Put it in Perspective by Sandra Birk
Every once in a while, you run across something that puts something you know or thought you knew in perspective. That is what happened to me when I read an article by J. Conca in the July issue of Nuclear News. By putting it in perspective I mean it clarifies or gives you a deeper understanding or maybe persuades you to change your mind. Conca is a well-respected scientist that writes about nuclear and the environment for Forbes magazine.
Here is the quote that impressed me. The USS aircraft carrier “Kennedy got 13 inches [read that as traveled 13 inches] to the gallon of distillate marine fuel oil. The Ike [USS Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier] steamed for 20 years on a chunk of uranium the size of a grapefruit [yep, you read that right. Not much fuel] and is still active today.
An aircraft carrier is about 1000 feet long so it is over 1000 gallons of fuel just to travel the length of the ship. At 13 inches that is over a million gallons of fuel oil to travel across the Pacific Ocean one time and that is for a single ship! Thankfully, the US Navy made the decision in 2009 to power all submarines and carriers with, ( you guessed it) nuclear fuel rather than fuel oil. I can't imagine that decision was made without a fight from big oil or at least those congressionals that are funded by big oil.
Granted, the US Navy has the discipline and talent to manage nuclear vessels and I would not propose every ship on the sea be powered by nuclear. Nevertheless, I am happy they made this decision because given these statistics seemed inefficient, expensive, and damaging to the environment.
As toastmasters we are always searching for ways to get and keep the audience attention. I believe putting it in perspective is a good technique. It starts with a startling statistic and sometimes a comparison of two statistics that are shocking like the example of fuel oil versus nuclear for aircraft carriers. This grabs the audience attention and keeps them interested to see where you will go. You can then tie in your personal views on the statistics and share them with the audience. Finally, you may be interested in trying to persuade the audience to your way of thinking by providing them with some details in defense of your position similar to this article. Many pathways require a persuasive speech and this could be a good technique. For example, I know some people at the INL are on the fence about nuclear anything. Some are even anti-nuclear. But, given this one statistic, don't you think it is worth sharing a new perspective to convince others to change their position. Put things in perspective. It is a good technique. Give it a try on your next speech.
