I had one of those moments, this morning.
The students in my speech bootcamp killed doing their second speech. They were hot! The change in delivery skills from yesterday's introduction speech to today's 3 Point evocative was astonishing. Yesterday they read their speeches and many had little energy. Today their faces were off their papers, they smiled and made great eye contact, many had natural gestures, and they stood tall and spoke smoothly. Their performances were filled with honest emotion. It was terrific. I sat there and listened to the stories about parents and children and friends and just smiled and smiled, except when the stories were too sad. Three of the students themselves cried during their speeches but all stayed up in front of the room.
The tribute/eulogy that evoked the most tears across the room was about a dog. One student asked me yesterday if paying tribute to a dog was allowed. I said yes. Her speech was organized appropriately, followed all the structure rules, and was deeply moving. In the main point focused on the dog's courageousness, she talked about how he had blocked her childhood bedroom door from a father who had violent drunk rages. Wow.
I love to see the miracle of anxiety made invisible, courageousness come out, and I will miss it. It makes me smile so much.
It's not uncommon for the bootcamp students to excel in the second speech they have to write overnight. Nevertheless, this was an exceptional group. Now, I just hope that our second weekend together (November 1, 2, 3) they do as well on their informative and persuasive speeches.
No comments:
Post a Comment