Posted on 06/28/2003 8:49:56 PM PDT by Salamjohn
Two days ago, I posted the following on this forum:
Ok guys, I'm a 15 year old boy living in northern Virginia. I was selected along with about 250 other high school students from from across the nation to a summer school on the campus of Georgetwon University. The summer schools i by the Junior Statesmen Association of America, and we study American government and we practice speech by participating in real debates. Like issues of fetal rights, Arctic Wildlife Refuge, "Under God" in teh pledge of alleigence. There are a ton of liberals, i mean alot of liberals. At least 80% Anyways, i have been assigned to defend the the US-led coalition's war on Iraq was a success not a failure. As a Bush supporter I beleive that it was, but the other side has some good arguments against it (Like where are the Weapons of mass destruction, and why are Iraqi people discontent with the US presence). If any of you guys can help me by giving me good arguments to support my case, then please do. I am researching stuff myself, but anything you guys can do is great. Thank you, John Francis Marion Clifton, VA Bethlehem Baptist Christian School
For those of you that responed, thank you. This is what happened. I went up to speak, my time limit was 4 to 6 minutes. As a fast speaker when im in front of people, I covered it all in 3 1/2 minutes. For the other half minute I awkwardly told people that we won and are doing good over and over in as many different ways as possible, because I was unprepared to deal with extra time. When it struck 4 minutes, I sat down. Then my opponent came up and presented liberal arguments and other stuff, many of which were rather good points. Then a subsequent speaker for my side came up. What he said was to this affect: "I think that the US was successful in Iraq, but because of the main speaker's [referring to me] poor argument I cannot vote for him. He did not hit 4 minutes, so you must discard his argument and I urge you all to obstain from voting." Everyone was appauled, and fortunately, harassed him for doing that to an unexperienced speaker. He took questions with his extra time, and a friend of mine said "You may be right, but are you aware that you are an asshole?" Hahaha. Good. You tell him. Anyways, other than that, it went well. In my closing speech i timed it perfectly and hit 3 minutes. Thanks to all you who helped me out with information and encouragement.
I'll be looking for more of your posts here on FR.
Public speaking isn’t so much knowledge, or intelligence – it’s familiarity and experience.
You can take a person with 10 public speaking appearances and put him up against at person with 100 public appearances and it’s usually no contest. Just take your lumps and move on. Ten years from now you’ll be a professional – nobody will touch you.
If you are really into public speaking, look up your local Toastmasters and go to work. (I didn’t, but my dad always gave speeches and said that was his best advice for people that wanted to do that sort of thing.) They tend to place importance on time management and thought organization… among other things.
Good Luck.
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