Aristotle called it The Golden Mean. Both athletes and audiophiles talk about the Sweet Spot. I don’t have a catchy term (not yet), but the concept applies to choosing and developing a topic. Continue reading
topic
Make it your own
I enjoy teaching, and have been fortunate to have good classes throughout the last year. It was fascinating watching the process of them starting with something that is often very general and then slicing it down to fit the time limit, while developing enough depth to interest an audience.
In the process of doing that, many of them got excited as they made the topic truly their own. Continue reading
Narrow your focus and go deeper
I once had a student who was stuck. She was supposed to speak in a speech round starting on Friday, and she came to me on Wednesday complaining that she couldn’t get started. She had come up with about a minute’s worth of material.
“What are you trying to develop a topic on?” I asked.
“The history of the United States,” she said. Continue reading