Memorable Speech Essays Example
Interviewing my father about his public speaking experience was informative and didactic. His most memorable speech was delivered to a non-supportive audience, making it more challenging to choose arguments and persuade people to change their opinion. As a student, my father was an active member of the community. He was an inquisitive, dedicated, and passionate person. Moreover, he was among the first pioneers of an eco-friendly approach to life and believed it to be one of his significant obligations to inform others about things that have already become a new norm nowadays, such as the danger of using plastic or the benefits of recycling. At the time, he met many like-minded people on campus who shared his vision and eagerly supported his initiatives. However, it was not enough for my father to trigger changes in the community, where those changes were met with enthusiasm and implemented without much effort invested. My father wanted to expand his philosophy beyond his student life, which he did when returning home for summer vacation.
Sample Details:
Pages: 2
Words: 624
Date Added: October 14, 2022
Although years have passed since then, my father can still clearly recollect the audience of primarily elderly neighbors and the setting of a garage sale he used as his tribune. Both the time and the place were wrong. So was my father’s preparation, as he admits now. Instead of exploring his future audience in advance and thinking about arguments and counterarguments, my father used his college experience and decided to be spontaneous. While he was aware of the initial resistance to anything new and progressive the small community of his native town tended to manifest, he boldly decided that he could cope easily. Unfortunately, the lack of preparedness and rehearsal disservice my father. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the topic collapsed against the general wall of ignorance and indifference. People willing to buy an old plastic chair or marvel at every non-eco-friendly furniture item would not listen to my father. A few neighbors, who did stop to wonder what a young student was addressing, commented with responses like ‘city talk – not our talk’. It was a disaster and a valuable lesson for my father. He shared it with me.
First, it is essential to know the audience. Speaking in front of people, who will likely support the speaker, is inspiring and helpful. However, addressing a neutral or hostile audience and making people not only listen but also agree with the speaker is what differentiates a great speaker from an ordinary one. Second, it is vital to prepare for the speech, even if the speaker has already delivered it numerous times before. Every public speech is unique because it can never be repeated the way it was delivered previously. The audience changes, new arguments appear, the speaker’s mood may differ, etc. Therefore, rehearsing and checking the speech beforehand increases its efficiency. Third, even if the audience is comprised of ardent advocates of the speaker’s stance, it is necessary to know the opposite opinion and be ready to rebut it.
If my father could deliver that garage sale speech on an eco-friendly attitude to life again, he would have done everything differently. He would have talked to the neighbors about the topic beforehand to find out what they thought about it to use their opinion as counterarguments to oppose. He would have rehearsed the speech instead of counting on spontaneity. He would have also used a different place where people would not be distracted by things he labeled useless or even dangerous for the environment. However, as my father said at the end of the interview, he still appreciated that unfortunate public speaking experience because it taught him a precious how-not-to-do lesson.