This week we spoke about communication skills and how vital a tool it will be throughout your college experience and–most importantly–once you have graduated and entered into the “real world.” We reviewed two BPL videos and we shared some interesting feedback, some good and some not so good.
For this blog, I’d like you to think about a person who you believe is an excellent public speaker. It could be a politician, a teacher, an activist of some sort, or whomever. Where were you when you heard this person give a public address? Think about what made this person so effective–in what ways did he/she grab your attention and maintain it throughout the whole speech/presentation? If there happens to be a link where we can view this person’s speech on the web, provide that along with a citation of where you got it from.
Marty Markowitz (i forgot how to spell his name) was a speaker for my graduation. and probably many of other high school graduations in Brooklyn. His enthusiasm and use of humor was so perfect in his speech. I think that was the best part of the graduation. He basically made the rest of the speakers in the graduation look stupid.
There are many great speakers, but the one that comes on top is President Barack Obama. We see him giving speeches everyday on the news. When he speaks the message is clear, loud, simple yet to the point. If we look back at his presidential race, we can see how his great public speaking skills motivated and gave hope to those who lacked it.
When I try to think of a good public speaker, my high school english teacher comes to mind. She was my teacher for my junior year, the year we took the english regents. She had the ability to keep everyone’s attention, even though it was an early morning class. She was a young teacher, and often related/joked with all the students in her class. She also showed alot of confidence and enthusiam while speaking, which made the class alot more enjoyable. This is one public speaker I will not forget in a long time.
The best speaker I have ever heard was my high school global studies teacher. He was a younger teacher, so he had an aesthetic advantage in relating to students. He was also the first teacher who ever made me care for any kind of social studies related field. He was humorous and was able to energize everyone in his class.
I think that Bill Clinton is an excellent public speaker. I haven’t actually been aware of his speeches until I saw many youtube videos of him during his campaigns. Clinton is an empathetic speaker and when he speaks to ordinary people he makes them know that he feels their pain. He is also very emotional and articulate when it comes to his words. Some people have said that when they talk to him he makes them feel like the only person in the room. Here is a youtube video of him being “human” at a summit with Boris Yeltsin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHfbpL0NDmw&feature=related
I remember the best public speaker I ever heard very vividly. He was a motivational/spiritual type of speaker who came to talk to my 7th grade class before we made Confirmation. I tend to find that 7th grade is the age where teenage boys and girls are very worried about what their peers are saying/doing/wearing/etc. and most are skeptical about certain situations that take them out of their comfort zone because it might not be “the cool thing to do.” However, the minute Tony (the speaker) opened his mouth, he had EVERYONE fully captivated and hooked to what he was saying. He had a way of connecting with young adults that I still to this day have not seen since. I certainly applaud this because as I just mentioned, teenagers deal with a lot of different pressure on a large scale and my classmates really confided in him. It was pretty amazing to experience and is something I’ll never forget.
To Loktin,
He was also present at my graduation. He is very funny and a great public speaker. He uses a lot of humor to keep the audience’s attention.
In my congregation, there are many brothers that I considered as great public speakers. When they present their information based on the Bible, they don’t seem nervous or intimidated by the audience. I really enjoyed listening to them and their message. They prepare and practice a lot beforehand. They use good examples from the Bible to teach us lessons and also ask us to read the Bible with them in order to keep our attention.
Marty Markowitz is an excellent public speaker. He is the current Brooklyn Borough President. He was the guest speaker at the 2009 graduation of Midwood High School. During his speech, he spoke loudly and clearly. He used an anecdote to show how important hard work is while keeping the interest of the audience by providing some humor.
Similar to what my previous Brooklyn Techmates said, one of the greatest public speakers in my opinoin, is Mr. Williams. He was our COSA and was simply amazing when giving public speeches. He had high levels of enthusiasm and confidence, as well as humor. This really attracted the audience and no matter what you were doing, you would stop just to hear what he has to say.
