Speak Up! Public speaking lessons learned from other Red Angus breeders

by Lisa Bryant

For many, the fear of public speaking ranks right up there with a fear of snakes or a fear of heights. Yet, it’s also a necessary skill needed in many walks of life. So, we’ve asked six people involved in the Red Angus breed how they learned to overcome fears and hone their public speaking skills in their daily life, whether it’s giving a youth speech, selling bulls, judging a show or conducting a podcast.

CALLIE HICKS JRA member from Midway, Kentucky

Callie is the reigning champion of the senior division public speaking contest at the 2021 NAJRAE.

She said she’s never had a fear of public speaking. Instead, she was always the kid who could make a friend with anyone in the room. “However, it took me until I was in high school to find the speaking style that worked the best for me,” she added.

Callie said speaking in front of a crowd is no different than someone preparing for showmanship. You need to practice how you want to perform. “Practice is key for public speaking. Everyone’s style is different, so your practice may look different as well.”

Her best advice to junior members is like the Nike slogan, “Just do it!” “The more you participate and engage, the more doors will open for you in the future.”

Another tip that Callie shared was to pick a topic that you enjoy talking about and then tell a story.

KATIE MARTIN RAAA Assistant Director of Field Services

In her role at RAAA, Katie is frequently called upon to speak to large groups at bull sales, a convention or a producer’s meeting. She says every time she gets in front of a crowd, she builds upon her public speaking skills.

Attending a country school gave her the opportunity to develop her skills at a young age through community programs. She then enhanced her skills with 4-H speeches, FFA livestock judging contests and the FFA Creed Speaking and Prepared Public Speaking Contests.

“Practice is key to gaining confidence in public speaking,” Katie said. She also recommends speaking as though you were talking to one person. “It will make your tone more conversational, and hopefully, will calm your nerves as well.”

She said she learned a valuable lesson at a bull sale several years ago when she was on the auction block. A young boy was getting ready to speak, but was obviously nervous. The auctioneer then imparted some strong words of advice, “If you ever stop being nervous speaking to a crowd, you might as well just quit doing it.” Katie said this advice stuck with her. “Rather than beat yourself up about being nervous, you should know that your nerves are natural, and are a sign you are passionate about what you’re speaking about,” she added.

“I am grateful for all of the experience I had with public speaking growing up, since it is such an important aspect of my current career, and the combined experience has helped me gain confidence in public speaking.”

CHERYL LINTHICUM JCL Red Angus and Professor of Accounting, Alvarez College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio, Comfort, Texas

Cheryl uses her public speaking skills every day, whether she is communicating at the university or working with JCL Red Angus customers or vendors or in the webcasts she leads.

She was thrust into speaking on a microphone at an early age. Since her dad, Jimmy, is deaf, Cheryl became his voice by giving the reasons as he judged shows. They’ve now judged more than 500 shows together, and Cheryl has judged 400 on her own.

At first, Cheryl said she didn’t have the confidence she needed. When she was nine, her great aunt Bea took her to a public speaking workshop. When she was 10, Cheryl won the junior division of the Maryland State Judging Contest, where they had to give oral reasons. At that point, Jimmy decided she was ready to help him judge cattle.

“It doesn’t matter how you start … it doesn’t matter if you win … what matters is that you practice, participate and that you learn. For juniors the time to learn is now.”

“If you are afraid, that’s ok, because most things that help us grow take us at least one step outside of our comfort zone. Take one step at a time. That’s called progress!”

When preparing your speech, she said it’s important to consider who makes up your audience. “Who are they? Juniors? A bull buyer? Someone who wants to know broad information, or someone with little spare time who just wants you to get to the point?” She said to think about what you want that person on the other side to hear and know. Then consider how best to convey that information.

Next, she says you need to know your subject well and offer a perspective depending on that audience. “Be personal. Be specific and offer examples, preferably from your own experience.”

“Try to be short, sweet and to the point. Cover the topic — whether in a set of reasons when judging or when selling a bull — but don’t waste a person’s time,” Cheryl said. “Just because you want to talk about it, doesn’t mean that someone else wants to hear about it. Look for clues from your audience about this.”

Cheryl said you should be open to questions or comments. “If you don’t know the answer, be honest and say that you don’t know.”

KIM FORD Cross Diamond Cattle Co., Bertrand, Nebraska

Kim has been giving speeches since her first year as a 4-H member. When she reached high school, she became a member of the high school speech team, and then competed at the Nebraska State Speech Meet all four years of high school. She said repetition and a wonderful high school speech coach helped her tackle her nerves and prepare to give a variety of speeches.

