I was recently talking with someone and the conversation
turned to public speaking. The entity of this particular conversation isn’t so
important, so much as it allows me to launch into my real purpose for blogging
today.
Public speaking is a widely feared activity. There are many
would rather do just about anything
to get out of standing in front of a crowd of people, be they familiar or
strangers, and speak. It is both a persistent and staggeringly paralyzing fear.
I’m sure there is some psychology-based reason for this
fear, but quite frankly I am not hosting a lecture on psychology here and so
I’ll spare you that conversation.
Moving right along, I don’t fall into the category of people
that fear speaking in public. While I do become obscenely terrified in the
presence of spiders, I don’t mind getting up in front of a crowd of people.
Give me a room full of people as opposed to one itty-bitty spider any day.
Regardless of any of the above ponderings, my true point in
writing this evening is that the conversation I originally mentioned has lead
to my recalling an essay that I wrote, and later spoke about, my senior year of
high school. The essay was written as a creative piece for my Advanced
Placement English class, presenting it happened purely by chance.
We were scheduled to have a Senior Academic Awards night,
and at the last minute, quite literally a couple of day’s prior, they decided
that they wanted to have a student speaker at the event. Naturally they turned
to the AP English class. When they pitched the opportunity no one immediately
jumped at the chance, which now that I think about it is a bit strange, even
stranger though was that I found myself raising my hand and volunteering to
speak at the event in a room full of fellow seniors, their parents, and several
staff members.
At any rate, this is the piece that I ended up sharing with
those at the event:
The following is based
on this prompt: What is your favorite word and why?
“Spoken Definition”
Words are
exceptionally powerful. While we have all heard some variation of the saying
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, I can guarantee
that no matter how many times you repeat it, the saying will never come any
closer to the truth. In fact, the things that we say are often more powerful
and, depending on the situation, have the capability to do more damage or good
than our actions. This is why when speaking we must choose our words carefully;
it is also one of the reasons why choice is my favorite word.
Choice is important to
me because the ability to choose allows me to control certain aspects of my
life, whether it is as simple as what shirt I wear in the morning or something
larger, such as my future career. After all, it is the choices that we make that
not only determine where we end up, but more importantly define who we are. I
rely heavily on my ability to make my own choices in order to establish who I
am and to allow myself the opportunity to become the person that I want to be.
The importance of choice
also comes into play when I am speaking with other people or trying to express
myself in some way. If my words are ill chosen, then the message I am trying to
convey is more susceptible to being misconstrued or lost completely. Choice
becomes increasingly important when people’s ability to understand where I am
coming from and what I am talking about is left hanging in the balance.
Choice is my favorite
word because it embodies the idea that I am in control of the direction of my
life it is a powerful word that, to me, signifies that my choices define who I
am, despite the opinions of others. In another respect, words are powerful and
they should be chosen carefully. Word choice, and good choices in general,
become increasingly important when I am attempting to convey a particular
message. Ultimately, choice is my favorite word, because the choice’s that I
make are the largest reflection of who I am, and who I one day wish to become.
What about you? How do you feel about public speaking? Is
there a particular word that resonates with you?
BTW
If you have, by chance, made it this far, I’d like to let
you know that this year’s blogging goal is to blog once a month. I fully intend
to hold up to this goal better than I did last years. Please feel free to keep
me accountable.
