, **[00:50:20]** and if you want to get people on board with some, **[00:50:22]** some vision you believe in, **[00:50:24]** I highly recommend this structure. **[00:50:26]** Describe how it will look in two years, **[00:50:28]** two or three years, **[00:50:30]** say, I personally will commit to it, **[00:50:32]** I will personally do my best for it, **[00:50:34]** and invite people to act. **[00:50:36]** This structure is overlooked in the Czech Republic, **[00:50:38]** and I see it, for example, in politics **[00:50:40]** as desperately missing. **[00:50:42]** Desperately missing. There is always some vision **[00:50:44]** for 2025, **[00:50:46]** but then no commitment, **[00:50:48]** no one wants to do it, **[00:50:50]** and then there is a call to action, you have to do it, **[00:50:52]** now we will introduce some measures, and so on. **[00:50:54]** Here I would like **[00:50:56]** introduce a quote **[00:50:58]** from Martin Luther King about how, **[00:51:00]** my four little children will one day live in a country **[00:51:02]** where they will not be judged **[00:51:04]** by the color of their skin but by the quality of their character. **[00:51:06]** And notice, **[00:51:08]** there is a vision there, **[00:51:10]** and throughout his life **[00:51:12]** and even his death, there was a commitment **[00:51:14]** to what he intended **[00:51:16]** and did, and at the same time **[00:51:18]** you see that somewhere in that **[00:51:20]** there is actually a call to action, **[00:51:22]** it’s not explicitly stated, **[00:51:24]** we must do something about it. **[00:51:26]** If you know, just two days ago **[00:51:28]** there was another shooting **[00:51:30]** in Buffalo and ten **[00:51:32]** dead, mostly Black, **[00:51:34]** residents. And you think, **[00:51:36]** hmm, it looks like this is from 1963, **[00:51:38]** that it has nothing to say anymore. **[00:51:40]** The opposite is true. **[00:51:42]** Let's move on to the persuasion process. **[00:51:44]** That was one of the tasks, **[00:51:46]** to make sure it appears there. **[00:51:48]** And I already mentioned here a bit, **[00:51:50]** that persuading people, **[00:51:52]** who raise flags and march and display planes, **[00:51:54]** is actually **[00:51:56]** very hard for them to listen to you, **[00:51:58]** because you take away something from them that **[00:52:00]** we have as some kind of **[00:52:02]** cognitive frame, like a **[00:52:04]** belief system in which we operate, **[00:52:06]** things we believe in. Simply every day **[00:52:08]** you do something and believe it’s right, **[00:52:10]** that you brush your teeth, that you eat or don’t eat meat, **[00:52:12]** that you go to work **[00:52:14]** or don’t go to work, pay off mortgages **[00:52:16]** or you don't pay mortgages. It's very important for us **[00:52:18]** to keep them **[00:52:20]** in the integrity **[00:52:22]** of our personality. **[00:52:24]** However, the strongest **[00:52:26]** thing that convinces us **[00:52:28]** is self-talk. **[00:52:30]** Does anyone talk to themselves? **[00:52:32]** Raise your hand. **[00:52:34]** You do. Most people talk dialogically. **[00:52:36]** That means they address themselves **[00:52:38]** in the second person singular. **[00:52:40]** You don't do that. **[00:52:42]** Then there are people who speak in plural. **[00:52:44]** Martin, we did well. **[00:52:48]** Or Martin, **[00:52:50]** we did well. **[00:52:52]** And then there are people who **[00:52:54]** don't have this classic self-talk **[00:52:56]** and just name things, **[00:52:58]** they are in dialogue, **[00:53:00]** but don't address the second person. **[00:53:02]** How about you? Do you talk **[00:53:04]** to someone specific? **[00:53:08]** Not at all? Not at all. **[00:53:10]** Okay. **[00:53:14]** To yourself. **[00:53:16]** It was just mentioned for online viewers, **[00:53:18]** that you talk to someone, **[00:53:20]** but to yourself. Yes, I have this **[00:53:22]** funny bon mot for that. **[00:53:24]** Sometimes I catch myself talking alone **[00:53:26]** and then we both laugh about it. **[00:53:28]** And it's a nice example that **[00:53:30]** we are not internally divided. **[00:53:34]** Thanks to this inner dialogue, **[00:53:36]** we organize our thoughts, we sort them out **[00:53:38]** and at the same time convince ourselves. **[00:53:40]** To buy or not to buy. **[00:53:44]** To do or not to do. To go or not to go. **[00:53:46]** And in that dialogue, we actually have a strongly convincing **[00:53:48]** character. Sometimes we listen, **[00:53:50]** often we don't. **[00:53:52]** But it's interesting to watch these internal **[00:53:54]** dialogues. By the way, **[00:53:56]** Ivan Vyskočil, **[00:53:58]** who founded the department of authorial creation **[00:54:00]** at the theatre faculty, **[00:54:02]** developed exactly this. **[00:54:04]** That means a person stood in front of others and developed **[00:54:06]** the internal dialogue so you could watch it. **[00:54:08]** And it's really fascinating to observe. **[00:54:10]** That convincing of others, **[00:54:12]** means we don't convince ourselves, but we convince others. **[00:54:14]** The first thing that **[00:54:16]** helps is a strong experience. People **[00:54:18]** who go through something extraordinary **[00:54:20]** in their life are able **[00:54:22]** to restructure their former **[00:54:24]** system and based on that start **[00:54:26]** to act very differently. **[00:54:28]** Or these are extreme situations. **[00:54:30]** You get into a car accident **[00:54:32]** or, God forbid, a tornado. **[00:54:34]** It destroys your house **[00:54:36]** or, say, you experience **[00:54:38]** a car accident and suddenly **[00:54:40]** based on that, until then **[00:54:42]** a complete atheist, you suddenly change **[00:54:44]** and say, there is a God, **[00:54:46]** He saved me, I had an experience **[00:54:48]** of eternal life or some light. **[00:54:50]** And people start accepting things **[00:54:52]** that a month ago, even a day ago, **[00:54:54]** they denied, **[00:54:56]** they suddenly accept them. **[00:54:58]** Extreme situations, strong experiences **[00:55:00]** help people **[00:55:02]** change their perspective on things. **[00:55:04]** The next point is **[00:55:06]** identification, whether **[00:55:08]** with a personality, group, or some kind of role model. **[00:55:10]** Here I **[00:55:12]** experienced the 80s, **[00:55:14]** and I hope you recognize **[00:55:16]** the band Depeche Mode. **[00:55:18]** I remember my black **[00:55:20]** jacket that I had. **[00:55:22]** I wanted to look exactly like them. **[00:55:24]** That's the better option. **[00:55:26]** Then you have people who march **[00:55:28]** in squares, raise their right hand, **[00:55:30]** and shout something. **[00:55:32]** And there you also have strong **[00:55:34]** identification. We are now seeing this **[00:55:36]** live in Russia. We can **[00:55:38]** observe how that **[00:55:40]** identification plus media manipulation **[00:55:42]** creates in people **[00:55:44]** a conviction. Even though the reality is completely different, **[00:55:46]** they are able to claim the exact **[00:55:48]** opposite. Another **[00:55:50]** way to change **[00:55:52]** people's beliefs is **[00:55:54]** cognitive framing. That you are able to look at things **[00:55:56]** from different angles. **[00:55:58]** Yogurt can have 20% fat **[00:56:00]** or also 80% **[00:56:02]** fat-free. **[00:56:04]** That means **[00:56:06]** you actually frame the situation **[00:56:08]** in a new context. **[00:56:10]** In this regard, **[00:56:12]** it often works like **[00:56:14]** a therapy session, where you **[00:56:16]** bring a new frame to the situation, **[00:56:18]** and the person gains a new perspective and is able to **[00:56:20]** change their beliefs. **[00:56:22]** I have one example here, **[00:56:24]** which is not therapeutic, **[00:56:26]** but nicely maps how it is possible **[00:56:28]** to frame a situation **[00:56:30]** for the people who observe it. **[00:56:32]** Let's take a look at it. **[00:56:56]** That's for me. **[00:57:00]** I would have Bob Hawk. **[00:57:01]** Dave Hughes. **[00:57:02]** Barry Humphrey. **[00:57:03]** Jimi Hendrix. **[00:57:04]** People who are greater **[00:57:06]** than Nelson Mandela. **[00:57:10]** I don't know what it's called. **[00:57:12]** I'm afraid. **[00:57:14]** If you could go with someone **[00:57:16]** in the world, who would you choose? **[00:57:18]** Maybe the whole family, **[00:57:20]** the whole important family. **[00:57:22]** This one and this one. **[00:57:25]** This one and this one. **[00:57:27]** Can it be the whole family? **[00:57:29]** Can it be family? **[00:57:31]** We can talk about it. **[00:57:33]** We talk about what school is like. **[00:57:35]** We ask this one and this one how their day was. **[00:57:38]** Family. **[00:57:40]** Yes, this one and this one. **[00:57:42]** Family. **[00:57:44]** Who would we want to go with us in the morning? **[00:57:46]** We just want to be **[00:57:48]** with us while eating. **[00:57:50]** Which is really beautiful. **[00:57:53]** Everyone sees us. **[00:57:55]** And I'm going to go. **[00:57:57]** Yes. **[00:57:58]** That's some kind of answer for me. **[00:58:00]** Yes. **[00:58:09]** What are we going to do in the morning? **[00:58:22]** Here is that cognitive framing. **[00:58:24]** Whenever I'm very angry at my daughters, **[00:58:27]** So I'll play this video. **[00:58:29]** And suddenly I reframe it and say to myself, **[00:58:31]** aaaaaa. **[00:58:33]** I don't know if you understood the question at the beginning, **[00:58:35]** who would you invite to dinner, **[00:58:37]** anyone in the world, **[00:58:39]** and the parents listed Kim Kardashian, etc. **[00:58:41]** Then the kids came and said, **[00:58:43]** parents, who else? **[00:58:45]** We want to be a family. **[00:58:47]** And that's actually the same question, **[00:58:49]** and suddenly reframing the perception, **[00:58:51]** what it can mean to a person. **[00:58:53]** I'm getting to the last part. **[00:58:55]** And part of persuasion **[00:58:57]** is argumentation. **[00:58:59]** When we talk about the power of words, **[00:59:01]** what is very often given, **[00:59:03]** as an example, **[00:59:05]** how to persuade others, **[00:59:07]** is argumentation. **[00:59:09]** And I want to give you, again, as I gave structures, **[00:59:11]** a few simple types, **[00:59:13]** how to persuade others **[00:59:15]** through arguments. **[00:59:17]** Create space for trust. **[00:59:19]** A closed person won't let you into their mind. **[00:59:21]** You need to **[00:59:23]** create a space of trust, **[00:59:25]** so they even want to be