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Memorandum

To: Mrs. Renee Pay

From: Caden Bushell

Date: December 12, 2013

Re: Professional Speaker Analysis


I had the opportunity to attend the 14th 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
amazing speaker who had a purpose in his speech. He influenced many people with his story
telling and showing how those stories can be relevant to people in the audience.

Organization

Matt Townsend demonstrated how It does not matter what you are, it matters what you want to
be. Matt Townsend told many stories of how this principle was something that became very real
to him as he reflected over experiences in his life. The first story that Matt Townsend told was of
how he became loin boy. In elementary school Matt thought he was the hottest thing since
butter on toast. He was the best tether ball player and speller in his whole grade. So at a school
spelling bee he was given the word lion to spell so without thinking twice he spelled loin. He
then realized he spelled loin instead of lion. That absolutely devastated him now he was loin
boy for the rest of his life. Some years later in his Scout troop he was around a fire on a camp
out with his fellow scouts and had a great idea to throw a jar of jam into the fire. After a few
minutes passed and the jam jar exploded all over his fellow scouts and his leaders. Now Matt
was known as loin boy and jam bomber.

A few years later Matt came in contact with a girl named Yoda. So being the young stupid kid he
was he began to make fun of Yoda and talked to her in a Yoda voice. Yoda filed a complaint to
the principle that she was being teased by Matt and a few other people. As a result Matt got
called into the principals office and got in serious trouble. He thought that was ridiculous and so
stupid at the time. He said that looking back on it now he was stupid and ignorant. He was now
known as loin boy, jam bomber, and guy that made fun of Yoda. In high school Matt had
a math class that he hated more than anything. Before a big test Matt went in to see the teacher
and told her that, Im a Townsand I dont do math. His teacher said sucks it up and preserver.
Matt learned a valuable lesson that day that even though he hated doing it he still had to do it.
With this story he humbles himself a lot and had to reveal his attitude.

When Matt was a senior at Highland High School he wanted to take one of his friends sisters to
the dance which was hare because of her disabilities and the fact she was in a wheelchair. So
Matt proceeded to ask her to the dance. Her father was skeptical at first, but decided to allow him
to take her to the dance. Matt proceeded to learn how to use her equipment. So the night of the

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dance came and Matt said it was one of the best experiences he ever had. As the night went on he
realized that he was going to need to take pictures which he was dreading because he was not
photogenic at all. He decided that it was not for him it was for the girl he was on the date with.
So he picked her up in his arms looked at the camera and took the best picture he has ever taken.
Matt realized at that point he was not focusing on himself he was focusing on his date.

The organizational pattern Matt Townsend used was the Cause and Effect pattern. With each
independent story Matt showed what the event led up to, how it happened, and the ultimate result
of his decisions. When he would talk about this at the end of each story, he showed to the
audience the result of his decisions. He then would demonstrate how to make better decisions.
For example the story he told of him making fun of the girl named Yoda. The decision to make
fun of her was a choice and he knew it was wrong, but did it and anyway as a result he got called
into the principals office and got a scolding. Also putting a jam jar in a fire as a choice and as a
result of that decision the jam jar exploded and sprayed jam all over his fellow scouts. Lastly the
decision to take a to a dance that would not have been asked, but did it anyways and did not care
what people thought of him and ended up having a great time. In each situation he had multiple
choices and multiple outcomes. Ultimately he learned a valuable lesson from each experience
which made him into the man he is today.


