Archives for posts with tag: Speech

Your playing it small doesn’t serve the world.

February 7, 10 //
0

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

– Marianne Williamson
from the Nelson Mandela inaugural speech

Welcome to Karthick Gopal.com! To stay in touch with all the posts, subscribe to myRSS feed or follow me on Twitter for more interesting stuff.

That same old feeling again.

November 3, 09 //
4

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man- George Bernard Shaw.

That time of the year. The day yours. The right to get wasted, high or spend the day at Landmark just browsing. It’s the 3rd of November. It’s been 28 years on this planet. I have 2 years before I hit the big 3. What have I learnt? What do I want to do?

28 things learnt

1. Less talking more doing.
2. Life is short, grey hair hits you earlier than you think. Get out, go play.
3. There is no “The One”, anyone can  be the one with proper attention and love.
4. Compromise.
5. Looking back you always remember the best things in life. Forget the petty arguments, life’s too short.
6.  Keep learning. There are a million things to learn about with the web.
7. Less is always more. Incorporate simplicity in as many ways as you can.
8. Never say no to a new opportunity, you never know when you’ll meet interesting people.
9. Give credit where it’s due.
10. It’s ok to say no.
11. Me-time is very important.
12. There’s only so much you can give. It’s ok to take just as much.
13. Everything happens for a reason. Don’t spend too much analysing what that reason is.
14. Some people may not feel the same about you that you feel about them. That’s ok. Let them know what you think.
15. Everything will take time. Develop patience.
16. The stuff is important, not the degree the person has.
17. Everything you do, do it well. Everything can be done with hardwork.
18. Take as many pictures as you can, you’ll often smile at the memories. Get everyone’s pictures archived too.
19. Everyone has a lesson to teach you. Observe closely, even the annoying teach you what not to do.
20. Ride a rickshaw, do something you haven’t ever done a week and then make it daily.
21. If you face yourself the mirror and don’t like what you see, how do you expect others to like you?
22. You are unique. Don’t compare your insides to someone’s outside.
23. Everything you write online today will be known. Don’t give in. Express yourself the way you do offline.
24. Remember friend’s names and birthdays. Send them something special everytime.
25.  Don’t be THAT guy.
26. You are your own brand. Offer excellent customer service. Remember, people remember.
27. Family. Family. Family. They never let you down, they are who stand by you.
28. You can sleep after you are dead. If something takes 15 hours to do… finish the job first.

28 things to do

Setting goals is important, gives something to plan out when you need to plan what to do next. I was very inspired by Gaurav’s post on 30 things to do before he hits 30. That has served as motivation enough to come up with things I plan to work towards.

1. Become a TED Fellow – I love the guys I met over at Delhi, smart, fun and talented. Seems like a good place to be a part of.
2. Get my first million dollars worth of liquid cash.
3. Learn to play the guitar thoroughly – Inspiration is here.
4.  Learn cooking really well – Kishi from Foodaholics is a definite visit if you haven’t tasted her cakes yet.
5. Learn calligraphy and word art properly – Sample here.
6. Write a comic book story and cartooning together.
7. Take this blog to Adage top 150.
8. Hit Technorati top 100 too while I’m at it.
9.  Establish one area of expertise as a skill – currently looking at UI/UX/Information Architecture and Persuasion Architecture.
10. Direct and act in a movie.
11. Host my own podcast talk show.
12. Meet every entrepreneur I admire and chronicle his journey (possibly in a book).
13. Meet Will Smith, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ratan Tata, Chris Brogan and Kamala Hassan (Shruti too).
14. Write for a syndicated magazine or paper a monthly/weekly column and get paid for it.
15. Learn French.
16. Learn Spanish.
17. Have filter coffee at the Eiffel Tower.
18. Drive and then later on own a lambhorgini and an Audi TT coupe.
19. Start a healthy coffee shop/ restaurant.
20. Visit every country in the world.
21. Get on the cover of a popular magazine.
22. Become a guest lecturer at a university.
23. Buy a sea facing house with a porch on the beach.
24. Buy a private jet. Take my parents around the world.
25. Go to outer space and say hi to earth.
26. Run a full marathon.
27. Cut down to 80 kilos and 12 percent body fat.
28.  Have one friend in every country in the world that I can talk to.

“You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your fucking khakis.” – Tyler Durden, Fight Club.

Tips on crafting a speech: Obama’s acceptance speech.

November 7, 08 //
2

If there was one day I wished I was American and a part of that soil, it would have been November 4th. The day Barack Obama won. Obama is hope symbolised. Has the gab, the discipline, the controlled emotion and the direction. Most of all he is a hope bringer to everyone. That’s why a lot of people cried at the convention (I didn’t in case you are wondering,  I tend to disappoint like that.), even Oprah!

I used to think this he is an overconfident, rail thin, basketball trouting punk that had a good run. The reason I wanted Hillary Clinton to win was the exact reason people say that he hadn’t chosen her to be running mate: Bill Clinton. I can’t understand why. But he proved me wrong. He showed that he can run a campaign like a President. And if this is the sort of stuff he can continue, he might be even better than Clinton.

Here is the speech he gave which you must watch and allocate 45 mins of your day (if possible every day..) to see what this man is truly about. I have watched it twice and have favourited it, dugg it, stumbled it,  sphunn it and you get the point…

Things you can learn from the speech.

Hold composure.
It’s not a plastered smile he wears, he has an assured walk to the podium and doesn’t get over excited like that bimbo VP-elect from the Republicans. He walks graciously as a man who is rightfully taking his place. Lesson: Be calm in victory and defeat.

Acknowledge the crowd.
When you are celebrating your moment of victory and over 150k+ people have been waiting for over 4 hours to see you, there’s no harm in spending time cheering with them. I think the daughters thought they were the center of the attention but that’s ok. They are both less than 15.

Acknowledge your enemy, even if you thrashed his old ass silly.

I congratulate him (McCain); I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

Be Funny yo
No matter where the place, humour strikes a great chord with the audience. You don’t have to be a goofball laughing at your own hockey mom jokes and cheers (please refer to the bimbo from the Republican party again), but you should have that class. Another person who does that really well is Bill Clinton.

Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the new White House.

Never forget the family. This is da hood.
Put family first, win christian votes. Or something like that as the saying goes. Here is a wonderful man who loves his family. That means he cares.  That means he can be president.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady Michelle Obama.To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.

Stick to a theme
I’m not getting Seth Godin here, but there’s a very important thing that must be known. His story was that of change. An underlying racism current he wanted to change, an underlying goverment filled with corruption led by an incompetent idiot that he wanted to change, an economy he wanted to change. Theme is consistent, he wants to bring hope, he wants to bring a change.

Weave a story.
This was bit of an overkill but he made his point and was consistent with this theme AND struck a powerful thought. He is Jesus.

But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

Don’t think the task is over and remind people the need for their support.
Wow verbose title.. Make sure you let people know that there is work to be done and this is the start. This is not a spin off yarn to cover your ass, it’s something that you should always add as a disclaimer. Because team players are more important than the solo rapper.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

And when you do all of that, the world stands up and cheers for you. I know I did and I’m one of the staunchest Indians around.

Some other great links

– Newspapers around the world paste front page stories of Obama.
– Full transcript of the speech
– Campaign Insider stories