persuaded. **[00:59:27]** Of course, you can persuade by manipulation, **[00:59:29]** you can persuade by brute force, **[00:59:31]** you can persuade by starving people, **[00:59:33]** you can lock them somewhere **[00:59:35]** and wake them up every two hours, **[00:59:37]** so they can't sleep. **[00:59:39]** These days, roughly speaking, **[00:59:41]** people are willing to sign anything, anytime, to anyone, **[00:59:43]** but if you want to do it humanely, **[00:59:45]** you need to build trust. **[00:59:47]** Secondly, it is necessary **[00:59:49]** to focus on just one change. **[00:59:51]** Don't try to convince **[00:59:53]** everyone of everything all at once. **[00:59:55]** Thirdly. Start where **[00:59:57]** people understand you. **[00:59:59]** You need more of what people know. I once wrote my thesis on Jesuit theater, **[01:00:00]** because I studied at the theater faculty. Wherever the Jesuits went, the first thing they did for two years **[01:00:07]** was learn the language. Wherever they went, to any mission, they learned the language. **[01:00:13]** So understand the context of other people, listen, ask questions, and only when you understand, **[01:00:18]** start persuading there. And related to that, ask more than argue, **[01:00:24]** because arguments are rational justifications of your position or claims, **[01:00:30]** but they might not resonate at all with the other side, so often, **[01:00:36]** questions are more important for persuasion. **[01:00:41]** Create space. We've already talked about this, the knowledge gap means **[01:00:45]** a question really arises in the mind of the person being persuaded about how they could fill this gap. **[01:00:49]** They are interested, it benefits them, I refer again to Harari, **[01:00:55]** beneficial information, new information, urgent information, or something threatening, **[01:00:59]** so create that gap so they say, I need to know this. **[01:01:04]** Sixth, explain, compare, and shed light into the darkness. **[01:01:09]** Here, and of course don't play the savior, but whenever you see **[01:01:14]** people struggling, or being lost in understanding, or thinking something **[01:01:19]** that from your perspective needs clarification, do it. **[01:01:25]** And always doubt a little whether you are right, **[01:01:30]** because I see many people convincing others of their truth and getting stuck in a dead end. **[01:01:34]** Emphasize benefits or risks. **[01:01:41]** By the way, I learned this with my daughters, **[01:01:43]** that whenever I argued, it was necessary **[01:01:46]** to explicitly emphasize the benefits it would have for them. **[01:01:49]** If I didn't, they weren't interested. **[01:01:53]** And now, argumentation. **[01:01:57]** Argumentation is reasoning or persuading using reasons and evidence, **[01:01:59]** which strongly support or refute a claim, **[01:02:03]** meaning someone asserts something. **[01:02:07]** So I thought it was necessary to keep it simple, **[01:02:08]** because you could lecture about argumentation for a long time. **[01:02:12]** And I want to show you four basic principles of argumentation. **[01:02:16]** The first is deduction. **[01:02:20]** And here I have it outlined. **[01:02:23]** Deduction means deriving a specific case from a general one. **[01:02:27]** So, for example, if the constitution guarantees all of us, **[01:02:30]** as we sit here, freedom of religion, **[01:02:34]** then at that moment Jan Mašek also has freedom of religion. **[01:02:37]** This means a specific example of that person. **[01:02:39]** If it applies to the whole, it must apply to him as well. **[01:02:42]** Induction is the opposite: you have many individual cases **[01:02:44]** and you create a general conclusion from them. **[01:02:46]** For example, 63% of Czechs think something. **[01:02:49]** You ask a thousand respondents somewhere on the street **[01:02:52]** and draw a general conclusion from that. **[01:02:54]** The third example or principle is analogy. **[01:02:58]** You compare two things and remember, **[01:03:00]** as we talked about analogy in the context of change, **[01:03:03]** when you want to achieve change. **[01:03:05]** You use, for example, historical analogies **[01:03:07]** or analogies from other companies **[01:03:09]** you have worked for in the past. **[01:03:12]** We have a Czech saying, **[01:03:14]** that you must not mix pears with apples. **[01:03:16]** This applies perfectly here for analogy, **[01:03:19]** carved in golden letters. **[01:03:21]** That means you must compare two comparable things. **[01:03:24]** And causality, the last principle, **[01:03:27]** where there is smoke, there is fire. **[01:03:29]** Look for causes and effects. **[01:03:32]** When you claim something works a certain way, **[01:03:34]** look for the reasons why it is so, **[01:03:36]** or the consequences of it working, **[01:03:38]** what it actually brings. **[01:03:40]** I took the liberty here, **[01:03:42]** it will be a bit controversial, **[01:03:44]** but I thought I'd go for it. **[01:03:47]** Home office increases work performance. **[01:03:50]** I heard many arguments before COVID, **[01:03:53]** that it was nonsense, **[01:03:55]** that many people actually slack off on home office and so on. **[01:03:58]** On the contrary, during COVID I heard from managers, **[01:04:01]** that home office was