Hello Orgers,

I am part of a public speaking group called Toastmasters International. I have decided that I am going to do a speech about Prince. As far as I can tell, most of the crowd knows who he is, and probably knows the staple stuff (Kiss, PR, Raspberry Beret, etc).

What I am trying to decide is how to format the speech. This is where I need some org-style brainstorming. Any thoughts are welcome.

Question for a Mod- If I record this speech and put it on Youtube, can I put it on the org? It will not have any music or anything like that, just me talking about the Purple Legend.

Pfffff... this is not easy because you don't tell us what message you're trying to get across. You want to tell your listeners why you love Prince? Give 'em a short biography? Tell 'em about P's influence on music?
Given your username, maybe you can start a debate about the evolution principle based on the first lines of Colonized Mind. (check ou that thread, some great discussion going on there!)
But tell us a bit more about what you have in mind.

bobbyperu said:

Pfffff... this is not easy because you don't tell us what message you're trying to get across. You want to tell your listeners why you love Prince? Give 'em a short biography? Tell 'em about P's influence on music? Given your username, maybe you can start a debate about the evolution principle based on the first lines of Colonized Mind. (check ou that thread, some great discussion going on there!) But tell us a bit more about what you have in mind.

I guess I am not sure what message I want to get across. I suppose I would like it to be informative, mostly an overview of the career.

I used to get into the evolution debates here on the org, but not anymore. I stick to debating on topics in which both sides have reasonable arguments.

bobbyperu said:

Pfffff... this is not easy because you don't tell us what message you're trying to get across. You want to tell your listeners why you love Prince? Give 'em a short biography? Tell 'em about P's influence on music? Given your username, maybe you can start a debate about the evolution principle based on the first lines of Colonized Mind. (check ou that thread, some great discussion going on there!) But tell us a bit more about what you have in mind.

no for fucks sake dont do that

Prince facts most public dont know and always raise their eyes

youngest producer ever

turned down various comanies at 17

plays all instruments

produces,writes etc

No he didnt dissapear-he puts out at least two lps a year..

tours constantly

quote miles davis and clapton etc

he wrote nothing compares 2 u etc

He is responsible for parental advisory stickers

keep it simple..DO NOT START DISSECTING LYRICS

lookd objectivly-his musical journey is by far the most fascinating of any major artist

BUT PLEASE DO NOT DISSECT LYRICS TO COLONISED MIND...

The one fact people are amazed at recently

no hes not gay..never has been and is actually homophobic and slightly racist!

racist?

Darwintheorgangrinder said:

I guess I am not sure what message I want to get across. I suppose I would like it to be informative, mostly an overview of the career.

This is the first bit you want to get straight, before you decide how to format your speech - I'm assuming that's in the Toastmasters handbook? If not, it should be

I gather from your second sentence though that the aim of the speech is effectively to educate an audience that has a basic understanding of who Prince is, expanding their knowledge and perhaps presenting a different perspective - not so much a flamboyant popstar, as a dedicated and extraordinarily talented musician.

I would think about starting it with what you assume your audience already knows - that way they get comfortable; ie. "Oh yeah, I remember him. Heels, make-up, "Kiss" and "Raspberry Beret" - didn't he change his name into a symbol? Yeah, that's right, I remember that..."

Then you could move into the next stage - "What you may not know about Prince is..." where you could discuss how many instruments he plays, how many albums he's released, how many genres he's incorporated into his work, etc...

You could talk about his side projects, how many artists he's written music for, how many musical legends he's collaborated with, and so on.

The third key element could be about what he's doing now - the W2A tour, 21 nights in LA, European Tour and who knows what next?

Then you could sum up with talking about Prince having a career that's so much more than what most people give him credit for, because leaving WB (which is why he briefly became known as a symbol) took him off the "main grid", so to speak.

That's probably the approach I would take.

Whatever you end up doing, good luck! Would love to see the end result - the mods will confirm, but I'm sure you'll be able to post it here, because with no music, it surely won't break any copyright laws.