Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture
While watching Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, I thought it was so sad that it was literally his last lecture. The lecture was about his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and the lessons learned. The first technique I noticed was humor. Throughout the entire lecture he used humor to interact with his audience. The next method that stood out was his powerpoint. Pausch’s powerpoint really helped emphasize his points. Lastly , I thought his use of quotes should be considered a method. It ,to me, brought an emotional tie or aspect to the lecture. Overall I really enjoyed this speech and I hate that it is his last (I also thought what he did for his wife was really sweet and I started to tear up at the end when he said the speech was for his kids ).
Throughout most of the lecture Pausch used humor as a teaching method. During the first portion of his speech , about his childhood dreams, he used a lot of humorous references to keep the audience involved. Also, in the second portion of enabling the dreams of others he did the same. He made statements and would pause to get laughter or a reaction from the audience. The last portion of his speech had humor as well and you could tell somewhat that it was covering up the sad underlying message of the lecture.
During the entire lecture, he used a powerpoint. The powerpoint gave his points emphasis and the listener could figure out the important points. He used this during all three points. Pausch would list his main points on some slides and show pictures on others. This really helped me as I watched the video to keep up with the main points of the different sections of the lecture. The pictures he showed also helped emphasize his points on the slides. He also showed videos using the powerpoint method.
In my opinion, one of the techniques he used were quotes. His quotes throughout this entire speech really turned the emotional side up a notch. I really believe that if he didn’t have all the quotes from him or other people throughout his life this lecture would not have been as powerful. I wrote down many of the quotes because I really enjoyed them. There were too many to list, but I really advise everyone to go back and listen for them. They are really inspiring.
Hey Nicole!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post! I agree, a good way to really reach people is through emotions. His quotes and sharing his personal life story definitely achieved this. I agree, it is so sad to think about it being his last lecture. It makes you think though, what would you be doing if you knew you only had months to live? What would you do different? What would you want to do? He was so graceful and accepting. I just commend him for being able to hold himself together the way he did. I think I would be in shambles if I was in his shoes. I agree with you about powerpoint. It was neat because he wasn't just reading the slides. The slides simply complimented his lecture. Great post!