In 1995, I joined Toastmasters to improve my public speaking skills. I was member of a half-dozen clubs in Oklahoma, Virginia and Maryland for tne next twenty years. Here is a collection of my favorite speeches from those fun-filled years.
We don't talk like we write. Consequentially, speeches break many of the rules one should follow in creating quality prose. Written speeches are meant to be memorized and their written form should remain neatly tucked into the speaker's pocket ready for quick retrieval if the memory fails. When this happens, the speaker must quickly find the spot where they got lost. I found that a minimum size of fourteen-point font with bullets and highlights worked best. What I present here is a less extreme version of what I printed. I also heavily edited the material. Spelling and punctuation aren't important when you're speaking and I discovered that my old speeches were quite nightmarish from a copy editor's point-of-view.
The Fourth Wave January 23, 1997
This speech has aged well. The Pandemic brought on the onset of the Fifth Wave which, as I predicted below, will continue to evolve.
Be careful you don’t get swamped by the fourth wave! Obviously, I’m not talking about the beach. Rather, I’m talking about five “waves of technology and innovation” which have swept over the human race to change “the way we do business.” Let me illustrate these waves and their impact on the workplace in the past, present, and future.
1. Waves of the Past.
a. The first wave. We begin with the “manual” wave that leads to the concept of the “office” as a place to do business. People had ideas to share, projects to plan, and guidance to give. The best way to provide such guidance and exchange ideas was to locate all the players in a central location. Communications during the manual wave consisted of face-to-face conversation and hand-written communication. Tools included the pencil, pen, paper, hole punch, stapler, paper clip, binder, and printing press. Information moved at the speed of “personal travel” by foot, horse, or train. >Who can forget the tremendous impact of the pony express and the telegraph in >getting a small portion of business information moved quickly?
b. The second wave. Naturally, people began to tinker with faster and more efficient ways of exchanging information. Thus the wave of “mechanization” swept the business world. Communications saw the addition of telephone conversations and type-written documents. Many new tools arose and evolved. The telegraph gave way to the telephone. Dictaphones and shorthand recorded thoughts that typewriters converted into written documents. This was the era of white-out and carbon paper. The bulk of information still traveled at the speed of foot or automobile, but copy machines made key information easily “reproducible,” allowing simultaneous transmission. Toward the end of the era, fax machines sped the transmission rate for some documents to the speed of phone lines.
2. Wave of the Present.
c. The third wave. Today we live with the third wave of technology and innovation. As computers became cheaper and faster data lines appeared, the wave of “automation” swept in. Now, critical thoughts could be “remembered” and quickly recalled. Communications include the addition of e-mail, teleconferencing, and video teleconferencing. Foremost among our modern tools is the computer, which not only aids in spelling and grammar but also allows instant transmission of documents. Fax machines, cellular phones, and laptops have taken advantage of our quicker ability to transcribe our thoughts into written documents. The speed of information is that of our data lines. We no longer rely on “the speed of human travel” to transmit key information. But, we still print many of the documents for final review and “approval.”
3. Waves of the Future.
d. The fourth wave. On the horizon, a new wave is forming. As large networks of data lines grow in abundance and new wireless devices appear, the “paperless office” will soon become our next reality. The distance between where the information is stored, reviewed, and transmitted will diminish. For example, today, it's more “comfortable” to print a document and hold it in my hand to read. Our computer monitors are still a bit hard on the eyes. When I want to sign a document, I still need a paper copy. This will not be the case as technology evolves over the next decade. Monitors are being redesigned to be easier on the eyes. Wireless “data boards” will soon be available, which allow us to hold documents comfortably when we read. Technology already exists, enabling us to scan our signatures onto online documents. Greater presence of fast data lines and redundant computers will allow us to rely on computerized networks to store and transmit our information without the fear of a crash leading to a catastrophic loss. Additionally, video-teleconferencing down to the individual workstation will allow us to have “face-to-face” communication without traveling. In fact, “telecommuting” or staying at home and accomplishing work over the computer network will soon become a way of life for a good portion of the workforce. Voice recognition programs will allow us to translate ideas into written thoughts quickly. Thus the speed of information will begin to reach the rate at which its input into the system. We begin to realize “near-real-time” processing and transmission.
e. The fifth wave. Technology will not end its impact on the office with the fourth wave, and the extension of the “paperless” office will be the “virtual” office. In fact, we come full circle because the lines of communication and speed of computation will eliminate the need for a physical workplace. The typical worker will strap on “virtual-reality” goggles and gloves and navigate to the office throughout the networks. Instead of sending an e-mail or making phone calls to various locals, we will have the illusion of traveling to any location in the world. Artificial intelligence and voice recognition will give us the illusion of live face-to-face conversations, and both oral and written transcripts will be generated simultaneously for later review and revisions. The speed of information will evolve from the rate of manual input to the speed of voice input to, ultimately, the speed of thought!
CONCLUSION Truly, we live in the bubble of a major revolution as today's “automated” offices give way to the “paperless” world. Just as we have long since discarded white out and carbon paper soon, we will eliminate the need for paper, staples, and paperclips! Indeed, the impact will affect our workplace in many ways that few science fiction writers of foreseen. We must seize the moment now to reflect and prepare ourselves for THE FOURTH WAVE.