Develop a Speaker’s Utopia

My son’s golf coach presented him with a special Christmas gift: David Cook’s book: Seven Days in Utopia: Golf’s Sacred Journey.

Each morning, we read a portion of the book at breakfast. My son, connecting with the main character, learns more about the talented golfer Luke, his challenges, and how the eccentric rancher Johnny brings passion and trust back into Luke’s golf game.

If you’ve ever played golf, you know how frustrating of a game it can be.

It’s more about the mindset, less about skill.

Johnny requests Luke to select three words to focus on for the growth of his game. Luke selects these three words:

Rhythm
Balance
Patience

Having all three leads to freedom, feeling true utopia.

What is utopia?

Utopia can be defined as heaven or dreamland, and for a golfer, it’s making that perfect putt, or driving long and straight in the fairway, or chipping close to the hole to land a birdie.

What’s utopia for a speaker?

Experience flow during the speech?

Connecting with their audience?

Reaching the desired outcome?

How about all three?

To flow, to connect with your audience, and to reach your desired outcome, your speech needs rhythm, a cadence that provides a passioned pace.

Your speech needs balance in your content: both with data and story.

And, as a speaker, we must strive for patience. Put in the work and practice, then embrace the results.

What makes for a speaker’s utopia?

Rhythm
Balance
Patience

We can learn a lot from Luke.