Why Learn to Speak?
Don't just take our word for it, we have assembled a few experts in various fields to talk about how important it can be to have high school students have just a little bit of public speaking practice.
Financial Success
"Every Entrepreneur Needs to Master Public Speaking...You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone, and without speaking in public, just like you can’t build a business from your invention without good business skills. The good news is that both are learnable, so the earlier you start, the better prepared you will be when you need them most. " Martin Zwilling, a 30 year startup organizer published in Forbes Magazine 2012
College Interviews
"I talked to the juniors about how important public speaking is for everything they do in life–from the college interview, to presentations, to speaking up in class and meetings. To have a voice (and be able to use it effectively) is one of the most powerful tools we can impart to young women. The more experience they have speaking in front of groups, the better writers and leaders they will be." Director of College Counseling at the Baldwin School - Sara Shapiro Harberson
Social Justice
"Public speaking has been used throughout history to point out inequality and injustice, from Patrick Henry arguing against the way the English government treated the American colonists and Sojourner Truth describing the evils of slavery to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Army Lt. Dan Choi’s speeches arguing that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” is unjust. Many social justice movements have started because young public speakers have decided to stand up for what they believe is fair and just." Saylor Foundation
Become a Better You!
"Public speaking holds a lot of merit for helping students get acquainted with the essentials of any live-communication setting. Will students need to stand up in front of mass audiences often? Probably not. But will they need to speak comfortably and confidently in front of others? Absolutely. Public speaking is .... about focusing on the communication essentials that often get overlooked. Eye contact, tone, volume, speed, inflection, gestures, and nervous tendencies are all part of the performance package. When students conscientiously practice how to control these factors of their communication, they will be more prone to leverage these components to their advantage in the future. And even just giving speeches a few times throughout a year does wonders for decreasing student nervousness and anxiety. " Jordan Catapano, long-time high school educator.