To Daniel Lopez,
I agree, Professor Hagop Sarkissian is an excellent speaker. Though he repeats the same thing in many many different ways, it is appropriate for our understanding of his class. I also agree he is funny. =)
I am quite surprised that no one mentioned President Barack Obama as an effective public speaker. I think he is one of the best public speakers in todays’ society. With his wide range of vocabulary and eloquent speech delivery, it is impossible not to pay attention to him. Many times Obama uses anecdotes to gain his audiences’ attention. By doing this he relates to his audience and clearly establishes the purpose and message of his speech. My favorite Obama speech was the speech he gave for his Inauguration, Below is a link to the video of the speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnygQ02aW4
CSPAN,President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnygQ02aW4 (accessed October 1, 2009)
The only person I can remember from high school who is a great public speaker is the teacher I had for Accounting and Business Law. Her name is Ms. Hanlon. Ms. Hanlon always gave notes for both of the classes she taught. The presentation of these notes was awesome. Ms. Hanlon always presented the information to us clearly and with enthusiasm. I think that is the reason I think she is a great public speaker. Ms. Hanlon was always loud, clear, and happy when she talked to the class. Ms. Hanlon always had a copy of the Powerpoints in front of her to look at it to know what she was going to talk about next. She also told me how she would look over the chapter the night before she was going to teach us. In addition, Ms. Hanlon had very excellent eye contact. I do not think there was a time when she did not look at us except when she looked down to see what the next slide was. It was like in the two seconds she looked down she took in everything she was going to say. So when she talked to us about the notes, she had no problem explaining it to us. One last thing is the humor and the way she used us as examples to make us understand the concepts. Ms. Hanlon always had some story from her experiences, or made up a situation where we were involved to make us understand the topic. Although Ms. Hanlon used a lot of humor, she still taught us like the high school students we were. There still was that sense of seriousness in the classroom that made us learn everything Ms. Hanlon taught us.
Oh yeah! In response to what Lyudmila said, Mr Williams definitely had this loud booming voice. There was basically no way on not hearing him even if you were in the middle of a conversation. I think what made him so effective though as a public speaker was that he was also so confident in what he said. He never showed the slightest hint of doubt in anything he ever said. A speech can contain great material but none of that matters if the speaker is not confident, or credible, in what he has to say.
The one person I can safely say is an excellent public speaker is my cousin named Cibil. During every Fridays, few people from the church and I have a bible study which is led by him. He never ever looks down on paper to speak and seems calm and confident. Never have I heard him say things like um or uh. What makes it even great to listen is that he makes sure that he relates it to the audience if things are too difficult to grasp. He always tends to keep eye contact with his audience and never speaks in an arrogant manner unlike the politicians I have seen on television. Unfortunately, there is no link to offer.
The best public speaker i can say that i know is my high school COSA, Mr.Williams. When i first heard him give a speech, i was in my high school auditorium about to graduate. I am not too sure about how he grabbed our attention because it was so hot and crowded in that auditorium but with the use of jokes and his booming voice, everyone in that auditorium was mezmorized by his speech.
One of my close buddies, Chowdhry, in high school was actually a very good public speaker, and he didn’t even know it! He had a passion for acting and planned to major in acting for college. During our English persuasion speeches, he would talk in a very loud but clear voice. Contrary to what most speeches sound like however, he was more casual than formal in his choice of words and sentences. This allowed the audience to easily understand what he was trying to say while he did not lose any sense of audacity in his speeches. In my opinion, being more formal is not very necessary as long as the message is presented in a loud but understandable and relatable manner.
Right now i think that Professor Hagop Sarkissian in my opinion is a great public speaker. He is not boring at all like some other teachers. he mainly uses powerpoint presentation to grab our attention and he also uses humor. He also asks us questions and trys to paint a picture of a situation we could be put in and wants to make decisions. I don’t think i have been bored in that class yet and i enjoy going to his class.
The only public speaker that is coming to mind right now is Alicia Keys. This is probably due to the fact that I have her album playing at this very moment. In my opinion, Alicia Keys possesses all of the positive attributes of a public speaker and then some more. She is a Columbia University graduate and a professional musician. Due to her career, she is often required to speak publically and does so in an eloquent way. She is kind, well-mannered, down-to-earth and has a powerful voice to boot. Her success in society as a respectful artist adds a great deal to why people listen to what she has to say. Like her songs, she revived a great deal of her soul to the world through her public speaking. Her opinions matter to the public and thus she is an inspiartion to thousands.
In high school, I had quite a few teachers that I could call “an excellent public speaker.” One of them was my Shakespeare teacher, Ms. Halm-Violette aka Ms. H. We all loved her for many things, but most of all for her individuality and her perfect ways of expressing it. Aside from instilling a liking for Shakespeare in each and every one of us, Ms. H taught us quite a few of life’s valuable lessons. She utilized eloquence, personal experience, and her genuine concern for us to keep us captivated and, in a way, gullible. Why I say “gullible” is that she spoke so well that it was no longer speaking. Any idea of hers would just become reality because we were so willing to follow her instructions, take her advice, and consume her wisdom. Whenever I look back at my time in high school, I can find perhaps a handful of reasons that made the whole experience worthwhile. Ms. H’s class was one of them.