Let your mind's eye visualize Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting Starry Night. See the multi-hued swirling sky, the twinkling stars, the town resting in sleep below and the crescent moon in the upper right corner.
When I look at this painting I am captivated by the tempestuous movement of the sky. On a clear night, when I see bright stars in a sky, I typically also see a smooth blue-black sky behind the stars. What vision Van Gogh had to see the riot of colors and the waves of movement across the expanse!
Studying the sky, you can see many shades of blue and a variety of brush strokes. And while there are many different colors in the painting, the palette is limited to mostly blues and yellows, with a few bare accents of other colors.
Van Gogh had a huge variety of colors in his paintbox, and many brushes. Yet he selected the blues and yellows and a few brushes out of many others, so the painting has variety and excitement within this color scheme.
When I visualize a speech I see a picture of the whole. Then I break it down into components and select the colors (content) and brushes (delivery style) that will come together to best achieve the vision. The selection of some components means that others are deliberately not selected. The delivery style is matched to the component, just as Van Gogh used his big brushes for the sky and small, fine ones for the sleeping town below.
If you need help figuring out what to include in your speech or presentation, let Van Gogh's Starry Night inspire you. He created an amazing painting by carefully selecting his colors and his brushes and then using them creatively and unexpectedly. You can do the same with your speeches and make a long- lasting impression on your audiences.
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