Supporting Material

Ethos

Ethos is defined as character that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize
a community, nation, or ideology. Matt Townsend has demonstrated this with many of his
speeches by involving audiences with his unique approach to building and maintaining
successful relationships. He is known as one of Americas top presenters in the field of Human
Relations and Development. He uses a great combination of humor and storytelling to convey his
message. This causes real life situations to move and inspire people to immediate results. Having
decided to study communications and interpersonal relationships, Matt has worked extensively in
the areas of results oriented communications, conflict resolution, and time management training.
As a leader presenter for industry leader Franklin Covey, Matt worked with the family and
special market division and created the companys largest Train the Trainer program certifying
more than 900 trainers to teach his customized time management program. The Matt Townsend
show is broadcast every week on KSL news radio. Matts book Starved Stuff: the Seven Basic
Needs of Healthy Relationships is a popular pick for those who are seeking a more healthy
relationship. Matt earned his Bachelors and Masters degree in communication and a Doctorate
in human development. Matt has developed many workshops. Among them are Relationship
Coaching Program, Smart Life for Women, Date Nights with Matt and many more. Also, Matt
actively dedicates his time as a volunteer guest speaker and is active in his church and
community.





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Pathos

Pathos is defined as emotional appeal that can be accomplished in multiple ways such as;
storytelling, a metaphor, or by passion in delivery. Matt Townsend demonstrated Pathos through
his story telling of loin boy, jam bomber, and ultimately taking his friends sister to the dance.
In each story he told it was a different atmosphere in the room. With the loin boy story
everyone was laughing in the room and he really appealed to the audience. With using jokes
about himself and showing that he was a lot like us. Next, the story of him becoming a jam
bomber was of similar appeal to the audience with much laughter and really interesting to listen
to. The mood in the room changed a bit with his next story of him taking his friends sister to the
dance. The audience really connected with Matt at this point he described in detail about that
night and what a wonderful time he had and that it was the best night of his life to that point. He
expressed that this particular girl would not have been asked to the dance if it was not for him.
With each story he had emotional appeal weather it was though laughter, funny voices, or being
the guy who asked the girl to a dance. Matt showed in a profound way how it does not matter
what you are, it matters what you want to be.

Logos

Logos is defined as logical reason and the effectiveness of supporting evidence. Matt Townsend
had great emotion with his speech. When Matt was a scout his friend was hospitalized. He went
to his friends house during recovery and when his friend finally woke up they both did not say a
word to each other. At this point in his speech it created a great deal of emotion. Matt also gave
an example with two bikers in the 2000 Olympics. He explained how that with any one biker he
could bike an ok time, but with two they could bike two times faster. This concept is 1 + 1 = 4 or
it could be 1 + 1 = -4 depending upon the relationship between the 1s. He also talked about the
seven basic needs for your partner which include; safety, trust, appreciation, respect, validation,
encouragement, dedication. A quote from Matt that really portrays this is Be what you want the
world to be.

Delivery

Matt Townsend was a very prepared public speaker with his professionalism and knowing his
audience. Matt knew he was speaking to high school students and appealed to them with laughter,
telling stories relevant to them, and above all keeping his speech interesting. Matts non-verbals
were great; he used the entire stage, not just standing behind a podium. Also he was great with
eye contact he never looked straight down, directly ahead, or to the side of the room he stayed
connected with the audience through the entire speech. He used great hand gestures with great
emphasis on citron points.

Matt used great visuals with a picture of a cow racing a dolphin, cyclists in the 2000 Olympics,
and pictures with the points of seven basic needs for your partner. He also presented the seven
basic needs of a healthy relationship. He brought in each point separate then he elaborated upon
it. With this technique its super easy to stay with him in each of his points. The impressive thing
about his presentation was all of the things he was talking about were memorized and he never
looked at the PowerPoint to help him. The PowerPoint was simple to read and easy to understand.

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Motivation

Motivation is a critical element of any speech. You want to move your audience to action and
take your speech to heart. Matt Townsend was very good at motivation. With his many stories
such as Loin Boy, going to prom, and visiting his friend who was hospitalized; in all these
examples Matt showed what he did and how it turned out. He would show where he made a
mistake or what he learned from each experience. Then he would give a suggestion on what his
audience should do if they find themselves in a similar situation. In many moments in his
speech here was silence in the audience when he really wanted to have the story or experience
sink in and have the audience really internalize and ponder about what he just said. This would
allow the audience to reflect and maybe for some, move them to action. He ended his speech
with a quote by Gandhi, You must become the change you want to see in the world. With this
quote, he challenged us to make a difference in the world.