How to win over an audience

By Beth Dolinar 

  

    Mrs. Bell was probably about 50 then, but we thought of her as 80, because when you’re in middle school you tend to think of all middle-aged teachers as very old. Mrs. Bell had teased silver hair and bright red lipstick and she wore enough perfume you could smell it in the hall outside her room. She wore sensible shoes and pretty dresses, and I loved her.

    When I was in eighth grade, Mrs. Bell taught public speaking—a class I decided to take after noticing that some of the more popular students flocked to it. Like most teenagers (in fact, like most people of all ages) I was afraid of speaking in front of an audience. What was it about Mrs. Bell that attracted those students to such a scary class?

     And so I took the class, took the leap and registered for the one experience that most 14-year-olds would avoid like a snake pit or a spider web?

   Isn’t that the cliché--that most people are more afraid of public speaking than of snakes or spiders? Psychologists say the anxiety is deeply rooted in fears of embarrassment, of being inadequate. We all have that dream of being naked in the grocery checkout line, don’t we?

    But I wasn’t afraid for long, because Mrs. Bell taught us how not to be. She spoke of poise, of eye contact, of organizing our thoughts ahead of time so that we are confident. She showed us how to use index cards onto which we’d written just a few key points, and how those few words will lead us through a speech without fear of forgetting anything.

     I grasped all of that right away. What took longer, though, was learning to find that one moment in which I would connect with my audience. Mrs. Bell told us it could be a memory that everyone shared, or painting a mental picture, or saying something funny. And she promised that, once I’d made that one connection, the audience would be in my hand.

    “The audience wants you to do well,” she would tell us. And although that’s a hard concept for a teenager to grasp, she was right. When I’m in an audience, I root for the speaker to do well. I listen carefully, am quick to laugh and respond, I’m generous with my applause. It’s one of the best parts of human nature and in my years as a public speaker, I’ve found that it’s almost universal.

      People are kind to speakers. When you’re giving a speech, you will feel that warmth, and if you relax, you will respond to it. After mastering that, giving a speech is not something to be feared, but something to enjoy.

    During my 20 years as a TV news reporter and anchor, people would often ask whether I was nervous while on camera.

   “Not nervous-afraid, but sort of jumpy with energy,” I would answer. Since leaving television news, I’ve given many speeches, to audiences very large and quite small. Have I been brilliant every time? Of course not.

   But I’ve always had fun.

    That’s what the Luminari Speak and Tell! camp will be about—the fun and exhilaration of public speaking. During the four days this summer, we will approach public speaking as something to be enjoyed. We’ll learn techniques to calm the jitters, learn how to organize thoughts, how to develop our own voices, how to find that moment to connect with an audience, how to find the humor in a topic. We’ll hear from professionals who make their careers speaking publicly, and we’ll learn how to speak on camera.

      Speak and Tell! will show our students how to find the confidence to express themselves in front of an audience, and to walk away feeling happy that they’d done it.

    I’m remembering my first major public speech. Mrs. Bell chose me to address a school-wide music assembly. I was to read a few lines about the performers and then make a few of my own remarks.

  That morning, I stood backstage waiting for the curtain to rise (I was wearing a dress I’d sewn myself for the occasion—black with orange pumpkins. It was October!). I was nervous, but I was prepared. The curtain went up, I walked out, gave my little speech, and said thank you.

   The audience—500 students—applauded. For me.

    It felt wonderful. 

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New for summer 2016 - Speak and Tell! 

Who says public speaking has to cause sweaty palms and weak knees? Public speaking is fun, Our Speak and Tell! camp will turn your stage fright to stage might, as you learn new ways to win over an audience with your ideas and charisma, and enjoy being in front of an audience. Register Here.

Who: Rising 8th - 12th graders

When: July 5-8, 2016 (9 am - 3 pm)

Cost: $350.00 ($325.00, if application is submitted or postmarked before May 1, 2016). Tuition is not refundable.