Surely everyone has been in at least one public speaking class. Or even just given an oral presentation in high school. Yet so few really know what to say, when to pause, or how to keep a constant rate of speech. These are all skills that I had already learned, and some that I had mastered. Why was it so hard for people? Then it hit me: not everyone did competitive speech. As soon as the thought had come to mind, so did a huge wave of relief.

I started competitive speech when I was in eighth grade. I was an infant among the speechies that had been in it for a year or two already. I didn’t know what I was doing, but seeing these people - some of them my close friends - so confident and outgoing, it made me want to join speech. I told myself that I would see what it was about and that if I didn’t like it, I’d quit. I never quit...

I fell in love with the fact that when presenting; I was a completely different person. One year, I was a supermodel who had cancer and lost her hair. Another year I was a college girl who killed her best friend over a guy.

For two years, I did informative speaking. I wrote a comparison speech about three different creation stories from the Bible, the Lakota, and the Chippewa tribes. I wrote another about the history of Crayola. I think that being in Info was when I really got out of my shell about giving information in front of a group. I was learning how to spit out fact after fact, and how to cite my sources orally. It was an experience that helped me to be a better public speaker.

I don’t want to make this into an ad for speech, because most of the people who will excel in it will probably join voluntarily, but I know that there are plenty of shy students that were hesitant like I was. I want you to think of someone you know who is like the old me. Someone who is in middle school/high school, and who doesn’t really know what extracurriculars they want to be in. Suggest to them that they try out speech! It’s super fun and helps develop skills everyone will definitely use throughout their lives. I can tell you that it has helped me. :)