I have seen one rainbow this year. I was crossing a busy street in Paris when I suddenly looked up and stopped. Coming out of the metro station, I had not even noticed it had ceased raining and the sun had appeared. The rainbow thrilled me and I nudged my friend and smiled. It was a beautiful moment in a hectic rush hour which I was glad to share. Other people hustling home from work did not stop and that struck me too. Not everyone sees the rainbows that exist. I was lucky. Perhaps I missed many others… Good speakers are like rainbows. You raise your head. You stop and listen. You admire and smile. You wish to share the moment with someone. Good speakers are rare and yet just as natural as a rainbow too. Good speakers connect us to their emotions, energy, joy, hope, vision, depth, and soul. The seven colors of rainbow speaking. And these colors pour forth naturally, without artifice, just like a rainbow forming in the sky. They can form anywhere, anytime. And anyone can be a rainbow speaker: a child presenting his worm collection to a class, a teeenager debating with friends, a TED speaker speaking about science, a CEO at a AGM convention, a professional trainer giving a company training semainar, a Toastmaster competing at the world championship of public speaking, or a standup comedian getting laughs in a late night club. I have seen more rainbow speakers than rainbows this year. But not many. I have seen too many speakers, including myself, paint their words with only a limited palette of colors. I remembered the rainbow I had seen and wondered how many colors it had…I had no idea. Do you? A little research helped me learn a rainbow has seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (which I will call dark blue), and purple.

Some of you might be familiar with the LGBT rainbow symbol which today has only six colors.I promise to write another blog soon to discuss the similarities and differences to this powerful symbol. To help me visualize my idea I drew the following image ( I think visually and draw my ideas – you will see others!! ). This is what I imagine as possible… The palette that Rainbow speakers use to create colorful connections with their audience are: red – emotions; orange – energy; yellow – joy; green – hope; blue – vision; dark blue/indigo – depth; and purple – soul. You will notice that there are two blues in a rainbow. Each blue serves a different purpose as do the other colors. I will discuss these rainbow colors further and suggest tips on your use of them in your public speaking in future posts on each color…