Inspired by some of the best

Through my classes at Conestoga College I have learned that I really like public speaking. I think this stems from a need to be the center of attention and the fact that I enjoy speaking directly to people over any other form of communication. When you can see people up close, view their facial expressions and read their emotions you can tap into a connection that is never duplicated through a phone call or an e-mail. Though I feel the written word can be powerful, nothing is more persuasive to me than a polished, yet personable, public speaker.

As I mentioned, I have been dabbling in the realm of speech writing and presentation skills. I thought I might post a sample introductory speech I wrote for a fictitious fundraiser.

Climate change and the encroachment of civilization on their traditional habitats have left polar bears with a reduced ability to gather food, mate and travel without great difficulty. We at the World Wildlife fund hope to raise money tonight and in the future to set up a series of wildlife preserves where these magnificent creatures can be safe and flourish.

Our keynote speaker tonight is the author of 43 books, numerous published columns and is the creator of some of the most popular television and radio programs about science, nature and environmentalism including the "nature of things" and "a planet for the taking."

He has dedicated his life to fighting climate change and reducing mankind's impact on the environment. Tonight he will give us the benefit of his many years of experience. Please join me in welcoming, Doctor David Suzuki.

In this speech I could introduce anyone I wanted, it just had to be a real person and I could choose any charity or organization as well. I chose the World Wildlife Fund because it is an organization I have a great deal of respect for. I also have had experience with them through online campaigning and the annual C.N tower climb (I finished in 20 minutes for the record).

This recent interest in speech writing and presentation has sparked a fascination with two web sites in particular. I have posted links to them under my "sites you should explore" section. The first is "TED" which is a group that invites some of the greatest thinkers of our times to present their thoughts on a variety of topics. Some of the speakers actually are pretty terrible but the subject matter is always intriguing.

Ted: Ideas worth Spreading

The second website is called "American Rhetoric." This is simply a collection of some of the best speeches and debates from movies. A lot of them are very schmaltzy and cheesy but nearly 99% are extremely engaging.

American Rhetoric

Enjoy!