Discussion # 1 - 10/26

Public Speaking Event

The most recent event I can think of is the 40th birthday of one of our friends. There were a number of speeches made that day in honor of the birthday girl. And they all were very amusing for the audience members. The speech that stood out the most was made by the birthday girl's younger brother. He made a crack about being tortured as the younger sibling to capture everyone's attention. It truly got the large crowd to focus on him AND it broke the ice as everybody could relate to their own experiences with younger/older siblings! His speech lasted about 6-7 minutes and was structured in a topical outline form.

The main theme of the speech was his sister's accomplishments (and how he was overshadowed by them!), and the brother cited special events or incidents in their lives that illustrated what he was talking about. At the end of the speech he presented a slideshow of pictures taken throughout the birthday girl's life. Many of the elicited laughter from the audience, some made all of us get emotional inside, others just made us all collectively say, "Awwwwwwe!" The presentation media used here was effective in really bringing out the personality of the birthday girl. As the audience, we got a glimpse into her life, seeing her at age 3, then 10, then 16, and onwards. We saw that she, indeed, always loved to dance and have fun. And it became obvious from the pictures how close she was to her family, which was also reflected from not only the brother's but also the parents' speeches. The media didn't distract from the speech because it was displayed at the end of the speech, almost as if to highlight and illustrate things that were mentioned in the speech. After the speech finished, the brother said a few more statements to give closure to his entire speech presentation. He concluded with the following powerful words, "No matter where life takes us Leena, you will always be the wind beneath my wings."