Go Off-Script

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a singular figure in the history of our country for the critical role he played in the civil rights movement. His efficacy and inventiveness, both as an orator and as an organizer, were truly extraordinary.

In observance of the holiday which honors him (I’m writing on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), I wanted to share one of my favorite stories from his remarkable life. Fittingly, it’s a story of the creative effort and skill that went into his most remarkable speech, the “I Have A Dream” speech that he delivered before the 200,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, near the end of the March on Washington.

In his book, Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a Nation, Dr. King’s speechwriter, Clarence B. Jones, recounts not only the intense consideration and preparation that went into the speech, but also unveils one of the most effective off-script moments in the history of public communication.

As Carmine Gallo wrote a few years back on Forbes, “On the night before the speech, Tuesday, August 27, 1963, a group of seven individuals, including Jones, had gathered with King at the Willard Hotel to add their input to the final speech. King asked Jones to take notes and to turn the notes into cohesive remarks he would deliver on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Everyone in the room represented a group that had a stake in the speech and who wanted their voices to be heard. “I tried to summarize the various points made by all of his supporters. It was not easy; voices from every compass point were ringing in my head,” wrote Jones.

The next morning King’s speech was finished and copies were delivered to the press. Fast forward a few hours later when King was delivering the speech. If you watch the video, you’ll notice that King is looking down a lot in the first part of the speech (watch King read at 2 minutes, 10 seconds into the video clip). King looks down because he is reading the text. ‘A pleasant shock came over me as I realized that he seemed to be essentially reciting those suggested opening paragraphs I had scrawled down the night before in my hotel room,’ wrote Jones.”

I was delighted to see that Dr. King valued diverse perspectives in his writing process. If you’re wondering, “But when did he go off-script?” Gallo continues, “In the seventh paragraph, something extraordinary happened. King paused. In that brief silence, Mahalia Jackson, a gospel singer and good friend of King’s, shouted ‘tell ‘em about the “dream.”’ Few people heard her, with the exception of Jones, Ted Kennedy, and, of course, King. Here’s what happened next. Jones saw King ‘push the text of his prepared remarks to one side of the lectern. He shifted gears in a heartbeat, abandoning whatever final version he’d prepared…he’d given himself over to the spirit of the moment.’ Jones leaned over to the person standing next to him and said, ‘These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about to go to church.’”

We all know what happened when the crowd assembled there got taken “to church.” It blew my mind to consider that some of the most famous words ever spoken in our nation’s history were inspired by a shout from a member of the crowd!

Far from diminishing King’s creativity as an orator, learning this made me admire him all the more! As someone who spends a fair amount of time speaking publicly, I know how challenging it is to maintain concentration, especially when you feel the weight of every word you’ve prepared. You want to honor your collaborators. You want to get it “just right.”

And for King to be willing to deviate from the script, to incorporate a generously-offered comment, speaks of his presence of mind and singularity of purpose. He knew the material so well that he knew when it was time to abandon his plan, and in so doing, he discovered an even more remarkable path forward.

We are fortunate that he did.

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