What’s Up? Eastern Shore | March 2020 | whatsupmag.com
by gary jobson
O R AT I O N
the art of 42
HOW TO FEEL AND LOOK COMFORTABLE WHILE SPEAKING IN PUBLIC Lessons from one’s youth can have a defining impact on life. For me, there was one horrifying experience in my seventhgrade class that inspired me to improve my public speaking skills. I was one of a handful of candidates running to be our home room representative to the student council. Each candidate had to get up in front of the class to make our case about why one of us should be elected. I had written out my speech and felt ready, until I got up in front of the class. I was nervous. In fact, I was scared to death. I could hardly read my written words. My voice wavered and sounded like I was out of breath. When I looked up at the class, it seemed that everyone was staring at me with their mouths open and aghast at my halting delivery, which of course, made my speech even worse. When I finished and returned to my seat, it was quiet and I was emotionally drained and distraught. I knew that I needed to work on my public speaking. That night I told my father about my alarming performance. He listened to my sad story and offered some advice, “Speaking in public is fun. The key is to prepare in advance and then be enthusiastic about your topic. If you are enthused, your audience will respond favorably to you talk.” It sounded simple, but overcoming my fear, after my traumatic speech, took a long time.
“Speaking in public is fun. The key is to prepare in advance and then be enthusiastic about your topic. If you are enthused, your audience will respond favorably to you talk.” Several years later, I was hired by our local yacht club to be a sailing instructor. Every day, I spoke to younger sailors about sailing techniques. It’s hard to keep the attention of 8–15-yearolds, but I was able to connect by telling stories with a message. And, remembering my father’s wise counsel, I always had an outline and spoke with enthusiasm. Over the next four summers, I taught sailing and worked on improving my public speaking routine. I kept my outlines and later turned many of my lectures into articles. These articles became the basis for several books on sailing and advanced racing techniques. Looking back, I realize that writing, public speaking, and commentating on television are all related. It is the effective communication of ideas that you want to instill in your readers, viewers, and audiences.
