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To connect with Audiences, Tell Stories
You’d have to have a very dark heart not to get a little
misty-eyed reading “Farewell,
Godspeed: The Greatest Eulogies of Our Time.”
And you’d have to be blind not to notice what makes
these eulogies so strong and this book so fascinating.
It’s the wonderful stories. These eulogies are a
wonderful lesson to all of us of the power of stories to
grip an audience.
The book compiles eulogies from a range of famous
people: from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Lucille Ball.
You’ll learn about:
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Albert Einstein’s never-ending patience with people
who would stop him on the street and ask for a
photograph to be taken with the great scientist.
“Well, the old elephant has gone through his tricks
again,” Einstein would say with a smile as he humored
those who wanted to meet him.
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Chet Atkins and the first time he ever played guitar
on the Grand Ole Opry. “Minnie Pearl came up and
kissed him and said, ‘You’re a wonderful musician.
You’re just what we’ve been needing around here,’”
said Garrison Keillor in his eulogy.
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Sammy Davis Jr. and how he took the time to speak with
the young Gregory Hines long before Hines was famous.
Hines tells of going to see Davis at the Apollo
theater in Harlem and sitting on the front row where
Davis noticed Hines in the audience and winked.
If you want to really grab an audience, take a lesson
from the great eulogists. Tell your audience a story. |
