Partial Anatomy of My Public Talks
30 September 2014 at 03:47
Objectives
My goal in almost all public appearances is to communicate the passion of science & discovery. My talks are drawn from a small catalog of about a dozen topics that range from science literacy in America and the world, to space exploration, to the cosmic perspective, to the search for life in theuniverse. No matter the size of the venue, I try to create the sense of a conversation with the audience -- as though they and I are both revealing the information for the first time, at the same time.
Wardrobe
I own a half-dozen cosmically themed vests and another 100+ cosmically themed ties. Among them, I'm more likely to be seen in only two of the vests and about adozen of the ties, they being my favorites. In large theater performance venues, I often remove my shoes. I can move more nimbly on the stage, but I also do so as a matter of silent respect for the countless performers -- singers, dancers, musicians – who have previously sanctified the stage with their artistic talents.
Q&A
My favorite part of any talk is the Q&A, where I get to learn what people are thinking. My first and third books are entirely Q&A, so I’ve been doing it for awhile:
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/ ... e-universe
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/ ... his-planet
Learning what people think after my talks formed a crucial point of awareness for me before the era of Twitter. Now, via that social medium, I learn people’s thoughts and reactions to what I say almost instantly. But I still welcome a session of one-on-one exchanges with an audience. I invest huge energy in this capacity to communicate with a demographically diverse audience: e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-11B9PtBM
Content
My talks are a blend of facts, ideas, and perspectives. I care primarily that the audience becomes empowered with new tools of seeing and understanding the physical universe, and enjoys new ways those tools can inform decisions in the socio-political world, whatever your political leanings may be.
I do not speak from notes. So, depending on the time of day, the recent news cycle of current events, and the leanings, humor, and enthusiasm of the audience, I will be creating what I say on the spot. The scaffold is there. The words I use to clad it are unique to the moment. So when I get calls from hosts who ask, “Please send the talk in advance.” My reply is, “My talk is the talk. It does not exist before I give it.”
A Case Study: Quoting George W. Bush
For a talk I give on the rise and fall of science in human cultural history I occasionally paraphrase President George W. Bush from one of his speeches, remarking that our God is the God who named the stars, and immediately noting that 2/3 of all star-names in the night sky are Arabic. I use this fact to pivot from the present-day, back to a millennium ago, during the Golden Age of Islam, in which major advances in math, science, engineering, medicine, and navigation were achieved. The Bush reference is not written on my PowerPoint slides, which I keep sparse, but I remembered it from a speech he gave after September 11, 2001. And I presented it that way, as Bush’s attempt to distinguish “we” from 'they." When eager scrutinizers looked for the quote they could not find it, and promptly accused me of fabricating a Presidential sentence. Lawyers are good at this. They find something that you get wrong, and use it to cast doubt on everything else you say. Blogosphere headlines followed, with accusations of me being a compulsive liar and a fabricator.
What followed fascinated me greatly. As others had uncovered, the President indeed utter the following sentences:
In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today.
But I was wrong about when he said it. It appears in his speech after the Columbia Shuttle disaster, eighteen months after September 11th 2001. My bad. And I here publicly apologize to the President for casting his quote in the context of contrasting religions rather than as a poetic reference to the lost souls of Columbia. I have no excuse for this, other than both events-- so close to one another -- upset me greatly. In retrospect, I’m surprised I remembered any details from either of them.
Of course, very little changes in that particular talk. I will still mention Islamic Extremists flying planes into buildings in the 21st century. I will still contrast it with the Golden Age of Islam a millennium earlier. And I will still mention the President’s quote. But instead, I will be the one contrasting what actually happened in the world with what the Bible says: The Arabs named the stars, not Yahweh.
Why I Give Public Talks
If I were to rank the top twenty things I love to do, giving public talks would not make the cut. What does? Doing scientific research. Writing books. Playing with my kids. Having a play-date with my wife. Eating homemade very-buttery popcorn while watching a movie curled up on the couch with the family. Reading antiquarian science books. Taking notes for my next book with quill and fountain pens by candlelight. Attending Broadway plays and musicals. Listening to jazz and classical music. Drinking malted milkshakes. Cooking dinners that are fancier than the day of the week deserves. Drinking a bottle of wine that is just a little more expensive than can be realistically justified. And cooking & eating waffles for breakfast. e.g.
http://www.reddit.com/r/photoshopbattle ... _a_waffle/
I nonetheless continue give talks because, knowing what I know about the physical universe – and our place within it – I’d be socially irresponsible if I did not.
Respectfully Submitted
Neil deGrasse Tyson, New York City
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