On Saturday, August 4th, 2012, I was a judge at the Queen of the Fair pageant at the Sussex County State Fair in Augusta, NJ.
The 20 young women were introduced to the crowd one at a time in the Horse Show Ring by Tammie Horsfield, the Director of the Fair, who read their resumes as they each circled the infield and waved to the audience from the back of a horse drawn carriage.
When they arrived on stage, they waved from stage right and left, walked back and forth to demonstrate their grace and poise, and then stepped to the microphone, front and center.
Let me say that they were all very accomplished young women, ages 17 to 21, with stellar accomplishments in academics, sports, music, and community service.
They were all beautiful and tastefully dressed, all capable of walking and smiling and waving. So the contest came down to which one had better public speaking skills.
A few observations about their public speaking skills:
They had all memorized their talks on the subject of why they should be Queen of the Fair. The ones with better public speaking skills didn’t recite their talks, but rather sounded more spontaneous and genuine. They seemed to be thinking before they spoke, so their words had more impact.
Because the contestants with better public speaking skills were thinking more and reciting less, they had a more natural rhythm when they spoke, which enabled the audience to follow their logic more easily—in essence, to pay better attention.
This slower rhythm is actually a very important public speaking skill because it is related to the natural rhythm of breathing, and indicates on a very deep level that the speaker is relaxed and poised under pressure, which was one of the key criteria for winning the crown.
I also noticed that two of the top three winners with better public speaking skills spoke with their hands, or at least allowed their hands to help them express their feelings and intentions. Many of the others kept their hands at their sides, fiddled with their sashes, or adjusted their clothing as they spoke. Good public speaking skills require that every fibre of your being should be involved in the act of communicating. Proper mastery of your hands is an important part of good public speaking skills.
Finally, beautiful public speaking skills include not only composure in the role of leadership, but also a mysterious kind of giving—a giving not just of words, but of feelings and convictions. We as audience members want very much to feel connected with a speaker, and the contestants with better public speaking skills were not afraid to give more of themselves. They were able to create a kind of intimacy with their audience,
So good public speaking skills are not based on mechanics, or accomplishments in other areas of life, or smiling and waving. Good public speaking skills have a lot to do with the speaker communicating from an inner state of calmness and confidence. Good public speaking skills include an adequate degree of expressiveness, temperament, and personality. And beautiful public speaking skills require a brave kind of giving—a giving of oneself—which is hard to describe, but we know it when we see it.
I saw it, I voted for those who had it, and they won.
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