Writing Lincoln

I’ve starting doing something new with one of my favorite and most requested sessions, Abraham Lincoln and the One-Armed Man. Each time before I conduct the session, I copy out, by hand, the Gettysburg Address. It’s fifteen of the best non-family minutes I’ll spend on any given day. For the time it takes to copy it down, I’m doing something that Lincoln did, that he actually, physically, … [Read more...]

You And Your Followers: The Bond

I'm revising my module on Abraham Lincoln and the One-Armed Man for a client presentation tomorrow. It led me to this question for you--when do you think you have connected at the most core, basic, and fundamental level with your followers? Has that ever happened for you? If so, what accounts for it? If not, what do you think is necessary for it to occur? Lincoln made this connection with the … [Read more...]

More Reaction to Lincoln and One-Armed Man Video

One of my viewers of the One-Armed Man video sent an email to me with his reaction. Beyond thoroughly enjoying it, he said he was "surprised" at the content. When I pressed for a little more explanation, he said that it shocked him that someone yelled out in the middle of the president's speech. "It was a different era," this viewer concluded. I think this is a point to ponder. Maybe we've lost … [Read more...]

Latest Video: Lincoln and the One-Armed Man

Today I sent out the video on Abraham Lincoln and the One-Armed Man. The reaction is coming in swift and sure--viewers really like it. I think the popularity of the piece may have something to do with Lincoln. He's always a subject of fascination or, at least, curiosity. More than that, though, I also sense that the One-Armed Man's story is very much our story--yours and mine--in the way that a … [Read more...]

A Different Feel of Gettysburg

Personally, I've had an effect from the development of my module on Abraham Lincoln and the One-Armed Man. It's fundamentally changed the way I perceive the Gettysburg Address. All the way up to the point of several weeks ago, I simply thought of the Gettysburg Address as a national historical moment. It was a point on the timeline of the nation's Civil War, albeit one of enormous significance and … [Read more...]