3 Reasons to watch this talk: Leland Melvin

  1. Lovely open hand gestures and use of physicality in storytelling. Gestures are strong and in the ‘power zone’. (The ‘power zone’ for a speaker is above their waist.)
  2. The speaker drops us straight into a relevant story, but with a narrative twist; it does not have the outcome that we might expect, which keeps us hooked. We don’t just get one overly neat story, as sometimes happens when speakers are trying to convey a ‘lifechanging’ moment. Instead, we get a series of moments that build and provide an interesting throughline.
  3. Excellent use of the senses to bring the storytelling to life, including scent and sound, as well as vision. This is further strengthened by analogies like the fact that the space station is the ‘size of a football field’. Overall, the speaker successfully creates a vivid and engaging scene.