Simple Rules for Public Speaking
Ever need to give a speech or a presentation for your job but find there’s way too much conflicting advice out there for how to make your words rock your audience?
You need simple rules for creating a great speaking Experience, and you are in the right place.
How can you speak better than ninety percent of the yawners out there?
From the Mouths of Babes, Part 4*
I love my kid. She’s got a million talents. However, I don’t think of her as a public speaker, more like a typical nine-year-old public mumbler. So when she announced that she was running for President of her class and that she’d be giving speeches, I marveled at her bravery.
She sat, she wrote, she asked what I thought about some phrasing, she put a tremendous amount of strategy into it. No kidding. The class had discussed what they wanted in an ideal candidate, and my NYO thought about how her interests could be framed to match their desires, and how to cover all her talking points most persuasively.
It was uncannily like being on the campaign trail with [insert name of candidate whose brain you’d like to pick here].
A little scary, if you must know. All manner of grown-up thinking processes tumbled out of her. Wag the (4th Grade) Dog.
The Speech in the Candidate’s Own Hand
The transcript, in case the handwriting’s tough to read:
smile enunciate loud
Hi!… You should nominate me for class president because I am interestid in the environment, and in helping our school do more for the earth. I am a great listener and I would love to take our whole classes ideas to share with the student council. I have a lot of good ideas and i’m awesome at saying them.
like um… brethe pause smile frown enunciate
Last year, I worked with other students to write & print the Recycling News. Whith this newsletter we even got a couple of people to recycele at home! 
This year I want to take my experience working with others to be your best class president ever!
Please don’t get your spelling tips from my kid. (I said, “Hey! You can spell a lot better than this!” and she replied, “I don’t need to spell to be President. I just have to rock this speech out.” Scary.)
The Tips:
Smile. Enunciate. Speak loudly.
No “like.” No “um…” Breathe. Pause. Don’t frown.
Best tip I ever learned, many years ago: Mark up your script. You’ll thank us both.
I heard her practicing, and I can tell you it was better than she’s ever given before, because the messy markup did its job.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. You want to know how she did, eh? Field of twelve candidates, in a class of twenty-five. She didn’t make it to the final vote, but she wasn’t sad about it, either. In fact, she was thrilled.
Why? She’s the campaign manager/ art director for the kid she thinks will win. She told him, he can’t do it without her, and he agreed. She’s very persuasive. She told me, it’s way better to be behind the scenes—the guy out front gets hammered!
Scary.
*Want more posts where I let the kid do the talking? Read From the Mouths of Babes, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
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26 September 2008, 7:28 am
Ah, she’s spunky like her Mommy!
26 September 2008, 7:58 am
Karen,
Spunky! Yeah, I usually call it “sassy,” but in running for President you use what you’ve got. And spunk is what she’s got.
Regards,
Kelly
26 September 2008, 9:38 am
It boggles my mind, how a kid that age can prepare speech like that, and plan ahead which words to enunciate and how to sway the audience.
When I was that young, I just played with Lego and Hotwheels.
Your daughter has the makings of a great career in marketing. Or politics. Or both.
Friar’s last blog post…Guest Blogger: Friar’s Mom
26 September 2008, 2:01 pm
Friar,
… and still spell so horribly.
Yeah, you were making great Abstract Expressionist art from age four, but hey, social commentary in nursery schoolers’ art is just regular guy stuff, right? (Can you say, destined for a PhD?)
She says she wants to be an architect, she’s very proud of being in her first art shows at a younger age than I was (school district stuff, but she did have to pass a selection committee), and she’s a wonderful figure skater.
But of all her talents, the one that amazes me the most is her power of persuasion. She knocks my socks off some days. Fools, who didn’t vote for her! Fools, I tell ya!
I’m prejudiced, but it’s true, too.
Until later,
Kelly
26 September 2008, 2:45 pm
That is awesome!
Maybe she’ll be an actor (eek!). I used to mark my script up (underlining words) like that all the time before an audition (yes, I dabbled). Sounds like she’s got some great stage presence too. She’ll go far.
I’m sure Mommy’s proud.
26 September 2008, 3:17 pm
Karen,
That’s exactly where I learned it from. I tell you, there is no better way to liven up a dull corporate PowerPoint than to give your speaking style a tweak.
Art director at nine? Yep, proud. She’s awesome.
Until later,
Kelly
26 September 2008, 4:27 pm
I love your kid even more now. Mini-you rocks.
I still can’t spell. So she’s right.
Amy Derby’s last blog post…Punk Up Your Marketing
26 September 2008, 5:49 pm
Amy,
Thanks. And I’d vote for you for class prez, so I’ll reluctantly have to side with the two of you.
Until later,
Kelly
26 September 2008, 5:54 pm
Kelly,
Well, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree here! You must be so incredibly proud of your daughter. Not only did she prepare a great speech – with notes for self expression – but her grace upon not winning the election was awesome. Rather than sulking, she immediately turned her “loss” into a new opportunity. What an incredible young lady!
Rita
Rita’s last blog post…I Was a Mail-Order Bride – Part II
26 September 2008, 6:02 pm
Rita,
All day I was dreading the poor kid’s expression off the bus. I mean, a field of twelve? Tough to get any vote but your own. She waltzes in completely jazzed, and I was… shocked. Massively proud of her grace, but still she’s a kid. I didn’t expect it. I almost got teary, but when she sees that “oh, darling” look on my face I get the “aww, Mama, cut it out” look back.
So I blogged about it instead, he he. I like getting serious posts out of wild tangents once in a while.
Until later,
Kelly
27 September 2008, 1:27 am
How frickin’ super-awesome is that speech! She had my vote, for sure.
27 September 2008, 11:58 am
Alex,
Just what you want from your fourth grade prez, huh? I tell you, her brain was scheming/ spinning/ umm, looking for ways to demonstrate value
so hard, I was frightened. The seeds of spin are planted so early?
And the kids were, as elementary school kids everywhere are, voting for their friends. Not listening to speeches, though all 12 of them had to write and deliver one.
Hey, that’s a lot like the U.S. elections this year, too, now that I think of it.
Later,
Kelly
29 September 2008, 8:49 am
Kelly, your kid clearly has your DNA! I am always amazed how much we can learn from these little people when we allow ourselves to listen and observe. She really sounds like one awesome kid!
29 September 2008, 1:39 pm
Karen,
Thank you very much.
She is super. I tell her constantly that I’m proud to know her.
I’m an open eyes and ears kind of person anyway, always looking for the lesson from anyone, but yes, little people are the best teachers there are. They don’t have so much garbage rolling around in their heads—what comes out is pure observations of what’s going on around them. (Including some unintentionally deep lessons on this election cycle!)
Until later,
Kelly