International Focus Magazine Premiere Edition | Page 34

dience: “Highlight the values you
share with your audience. How
did holding on to those values
propel you to where you are?”

onto college campuses, Representative Turner stood at the microphone
just before the final vote and uttered
only one word: “Really?”

This does not mean that your audience will always agree with you according to Turner:“The older I’ve become, the more I realize that there are
some things I have to let go. I’m not
the only passionate person. Sometimes, you need to put the brakes on,
ratchet it down, and just listen.”

For International Speakers

Value Brevity

As the Mayor looks ahead at the work
“Introduce yourself well. Show who to be done, he no doubt keeps clear
you are, tell them your story, and in mind the vision that he outlined in
then they will be more inclined to his inauguration speech: Houston, “a
listen. People are naturally curious. city that embraces diversity, culture
What about your country would in- and differences, and sees that as our
trigue them? Highlight the values strength … a city of hope, opportuyou share with your audience. How nityopportunity and inspiration.”

Mayor Turner’s inauguration speech
lasted only 10 minutes — half the
length of Mayor Annise Parker’s
speech in 2010. When developing his
speech, one of only three manuscripts
he has ever written, he evidently had
his 8th-grade writing teacher’s words
in mind: “Cut off your speech while
people still want to hear more.”
Pastor W. H. Dudley was a trusted
mentor to Turner during his early
teenage years. “Brother Turner,” he
would say, “there will be times when
you can’t speak long.” Calling shorter talks sermonettes, Pastor Dudley’s
advice was to “give them a taste, not
the full loaf.”
Pausing for a moment and then leaning forward in his chair, the Mayor
shares this simple formula with me:
“Get their attention soon. The introduction must hit hard and the conclusion must close strong. The meat
goes right in the middle.”
According to Turner, there are times
when a point can be made much more
effectively with extreme brevity or even
silence.“When everyone expects you to
go one way, but you go the other, you
can have a bigger impact.”
After a 2015 floor debate over handgun legislation that could open the
way for the weapons to be brought
34 iF Magazine | July 2016

As I approach my final question, Janice Evans, Director of Communications for the Mayor’s office, gives us
a friendly reminder of the time. I
then ask, “What advice do you have
for international visitors speaking to
a Houston audience?” He ponders
briefly, then says:

did holding on to those values propel you to where you are? Always
remember that people need to know
who you are and what you stand for
before you can talk to them about
the issues.”
I check the clock and see our
30-minute interview has grown into
an hour-long conversation. Though
time is short, Mayor Turner casually
puts his jacket on and poses for a few
more photographs.