132 Resonate
What could beWhat is
Wonderment
Rhetorical Questions
Speaking
As you’ve learned, contrast is critical to holding an audience’s
attention. Feynman’s lectures are a magnificent example of
contrast and structure. Some academic topics simply can’t
contrast between what is and what could be until they lay the
foundation of what is over several lectures.
In this lecture on the law of gravity, Feynman masterfully
incorporates contrast by moving back and forth between fact
Feynman uses carefully crafted phrases of wonderment that express his affection for the sub-
ject: “This law has been called the greatest generalization achieved by the human mind. And
you can get already, from my introduction, that I’m interested not so much in the human mind
as in the marvel of nature, who can obey such an elegant and simple law as this law of gravi-
tation. So our main concentration will not be on how clever we are to have found it all out but
on how clever she is to pay attention to it!”
Signal the Audience
The tick marks above represent numerous signals of how the lecture was organized. He uses three types of
organizational signals:
6
Introductions
“What I want to talk to you about…”
“I am going to try to give…” “Now
I’ve chosen…” “What I’d like to do
in this lecture.”
Conclusions
“So it became apparent…” “So an
interesting proposal is made…”
“But the most impressive fact
is…” “Finally,…”
New Key Points
“First,…” “Next,…” “In the mean-
time,…” “The next point…” “For
instance,…” “Then,…” “Further,…”
“In addition,…” “The next ques-
tion is,…” “Another problem came
up,…” “Onward!”
(mathematics) and context (history) in nearly perfect
timing. Technically, this sparkline should be one flat
what is line. So we’ll pretend we’ve zoomed in on that
line to look more closely at the contrast between fact
and context. (See www for a visionary presentation by
Feynman that does traverse between what is and what
could be.)
Laughter
Organizational
Signals
0:05
0:10 0:15 0:20
0:25
0:30
Feynman’s Sparkline
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Structure Reveals Insights 133
New Bliss
“Nature uses only the
longest threads to weave
her patterns so that each
small piece of her fabric
reveals the organization
of the entire tapestry.”
Create a Sense of Wonderment
“It’s one of the most beautiful
things in the sky—as good as
sea waves and sunsets.”
Engage with Laughter
Feynman infuses his lectures with funny commentary to keep the students engaged. He
loses his place in his notes, stumbles a bit, and makes a joke at the same time: “Now that
shows that gravitation extends to the great distances, but Newton said that everything
attracted everything else. Do I attract you? Excuse me, I mean, do I attract you physically?
I didn’t mean that. What I mean is…”
Make the Audience Think
Feynman sprinkles rhetorical questions as
structural devices throughout his lecture
like these: “Now what is this law of gravi-
tation that we’re going to talk about?
The force of the moon on the earth is bal-
anced, but by what? So something’s the
matter with the law?”
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0:40
0:45 0:50 0:55
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