I gave this lecture on December 2, 2023.
Stir to Action!
INTRODUCTION I have a problem. So do many people who have personalities like mine.
I have taken the Myers-Briggs personality test several times, and the results always return as INTP—that is, I am Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving. It is the personality type of people like:
Einstein, Darwin, Marie Curie, Descartes (“I think therefore I am”), Pascal, Tesla, Thomas Aquinas, Lincoln, Madison, John Quincy Adams, Eisenhower, Henry Mancini, John le Carre, Robert Heinlein, T.S. Eliot, Stephen King, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Bob Newhart, Gregory Peck, and Tiger Woods.
It is an impressive list. These people are considered “thinkers” or “innovators”—independent and often abstract thinkers, theorists, philosophers, and scholars. Not all are so illustrious. I am sure plenty of INTPs use their thinking prowess to lie, cheat, steal, and murder, too.
But INTPs have a tragic problem. They think. And they think. And they think and think and overthink. Their minds are constantly churning with ideas, possibilities, philosophies, imaginings, alternatives, perceived problems, solutions, and theories galore. INTPs’ greatest weakness is their strength: They think too much!
Many INTPs are so busy thinking about whatever interests them that they never do anything! They are all thought, no action! It often takes an agonizing amount of time and effort to get an INTP to move an idea that exists only in his head to the reality of practical application. An INTP’s attitude is often that it is enough to know something. Whether it ever sees actual practice is of lesser importance.
SPS The Manual’s sixth assignment attempts to solve this problem. The “Stir to Action!” speech rounds out the basic public-speaking concepts taught in the preceding speeches. A speech is not considered “Complete” (#7) unless it encourages the listener to take what is said and use it in the real world. What good are knowledge and understanding without practical application? Both apostles Paul (Romans 2:13) and James (James 1:22) tell us to be not just hearers but doers of the word.
The Manual suggests finding a wrong/sin in the world and convincing the audience to do something about it by changing their behavior or active in abolishing it. In this way, the Manual makes this speech like a low-key “Attack!” speech. However, they have different purposes: (#6) to rouse to action and (#8) to show thoroughly and convincingly that a thing is sinful and worthy of destruction (but not to join a crusade).
It is crucial not to confuse them. Your “Stir to Action” speech should avoid being overtly spiritual or religious. It does not call on you to provoke heartfelt repentance but a simple change in behavior. To avoid being preachy, a speaker giving a #6 speech should address a more practical subject. For instance, convince the audience that they should:
- dial the thermostat down a few degrees.
- change their car’s oil every three months or 3,000 miles.
- teach their children how to hunt or garden.
- begin corresponding with a remote church member who has no one to fellowship with.
- take their wives on a date every two weeks or each month.
- refuse to check their work email during their vacation.
- take a break from social media regularly.
- put together a basic tool kit for their boys as they approach the time they will move out.
- get expert financial advice for retirement.
- prepare for one’s demise by taking care of all the end-of-life details and payments beforehand.
Once you pick a simple subject, you must marshal reasons, facts, and figures to answer why doing as you suggest is a good and necessary idea. Think of the audience as a herd of stubborn mules you must coerce into moving. They need sound, persuasive reasons to budge even a little bit, and you may have to motivate them with carrots (benefits) and sticks (detriments) to bring them to your side.
Emotional appeals work, too, but a speaker must be careful not to come across as a slick marketer, a glad-handing salesman, or an over-emoting actor. Raise the intensity of your appeals to action as your conclusion nears, so the listener feels your excitement and wants to follow your advice. So, sway not just the hearer’s mind but also his emotions. He must feel the urge to do as you say.
CONCLUSION And if you are really persuasive, you may even stir an INTP into action!
“The Psychology of Persuasion, as told by an Ivy League Professor” (YouTube video) may be a helpful resource to consider when preparing for this speech.