Kane eats Raviolis???

I have to admit, the WWE "World Wrestling Entertainment" is and has been a guilty pleasure of mine for the better part of my life. This commercial is classic. It show's the wrestler Kane, who in character form, doesn't ever speak and is just a monster in the ring, dominates anyone and everyone in his path. So when it showed Kane without using any words, loving Chef boyardee, it made me laugh out loud.

Kane is essentially saying without saying how good chef boyardee is, if a guy like Kane wants to eat this kind of food, then as a kid back in the day, you know it had to be good for you. If Kane was doing it, I definitely wanted to be doing this too. Interesting how he can tell me to eat these things without using a single word.

From Marwell and Schmitt I found Reward within the commercial. This devastating machine in the ring opens this cupboard and it is just full of this food. He grabs the cans, starts making it into a huge bowl, and without speaking you can see just how much he enjoys this food. The reward is simple, to be like Kane, you want to eat this food.

I watched this several times as a kid growing up and then came across it again for this assignment, after watching it a few more times, I noticed also from the influence tactics, punishment. There is a scene in the commercial where Kane calls down fire from Hell and it lights up the cans and they fall into the bowl. In the wrestling world, this was done by Kane when he was entering the ring, when he was about to go to work on a guy he would do this same gesture, so you know whats coming. Punishment.With me being a wrestling fan, I knew exactly what was going to happen when Kane raised his hands before the Chef Boyardee. I wasn't about to not eat the can, even if I didn't want to.

The Process premise that I noticed in this commercial were definitely that of emotions. It started with seeing Kane open a cupboard full of food, it made me smile, kinda laugh, then he slams the cans down, calls the fire, and immediately you start to fear that Kane is going to do some work on you. You know whats going to happen when he starts getting angry and calls down the fire. In that 30 second clip with no words by Kane, you could find all kinds of different emotions.

This was a classic commercial. Commercials are still good today and there are some funny ones, but as I watched this one and many others while picking one to do this assignment on, they were way better back in the day, so simple, yet so funny, all the time.

Out Of Class Speech: Hollywood Vs. The World

The out of class presentation I gave was on the subject of how and why Hollywood and or celebrities are able to impact the way some people do things or the way attempt to live their lives. I presented this speech to a good portion of mine and my wife's family who were in town to help us move. The ages of the people present for the speech ranged from 14-72, obviously many were coming from different generations and were likely going to have very different opinions on this kind of subject.

The purpose of my speech was to let the people know that there is a reason that celebrities or stars from movies or sports teams are looked upon as people we want to be like or hope to have similar success as. Many people see these different people in the tabloids and have all these negative thoughts and feelings towards these individuals, all we know is what we read. Do any of us know any of these stars that are constantly being scrutinized and criticized for how they are and how they live their life? More then likely, the answer is no you don't. Maybe one of us here is lucky enough to know a "celebrity" personally, but as I said before, likely not.

There were several things I wanted to focus on during this speech to try and improve on for future speeches both in school and in life. I gave the audience a rubric to feel out after the speech, I had 12 questions on the rubric that each person was asked to feel out. Among the items on the rubric that I handed out were, but not limited to:

1 - Did the opening line of my speech get your attention enough to BE interested, and not Have to be interested?
2 - Was the speech repetitive in the different points that I was making throughout?
3 - What if any was my "nervous tick" during the speech? (swaying back and forth, hands in pocket, saying "um" as a filler word."
4 - Whether I made you a "believer" or not, was how I presented the speech able to turn this into a valid view point?
5 - Were the transitions rushed or did they flow smoothly?

The main focus of my speech was using myself as an example as to why these celebrities can be role models and people we look up to, and not just these dirt bags we read about in the paper and see on the TV. I was really aiming to target three main points during this speech to get the audience to really see what I was trying to say, by getting them to look through my eyes, not their own. Those points were: 1 - People have had dreams all their life of wanting to be something or be someone of importance or be successful, on any level. What is wrong with having a dream to play basketball, sing in front of thousands, or star in a movie that everyone you know will go and see. Obviously there is nothing wrong with having those dreams, SO, if we do have them, who are we going to look up to or try and emulate? The Michael Jordan's, the Garth Brooks, the Brad Pitt's of the world, that's who.
2 - Don't let a magazines, a TV, a friend, a rumor, or anything of the sort decide how you view that person. Read about them in biography's, watch documentaries, research them. Make up your own mind on these people. Just because they make a lot of money doesn't mean they don't deserve it.
3 - I wanted them to think throughout their lives, who they wanted to be like, the dreams they had, who they tried to copy, then ask themselves why, more than likely they are going to be the exact same reasons as someone who is "trying to be like Mike", but because Michael Jordan is famous, it's viewed differently.

