Of Quotes And Originality
A quote is like pepper on soup, salt on eggs and vinegar on lor mee. (for those of you who are not from Singapore, lor mee is noodles in thick gravy). Just writing this line alone has got me salivating. BOY, I MISS SINGAPORE FOOD!!! Someone please please please ship me some hainanese chicken rice, laksa and mum’s cooking via DHL!
Though pepper, salt and vinegar are not the centerpiece, they add flavor and character to the dishes. Without them, the food will taste blend and boring. Similarly, though quotes don’t make up your speech, they are very powerful in adding omph in your message. When used correctly, they add credibility and memorability to your speech.
Having said that, using too many quotes in your speech can be an overkill. Remember this - when people listen to a speech, they want to hear what the speaker has to say; his thoughts, his opinions and his experience. And not other people’s thoughts, opinions and experience. In addition, speakers tend to overuse some of the famous quotes. This makes you very unoriginal.
Here’s a quick tip for you. Start collecting ORIGINAL quotes. Lines said by your best friend, your dad, your neighbour, your teacher, your arch-enemy, your boss, your crush, your colleague, your mother-in-law. You get my point. If you pay attention to what they said, you will for sure be able to spot some classic ones. Not only are they personalized, no one but you will use them. This makes your speech very orginal and I can assure you that your audience will love you for it. On top of that, using an original quote allows you to explain how it came about (which gives you the opportunity to share with your audience a story). This way, they can appreciate your quote better!
Enjoy some of the classic quotes spouted by my friends, my friends’ friends and friends’ friends’ friends.
And I like to end off with another famous line from my ex boss whom I work for when I was in Philadelphia. Back then, I was working in a technology company and he was trying to teach me to be very serious and committed to my work. And here’s what he always said to me:
Every time your system goes down, it is almost as if Bubba has broken out of jail so that he can shove his dick into your ass”
……………………………………………………………………
Had a great conversation with my boss, CH today. We do that almost every fortnight. He will come by my desk (which is just outside his office), and with a big ball in his hand, he will always start the conversation with a “How’s it going Mr Feng?” When you hear that 5 words, you know that it is time for the regular talk. The talk. However, tonight’s conversation was different. It kind of cross the invisible barrier into the “I am your friend - we can talk about anything.” And we did just that.
He shared with me an analogy.
CH: “Imagine you are in jail. And you meet this really big black guy named Bubba. And he wants to shove his dick into your ass. Would you like it?”
Me: (shocked but later remained composed) Erm.. no…
CH: That’s right.
Me: Phew…
CH: Bring this feeling back to your work. Every time your system goes down, it is almost as if Bubba has broken out of jail so that he can shove his dick into your ass. And you won’t want that right? So you gotta quickly pull up your pants and run away. Same thing at work. You don’t want it to happen so badly that you will make sure you do all you can to prevent the system from going down… so that Bubba will not fuck you. You understand what I mean?
Me: (Turning red) Yes…
CH: Unless he is gay of coz.. then it won’t work…
Well, that was only the beginning to a very interesting conversation that included pornography and naked girls. But his intention was good. He was sharing with me some management principles. Talk about getting to know your boss better!
Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach
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DHL = Deliver Halfway Lost
Maybe your hainanese chicken rice, laksa and mum’s cooking got lost halfway via DHL.