Public Speaking Series, #6

Being prepared means never having to say you’re sorry. Never apologize for being unprepared; we’ll know it anyway. The point of this rule is preparation. A good presentation takes much more preparation and practice than many novices realize. Let me give you a personal example: Last summer I was asked to give a five-minute speech at the local Kiwanis meeting (which was being held on campus that month) about the Teaching and Learning Center. So far, so good. I worked on it until the day before when I got a call from the person in charge of the meeting telling me that I was to speak on the School of Liberal Arts and the Teaching and Learning Center. Oh, no! Not only did I have to re-compose my remarks, but I had to practice, practice, practice: First, to be sure the speech was five minutes long, and second, to be sure it was articulate and perfect, because I am a public speaking teacher and I have a special burden. So I hid in a room on campus and went over the speech as many times as it took to know it was only five minutes yet didn’t leave out anybody who might be offended by being left out! (by the way, it went great!) My point is that I didn’t take it for granted that it was just a blurb and I didn’t need practice or preparation.