The points I wanted to make in this speech were definitely delivered. I was able to put a spin on "Hollywood" that many of the people in the room hadn't really thought of that way before. I set out with a few goals in mind before the speech (as mentioned above) and feel they were accomplished as  I was delivering the speech. I was able to notice from the feed back and from the comments afterwards that the older generations of people in the room during my speech, were far less willing to give the speech any real thought, as they proved to be more difficult in accepting that not always are the celebrities are bad people. In their eyes, the more money they had, the more evil they were.

Going through the feedback I had, the overwhelming consensus was that my transitions during the speech flowed very smoothly, I was able to keep the attention as I shifted the topics. I was able to keep my hand and body gestures minimized, but still effective. The two items I was told to pay more attention to, were using filler words as I tried to keep my place in the speech, and saying the same thing in different ways. Better known as repeating myself.

This was a great opportunity for me to be able to practice and deliver my speech. I was able to pay close attention to the things I needed to work on for future speeches, and hear the feedback from  different people on what I had improved on and what still needed improvement. Overall the speech was a success, I feel I was able to deliver what I intended to, while still being able to focus on the specific items I was trying to improve on. All while getting the audience to look at a subject differently then they had ever before.

Ashton Kutcher, is that really you?

Ashton Kutcher, a very successful Hollywood actor gave this speech at the teen choice awards in 2013. What he said was completely opposite of what people who know him or have seen his movies or interviews expected him to say during this speech. Ashton talks about when he was a teenager growing up how he had to get a job, before being famous, before having any money. His first job was as an ice cream man, and he worked that job until he got a new job, and than worked that one until he got a new one. He states that he never quit a job without having another one lined up for him already.  Though he was working these jobs, he had a bigger vision, and bigger dreams, ones he knew he could achieve, but had to walk down this road for a while to attain those dreams.

The cultural parable of Reich that this speech goes into is that of the Triumphant Individual. Where the little guy gains success, happiness, wealth. He goes against the grain, defeats all the odds and finds that success that many never thought would be possible. Ashton talks about how he was just a normal teenager with ambitions to be a movie star, but he wasn't overly gifted, he didn't go to a famous acting school or have special privileges that he was born with that made him an instant superstar. He simply had a dream, worked hard to save enough money to move to California and chase that dream, in the process, he failed hundreds of times, but he never gave up, he believed in him self and knew that if he kept trying, he would succeed.

The process premise that Ashton Kutcher uses is the third premise, which is Attitudes. He talks about how his beliefs and his attitudes and opinions are what made it possible for him to achieve what he has. Not only does he say he had these things, but the major portion of the speech is him telling the audience that we need to have these attitudes, we need to believe in ourselves, that we can change the world and make a difference, if we have these beliefs and opinions of ourselves, there will be nothing we can't accomplish. I think he succeeds very much so with this premise of trying to persuade people to believe in themselves. During and after the speech it had me wondering and thinking about what I want to do in life, and how I am going to do it. The different goals and dreams that I have, etc. In this speech he is trying to get us to see in ourselves what he saw in himself, and to act on it, and to not give up on it. No matter what anyone says, if we can believe in ourselves, we have the attitude it requires to fall down a time or two and get back up, and are willing to have our own opinion, we will succeed.

This speech was great and very inspiring to me. People today look at Hollywood actors or celebrities and instantly dis-credit them from having any real advice or input in the real world, to me, this speech was what thousands of people who follow a guy like Ashton's every move needed to hear. The speech has been re-watched on Youtube almost three million times, and was broadcasts to millions of different homes, clearly I am not the only one who heard what he wanted me to say and surely not the only one who is acting upon it.

Kevin Durant a Myth?

This is the video of Kevin Durant, who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA accepting his MVP award in the 2013-2014 season. This award is the most prestigious award in the NBA aside from the NBA title. Only a handful of people have ever won this award throughout the history of the game. During his acceptance speech, Durant uses one of Larson'y myths to create an effective consequence. The myth he creates is that of "Wisdom of the Rustic" which implies that Americans value humble beginnings, and that difficulty teaches".

In this video Durant begins talking about how people doubted him and that no one believed in him, which he said from an early age created much difficulty for him to succeed. He talks about all the long days he spent at the park playing pick up games against older people and people that were bigger then him. All because he was trying to get better at basketball with the tools that he had available to him at the time. In the next portion of the video he talks about how it was just him and his mom. He didn't have a Dad that was there for him to support him. His mom had to work two jobs, day and night in order to provide for the family. The family never had any money and they were always in need.  Durant talks about how his humble beginnings taught him appreciation for the value of money, the appreciation of his mom, and the appreciation of hard work. He said that he saw how hard his mom had to work for him and that it inspired him to be a better person and a harder worker.
Durant talks a lot in the speech about how not having certain things, and having to adjust to being poor or his mom being a single parent, made him work harder, it made him want to be better and to have a more successful life for him and his family.