great, excellent, **[01:04:03]** our performance grew even though people were stuck at home. **[01:04:06]** And now there's a need to return to the offices again, **[01:04:09]** so the same management says again, **[01:04:11]** no, home office is no longer **[01:04:13]** what truly motivates people **[01:04:15]** and gives them space for higher performance, **[01:04:17]** we need to return to the offices. **[01:04:19]** So I took the liberty of giving a few examples here. **[01:04:21]** First, if you claim that home office increases performance, **[01:04:24]** the argument for it is performance, **[01:04:26]** which is not measured by hours in the office, **[01:04:28]** but by actual results. **[01:04:30]** You can argue this way. **[01:04:32]** And you say, I want to be at home. **[01:04:34]** Or against. **[01:04:36]** Home is generally seen as a place of rest, **[01:04:38]** so we perform worse there. **[01:04:40]** People naturally slack off at home. **[01:04:42]** Using the inductive principle of argumentation, **[01:04:46]** during the pandemic employees learned to properly use **[01:04:49]** all those remote communication tools, **[01:04:52]** organize their time independently, **[01:04:54]** and separate work and free time. **[01:04:57]** So we say, yes, it increases performance, **[01:04:59]** we know how to do it, we learned it during the pandemic. **[01:05:02]** But if you want to argue against, **[01:05:04]** you say no, working at home **[01:05:08]** can be distracted by practically anything, dog, dishwasher, everything else, **[01:05:11]** so it's nonsense, let's go back to the offices. **[01:05:14]** I'm trying to show you both pros and cons. **[01:05:16]** Because you can always argue both for and against. **[01:05:21]** Analogy. Technology allows us **[01:05:23]** remote collaboration at the same level **[01:05:25]** as meeting in offices. **[01:05:27]** So you compare, saying, look, it’s basically the same, **[01:05:29]** today we see each other through all these tools. **[01:05:31]** Or this year came news from American companies, **[01:05:34]** meaning you refer analogically **[01:05:37]** to some authority and say Apple, Google, and Microsoft **[01:05:40]** are basically canceling widespread home office **[01:05:43]** and calling for a return to offices, which I can confirm, **[01:05:45]** because a good friend of mine just returned **[01:05:48]** to America because he works at Microsoft. **[01:05:51]** And then causality. If a person **[01:05:54]** is not constantly interrupted by colleagues, **[01:05:57]** you say, let's stay home, home office increases productivity, **[01:06:00]** so we are more productive. If you're constantly interrupted, can I for a moment, **[01:06:03]** yeah, this or that, it doesn't distract you from your performance, **[01:06:06]** so you're more productive. Or the causality is **[01:06:09]** against it: working together motivates each other **[01:06:12]** to higher performance, we'll see in the offices **[01:06:15]** how we really work there, so it's time to cancel home office **[01:06:18]** and return to the offices. I wanted to show you **[01:06:21]** how you can use these four simple principles **[01:06:24]** for your argumentation and how it can help you **[01:06:27]** when convincing others to be able **[01:06:30]** to accept your position, your claim, **[01:06:33]** for example, returning to the offices. **[01:06:36]** However, whenever you argue, **[01:06:39]** prepare for tough questions. **[01:06:42]** People always have questions, they always want to dispute you, **[01:06:45]** and here I come to the conclusion with my favorite analogy. **[01:06:50]** Do you know who this is? **[01:06:53]** Mike Tyson. **[01:06:56]** A boxer who stayed at the top for an incredible, **[01:06:59]** and now I don't want to exaggerate the years, 10-12 years. **[01:07:02]** They asked him how it was possible to stay at the top so long, **[01:07:07]** in a time when we have video. **[01:07:10]** Anyone can watch any of his fights, **[01:07:13]** analyze how he fights **[01:07:16]** or how he boxes. **[01:07:18]** Based on that, set a strategy and win. **[01:07:21]** And Mike Tyson says, everyone has a strategy, **[01:07:24]** until they get punched in the face. **[01:07:27]** And that's the moment when you have great arguments prepared, **[01:07:31]** you have a perfectly prepared strategy to convince someone, **[01:07:35]** but they ask you a question that makes you freeze. **[01:07:38]** They ask you a question that totally catches you off guard. **[01:07:41]** My advice is, when you want to convince someone **[01:07:44]** and want your words to be strong, **[01:07:47]** bring someone you trust along. **[01:07:49]** No matter how bad, difficult, or annoying the questions you get asked are, **[01:07:52]** try to answer them. **[01:07:54]** And feel free to try three times if it matters to you. **[01:07:57]** Because that's the moment when you can't **[01:08:01]** answer a question or objection and you lose trust. **[01:08:04]** Remember I said that when you want to persuade, **[01:08:07]** you need to create space for trust, **[01:08:09]** and you immediately lose that space. **[01:08:12]** And now just a reaction to some objection. **[01:08:15]** For me, it's always worth responding empathetically at the start. **[01:08:19]** I understand why you say that, I get your question, **[01:08:22]** if I