Silence can make the difference!

One can find many amazing, fun, and incredible stories at ted.com, but when it comes to presenting a story full of originality and creativity, we have to speak about John Francis. Born in 1946 and also called “The Planet Walker,” John is an environmentalist with an incredible life story. In 1972, one year after an oil spill at The San Francisco bay, he decided to stop using motorized vehicles. Nobody knew that his particular way of protest would give him the fuel to become the important man he is today. Moreover, after his 27^th birthday in 1973, he started a journey of one day of silence, to help his community to reduce argues, and listen what others had to say. Well, that journey lasted for 17 years.

Three university diplomas, including a Ph.D. in Land Management, came out from this long and singular protest period. This man stopped using cars for 22 years, and wrote the majority of the actual oil spills management regulations in the US. The tittle of United Nations Goodwill Ambassador completes his professional sheet. But, his story sounds even more spectacular and inspiring, when it is told by himself during his intervention for TED.

John Francis intervention for ted.com

His speech contains not only stories and quotes, but also a special eloquent style that rapidly captures you. John’s special humor sense is intentionally injected into different parts of the speech, recreating parts of the story, making people laugh for a while, and continue relating the rest. There is no discussion about his knowledge about environmental regulations, giving an important sense of confidence to his audience. Finally, John Francis presents us a thoroughly prepared speech in terms of grammar and narrative that creates people’s empathy with him, and his life story. In this way, his message effectively fosters the environmental conscience within the audience, and, at the same time inspires not only environmentalists, but other professionals looking for a boost for their lives. 

Video courtesy of: ted.com

Pictures courtesy of: Rogers, Reyes, Glenn Oakley