Minutes of Magic is a collection of outstanding 4-minute speeches, representing the personal philosophies of some of the brightest young minds and aspiring leaders of our time. The 80 speech transcripts ( 600 words each) were curated from over 4,000 speeches delivered in Professor Mihir Mankad's award-winning "Arts of Communication" courses, and serve as benchmarks for storytelling and speechwriting. Students featured in the book are from some of the finest graduate schools in the world, including Harvard, MIT, Tufts, The Indian School of Business, Masters Union and Ashoka University.
The speeches provide inspiration to triumph through tough times, share joy, live mindfully, build on love and relationships, and reframe perspectives. Several speeches featured in the book were live recorded in several TED-style events entitled "The Faces of Community". These videos are available on the companion website (www.minutesofmagic.com), and can serve as a powerful complement to the book.
About The Author:
Mihir Mankad is a global communication expert and an award-winning Professor of Leadership Communication. He leverages a uniquely diverse background as a former national TV anchor, Clinton Foundation Director, and McKinsey and Bain management consultant, to bring in an experiential, practical and engaging approach to the study and practice of verbal communication. Professor Mankad graduated with a BA from Stanford University, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School as a Presidential Scholar.
He divides his time between the United States and India, where he teaches popular courses on public speaking, leadership communication, and facing the camera to graduate students and senior leaders in the private, public and nonprofit sectors.
10 Reasons to Read:
- The book showcases powerful examples of writing intended to be heard (versus only to be read).
- It delivers pieces that are concise and precise. Four minutes to recite, and only two to read. Digestible for today's attention-starved audience.
- It demonstrates excellence that a rigorous and reputed academic programs demand, while maintaining a few natural imperfections of a live performance.
- It represents the voices of talented and motivated young people, most aspiring leaders. Understanding the thinking of this demographic on a range of subjects can be enlightening.
- It covers a good number of personal, and often "heavy" topics, allowing for powerful learning through osmosis. While books abound on how to win audiences through inspirational content, much rarer is the availability of a set of such honest, personal stories.
- Short Lessons are provided by Professor Mankad that provide context for the learnings that speakers attempted to incorporate.
- Speeches are reinforced by reflections from a small group of speakers and course alums that shed light on how and why a unique community was formed through a space of sharing personal ideas and stories, and also provide some food-for-thought "nuggets" from scholars and enthusiasts of spoken communication.
- Through the accompanying website, this project becomes visual with images of the speaker, accompanying videos of several of the speeches in the book, an upcoming podcast, and further opportunities for engagement.
- This is a constantly evolving project, with hundreds of excellent speeches still on deck for future publications and courses scheduled and available for new emerging leaders and artful communicators.
- At a time when the world is reeling in the wake of a global pandemic crisis, these speeches serve as a beacon of hope and strength, and play a role in building resilience and cultivating healing around the world.
