A Lesson From the Streets of L.A.

Watch this, it’s possibly my favourite rap video ever, by a gentleman called ‘Xzibit’. Even if hip hop is not your thing, please give it a go. As an over-the-top ‘day in the life’, I think it’s superb (and all the rude words have been omitted).

Other than the music and lyrics (the subjective aspect), here’s what I see:

• Attitude. And I mean a ton of attitude. Try to inject a fraction of Xzibit’s emotion into your public speaking (see my post ‘Fuel the Fire’).
• Surprises: an exploding car, looting, and an abseiling SWAT team. You may not have the budget – or the insurance for that matter – to do something similar, and that kind of thing may be a little inappropriate for the Monday morning management meeting. However, try to keep your audience on their toes; they’ll love you for it, because you’ll be trying to make your presentation interesting, instead of failing to see that it’s boring. That’s a very big deal in public speaking, trust me (see my post ‘Don’t Tell Them Everything First’).
• Style/persona. Xzibit looks his best, and he’s only popping to the shops for some milk. Dress like you mean business; combined with your attitude, you may come across as a much more impressive character (see my post ‘Get Your Coat, You’ve Pulled’).

And like that, I’m out.