The King's Speech

今年奧斯卡最大的贏家, 非"王者之聲"莫屬. 榮獲12項提名, 最後得到4項大獎 - 最佳影片, 最佳導演, 最佳男主角, 最佳原創劇本.

(以下有部分劇情透露)
















"當我演講時, 國民相信我會為他們發聲, 但我沒有辦法演講." -- 英王喬治六世.

故事背景在二戰前夕, 在廣播媒體的普及後, 廣播成為英國王室與國民間溝通的管道. 王子約克公爵自小一直有口吃的毛病, 無法在眾人前順利發表演說.

在父親過世, 哥哥不愛江山愛美人的情況下, 約克公爵即位為喬治六世. 此時英國正面臨著最艱難的時刻: 德國與英國的大戰一觸及發. 如何用廣播去激勵人心變成了喬治六世所面臨的最大難題.

"王者之聲"描述了喬治六世如何去克服口吃, 並在關鍵時刻鼓舞了大英帝國的故事.


"也許他該換個職業." -- 言語治療師萊諾.
演說對許多職業來說, 已經是不可或缺的技能. 它是一個闡述自己想法及理想的管道, 是為了讓他人能瞭解自己想法的溝通方式. 歷史上有許多撼動人心的演說, 像金恩博士的"我有一個夢", 不過短短15分鐘, 影響力卻已超越了45年. 即使基層的工程師, 只要是團體合作, 也會有需要傳達理念的時候; 像解釋產品的設計, 說明一些有趣的創意, 亦或報告工作的成果, 都需要藉由簡報來陳述.

要如何成為一個有影響力的演說者? "練習"是不二法門.
沒有人生下來就具備那些演說技巧, 大師也是經由後天不斷地磨練而成長.
賈伯斯二十歲三十歲時的簡報風格與現在差異很大.
好好地把握每一次簡報的機會, 不斷精進自己, 造就了今日他卓越的簡報術.
我們只要每次都比前一次進步, 相信假以時日, 簡報技巧的成長就會相當可觀.
愛迪生曾說過. "如果把所能做的事都完成, 我們最終將對自己大吃一驚."
與大家共勉之.

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The 83rd Academy Awards belonged to The King’s Speech, which won four Oscars from its 12 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Colin Firth), Best Director (Tom Hooper), and Original Screenplay (David Seidler).

(The synopsis is included below)

"The nation believes that when I speak, I speak for them. But I can't speak." King George VI of Britain said.

The story opens in 1925, before World War II.
Radio is getting popular, and becomes the communication media between the royal family of England and citizens. Prince Albert, the Duke of York (the future George VI), has a speech impediment, so he can't give a speech to the public.

But his father King George V’s death in 1936 and his elder brother Edward’s sudden abdication as King in December of that year suddenly thrusts Albert into the spotlight as the next monarch of Great Britain. It is a tough time of Great Britain, because the war against Germany starts. How to speak persuasively by radio to inspire the public becomes a difficult problem for him.

"The King's Speech" is a story of George VI to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.


"Perhaps he should change jobs." The speech therapist, Lionel Logue, said.

The ability to deliver an impressive presentation is a crucial skill for many jobs. Presentation is a way to expound and propagate thought to people, and is a method to communicate with others.

There are some classic speeches in history. "I Have A Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr, is only 15 minutes long, but the impact has already been over 45 years. Even for engineers, delivering a good presentation is necessary for teamwork. It is through the presentation to explain the design of products, to make a description of novel innovations, or to show productivity to the boss.  

How to be a good presenter? The most important three ways are practice, practice and practice. 

No one is born with great presentation skills. Masters practice over and over to be masters. Steve Jobs' current presentations are very different from the ones in his twenties. Cherishing every opportunity to make a presentation and improving himself continuously result in his excellent presentation skills today. If you can always do it better than last time, after some time, your growth must be considerable. 

"If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." Thomas Edison said.

Let's work on it together!