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Memorandum

To: Mrs. Renee Pay

From: Sophia Ge

Date: October 28, 2013

Re: Professional Speaker Analysis


I had the opportunity to attend the 14
th
Annual Leadership Conference at Utah Valley
University on Monday, October 21, 2013. The title of the conference was Step Up: Fighting the
Fear; Finding your Voice. Matt Townsend was the keynote speaker in the conference. He was
an entertaining, funny, and motivational speaker.

Organization
Matt Townsend demonstrated how we can do things we think we cant; your fears are not who
you are. One of his key points was the smoke; where the problem is never the real issue. The
smoke is a metaphor for the small problems that cloud over the real issue, in other words,
people see the upfront problems, but not the underlying problems. Another key point was to
make people feel safe; emotionally, physically, spiritually, and socially. Leadership and power is
in the space between you and those you lead. The last big point is S.T.A.R.V.E.D, which stand for
safety, trust, appreciation, respect, validation, encouragement, and dedication.

The organizational pattern Matt Townsend used was the Problem-Solution pattern. Townsends
stories demonstrate the nature and significance of a problem and to provide justification for a
proposed solution. He described stories that involved a problem and what he learned from it.
His first story described his experience in his elementary school spelling bee. He felt over-
confident and knew it was going to be too easy for him, but when he was asked to spell the
word lion, he had spelled loin instead. Townsend described how he felt embarrassed and
how even the kindergarten students laughed at his mistake. He no longer felt as cool as he had
just moments before. His new nickname was loin boy. In his second story, he explained how
he went camping for the first time. He was giving a can of jam; not knowing what to do with it,
he threw it into the bonfire. Moments later, the can of jam exploded and everyone around the
fire was covered in jam, almost believing it was blood. Everyone was anxious to find out who
did it. Townsend tried to pretend he had no idea who did it, but everyone soon found out he
had been dishonest.

In his third story, he talked about a foreign exchange student who now attended his school, and
instead of helping her feel socially safe, he made fun of her name by calling her Yoda from
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Star Wars. In another one of his stories took a girl named Amanda to their senior prom.
Amanda was a beautiful girl, but she was in a wheelchair. To make the experience more fun for
her, Townsend would pick her up, out of her wheelchair and hold her dancing. When it came to
group pictures, Townsend hated them. For Amandas sake he tried to be himself when taking
pictures and it turned out to be one of the best pictures he had ever taken. The moral of all
these stories is to not get too ahead of yourself, to be honest and to have integrity, to be make
others feel safe, and to be yourself.

Townsend used inductive reasoning, using his stories to lead up to his conclusion. This
organizational pattern was appropriate for the audience because he introduced one story after
another to hold the audiences attention until his final statement. In each proceeding story, he
started adding more and more motivational thoughts to build up to his most motivational
statement. During his speech, the audience was relaxed, listening, and laughing. The audience
seemed to love his speech; it was enjoyable, and relatable. But most of all, it was motivational.

Supporting Material
Ethos

Ethos is defined as credibility and is also the Greek word for character. It is defined as good
moral character. Matt Townsend demonstrated Ethos by earning his Bachelors and Masters
degrees in the area of Communication as well as a second Masters degree in Human
Development. He recently earned his Doctorate in the field of Human Development. Townsend
is the founder and president of the Townsend Relationship Center, a relationship skills-building
organization. Matt also trained for nine years with the training industry leader Franklin Covey.
Matt can be heard hosting his radio program, The Matt Townsend Show on KSL News Radio
and is a weekly contributor to KSL TVs morning show, Studio 5. Matt also has a radio show
on BYU radio on Sirius XM 143.

Pathos

Pathos is a term used by Aristotle for appeals to emotion. Matt Townsend demonstrated
Pathos through the use of vivid imagery, dramatic storytelling, and repetition. Townsend used
humor to hook his audience. He displayed vivid imagery in his story when he described the jam
bombing through his eyes; the image of the jam exploding and how it was on everyones
clothes, and how some people even thought it was blood. In his jam bombing story, Townsend
displayed dramatic storytelling when describing the actions leading up to the jam bombing and
the actions placed after. The repetition occurred throughout each when he explained what he
learned from each of his mistakes; in loin boy, Townsend learned not to be too cocky; in the
jam bomber he learned to be honest and have integrity, and at his prom, he learned that to
have a good time, he should just be himself. The vivid imagery and dramatic storytelling appeals
to emotion because it is humorous to the audience. With repetition, the audience starts to
understand the pattern of mistakes, and the concept of trial and error.


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Logos

Logos is defined as the persuasive appeals to reason and logic. Matt Townsend used Logos also
through the use of his stories. The audience agreed to his reasons and logic because every
member could relate. His stories were stories that didnt seem far-fetched or exaggerated. They
were humanized stories; stories that involve mistakes being made by people who you didnt
even think could make those mistakes. For example, in his story about meeting the foreign
exchange student, he made fun of her and called her Yoda. Everybody can relate, knowing that
at some point in their lives, they may have made fun of someone, teased someone, bullied
someone, or simply made the wrong choice.

I did not detect any fallacies throughout his speech. He used all personal stories and used
statistics and facts near the end of his speech. His Ethos, Pathos, and Logos were very effective
for this audience because it connected him with his audience.

Delivery

Matt Townsend was a very prepared public speaker through the use of his nonverbal and visual
aids. His facial expression was constantly dramatic and funny-looking. His hands were dramatic
when pointing out specific details or when trying to engage the audiences attention. His body
structure was very relaxed but was also used to emphasize his stories. His voice had a variation
of volume, speed, and tone. When looking out towards the audience, he never looked at just
one spot in the audience but he acknowledged everyone. He looked at the middle, the sides,
and even did room scans during his speech. He was dressed very professionally. His appearance
was clean, sharp, and color coordinated.

Matt Townsend used visual aids to help support his points. He used visual aids such as the
picture of a cow swimming with a dolphin and how it could be seen from both a negative
prospective as well as a positive prospective. Each of his slides displayed key points and key
words. His slides also displayed each quote he spoke of and recited.

Motivation

Motivation is a critical element of any speech. Matt Townsend used relatable stories to
motivate the audience. When an audience has something they can relate to, they tend to pay
more attention and take into account what the speaker is saying. He used metaphors and
similes to do the same. He motivated the audience by sharing stories that have endings in
which the audience could learn from in any situation.

In my estimation, Matt Townsend successfully motivated the audience. I was a part of this
audience and he motivated me as well as the peers who attended this conference. He
motivated his audience by giving them information they could use to succeed in life. THAT
would motivate anyone to go out and succeed and to be a better leader.