There is something gorgeous about public speaking

編按：高三2班郭安哲同學參加99年度全國高中學生英語演講比賽，榮獲中區優勝，在此他與大家分享參加英文演講的心得。

高三2班  郭安哲

Yes, speech is a kind of performing art, but one fundamental difference between a speech and a performance is that, in speech, you have to be your self! Speech is a kind of art that favors common sense over ideology, and straight talk over spin! It’s all about how you communicate with your audience, and how effectively and persuasively you can convey your idea to people. In this way, lots of skills are involved. Intonation (抑揚頓挫), voice (a deeper voice usually means more credibility), posture (stand as high as you could), gesture, facial expression, the choice of word….etc. But I have seen many of my fellow competitors focused too much on improving these skills and forgot the most important element in a speech—your genuine emotion.

Practicing those skills—posture, intonation….etc—does have a great improvement to your speech though, but those are the kind of things that, through months of practice (for some people, weeks are days), everyone can achieve it. What really make your speech touching and memorable is your own unique experiences and personal journey—lessons you learned from your failure, stories you heard from you family, and perplexities you have toward you life.

I lied to myself in the prepared-speech—if I were homeless. I thought if I want to win the contest, I have to say something wise, toughing, and inspiring. I wrote a splendid speech draft, with many wonderful sentences and inspiring lines, telling people to value the magnitude of their life, not the price of their possession, and how to remain hopeful in the face of adversity. I had a hard time practicing this speech, because I always imagined if I were standing in front of a crowd and delivering my speech, some homeless guy would rise up and laugh at me, “kid, you have family who love and support you, you have a comfortable home, how on earth can you know the pains a homeless guy is facing.”

I don’t think this prepared-speech actually stood out eventually. It’s the impromptu that got me into the top six of the national contest. In the impromptu speech, I talked about a story of political struggle, a person’s inner struggle about choices, which I am more familiar with.

This speech contest taught me a lesson—next time if I have to give a speech, I will say things I actually feel or know! (What if the topic is something you simply can not relate to your own experience? Write about “FACTS” then!! For instance, where can you find a decent place to sleep? Which church hands out food for the homeless? Any social welfare available? Tips for personal hygiene? Any government program for you to get a job?)

What if you HAVE TO talk about some wisdoms or experiences of your own? In my case, although I know nothing about being homeless, I do know about hope, and something wonderful that roots within humanity. I put these themes in my speech.

Rather than make up a story that’s not you, fit something you do know in your topic! Believe me, no judge is going to blame you for not having enough wisdom or life experiences. If you can say something you truly learned or feel with your own passion, it’s profound enough.

Speech contests nowadays hate over-acting, pious cry to morality, and melodramatic speech. They like something real, practical, and attainable. Speech is a great ability, and you will find it extremely useful and helping in many different aspects of your life. So don’t just do it for the competition!! Imagine yourself communicating with a mass audience, either sharing some wonderful ideas of your own or persuade them to believe something. It’s really important that you imagine yourself in that kind of position. Think about these following questions: Why do you deliver this speech? Where and when does this speech occur? Who are the audiences? What do your audiences want to hear? How could you arouse your audiences?

There is something gorgeous about public speaking. Most of the time in your life, when you are confronted by some unpleasant situation, you reconcile with it. But in speech, You Speak Up!

It was a great experience for me, to have been able to join the speech contest. Of course I was not satisfied with my performance, but I did learn a great deal from it! It has become another lesson of my life, and added to my own story another page of adventure.

If I were homeless L

郭安哲同學獲得優勝的演講稿

                                    指導老師：林淑瑜老師

We have been born into a too civilized society, in which people are too often judged by their materialistic possession. A house is the basic standard of life; nice cloth means civility while extravagance accounts for nobility. But think of the last time you smile good morning to a beggar by the street; or the last time you try to befriend some guy who is coatless, shoesless, and shivering in the freezing wind of December.

Most people probably never think of that, but those homeless people are human too, and they have dignity that is no different from ours.

Imagine one day, an earthquake hit Taiwan, and you were rendered homeless overnight, how would you wish this society look at you? If I were homeless, I would not ask how they will evaluate me, but how I shall look at people. Yes, some people will leave me, but some, will to lift me. This became the point at which fakeness became unfakable, and I would take more notice to the beauty of human compassions that root deeply within us—friendliness, honesty, and sincerity.

If I were forced homeless and I could only bring two things with me, let it be smile and hope. Bring smile, so if I saw somebody who seemed to be deprived of it, I could give him the biggest one of mine.

Some people might appear scornful for the word hope, they think it means ideology and naiveness. But hope is not some blind optimism, it is a faith for a future, in which something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach out and believe in it, then work for it and fight for it!

I am not ignoring the fact that it’s always easier for those things to be said than done. But ask yourself this: is your value depended on the price of your possession or the magnitude of your life? You might be homeless, but you can still be priceless.

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