Fredrik Backman is the author of "A Man Called Ove" and other novels.
Public speaking is one of the biggest fears the average person has and a skill that few come by naturally. But a 4-minute speech by bestselling author Fredrik Backman might just convince you that anyone can be a public speaker.
The author of "A Man Called Ove" and other novels spoke to an audience of writers and publishers at the Simon & Schuster centennial, and from his first line, he had the audience chuckling.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backmanf.media-amazon.com
"Good evening, my name is Fredrik Backman," he began. "I'm here tonight because my agent said it would be good for my career."
With a completely deadpan delivery, Backman proceeded to share how he spends eight hours a day locked in a room with people he made up. "If I were comfortable talking to real people, I'd have a real job," he quipped.
"Being a writer is the best way I know how to get paid for being insane," he added. He talked about how he and his brain aren't friends. "My brain and I are classmates doing a group assignment called 'Life,'" he said. "It's not going great."
Something about the dry, droll humor—someone called it self-deprecating melancholic Swedish humor—is just hilarious as he talks about anxiety and procrastination, but he managed to knock it out of the park at the end with bit of unexpected kindness and encouragement.
A clip of the first minute of Backman's speech went viral on TikTok, but the full speech is fantastic. Watch:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
"I hope that one day I will be able to tell my agent that the reason that my next book is not finished yet is because I was busy reading yours," he concluded.
People loved Backman's speech both for its wit and its generosity of spirit:
"My goodness, his last line was so kind and generous. A perfect speech!"
"Deadpan self deprecation. Utterly brilliant."
"What a gem of a speech! This man is hilarious and didn’t crack a smile."
"I have rewatched this so many times. And it gives me joy every time!"
"Hearing other authors discuss their eccentricities always brings me so much comfort. This was brilliant."
"This video is well worth 4 minutes of your time. I have only read his book 'A Man Called Ove' but it is a truly wonderful book and I plan to read more of his work."
"Mr. Backman is a treasure. I'd never heard of him before, but now I'm anxious to read his work."
"I'm here as a proud Swede to watch this amazing speech by this absolutely amazing Swedish author. He's brilliant and I absolutely love everything he's written. We who come from a tiny country always love it when other people from our tiny country make it big. It becomes a sort of national pride. And Fredrik Backman is someone Sweden can be really proud of."
@thebloodyninetheycallme #fredrikbackman #booktok #beartown #bookrecommendations
As Backman proved, you don't have to be a polished public speaker or give a long speech to inspire people. Sometimes just being yourself, telling the truth and putting your own unique brand of humor to work is all it takes to capture an audience and leave them wanting more.