A Tribute to David Letterman

So, I was watching “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” a few minutes ago. For those who are not familiar with that show, that is Dave Letterman’s recent show on Netflix. In this particular episode, the guest was Jerry Seinfeld, a great comedian. One of the things they were discussing was Dave’s contribution to the television industry. Dave played it down and said that he should quit 10 years ago and and make real contributions. Jerry said that what Dave Letterman has done was real a contribution. Jerry was right, I am one of the persons who are lucky enough to learn from David Letterman. In fact one of my great skills — talking in public in English — was because of him.

Here’s the story.

I was born and raised in Indonesia. Did my undergraduate degree at one of the best universities in Indonesia. Then, I have the opportunity to get scholarship to go abroad. I picked Canada (and this is yet another interesting story). I already knew English at that time just enough to get a (formal) conversation going.

The first year I was in Canada, I lived in a dorm on campus. And guess what the students were watching at that time? Yes, among other things, it was “Late Night with David Letterman.” I watched it regularly and loved it. And guess what, I learn better English and Western pop culture through the show.

In my opinion, a person knows a language if he or she understands the joke in that language. If that person can make a joke in that language — and that culture — then he or she definitely knows the language. Joke is so cultural. And I became westernized. I understand jokes in English. I can even write jokes in English. I am still learning, though.

One thing that I like about David Letterman is that his jokes are “intellectual jokes.” What I mean by that is that he doesn’t have to shout at or slap somebody to get a laugh. You have to think. I think you have to be an educated person to understand that he is funny.

Now, here, I am known as a good presenter. I give a lot of (technical) talks. I can safely say that I make around two presentations every week for the last 20 years. That’s around 2000 presentations already. The funny thing is, I am better when making presentation in English. You don’t say. I became a comedian when I am doing that. I can safely attribute that to Dave Letterman’s teaching.

Yesterday, I taught my students how to make great presentations. One of the examples that I use is … you guess it, Dave Letterman.

So Dave, you have changed the world. You make me a better person. When I make a presentation and you hear laughter in the audience, that’s a tribute to you. Thank you, David Letterman.

Your student,

Budi Rahardjo