Applying POPBEANS: E for Events

In this section, think of past incidents, festivals, or important occasions that have happened or are upcoming in our society. Try to form a connection between the events and the subject of your speech. As a speaker, think of how the subject plays a crucial role in some events around the globe.

For example, if the topic is ‘light’, then we can cite the example of the festival Diwali, where light is the center of the entire celebration. Similarly, we can also talk of some gruesome incidents of the past related to our subject.

However, it is of utmost importance that we don’t target any community or faction with our description of the event. For example, a speaker can talk at length about the attack on World Trade Centre in the US. However, the speaker should not resort to maligning any religion or country in his/her speech. One can relate any incident to the subject, provided the association of the subject with the event makes sense.

Let’s take a look at the sample script on “black” for this section −

Our association with black can also be seen in events around the globe. The black color is also used to commemorate some sad events of history. For instance, ‘Black Death’ is a term used for the incidence of plague. This disease killed more people than World War II. One can imagine the influence of black color in our traditions that we named this one of the worst crises of human history with the color ‘black’.

‘Black Monday’ is a term used to refer to certain events, which occurred or occur on a Monday. In finance, Black Monday refers to the day when stock markets crashed around the world. This way, black is a color that reflects gloom in the economy and in the lives of people. ‘Black Day’ is a term used for a day when something fateful or unexpectedly sad happened with someone. ‘Black Swan events’ is a metaphor for those events that come as a surprise and has a significant impact, but is often rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight.

Thinking on separate lines, black is considered as ignorance in Indian culture and hence, the festival of Diwali is celebrated with a lot of firework and lamps. The intention in this festival is to cast away darkness and hence, ignorance and give way to light, which is a symbol of wisdom, good and enlightenment.

This way, you can take the subject and associate it with various events that happen around the globe. This will make your speech stand out from the rest of the crowd as well.