Muhammad Ali was not “The Greatest”
At least not the original “greatest.”
Muhammad Ali is not only a boxing legend and a historic figure; he is also one of the most famous showman ever. His speaking style, including his wit, amusing quips and flamboyant statements, is easily recognizable to most people. It is also not entirely his own.
Muhammad Ali credits meeting a certain person at age 19 as a model for his speaking style. ”Gorgeous George” Young, a famous wrestler from the 60′s was a crowd favorite, albeit to root against. ”Gorgeous George” describing his own match on a radio program:
“I’ll crawl across the ring and cut my hair off! But that’s not gonna happen because I’m the greatest wrestler in the world!”
Here is Ali in his own words describing his first interaction with Gorgeous George:
“I saw 15,000 people comin’ to see this man get beat. And his talking did it. I said, ‘This is a gooood idea!’”
Muhammad Ali took facets of what he saw, incorporated some of that into what was distinctly his own style, and the rest is history. I have yet to meet a person who has crafted a speaking style entirely in a vacuum. We all have elements of presentations and presenting styles that we like, and facets that may make us uncomfortable, do not work for us, or that we simply do not like.
In my opinion, practicing elements of speaking styles that you like when developing your own style is great, as long as the practice occurs long before a public presentation. The stage (or podium, or conference center) is not the first time to experiment with a new technique without prior practice.
In developing your style, I believe another legend, Bruce Lee, said it best:
“Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own”
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- Jul 8, 2011: "The Secret" to Effective Public Speaking | Matt Eventoff
- Aug 16, 2011: Boxing Needs To Incorporate Media Training...Immediately | Matt Eventoff
Matt, this is a great story and I appreciate your sharing it with us. I’m going to read a little more about Gorgeous George. I love you blog. Please keep at it. Joel
Take a closer look at Sonny Lister. He would have destroyed Ali had it not been for a Mob thrown fight.
Klitchko is better than Ali, and many deny it, but he also beat Lennox Lewis until a crooked ref threw the fight. Lewis was getting destroyed like everyone else. Klitchko never even got knocked down ever!!