were you, I'd ask the same, I understand, **[01:08:25]** it's important to me just like it is to you. **[01:08:27]** Clarify what the person is really asking, **[01:08:30]** because sometimes objections are, as Edward de Bono mentioned somewhere, **[01:08:34]** killing phrases. **[01:08:37]** You can't do that according to internal guidelines. **[01:08:40]** That was tried before, but it didn't work. **[01:08:42]** I think that's complete nonsense, **[01:08:44]** or a really killer phrase is **[01:08:46]** "I don't feel that way." **[01:08:48]** So it's good to say, yes, I understand your feelings, **[01:08:51]** you can perceive it that way. **[01:08:53]** Clarify exactly what you don't feel about it, **[01:08:55]** so I can grasp it somehow. **[01:08:57]** That's where there's room for argument, **[01:08:59]** and believe me, in the end, you and the person understand each other, **[01:09:02]** you know you wanted to say the same thing. **[01:09:06]** And people are best persuaded through stories, **[01:09:12]** where they experience something. **[01:09:14]** But that's for later, dear children. **[01:09:16]** I'll talk about that next time, **[01:09:18]** because with stories we'd get into **[01:09:20]** another huge chapter. **[01:09:23]** And thank you very much for your attention. **[01:09:26]** And if any of you want this presentation, **[01:09:29]** which I used here, I'll gladly send it to you. **[01:09:31]** If we know each other on LinkedIn, I'll send it to you. **[01:09:34]** And if we don't know each other on LinkedIn, let's connect, **[01:09:36]** and I'll send it to you anyway. **[01:09:38]** Honza, that's all I wanted to say. **[01:09:40]** So thanks, thanks, thanks. **[01:09:42]** Thanks. **[01:10:00]** plan how you will create that aha moment, that jaw-dropping moment? **[01:10:08]** The first thing is to make sure someone cares. **[01:10:12]** So my advice is to verify that someone is interested. **[01:10:16]** The jaw-dropping moment happens when people say, **[01:10:19]** wow, I didn’t know that, this is really something special. **[01:10:23]** So it’s good, before you present somewhere, **[01:10:26]** whether at a presentation or a conference, **[01:10:28]** to test it on a sample of at least ten people. **[01:10:31]** Does it interest anyone, did it really get someone to that moment, **[01:10:34]** where they say, wow, this is interesting, so it’s worth trying. **[01:10:38]** Because it’s like a joke, the moment **[01:10:41]** you feel it’s a really good joke, **[01:10:44]** and then you tell it somewhere completely inappropriate, **[01:10:47]** or you offend part of the audience, **[01:10:50]** it’s very hard to recover from that. **[01:10:53]** So even with the jaw-dropping moment, or the moment **[01:10:56]** when you want to grab attention, sometimes called an attention catcher, **[01:11:00]** to catch people’s attention, to pull them in and make them say, **[01:11:04]** this is interesting, I want to see this. **[01:11:07]** To give concrete examples, it’s usually a big number, **[01:11:11]** an interesting visual, something that amazes people, **[01:11:19]** and also a moment they didn’t expect. **[01:11:22]** There’s a famous video where Bill Gates at TED Talks, **[01:11:26]** talks about malaria and says mosquitoes transmit malaria. **[01:11:32]** He has a little plastic container, unscrews it and says, **[01:11:35]** let’s let a few mosquitoes fly around here, why should only poor people have that experience? **[01:11:40]** And now in the first five rows of people who paid, I don’t know, **[01:11:45]** $12,000 for the ticket, the mosquitoes started flying at them. **[01:11:50]** That’s a show-dropping moment. **[01:11:54]** I actually want to ask, how does the speaker preparation go? **[01:12:00]** You’ve prepared several, I know that, I come to you, so what will you do with me? **[01:12:04]** First, I ask you what you want to say. If you have something to say. **[01:12:13]** Then I let you talk about it for three minutes. **[01:12:17]** Because in three minutes you can really fit an important idea, **[01:12:21]** and then we’ll look for a structure that suits you, **[01:12:25]** for your topic, what you want to talk about. **[01:12:27]** So let’s say you’re Dana Drábová and you’re talking about nuclear energy, **[01:12:33]** So we will look for all those touchpoints and moments that can be talked about, **[01:12:38]** that are at the same time sufficiently understandable, that overcome the gap **[01:12:41]** between you and the audience, and at the same time are something important for them to take away. **[01:12:45]** I'm a big fan of having a real takeaway, **[01:12:49]** that I take something from it and say, this is beneficial for me. **[01:12:53]** How long does it take? **[01:12:55]** The preparation. It varies individually. Experienced speakers, **[01:12:59]** of course, don't need as much time, and then there are people who work on it, **[01:13:03]** I estimate about 100 hours. **[01:13:05]** 100 hours? **[01:13:06]** 100 hours. Not with me, if I did nothing else, **[01:13:10]** but they train and rehearse individually, **[01:13:14]** preparing for it three months in advance. **[01:13:17]** That's actually my question, how many such speeches and presentations, **[01:13:22]** because I consider that a presentation doesn't have to be just in front of a hundred people, **[01:13:25]** it