As someone who has spent his entire career trying to be invisible, standing in front of an audience is a cross between an out-of-body experience and a deer caught in the headlights, so please forgive me for violating one of the TED commandments by relying on words on paper, and I only hope I'm not struck by lightning bolts before I'm done. I'd like to begin by talking about some of the ideas that motivated me to become a documentary photographer.
My wish: let my photographs bear witness- James Nachtwey
In this introduction to a very serious speech, Nachtwey uses a number of metaphors, a pun, and an antithesis to depict his nervousness and explain why he is so uncomfortable. It lightens the mood before he goes into speaking about a serious and dark topic. First off, his attempt to be invisible is not literally part of his job, but exaggerated contrast between "standing in front of an audience" and invisibility is tremendously stark. He describes delivering a speech both as an "out-of-body experience," showing that he metaphorically doesn't feel present, and a "deer in the headlights" experience, which metaphorically shows that he feels frozen and helpless to keep something wrong from happening. These two things directly oppose one another but somehow make sense in the context he has put them in and are, therefore, an antithesis. He then jokes that he is breaking one of the "Ted commandments," by which he means that generally speakers at Ted Talks do not read their speech and since he is breaking that trend, he must be doing something wrong. "Ted" vaguely sounds like "ten," and Nachtwey means for it to sound like he is committing a sin by not having his speech memorized and is running the risk of being smitten by God. All of this happens in one sentence and sets the tone for the rest of the speech to be more comfortable.
Nachtwey, James. "Transcript of "My Wish: Let My Photographs Bear Witness"" James Nachtwey: My Wish: Let My Photographs Bear Witness. TED, Apr. 2007. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/james_nachtwey_s_searing_pictures_of_war/transcript?language=en>.
My wish: let my photographs bear witness- James Nachtwey
In this introduction to a very serious speech, Nachtwey uses a number of metaphors, a pun, and an antithesis to depict his nervousness and explain why he is so uncomfortable. It lightens the mood before he goes into speaking about a serious and dark topic. First off, his attempt to be invisible is not literally part of his job, but exaggerated contrast between "standing in front of an audience" and invisibility is tremendously stark. He describes delivering a speech both as an "out-of-body experience," showing that he metaphorically doesn't feel present, and a "deer in the headlights" experience, which metaphorically shows that he feels frozen and helpless to keep something wrong from happening. These two things directly oppose one another but somehow make sense in the context he has put them in and are, therefore, an antithesis. He then jokes that he is breaking one of the "Ted commandments," by which he means that generally speakers at Ted Talks do not read their speech and since he is breaking that trend, he must be doing something wrong. "Ted" vaguely sounds like "ten," and Nachtwey means for it to sound like he is committing a sin by not having his speech memorized and is running the risk of being smitten by God. All of this happens in one sentence and sets the tone for the rest of the speech to be more comfortable.
Nachtwey, James. "Transcript of "My Wish: Let My Photographs Bear Witness"" James Nachtwey: My Wish: Let My Photographs Bear Witness. TED, Apr. 2007. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/james_nachtwey_s_searing_pictures_of_war/transcript?language=en>.