CH 11

 Many people suffer problems with public speaking. However, there are a few steps in which you can take to help promote a well, thought out speech. The first step you can take is to be well informed and knowledgeable giving credibility and power to your speech. Sounding "official" and siting sources will help assist your speech and provide truth to your comments. Secondly, it's very important to know your audience before giving a speech. Taking this into consideration can prevent you from losing your audience and steering them away. Also, envision success. Visualize yourself giving the world's best speech ever and use that as the confidence to help give yourself a boost! Public speaking can be difficult for most, however, following a few steps before giving a speech can help prevent you from failure and provide you with an opportunity to give a clean, credible speech to your audience.

A Story to Remember

    One of the most powerful speeches I've seen given was from a former professional basketball player of the Boston Celtics in the late 90s and early 2000s, Chris Herran. Chris's professional career was cut short due to his battling addiction to drugs which began at an early age causing havoc on him and his family. In his documentary titled Unguarded, Chris speaks on his past, when the addiction started, the scares he had, and how drugs entirely ripped out his career from underneath him and cost him everything....and almost his life. During Chris's speech, he shows a great example of voice inflection, eye contact, and pauses at certain points adding emphasis to his story while also allowing the audience to sit back and soak in what he is saying. His speech is moving from beginning to end and will have you trapped for every second. If anyone is looking for a great documentary, I highly advise watching Unguarded.