can be in front of your team, and so on. **[01:13:28]** How many can I actually deliver like this, because I feel, **[01:13:33]** that it's mainly about the preparation. **[01:13:36]** So how is it? Is it one per week or one per month, **[01:13:41]** or can I deliver a William Wallace speech every day, **[01:13:44]** to get people shouting? **[01:13:45]** Ten thousand hours. **[01:13:46]** Ten thousand hours. **[01:13:48]** You need to speak in front of people. **[01:13:50]** And then it's easy. **[01:13:52]** Now I'm exaggerating a bit, you feel it too, right? **[01:13:54]** But yes, that's how it is. **[01:13:56]** That mastery, you probably read about it somewhere, Malcolm Gladwell **[01:13:59]** also talks about it, that mastery comes around **[01:14:02]** those ten thousand hours. **[01:14:04]** And I think it doesn't necessarily have to be standing in front of people, **[01:14:08]** but that you train and rehearse. **[01:14:11]** I always wanted to use this question. **[01:14:14]** What's the difference between quality speaking and marketing? **[01:14:22]** I understand where you're going, Honza. **[01:14:25]** Can I ask you specifically? **[01:14:27]** Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. **[01:14:32]** It's marketing. **[01:14:34]** To some extent. **[01:14:36]** Ten years ago, I was cringing when... **[01:14:40]** I didn't know that. **[01:14:42]** When someone said, hey, Mr. Vaskeř, you have to speak here **[01:14:46]** and you have to show this and you have to do something... **[01:14:49]** I realized that we live in a time when attention catchers **[01:14:53]** just have to be there, no matter what you're doing... **[01:14:57]** I see Andreja Bohačikova, you're doing something beneficial **[01:15:01]** for mothers on maternity leave... **[01:15:03]** Well, leave, or rather not really leave, right? **[01:15:06]** But you're doing something beneficial, let's say for some non-achievers. **[01:15:10]** It's the same when someone needs to promote their work **[01:15:14]** within an organization, which by the way... **[01:15:17]** I have a very interesting insight from McKenzie, **[01:15:20]** that during COVID there were no promotions or raises **[01:15:24]** and at the same time people were not visible. **[01:15:28]** And I recently met several companies, I won't name them, **[01:15:32]** but they say it's important for people to be visible again, **[01:15:36]** it's called visibility within the organization, **[01:15:39]** which means being able to sell your work somewhere, **[01:15:42]** so that someone notices that you're doing something. **[01:15:45]** And it's not enough just to do it, but also... **[01:15:48]** We live in a time when you need to make it visible. **[01:15:51]** Well, I'm actually reading the book Quiet now **[01:15:54]** and it's a fascinating insight into the society **[01:16:00]** we live in, which is very loud **[01:16:02]** and actually selling your work is necessary there. **[01:16:05]** And then there's the huge wealth of the introverted world, **[01:16:09]** which is often far, far higher quality **[01:16:12]** and it somewhat relates to the thinking fast and slow. **[01:16:16]** So I just want to ask, **[01:16:20]** at a time when people lose attention **[01:16:24]** and we're stuck with fifteen-second shots **[01:16:29]** and swiping around, is it really about just releasing mosquitoes **[01:16:33]** or is there something else you'd recommend? **[01:16:36]** Look, I have this dividing line, **[01:16:39]** if you're saving lives, you need to shout. **[01:16:43]** That means, when we talked here before about Zelensky, **[01:16:49]** if you save tens, hundreds, thousands of lives, **[01:16:53]** you need to simplify the message enough to fit into Twitter. **[01:16:57]** It needs to be very loud. **[01:17:00]** You need to use analogies that shake people. **[01:17:03]** It's simply necessary. **[01:17:05]** And at the same time, I'm a shallow person, I realize that. **[01:17:08]** I'm extroverted, I often perform in front of people, **[01:17:11]** talk a lot with people, and at the same time, I realize my shallowness, **[01:17:15]** that I have introverts around me who have much more interesting lives. **[01:17:19]** I was sometimes sad that I didn't have that depth. **[01:17:22]** And I accepted it and told myself, **[01:17:25]** okay, fine, so I accept this world of mine and my fate **[01:17:28]** or my mindset as it is. **[01:17:31]** For me, I've been doing improvisational theater for over 20 years, **[01:17:34]** and I find it interesting to create new ideas **[01:17:37]** and actually connect with people and collaborate. **[01:17:41]** For me, that's simply the idea of paradise. **[01:17:44]** I often dream that I'm somewhere on a hill, **[01:17:49]** a group of people is walking, pleasant music is playing, **[01:17:52]** we have banners, branches, a very pleasant wind is blowing, **[01:17:55]** and we are all there as one, together. **[01:17:58]** That's a dream I often have. **[01:18:01]** And I see myself there somewhere. **[01:18:03]** Can we imagine that your dream is to sit somewhere alone? **[01:18:06]** No, you don't. **[01:18:09]** I don't. **[01:18:13]** Interesting question from Lenka. **[01:18:15]** What do you think went wrong with the argumentation **[01:18:18]** during the covid situation that divided society so much? **[01:18:21]** I think at the