How To Create Memorable Moments Out Of Thin Air

If our message is worth it, it is more important than ever to know how to commit it to people’s memories.

Photo by Rob Laughter

A Traumatic First Experience

The first time I had to present in front of an audience, I was terrified. Who hasn’t been, eh? I was seventeen and my final grade (upon which my access to university depended) would be determined by this public speaking appearance.

I had never presented anything in front of anybody. Why didn’t they teach us how to act in public, how to talk, how to sell ourselves and our ideas to others? Why wasn’t this part of the curriculum? Why didn’t we have to present projects to our classmates all the time if it would be so important in the future?

After that traumatic experience, public speaking has always been part of my life: one way or another, from live music to dramatic storytelling, I’ve been involved in the art of conveying ideas to strangers. I’ve even had jobs where I had to teach others how to do it!

The Method

For me it comes down to one thing: creating memorable moments out of thin air. If you go on a history tour or if you’re interviewing the umpteenth candidate for a job, you don’t expect the next half hour to be memorable. If the person in front of you makes it something you remember, you know you just witnessed something special.

The Relevant Anecdote

For me this always takes me to a cold night in Edinburgh, Scotland, when I worked for a walking tour company. I was carrying a couple of heavy signs for the offered tours and wearing the company’s branded jacket. I was tired, frozen and starving, so I decided to grab a bag of chips on my way home. The man who would provide me with the much needed sustenance immediately recognised the company’s logo, and his eyes twinkled.

‘I know the man who founded the company!’ he exclaimed.

Indeed, the company’s founder had been his history teacher all those years back in high school. The man said he had never been a good student, that history had probably been the most boring class he had been subjected to… That is, until he had the…