Alfanuari

Intermediate Listening

Leni Marlina, SS, M.A

Week 2

Graham Shaw | Ted Residency

Why people believe they can't draw

Transcript:

Hi. I've got a question for you: how many people here would say they can draw? (Laughter) I
think we've got about one or two percent of the hands going up, and it's interesting, isn't
it? It's a little bit like people think of spelling or singing. They think,"You can either do it, or you
can't." But I think you can. Because when people say they can't draw, I think it's more to do
with beliefs rather than talent and ability. So I think when you say you can't draw, that's just an
illusion, and today I'd like to prove that to you. When I say "draw", I'm not saying we're all
going to draw like Michelangelo. We are not going to be painting the Sistine Chapel's
ceiling. But would you be happy if, by the end of this session, you could draw pictures a little
bit like this? (Audience murmuring) Oh, yes! (Laughter) Or even a little bit like
this? (Laughter) Actually, there are only two things you need to do to be able to achieve
this. One is have an open mind. Are you up for that? (Audience) Yes! And two, just be
prepared to have a go. So grab a pen and a piece of paper. OK, so here's how it's going to
work: I’ll show you the first cartoon we're going to do, so just watch to begin with. Here we
go. Just watching. That's going to be our first cartoon. It's a character called Spike. I'd like
you to draw along with me. I'll draw the first line, you draw, and when you've done that, look
up, and I'll know you're ready for the next line. Okay, here we go. Start with the nose. Now
the eyes. They're like 66s or speech marks. That's it. Next, the mouth. Nice, big smile. Now,
over here, the ear. Next, some spiky hair. Next, put the pen to the left to the mouth, little line
like that. Pen under the ear, drop a line like that. Pen to the left of the neck, top of the T-
shirt. Line to the left, line to the right. Just hold your drawings up and show
everyone. (Laughter) How are we all doing? (Laughter) OK. OK, fantastic. So, it looks like
you've just learned to draw one cartoon, but you've actually learned more than that; you've
learned a sequence that would enable you to draw hundreds and thousands of different
cartoons, because we're just going to do little variations on that sequence. Have a go at
this. Draw along with me. Nose. Eyes. Smile. That's it. Now some hair. Pen to the left of the
mouth, under the hair, little V-shape for the top, line to the left, line to the right. So we've got
another character. Let's call her Thelma. (Laughter) So, we've got Spike and Thelma. Let's
try another one. Here we go. Another little variation. You're getting the idea. Starting with the
nose. But this time we'll change the eyes slightly. Look, two circles together like that. That's
it. Then, two little dots in for the eyes. And this time we'll change the mouth slightly.
Watch. Little circle colored in there. Have a go at that. Next, the ear. Now, we'll have some
fun with the hair, watch. Nice curly hair. Then same thing: pen to the left to the mouth, little
line like that. Under the ear, drop a line. Top of the T-shirt. Line to the left, line to the right. I
think we'll call him Jeff. (Laughter) We'll do one more. One more go. Here we go. You're
getting the idea. (Laughter) So we'll start with a nose again. Notice we're doing little
variations. Now we'll change the eyes, so we've got them apart. We'll put some little dots in
like that. Next, the mouth slightly different. Let's put a little V-shape like that. Triangle. And a
little line across, and we'll just color this a little bit in. Now, watch this bit carefully; some hair,
watch. Here we go, little line like that. Next, a bit more there. And watch, a couple of triangles
to make a little bow. Triangle at the bottom, rest of the hair. Pen to the left of the mouth again.
You get the idea. Drop a line for the neck. Now the V-shape. Line to the left, line to the
right. There we go. Let's call her Pam. (Laughter) So you've done... (Laughter) So you've
done four cartoons. You can have a little rest now. (Laughter) Take a rest. You're getting the
idea. All we're doing is little variations. I'll just demonstrate a couple to you. We could go on
all day, couldn't we? You could do someone looking unhappy, a bit like that, or you could
experiment with, perhaps, someone who is… just draw a straight line, someone looking a bit
fed up. Or perhaps, you could do anything you like, really, just try things out. Look at this.
Little squiggle. There we are. So, all sorts of things we could do. Actually, one more I'll let you
do, one more idea. This is a great little technique. Have a go at this: people with glasses
on. Just draw a nose a bit like Spike's. Next, draw some frames, so two circles like that with a
little bit in between. Now, just put some dots inside for the eyes like that. Next, the ear. So it's
little bit like we did before, but this time we'll join up the frames. That's it. Watch this
bit. (Laughter) And this bit I really like. Watch. (Laughter) And then, little bit there. Pencil
under the mustache, line down, top of the shirt, left and right. So there we have it. We could
carry on, couldn't we? Hopefully, we've done enough to convince you that in fact we can all
draw. And not just people here. I've worked with… I'm going to give you three examples of
other people who've learned to draw, and that actually surprised them, too. I'm going to save
what I think is my favorite, most surprising example until last. The first example is: I've
worked a lot with children and students in schools. Actually the little ones, they just draw
fine, but when they get to about 15 or 16, most of them think they can't draw. But I worked
with them. I worked this week in a school where I was coaching them on using pictures for
memory. A girl was trying to remember what red blood cells do, and she drew this little
picture of a red blood cell carrying a handbag with O2 on it to remind her that the red blood
cells carry oxygen to all parts of the body. That was a great one. The other people I worked
with are many adults in all walks of life, and particularly in business, and they often will want
