For the past few days, all I’ve been hearing about is Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. And don’t get me wrong, that speech is the bomb. Meryl Streep is the bomb. At this point she is becoming equally famous for her acceptance speeches as she is for the roles for which she accepts her awards.

But while everyone is either boo-ing or yay-ing Meryl’s speech, I want to talk about the speech that came just moments before.

While Meryl has stolen my heart on the big screen, Viola Davis has captivated me on the little screen since I first laid eyes on ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder. And like all her other characters, the role of “Viola Davis, award presenter for Meryl Streep” did not disappoint.

.@violadavis gives the introduction for this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award recipient, Meryl Streep. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/LafpKlwsDh

— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 9, 2017

Viola’s speech was simply masterful, which is not an adjective I use often. Below are three things I would advise any speech giver to steal from Viola:

Live in your silence.

“She stares. (Pause). That’s the first thing you notice about her.” Viola’s opening line captivated her noisy audience from the first moment. And it wasn’t because of her first two words. It was because of the silence that followed. People are often afraid to allow for silence in their speeches. They think it implies they don’t know what’s coming next. But a constant stream of words is both exhausting and ineffective. Like any good actor and speech giver, Viola showed us that there are whole worlds of intrigue that live in silence. It’s often more impactful than the words sandwiching our quiet.

Make your exposition a journey.

It took Viola 2 whole minutes before she said the name “Dame Streep.” Viola’s dedication to telling other people’s stories has made her an expert at telling her own stories with flare. And without a doubt every speech is a story, it’s just a nonlinear one. And any good storyteller will tell you: You don’t want to give everything away at the beginning. From there the story has nowhere to grow. Even though I knew who she was giving this speech to, I still felt a little giddy when Viola finally said her name. I felt we were moving onto a newer, more personal level of the speech. With her paced exposition, Viola taught us that we a new piece of information makes for a great transition into the next part of your speech. It’s a structural godsend.

Personal does not equal self-centered.

A good speech is always flirting with the dangerous line of self involvement. Viola opened with a cute story about two women comparing recipes. She mentioned her long history of fandom for Meryl and her fear of telling her how much she admires her. But none of it ever felt self-serving. All of Viola’s stories served a purpose of moving the speech forward, and Meryl was always an equally important character in the story. Had Viola gotten up there and only talked about Meryl, it wouldn’t have felt personal. Hell, I could get up there and give a speech about Meryl. But it wouldn’t carry the same weight as someone who puts themselves into the speech just as much as they put the subject matter.

In conclusion, Viola Davis is amazing in every way. So is Meryl Streep. And actors can make for the greatest of teachers in how to bring yourself to a role, even if that role is playing yourself.