Читать книгу What She Said - Monica Lunin - Страница 12

In the first two-thirds of this speech, Nora Ephron builds connection and credibility with her audience — not by telling them why they should listen, but by showing them. Stringing together a series of anecdotes about her time at Wellesley shows us that she knows of what she speaks. These are well-crafted windows into her experience using the poignant, evocative language of a writer and movie-maker.

In the full speech (see Sources for details), Ephron recounts the story of the limiting life advice she received from her class dean, saying the dean told her, ‘You've worked so hard at Wellesley, when you marry, take a year off. Devote yourself to your husband and your marriage.' On hearing details such as these, we share in her incredulity. The women graduating in 1996 would have known, of course, that girls could choose what they wanted to be when they grow up — just as much as a boy. In fact, they would have been certain in this knowledge. In typical Ephron style, she reads the room and provides just the right contrast in the form of this anecdote and the advice to devote her life to the proper care of her husband.

Personal stories do much of the work here. They serve to make the message more fun, more powerful and more memorable than a speech filled with warnings and wisdom — no matter how appropriate. Try using the contrast effect, cleverly demonstrated by Ephron, to bring your point into sharp relief. If you are looking to warn people off a particular choice, you might consider painting the picture of an undesirable outcome, in the form of a story.