to make presentations memorable. So again, a quick cartoon or sketch could be really good
for that. And again, most people think they can't draw, but take this example. Couple of wavy
lines, little boat could be a metaphor to represent we're all in this together. So that, if that was
just drawn in the presentation, would really stay in the memory, wouldn't it? Yeah. But the
third example is - you shouldn't have favorites, should you? This is my favorite. Have you
ever been at the party when someone asks you what you do? It gets a little bit skeptical
when people ask me that. This lady said to me, well - I said, "I do a little bit of training, and I
teach people to draw," and she said, "Would you come along and do some for our
group?" She said, "I work with some people" - she was a volunteer - a group of people who
have suffered strokes. So I said, "Sure, I could spare some time for that." So I said I would,
and I booked the time in. Have you ever done that? You get near of that time and you think,
"What have I let myself in for here?" "Will I be able to do it?" I thought, "What could I do with
them?" you see. "I know. I'll do my cartoon drawing. They'll like that." But then, as I got near
of the time, I got more apprehensive, because then I was thinking, "I've worked with children,
with all sorts of adults; I've never worked with a group like this." It turns out it was all part of a
charity called TALK. This TALK charity is a wonderful charity that helps people who've
suffered strokes, but have a particular condition known as aphasia. You might have heard of
aphasia, sometimes called dysphasia. The key thing is it affects their ability to
communicate. So, for example, they might have trouble reading, writing, speaking, or
understanding. It can be quite an isolating condition; it can be very, very frustrating and can
lead to a loss of confidence. Anyway, so I prepared all this stuff, what to do for this session -
for a couple of hours, tea break in the middle - and I got more apprehensive. But actually, I
needn't have worried, because I'm going to show you now the work that they did. It was one
of the best things I've ever done. I'm going to show you the first slide. I taught them Spike,
just like I did for you, and I want you to see the reaction on their faces when they did
this. (Audience) Oh. What you can see here are two of the stroke recoverers on the left and
right, and one of the volunteer helpers in the center. Each stroke recoverer, there are about
36 in the room with volunteers as well, there's one-to-one helpers. You can just see the
delight on their faces, can't you? Let's look at another picture. This is a gentleman called
David, and he's holding up his picture, and you can tell it was the picture of Spike, can't
you? In fact, I think he's drawn Spike even better there. But what I didn't realize until even
after the session was that the number of the people in this session, including David, were
drawing with their wrong hand. David's stroke meant that it affected the right side of his
body, and he drew with his left hand, as many did. Nobody mentioned it to me, nobody
complained. They just got on with it. It was an inspirational session for me. It was quite a
humbling session, one of the best things I felt I've ever done. At the end of it, I had a lovely
email from doctor Mike Jordan, and he's the chair of the TALK group; happens to be a
medical doctor, but he's the chair of the group. He wrote to me, and I'm quoting, he
said, "Our recoverers learned today that they can draw. It's a bit more than that; this sort of
activity really builds their confidence." So I was happy, he was happy, everyone was
happy, they've invited me back again, and I go in there now about every three or four
months. So it's great. I thought that was a lovely example to share. Fancy one more
drawing? (Audience) Yes. Here we go. Grab your pens. Here we go. Right. I'm going to get
you to draw someone that you would recognize. So start with a big nose, a bit like
Spike's. Next, we'll do some eyes, and you might be thinking, "This is also a bit like
Spike." Watch the next bit. You're getting warm. There you go. Little line down there. Down
here. Little V-shape, line to the left, line to the right. And you've got Albert
Einstein. (Laughter) So you've got the pens with you, you've proved that you can
draw. You're very welcome to take the pens with you and have a practice at home, even
show somebody else. But actually, I'd like to leave you with a final thought. When you walked
in here today, many of you didn't believe you could draw. I've got a question for you about
that. How many other beliefs and limiting thoughts do we all carry around with us every
day? Beliefs that we could perhaps potentially challenge and think differently about. If we did
challenge those beliefs and think differently about them, apart from drawing, what else would
be possible for us all? Thank you very much. (Applause) 
 Mind Mapping:

Most people think

they can't draw

Young people about A girl was trying to remember what

15 or 16 most of them red blood cells do, and she drew this How to draw
think they can not little picture of a red blood cell carrying
draw a handbag with O2 on it to remind her
that the red blood cells carry oxygen to
all parts of the body.

Many adults in all

Three things you need to have
walks of life, and
A quick cartoon or sketch could be are pen, a sheet of paper, and
particularly in
really good for that, and it makes an open mind
business, and they
presentations memorable.
think they can not
draw

You will learned a sequence that would enable

you to draw hundreds and thousands of different
cartoons, because we're just going to do little
variations on that sequence.
Summary:

Many of people are didn't believe they could draw. Actually the little ones, they just
draw fine, but when they get to about 15 or 16, most of them think they can't draw. But
Graham Shaw worked with them. He worked in a school where he was coaching them on
using pictures for memory. The other people he worked with are many adults in all walks of
life, and particularly in business, and they often will want to make presentations memorable.
Finally he succeeded in making people realize that they could draw.