How many of you, on any given Monday morning, would rather go to the dentist than prepare and deliver a speech? I daresay it’s a high percentage. And why is that? It’s because most of us find public speaking difficult – anxiety-producing, stressful, and high-risk. Yet every now and then a 5th grader comes along and makes it look easy. Dalton Sherman is worth watching, because he’s amazingly good, especially for a 5th grader, and because his verbal and non-verbal skills put many grownups to shame.
Watch Dalton give the keynote to the Dallas Independent School Districts 2008 Back to School pep rally — in front of 20000 teachers. He’ll teach you a thing or two about public speaking. Specifically notice how well he pauses, waiting for the audience. Notice how he moves on a thought, toward the audience. And notice how he works the entire audience, from one side of the stage to the other – even though it’s ‘in the round’. Most grown-up public speakers don’t do as well in any of those areas.
Here’s Dalton strutting his stuff: http://tinyurl.com/lbfvzf
Of course Dalton lacks some subtleties and nuances that an older person might get out of the material. But for 10 years old, he’s a phenomenon. And he doesn't use a single Power Point slide.
I have been standing up in front of groups and speaking for 7 years (a few more, but only 7 years where I thought about it in advance) and have gone on a journey from thinking content was important to now being convinced that the single most important thing is the speaker’s projection of credibility on the topic. Thanks for some great material here in your blog. I put some thoughts together on the 3 things that non-verbal communication should help a speaker achieve http://www.conorneill.com/2009/09/3-keys-to-powerful-body-language-while.html
I have been standing up in front of groups and speaking for 7 years (a few more, but only 7 years where I thought about it in advance) and have gone on a journey from thinking content was important to now being convinced that the single most important thing is the speaker’s projection of credibility on the topic. Thanks for some great material here in your blog. I put some thoughts together on the 3 things that non-verbal communication should help a speaker achieve http://www.conorneill.com/2009/09/3-keys-to-powerful-body-language-while.html
Conor — thanks for the comment, and the great post on the 3 keys. I highly recommend it to my readers.
Conor — thanks for the comment, and the great post on the 3 keys. I highly recommend it to my readers.