In the video, Durant uses the myth many times throughout the speech suggesting that because of his humble beginning, he is the man he is today. Whether on purpose or not, he is making it out to be that for him, that was the only way he was going to turn out this way, and I guess that is where the myth arises. Do Americans really value a humble beginning and think that difficulty can be a good teacher? In Durant's case he obviously does think that and he does a good job of portraying this myth as anything BUT a myth. For him, that was the way, for him, that's how he was able to turn out the way he did, and for him, that's why he is successful in the NBA now.

Durant uses his words in such a way that it appears he is persuading the audience to believe that because of the humble beginning, he turned out this way, which to me as I watched the video is trying to tell me that there is no other way to come about success. You have to have a humble beginning and you have to have to face much difficulty and much adversity in order to succeed. However, there are many people in the world, and since we are speaking specifically about Kevin Durant in the NBA, there are many NBA players that came from money from the beginning, they were able to go to all the camps, all the clinics, get all the professional help they needed,  and many of them would argue they turned out just as successful and hardworking as Durant did.

What Durant is saying is that for him personally, he buys into this myth. He believes that because of the difficulty he faced growing up, the poverty, the one parent home, the lack of money, all of those things made him who he is today. If you were to take a man like Christian Laetner, who was born wealthy, went to Duke university, had everything given to him according to many people, he would likely say that it is just as Larson suggests, a myth. He came from money, went to the nice school, was an NBA superstar, and though he may of had his own difficulties growing up, he definitely wasn't poor, he had two parents, and lived a very privileged life, yet he would still consider himself hard working and successful. So really, it all comes down to how you were brought up, to some people it is obviously a myth, for others like Kevin Durant, its the myth that made them who they are today.

Obama Meets Fogg

This speech is of one of Barack Obama's victory speeches. What this video effectively does is it makes the audience feel like they are the ones who are responsible for the change in America. They are the people who are responsible for electing Barack Obama as President, and these same people are the ones who will benefit from this the most. In the video, he portrays his success as a win for everybody, not just a win for him and his political party. He is using his ability to speak very fluently and effectively to persuade the people to believe and buy into what he is saying. In Fogg's model, Fogg states three things must occur at the same time in order for the speech to be effective. Motivation, ability, and triggers are the things people must experience simultaneously in order to be affected by the speech. In this speech, he does a good job of making all three of these things happen; he gets the people to really buy into what he is saying and by using this model he was able to make the people believe in the change he is promising.

Motivation - A big part of this speech comes from him telling the people this time must be different. This next term for the presidency must be different. It cannot duplicate what has been done in the past. As he has said over and over again what we have been doing before, simply has not worked and it is time for a change. It has to be different. He empowers the people throughout the speech by repeatedly using the phrase, "yes we can" which he implores the people to believe they can. They can make the change; they can voice their opinion; they can be recognized; and they can make a difference. He tells the people, "we are ready". He takes away the question: is the country ready for change, by telling the people they are ready. He tells them they need the change and they need the difference. When he gives them the power of telling them they are ready for change, than the people feel empowered and they feel like they are ready, they can do it, and things do have to be different.

Ability - In this speech, he is very good at giving the people the ability to make the change and the ability to see all the different things that need to take place. One of the big issues he tells during the speech is "you made it happen". By telling the crowd this, he makes them feel like they did it. They are the ones who made all this happen and they are the ones who are responsible for all of this. Something he has made them believe, which has not been the case with the other former presidents as of late in the country. One of the big issues he presses is that he does a good job of personalizing the minority. By trying to tell the "little guy" they can now become the "big guy" makes them feel very important, wanted and needed, something they have not felt in the past. He makes the minority feel like they have a say, an opinion and a vote, and not only that, but they will be listened to as well. He tells the people they have the ability to unite the party's. There does not need to be separation and distance between the people any longer.

Triggers - The Triggers he uses in this speech is what really gets the people excited. When Obama tells the people change is whats happening in America, they love it. They want change, they want to see the difference and just the mention of this gives them the energy and the excitement to support Obama. He tells the people it will not be like it used to be, the big company's will no longer run everything and have control over everything. This means the smaller people, the smaller companies, and the smaller businesses will now be able to prosper and have a say in the country. They will not have to just sit back and take a back seat any longer. He tells the people the minority will now become the majority. The people at this speech loved this. They loved hearing they are going to matter and they are going to count for something. What Obama tells these people, whether it comes to pass or not, the people love the idea and the thought of becoming a somebody from now on in the country, whereas before they have felt neglected and unappreciated.

This speech was a great example, I think, of a speech that uses Fogg's theory to near perfection. He had the motivation, he provided the ability and brought up several triggers the people were really willing and to support him. He made points known he knew the people wanted to hear and he knew would get him the support he needed. When he gives a speech like this with the intentions of gaining the people's support, using Fogg's theory was the perfect way to do it. He shows the people what they were getting by telling them they are the ones who made it happen and then telling them what is going to happen is what they have wanted to happen all along. He delivered the speech accordingly and proved it to be very effective for the people who were there to listen to it.