Our last lecture was from Dionna Wilson on public speaking, and I really loved her insight and advice.  As much as we do presentations in school or give lessons in church, it’s always one of those things that has the ability to make our stomachs churn and our hands quiver.  I’ve gotten to the point where it’s not too big of a deal anymore, but I definitely know I could improve in this area and even lots of grown adults still don’t have this mastered, but public speaking is a part of everyone’s life in some way or another.

      One of the first tips Sister Wilson gave us was to really know our audience.  If we know their backgrounds, values, and affiliations, we can then find common ground with them and this automatically makes them want to listen a little more.  When you talk to people in terms that they are familiar with, they can understand better and then make connections with what you’re saying.  Along with this, it’s important to get your audience actually involved, whether it’s through a group activity, discussion, or just having them read quotes.  It keeps people’s attention and often, audience members will have very valuable insight that adds to your presentation.

      Another huge part of any speech is the preparation that goes into it.  She told us that during the research process, we should try to find 9 times as much information as we need.  NINE!  At first I was a little shocked at that number and thought it was overkill, but if you really think about it, the better you know a topic, the better equipped you are to teach it, answer questions, and especially in a church setting, start talking about things you weren’t originally planning to talk about (like if the Spirit prompts you to).  She also suggested that we practice a speech at least 13 times before we actually give it.  This number wasn’t as shocking because for really big presentations in school, I’ve definitely practiced this much, but I still think it’s something we neglect.  A lot of times, I’ll procrastinate and run out of time for practicing or just decide to wing it, but a speech will always be so much better if you’re not constantly reading off of notecards or forgetting what to say.

      In the middle of the lecture, Sister Wilson started telling a story.  I couldn’t figure out how the story had to do at all with public speaking, but it quickly captured the attention of the entire class and targeted our emotions.  Afterwards, she told us that she had given an example of an attention-getter, and we all saw that it had definitely worked!  She built curiosity and made it personal to her, and in the example she gave, she used it to also gain credibility with her audience.  Aside from just telling a story, some other effective ways to begin a speech are demonstrations, a thought-provoking question, audience participation, or even a song or dance if you’re brave.  But no matter how you decide to do it, grabbing the attention of your audience is a critical part of any speech.

      This lecture actually came at such a perfect time for me, so I was really grateful for all of the advice we were given.  Of course, with finals coming up, I have to give a couple speeches on various topics that count for a large part of my grade, including my book presentation in this class.  And this Sunday, our Relief Society presidency, which I’m a part of, is in charge of teaching the lesson, so I’ll be teaching for about a third of it.  I’m pretty comfortable in front of a group, but there’s a ton to public speaking that we don’t even think of a lot.  I have a lot I can still work on and I think if I apply what I learned in this lecture, I will be much more successful!