This term, I took a mandatory public speaking class for my degree program. I haven’t found most of my courses to be that fruitful, but this one felt special. Below is a (slightly modified) excerpt from my final reflection assignment.
What is “speech”? Who cares?
If you Google the word “speech,” the definition you’ll get about what we did in this course is the following:
This does not encapsulate what we learned, and more importantly, did this semester. Why must we use the word “formal”?
I remember every time I would go up to speak, my heart raced a little bit. To calm myself down, I would think to myself: “Adrenaline means you care; this is a good thing.” I remember sitting in those small, stuffy rooms on the fourth floor of Sauder. We would make jokes and chat to lighten the mood. It felt good to share that sense of community before we got started. I remember practicing the night before for fear of stumbling or running out of things to say. But when I entered the room, I spoke with confidence. I felt like I had the world to teach my listeners.
That is what we did this semester. There’s a term for it, one that describes the intimacy of what we learned to do: storytelling.
Culture and humanity exist because of the stories we’ve told for generations. Humans have many stories to tell, so we’ve created countless ways to express them. We’ve used cave paintings, spoken languages, written languages, pictures, videos, and, of course, speeches.
This is the single most important thing you can learn to do in your life. Storytelling helps us connect. Deep connections lead to love. So, storytelling lets us love each other.
What makes a good audience?
Stories connect with different audiences. Yet, this term, we found some common traits that every good audience shares:
- A good audience listens.
- A good audience enters the room with an open mind and a willingness to learn.
- A good audience gives you a little smile when you stutter.
- A good audience gives you a nod when they agree with you.
- A good audience will “ooh” when they feel shocked, “aah” when they agree, and laugh when they find something funny.
- A good audience supports the speaker. They are there when the speaker gives an inspiring speech and also when they struggle to find the next word.
This means storytelling is a two-way street. The speaker and audience are not mutually exclusive, but function in tandem; the relationship between a speaker and their audience is built through mutual trust and respect for one another.
We’ve established a framework for a good audience, but what does “trust” mean in the context of the speaker?
Telling good stories
During the course, we discussed a lot of concepts, frameworks, and tools for telling good stories, but I don’t think it would make sense to list them all here. I think we can boil it down into three distinct words.
A good story must:
- Entertain
- Educate
- Inspire
- Emote1
I learned these words from a good friend of mine (who I deem much wiser than myself), but intentionally chose to ignore their value. During this course, I’ve realized that they are drastically important.
When writing a speech, I always write these three words down at the top of the page. If it does not hit all three, I must scrap it and rewrite it. As a storyteller, you owe this to your audience, who have dedicated their time to listen to you. It is your good privilege and duty to pour your heart out in front of your listeners, regardless of how big the crowd is or how you feel. I chose to share topics that resonate with me. I want each listener to close their eyes and see, feel, and hear not just my words, but the story where they play the lead role.
Because of this, I was able to do a good job of telling stories this semester. I could mention my hiccups, like talking too fast or moving around a lot, but that’s not the focus of the course. I can solve these problems myself. What this course taught me is how to tell good stories and how to be a great audience member. It taught me that the adrenaline I felt right before I started speaking was, in fact, a good thing. It taught me that I have something to learn from everyone around me, that I am both a student and a teacher.
That encapsulates a lot more than any definition does.
Footnotes
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I only included the words “entertain”, “educate”, and “inspire”, which I was taught through Cansbridge. “Emote” was added by my professor in a comment later on. ↩