beginning it should have been clearly explained, **[01:18:24]** what this is all about. **[01:18:26]** Whether you listened, I don't want to name specifics now. **[01:18:30]** You know, for example, dentists appeared, **[01:18:33]** who knew exactly what covid was. **[01:18:35]** Then someone from a completely different field appeared, **[01:18:38]** who also knew exactly what covid was. **[01:18:40]** Back then, the government should have created **[01:18:43]** some kind of brain trust and communicated much more uniformly. **[01:18:47]** What we are facing, what the consequences are, **[01:18:49]** and what needs to be done. **[01:18:51]** If you remember, in the first weeks, **[01:18:53]** there was no unified opinion at all on whether to wear a mask or not, **[01:18:55]** no matter how it looked. **[01:18:59]** Petr Ludvík took the heat. **[01:19:01]** He got a complete shitstorm, **[01:19:03]** about whether to wear a mask or not. **[01:19:05]** And so on. **[01:19:07]** There should have been much clearer communication **[01:19:09]** and more explanation so people wouldn't be afraid of flashes, **[01:19:12]** but would understand what we are facing. **[01:19:17]** I'll jump elsewhere. **[01:19:19]** But it's important, I also thought, **[01:19:21]** that it would be mentioned, **[01:19:23]** how to overcome stage fright before a presentation, **[01:19:25]** asks Roman. **[01:19:27]** You wanted it to be mentioned, **[01:19:29]** how to overcome stage fright. **[01:19:31]** I feel like I talk about it all the time somewhere, **[01:19:33]** so I thought I wouldn't talk about it. **[01:19:35]** Alright. **[01:19:37]** Very simply. **[01:19:39]** There are three basic fears **[01:19:41]** that take away our ability **[01:19:43]** to be relaxed and speak in front of people. **[01:19:45]** The first is that many people are looking at you **[01:19:47]** and staring right at you. **[01:19:49]** Historically, we don't have a good experience with that, **[01:19:51]** because when many pairs of eyes watched you ten thousand years ago, **[01:19:53]** it usually ended like this. **[01:19:55]** You were eaten, assimilated, **[01:19:57]** or you had to talk a lot, **[01:19:59]** or run away quickly. So my first advice is to win over the audience, and a good friend of mine, **[01:20:00]** who won the European Toastmasters, said when you see hungry eyes, feed them, **[01:20:07]** give them what they need to calm down. So have something valuable, **[01:20:14]** don't perform nonsense, have something to feed the audience. That's the first thing. **[01:20:20]** I observe that people who really know what they want to say, are well prepared, **[01:20:25]** prepared with structure and able to deliver it, so they are much less nervous. **[01:20:29]** The second fear is that we are afraid of failure. We fear failing in front of so many people, **[01:20:34]** so prepare for it. Did you notice, I had a presentation today, **[01:20:40]** Honza said, you have about 100 slides, how will you manage? I write everything in the slides, **[01:20:43]** I don't remember anything anymore. I've spoken so much that I don't remember anything at all, **[01:20:48]** so I have everything in the slides and switch from slide to slide. **[01:20:56]** And it's not because of you, it's because of me, so I know what to say. **[01:20:59]** So it's good to prevent that failure and have the information there. **[01:21:04]** My recommendation is to have few messages on slides, rather many slides, **[01:21:08]** than one where you can't make sense of it. I often see people don't even understand **[01:21:13]** what they wrote there themselves, so be clear. **[01:21:17]** The third fear we have is the fear of rejection, that the audience will reject you. **[01:21:22]** So my advice is to engage them right at the start with a question, **[01:21:26]** show the benefit, tell them why they should listen, **[01:21:29]** that they are not there for nothing, we actually fear most **[01:21:32]** that we'll sit somewhere for an hour and it will be pointless. **[01:21:35]** So reassure them they are in the right place, win them over **[01:21:38]** and that will reduce your inner stage fright. **[01:21:40]** And then there’s breathing and so on, but that’s for another time. **[01:21:43]** Thank you. Vítek is asking right from the poor horse. **[01:21:47]** How to breathe? **[01:21:48]** No, no, how to stop a boring speaker, for example a colleague from the office **[01:21:52]** who has been talking for four minutes and it’s still not engaging, **[01:21:55]** or there’s no clear reason why he’s talking. **[01:21:57]** Replace the colleague, I see no other solution. **[01:22:00]** By the way, sometimes at conferences we use the so-called hug manager, **[01:22:05]** come on Honza, you’re speaking and it’s terribly boring, **[01:22:11]** and let’s say Honza is unstoppable, so the hug manager comes **[01:22:14]** and hugs the person and simply leads him off the stage. **[01:22:17]** It’s like a stick that pulls you out. **[01:22:22]** Because sometimes it doesn’t help, the person is unstoppable, **[01:22:25]** so if the colleague, what’s his name, Filip? **[01:22:28]** No, no, Vítek is asking, but Vítek is asking. **[01:22:30]** So Vítek, first, hug the colleague, second, if that doesn’t help, **[01:22:34]** replace him, I’m joking a bit, but yes, **[01:22:39]** you need to give that person