Kim puts a lot of effort in the preparation stage of giving a speech. “First, I like to know about the crowd and craft a message that fits,” she said. “I like to have time to collect my thoughts and write them down in note form, with bullet points on what I want to say. Also, time permitting and depending on the event, I like to practice to help ensure that what is spoken is really what I mean to say.” When there isn’t time to make notes, she tries to mentally create the most important bullet points and then she fills in from there.

She said engaging the audience is a key to success with public speaking. “I like speakers who engage the audience, whether through participation, thought provoking questions or topics or quotes that pertain to the topic.

“I also like audio/visual presentations,” she added. “It takes some of the focus and pressure off the speaker if the audience is looking at a PowerPoint part of the time.

She also likes to use humor to connect to an audience. “As humans, we connect through humor, I think.”

Kim said being nervous is a part of the normal process. “I know a lot of seasoned speakers who are nervous every time they speak. A lot of the challenge is to know how to deal with the nerves. Be prepared and focus on the message you want to get across.

GARRETT KNEBEL Harmony Hill, Bozeman, Montana

As a member of the 2010 national champion livestock judging team at Oklahoma State University, Garrett knows how to deliver a message under

pressure. He has built those skills over time through high school and college experiences, plus serving as a director for the National Junior Angus Association.

He encourages every youth member to take advantage of every opportunity to improve their skill set. He mentioned that NAJRAE and junior organizations offer contests as an avenue to help young people prepare for their careers as adults. He said seizing every opportunity built his confidence when speaking in front of a group of people.

“Stage fright is only natural,” Garrett said. “Your heart starts beating out of your chest. Your mouth gets dry. You may stutter in and out of thoughts.

“You need to realize that speaking in front of a crowd is hard for everyone. No one is expecting perfection. They’d rather you simply be real and easy to make a connection with. Humor is always a great way to break the ice and realize that everyone is cheering for you, instead of trying to break you down.

Garrett preaches the importance of practice. “It seems silly, but in my earliest years of competing in public speaking, I can remember my mom forcing me to recite my speech in front of a mirror.”

Making eye contact is Garrett’s biggest piece of advice. “It’s imperative. It’s one of the fastest ways to gain credibility and confidence from whom you’re speaking to,” he said. “Volume is critical as well. Understand your space, but having a well-supported sound, that is clear and concise, with a tempered pace, will show your listeners this isn’t your first rodeo.

He advises to notice people who are good public speakers and mimic that. “Memorize a few sentences and then recite them while working on your volume, support, eye contact, confidence and hand gestures. I promise, it will pay off.”

“Today, I use the skills I built in my youth daily,” he said. “Whether that’s on a sale block talking throughout an auction, singing the National Anthem or describing livestock or a marketing plan for another breeder, public speaking is a skill I would encourage anyone and everyone to improve upon.

SHAYE KOESTER Host of The Casual Cattle Conversations podcast, Steele, North Dakota

Shaye is connecting with a cattle audience in a different way than the people above. On Mondays, she hosts a rancher-to-rancher podcast that covers topics from ranching to time management, and entrepreneurship to finances.

Speaking into a microphone instead of a live audience is a different dynamic in that you don’t have the

same feedback as a face-to-face audience. Nevertheless, Shaye has found methods to connect with her audience and command their attention.

“In the podcast world, it starts with the title of the episode, description and then rolls into the content.” She chooses her content based on what ranchers are currently facing, and then focuses on how she can help solve their pain point.

“Recognizing the pain point, my audience is experiencing allows me to connect with them. It strikes up emotions that keeps them engaged and pulled into the stories I share.”

Shaye uses five keys to success when speaking to her audience: • Connect: Relate to your audience so that they are interested in what you have to say. • Help: Make the talk about how you and your experience can help them. Whether it’s inspiring them by your personal story or selling them a bull to improve their herd, YOU have something to offer! • Speak loud and clear: This isn’t new advice, but if people can’t hear or understand you, the value of your words goes out the window. • Shorter is better: Long talks allow people’s minds to wander. Keep it short to keep their attention. This also helps them grasp the main points. • Prepare: Be prepared. Know what you want your audience to get out of your podcast or speech. Create an outline or bullet points to make sure you hit the important points. This also helps the audience know what they were supposed to take away from your presentation.

Shaye wrapped up by reminding juniors that even the pros still get nervous. “It’s how you channel those nerves that matters. The important thing is that you get up there and speak,” she said. “You have a voice and need to use it.

“The sooner you start to speak and get your name out there, the more it pays off in the long run. It doesn’t matter if it’s 30 seconds or 30 minutes, public speaking is public speaking, and you improve every time you do it.” B&B