[nabs-l] Public Speaking

[blindcowgirl1993 at gmail.com]

Hi,
I was in FFA in my high school and went to a state public speaking competition. My advisor always told me several things to start with. First comes posture. Stand comfortably, although do not slouch. Keep your head up and try, although it may sound strange, to keep I contact with your audience. I accomplish this, as a person with only light perception, by constantly looking in different directions. I will focus on a particular side of the room at one point, then will turn my head slightly as my speech progresses. Next Is your voice. The reason I say to keep your head up is so that your voice will project properly out to your audience. If you must look at notecards, which can be done, but I prefer to memorize what I am going to say, you can definitely use an earbud or something similar to accomplish this task if your braille skillsare not what you think they should be. Speak clearly, but do not speak too loudly. This was my downfall at the competition. I got nervous and spoke too loudly. Although I delivered a good speech, the audience was alarmed at the volume of my speech. The next thing I will say maybe a little controversial. This involves hand gestures. I worked with a sighted person for hours on this, as I did not know what was natural and what was not. The goal is to use hand gestures to emphasize points in your speech, while making them natural and not too jerky. This can be difficult, which is why I recommend practicing a speech in front of someone who is sided who would be able to give you pointers. Finally, movement. I like to move when I speak, but, when I do, I move with purpose. I do not aimlessly walk around the space while talking.  each movement should have a purpose, either to engage with another part of your audience, or to emphasize the point. I was always told never to step backwards deliberately, but this is mainly for a competition. The last thing I will say is this. Have fun. Public speaking is great, and if you can relax, you can really get a good point across and enjoy doing it.
I hope that helps,
Aleeha

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 20, 2014, at 5:06 PM, Shickeytha Chandler via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Happy Friday All,
> 
> I am wondering if some of you would be willing to share tips and
> suggestions for effective public speaking as a blind person. One of my
> classes in Graduate School this coming semester involves doing several
> speeches. In my undergrad work, I had to do a few, but let it suffice
> to say that my public speaking skills were less than stellar. I think
> part of it is because of not feeling confident because I can't just
> look down and read from my notes (or a teleprompter, lol) like a
> sighted person could. My Braille skills are lacking also. I only read
> uncontracted Braille slowly. I have had a few suggestions that I might
> try, but I want to get as many ideas as possible. My VR counselor told
> me about another client who uses a Victor Reader to record speeches in
> advance and then has headphones playing while he is speaking, and he
> can pause the player as needed. Additionally, I took a PowerPoint
> course from the Hadley School last year, and the blind instructor told
> me that she uses Blue Tooth headphones to listen to her notes as she
> presents. I would love to hear from any of you who have strong public
> speaking skills and experience to learn your ideas that might be
> helpful to me. Thanks in advance!
> 
> Shickeytha
> 
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