© Elliot Essman 2005. All rights reserved.

These pages contain the complete text of Human Action, public speaking trainer Elliot Essman's philosophy of human achievement.

Elliot Essman Public Speaking Training
Human Action Table of Contents
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Here, then, is the sequence of human genius: creating something from nothing.

1. Faced with the Biological Imperative, Trans-Biological Kinesis expresses itself in the Trans-Biological Imperative. In simple terms, we tell ourselves we want more than mere survival.

2. The Trans-Biological Imperative expresses itself in the form of discontent with the Biological Imperative. Depending on the individual involved, either the Biological Imperative or the Trans-Biological Imperative wins. In simple terms, our discontent causes us to try for more out of life. We either succeed or give up.

3. If the Trans-Biological Imperative wins, a Positive Matrix Interrupt occurs, leaving a power vacuum. In simple terms, we break through boundaries and are confronted with powerful and dangerous new-ness.

4. The Trans-Biological Imperative, freed by the power vacuum, has the raw materials and the rich nurturing environment (remember how we brewed our beer in Chapter Five) to create and apply one or more Shocks. In simple terms, once freed from past limits, we are free to create new worlds for ourselves.

5. The result is a new creation known as a Trope. In simple terms, a “Trope” exists when we create a thing or concept that did not exist before.

6. The state of change, from the Positive Matrix Interrupt through the Shock to the creation of the Trope, is what I call an “Epic” state. In simple terms, an “Epic” state is one with which we make human progress.

The Epic State is one of excitement, courage and change. The American Revolution is history, and it's too late to enlist. But you can enter an Epic State any time you decide your discontent overrides your comfort. The Trope does not have to be earth shaking, as long as it's important to you. Your own progress in life is a function of your Epic States. If you've ever exceeded your own expectations, you've created a Trope.

You hear the phrase, “Nothing succeeds like success,” quite often, but it should be translated as, “Nothing sows the seed for a Trope like another Trope.” Tropes require Positive Matrix Interrupts to succeed, but then once an Interrupt comes into play, a rich environment is created, perfect for the creation and nurturance of further Tropes. Our Tropes stand there in front of us, egging us on, needling and nagging us, keeping us honest about our goals, plans and capabilities. The personal Trope says to us, “You did it once, you can do it again. Don't dare rest on your laurels. Don't dare slide back into the habit of leaning on a pre-arranged matrix. Now that you've got a taste of what it means to be original, you can certainly do it again.”

I began a speech once by citing the fact that Thomas Edison experimented with 10,000 materials before he found the right one to use for the first electric light bulb. “Does this story succeed in showing the value of human perseverance?” I asked. “No, it doesn't,” I told the audience. “It doesn't because everyone has heard or read this example of perseverance perhaps 10,000 times. It's up to the speaker or writer to persevere until he or she finds a more original example.” My expected criticism of the over-used Edison example was a small but effective Trope.

The story of Abraham Lincoln's repeated failures before his ultimate success is also overused and over worn. When we spoke of Lincoln's failure in the first chapter and how he bounced back to greatness, it was in a much more original context. Why say it, if it's been said before, when all you have to do is apply a little perseverance of your own and devise something original? The clichés and the tired old stories tend to oversimplify a life that is infinitely complex.

I greatly admire the American athlete Lance Armstrong, who overcame cancer to become a champion, but I don’t use his example in speeches. It’s been done! My audience already knows about Lance Armstrong. If they decide to sit down to listen to what I have to say, it’s up to me to do the work to find original material.

You don't need to shock, literally to add a Shock, in our terms, especially if it involves communication. When you communicate, you can stretch the envelope, but you do need to keep to a language you have in common with the audience. But human communication and the human condition present myriad opportunities to be original.

Did you ever realize you'd turned a corner and suddenly made a leap of progress in some area of your life, no matter how small, or gotten out of some box no matter how weak? You've begun an Epic State, and you can stay there. Remember the concept of Vectors: force combined with direction? When you are in an Epic State, you enjoy an environment where you can think clearly and Vector your goals. And since you're already in the Epic State, you can usually act toward fulfilling your goals immediately.

Here are a few ways you can turn that corner into vectored original growth:

• You can become an entrepreneur. Of course, a great number of idiots are out there calling themselves entrepreneurs. But you know that to be an entrepreneur, you've got to be an original entrepreneur. Relax. This doesn't mean you have to be Colonel Sanders or Bill Gates. Most of your competitors are too busy with stale “get rich quick” schemes to give you the time of day. All you need to add is a little innovation: 10%. Many small companies are surviving and thriving now because they've put a little extra stress on customer service, telephone skills, or any of a number of business areas that their competitors often ignore. Often these successful companies choose not to try to compete on price (they simply cannot). They are original enough, Matrix-free enough, to realize that they can compete in other, more important areas.

• If you want to work for someone else, you can become a guerilla job seeker. That means you use original techniques to find a position for yourself, even to create a position. Except in a few technical fields, sending out resumes just doesn't cut it. A more original way is to network, trying to find entrepreneurs who like your style, who'll open doors for you. Is it harder work? Of course. But in a complex economy, expecting to have a position tailor-made for you is wishful thinking.

• Do you want somebody to love? Who doesn't? What, it hasn't been working? Well, go ahead and do the same old things and maybe your luck will change. Desperate single people happen to be out there in droves, repeating the same mistakes again and again. Many of them are love slaves, so blinded by their need for love that they cannot see past it. They aren't capable of relating to another person as a real person because they don't relate that way to themselves. Animal need for companionship (it's not just sex) drives them. If this scenario is familiar to you, Positive Matrix Interrupt is the only answer. You can step back and look at yourself from a distance. Then you might see your animal need not to be alone as something that might actually be keeping you alone. Of course you can survive being alone for a while. You can even thrive being alone, because you have the original idea that you are formulating your original and unique position, which you can use to find a real love. Hard work? Maybe. But filled with rich Tropes. We'll discuss this important life area in more detail in the chapter entitled “Love.”

• You've already got somebody to love, but you're both falling into familiar patterns? The first Positive Matrix Interrupt will lay the groundwork for every other. Be honest: either split up without further recriminations or resolve to “work” at the relationship. That work requires further Positive Matrix Interrupts and Shocks. But the Tropes come when you both begin to shed the many layers of skin from childhood, from previous relationships, and begin to relate one to one.