Not everyone loves
to read and write, and not everyone can read and write. For noteworthy people
in history such as Fredrick Douglas and Malcom X, their pursuit of proper
grammar came from personal experiences. I’m standing before a congregation of
two hundred and fifty people whom I am familiar with. A paper with every word
that I’m supposed to say is right in front of me. What is there to be afraid
of? Probably nothing, but firstly as a twelve year old I didn’t know if I was
worthy of reading the words on the paper in front of me. Secondly, I didn’t
know what I was doing because of my lack of experience. The speech: “I Have a
Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr; not to mention, I had never given a speech in
my life. At the time it was a scary experience, but it was the starting point
of me realizing a dream of mine; to be a public speaker. “You have a very nice
speaking voice” my mothers and other adults would say. The problem was, that’s
all I had, ‘a nice speaking voice’. I had no other skills when it came to giving
speeches. I had no interesting stories and experiences to share, and I didn’t
know how to alter the pitch of my voice. To my disadvantage, I didn’t’ have
nerves of steel and all I was good for was looking down and reading off of a
piece of paper. Everyone has to start somewhere right?
On this day, I was
nearly forced by the church’s ‘first lady’ and my mother to give this speech.
Not only did I have to do it once on Sunday service, but on Friday and Saturday
at different church events. Of course I didn’t write this speech, I had never
written an essay, but it did feel like I owned this speech.
Not only did I own
the speech, but I owned the authority of being in front of an audience with a
belief in what I was saying. I could relate to the content of what I was
saying, it resonated in my heart, and I was sharing it with others. At the end
of the day (a phrase I say too often when I speak), that’s what public speaking
it. Someone once said that the great public speaker is the man who is not savvy
with words but the man who is ‘drunken’ with a certain belief in what he says.
I still don’t know who that ‘someone’ was or the exact quote, but I know that’s
how I felt when I gave my first speech. I was hooked.
Since then, I can’t even
recall how many speeches I’ve given. The art of public speaking is something I
admire and it opened up my journey towards becoming an avid reader and writer.
I love free-lance writing, not having to worry about my poor use of the
semi-colon, and use periods instead of commas to embrace a pause and impactful
statement. These all derive from my style of public speaking that I have
developed over the last six years. I love free-lance writing because I don’t
use notes in my speeches. I do write an outline to study and prepare for my speeches;
but I love to have a few quotes in the back of my head, know my purpose of
giving the speech, have a few animated stories that I’m willing to share, and
just go for it. I use a lot of periods in my personal journal instead of commas
because it emphasizes the pauses that everyone is taught to make when they’re
giving a speech. I use those pauses a lot, therefore I think that same way in
my brain, leading to it translating onto a paper.
My writing and reading style greatly derives
from the way I give speeches, because public speaking was my first date with
words, and I fell in love. Since the day I gave the MLK Day speech, I’ve had
several presentations that I’ve given to churches, non-profits, and
organizations that cater to the development of young children. In the near
future I plan on starting a business venture that deals with giving
seminars/presentations to other college students and young people. As mentioned
earlier, the weekend of the Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” speeches wasn’t
the easiest one I’ve given, but it was definitely the most significant. In the
near future, I also hope to write a book once I master the art of writing and
live a little longer to have more experiences and stores to share.
