[Rewritten September 13, 2017]
The video clip below is from “The Exception,” a recent movie set in 1940 and centered on the last German Kaiser (Wilhelm II, played by actor extraordinaire Christopher Plummer) who, at the time, was living in exile in Holland.
The video clip below is from “The Exception,” a recent movie set in 1940 and centered on the last German Kaiser (Wilhelm II, played by actor extraordinaire Christopher Plummer) who, at the time, was living in exile in Holland.
Background: For
much of the 30-second clip, you see the Plummer character in a rage--he is
fulminating because, moments earlier, a young guest at the dinner table had (naively)
spoken about the privations suffered by his family in the aftermath of
Germany’s defeat in WWI. To the Kaiser, the lament is a personal affront and
hence the tantrum. [The opening words in the clip: “And this is my thanks? Nobody cares! My navy betrayed me...my army
fell apart...”]
Discussion of Plummer’s exemplary display of vocal variety,
which is a key ingredient of
highly effective public speaking: Beginning at the nine-second mark, we hear the
Kaiser blame (General) Ludendorff, (Naval Minister) Tirpitz, and one other former
official for his nation’s defeat, followed by “They stabbed me in the back. They lost me the war.” Then comes one
of the most exceptional demonstrations of vocal variety I’ve ever seen: To give
strong emphasis to his concluding words “They
lost me my country,” Plummer takes a long, pregnant pause before uttering
them in a dramatically lower voice volume and pitch. Public speaking at its absolute finest!
BTW, just last week, one of my clients (an executive VP at a
large healthcare firm here in Houston) was inspired by this very clip to inject
some extraordinary--and extremely effective--vocal variety during the
conclusion of a pep talk to her employees.
© Copyright
2017 V. J. Singal
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