feedback. **[01:22:42]** Yeah, I thought there are some team cards, **[01:22:45]** like a red card, meaning that’s enough. **[01:22:49]** Do you understand why you have a fifth flight? **[01:22:52]** Where is the origin of your unusual Czech surname? **[01:22:56]** I already promised I won’t keep telling it, **[01:22:59]** so if you want to hear it, come individually, **[01:23:02]** I’ll gladly tell you. **[01:23:08]** One hour. **[01:23:11]** That was the story, right, which, **[01:23:15]** so I understand, I understand. **[01:23:18]** Alright, Martin, thank you very much, it was pleasant, great. **[01:23:22]** And I believe our ability to convey ideas will improve, **[01:23:27]** because I actually invited you here for that reason, **[01:23:30]** Martin, to frame it, you basically said **[01:23:33]** that a person's opinion can change precisely by **[01:23:36]** experiencing something powerful, or through a strong speech, **[01:23:41]** or by identifying with someone, **[01:23:43]** so these are one of three ways you can actually move people forward **[01:23:46]** around you, so I wouldn't underestimate it. **[01:23:49]** And thank you very much for giving us such a great guide, Martin, **[01:23:51]** so thanks again. **[01:23:53]** Thank you too, thank you. **[01:24:01]** Okay, I'll try to move on. **[01:24:07]** Feedback is very important to us, **[01:24:10]** if you could take your mobile phone and vote for us, **[01:24:14]** either by stars if you liked it, **[01:24:19]** five stars being the best, **[01:24:22]** one the worst, or three words **[01:24:25]** that come to mind related to **[01:24:27]** when Martin was speaking, that would be really nice for us. **[01:24:31]** And thank you in advance. **[01:24:33]** Maybe we'll check Slido right away, **[01:24:35]** to see if anyone has voted yet, probably not, **[01:24:38]** so we'll continue. **[01:24:41]** Because I like to think about things, **[01:24:46]** and I recommend it to you too, **[01:24:48]** and that Brain&Breakfast is not just based **[01:24:50]** on the lecture itself, **[01:24:52]** but also on talking with someone about those things, **[01:24:55]** so I highly recommend, if you're now somewhere in a group, **[01:24:58]** whether you're in a library or at work, **[01:25:01]** try to spend a few words on what it brought you, **[01:25:03]** what you agree with, **[01:25:05]** what the main aha moments were. **[01:25:07]** Of course, you can fill it out in the form, **[01:25:10]** which you can download from the website, **[01:25:12]** or directly in Red Button EDU. **[01:25:14]** Under the video are exactly these questions. **[01:25:18]** And we decided **[01:25:20]** to institutionalize it a bit, **[01:25:24]** so we created something we call **[01:25:26]** Brain and Breakfast Digestive. **[01:25:27]** It's basically a kind of gathering, **[01:25:29]** where besides the main guest, **[01:25:32]** I invite a few other people, **[01:25:34]** who are involved with the topic. **[01:25:36]** That means on May 27th at 2 PM, **[01:25:39]** you can join us on the Zoom platform. **[01:25:42]** Joining us will be Jozef Holí, **[01:25:44]** who will look at the power of words. **[01:25:46]** From the perspective of disinformation, we also hosted him **[01:25:49]** in Brain and Breakfast. **[01:25:51]** He works on network channels. **[01:25:52]** Eva Pavlíková from ČD. **[01:25:54]** Roman Stupka will also look at the power of words, **[01:25:56]** for example from the perspective of leadership and crisis management. **[01:25:59]** And then I have Martin Hudeček, **[01:26:01]** who will explore the power of words, **[01:26:02]** spark of creativity and spark of art. **[01:26:04]** So we'll try to put it together like this **[01:26:06]** and see what comes out of it. **[01:26:08]** So May 27th from 2 PM, **[01:26:11]** if you feel like it and have time. **[01:26:13]** Red Button organizes many activities. **[01:26:16]** Besides Brain and Breakfast, Red Button, **[01:26:18]** there is also Book of the Month. **[01:26:20]** The June selection was made by Petr Ludvík, **[01:26:22]** it's about coaching, so definitely check it out. **[01:26:25]** Also follow EDUtéka and participate in events, **[01:26:29]** visit companies, meet each other, **[01:26:31]** share your thoughts, as already mentioned. **[01:26:34]** And here is the final slide: on June 23rd, **[01:26:40]** there will be another breakfast. **[01:26:42]** The invitation was accepted by Kuba Nešetřil. **[01:26:45]** Kuba is, among other things, the founder of the ČD platform, **[01:26:49]** or Digital. **[01:26:51]** Kuba is a very successful startup founder, **[01:26:54]** who sold his company to Oracle. **[01:26:57]** It will be a very interesting talk, **[01:27:00]** and it will also be a surprising talk at Let's Jam. **[01:27:03]** When Kuba and I were preparing this breakfast, **[01:27:06]** we not only touched on these two worlds, **[01:27:08]** but also other important things, **[01:27:11]** which aren't visible at first glance. **[01:27:13]** So if you feel like it and have the time, **[01:27:16]** see you again in a month, on June 23rd at 8:30. **[01:27:18]** Either here at Magenta, in the virtual world, **[01:27:20]** on Red Button EDU, or anywhere you're watching from. **[01:27:23]** Take care, and once again, thank you, **[01:27:25]** for coming and for watching. **[01:27:27]** Goodbye and see you.