I've been called (most often by our board chair) the speech nazi. Part of this is because I conduct the effective speaking sections of our TCASK Speaker's Bureau training, and partly because she always asks me to listen to her speeches before she gives them and I yell whenever she starts rocking back and forth or saying "ummm" etc. I can't imagine where she gets these nicknames from.

But in all seriousness, oratory and rhetoric are often overlooked as important parts of our abolition arsenal. We may make the best points in the world, but if we don't communicate them effectively, we won't convince our audience. Which brings us to this entry's title. Any Shakespeare fans in the house?

You see Mark Anthony's speech ("Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!") Is a great example of oratorical rhetoric. How do we get our points across? Anthony has a repeated phrase that he comes back to over and over again, "but Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man." Over the last few days I've been privileged to speak with Hector Black (a MVFHR member) and Stacy Rector (a Presbyterian minister). Consequently, my presentation was no longer the moral one, moving people's hearts. Instead I had to retool my presentation to focus on the nuts and bolts facts. So I decided to rip a sheet out of good ole Willy Shakespeare.

"Does it work?" I've been asking my audiences. Before we answer that question, we have to know what "work" means. Is it always getting the right person? Well, with over 120 exonerees in the last 30 years, no it doesn't. So does it work? Well maybe if it protects us, but with LWOP we don't need it and with no serious study showing any deterrent effect, it doesn't so, does it work?

I've had pretty good results with this rhetorical question being used as a refrain to get the point across. We all know that the death penalty, as a public policy, is a failure, but we need to find the best ways of communicating that message. When we're putting together a presentation, ask yourself, does it work?