Welcome to the Time Capsule — a weekly newsletter that serves as both my public journal and personal scrapbook. I write about the things on my mind and close to my heart in hopes that those who read it find value and enjoyment in it, and perhaps some solace too.
💭 Quote(s) of the Week
Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.
This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
✏️ Script or No Script
Improving my oratorical skills is high on my list of goals for the next 5-10 years. Speaking well allows you to articulate your thoughts to others, and the art of persuasion, since the days of Aristotle, has always played an integral role in the fate of nations and institutions.
In my earlier days, I would predominantly use scripts when giving presentations. This was partly because I was a nervous, inexperienced youth who often didn’t understand well the topic I was presenting. Having a script gave me peace of mind knowing that even if I was deathly nervous or choked on my words, I could get through the presentation by just saying what I wrote down. However, in listening to a great many professors and speakers over the last few years, I have noticed that those who worked without notes or a script were always more compelling and engaging. It felt as if they spoke from the heart. Since then, I have transitioned toward giving presentations without notes, and have found that this style feels much better for me and the audience if I am confident in my knowledge of the topic and am not paralyzed by fear when speaking in front of others. In educational settings, I think this is the most optimal method as it allows you to sprinkle your own personal experience, flavour and anecdotes inside the planned material.
That being said, great orators like Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr. (I am listening to his speech to the Barratt Junior High School as I write this) seem to work from scripts that result in speeches that almost feel like a theatrical event. It is not just the words that are scripted — it is the pauses, the pace of speech, the intonations, the gestures of the body, the eye contact with the audience. The whole presentation is crafted so perfectly. I think when giving speeches that will likely only be given once — eulogies, wartime speeches, valedictorian speeches — scripting them allows you to design an experience for the audience that merges drama, poetry, and prose.
I think there is a place for both a scripted presentation and an organic, unscripted presentation — the key is to know which situations call for which style. When the occasion for scripting comes, be perfectly prepared in every way, and when the occasion for organic presentation arises, ensure that you know your subject matter well enough so as to be confident in yourself on the podium and give yourself the opportunity to integrate your unique knowledge & experience on the presentation.
📸 Photo(s) of the Week
📖 Book of the Week — Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
I have not read this but have heard that it should be required reading for every high school student.
It was written by Fredrick Douglass, a slave who taught himself to read and write. He writes brilliantly about his life story — it is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of modern literature and provided fuel to the abolitionist movement in the early 1800s.
💡 Food for Thought
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
🔭 Sunday Best
Daniel Ek & Tim Ferris — a podcast on Habits, Systems and Mental Models for Performance with the CEO of Spotify
Barenboim & Argerich: Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos, K.448 — fun fact: listening to this piece significantly increased cognitive performance vs. working in silence.
Surgeons Should Not Look Like Surgeons — an essay by Nassim Taleb
When the results come from dealing directly with reality rather than through the agency of commentators, image matters less, even if it correlates to skills. But image matters quite a bit when there is a hierarchy and standardized “job evaluation”. Consider the chief executive officers of corporations: they do not just look the part, but they even look the same. And, worse, when you listen to them talk, they will sound the same, down to the same vocabulary and metaphors.
Thank you. See you next week for #100!
AT