Authors and Speaking
I was once asked to give a speech at a ribbon cutting ceremony when I was about fifteen. I was invited to speak because I had somehow managed to enter and win the local Miss Hometown pageant. Maybe it was because during the interview I said my favorite TV personality was Geraldo and I wanted to be a journalist someday myself. Yes, that is what I said. Keep in mind this was the eighties and I didn’t have a lot of options living in a small Oklahoma town.
Next thing I knew I was standing beside the mayor waiting to give my first speech ever. He said something like, “Go ahead, honey,” and I mumbled some words unrehearsed about patriotism, which was the general subject the ribbon cutting committee had given me.
The only good thing about that first speech was when the mayor took the microphone and moved on without me. I had no problem writing pages and pages of words in the form of teenaged angst-filled poetry and stories, but I’d just destroyed the town ceremony because I was terrified to speak in public. If anyone in my hometown remembers me, it’s because I publicly bumbled every speech I made during my Miss Hometown reign.
They say when you move to a new place you get a fresh start. In Wyoming, people didn’t have the privilege of hearing my debut as a speaker, so when various people and organizations heard I had a book coming out, requests for small speaking engagements started coming in. I fought the idea of speaking at first, but I was encouraged by my writing friends to step out.
For the past year I have worked hard to come out of my writer’s shell whether by serving on the foundation board for my county library, reading to children, or speaking to young people about writing. For me, finally getting used to public appearances has blossomed out of opportunities that have either focused on service to the community or making friends with people who like books.
As new writers, some of us hear things like “public speaking” and we panic. If the idea of standing in front of people scares the wits out of you, then start preparing now by doing little things like making friends with other writers, attending literary events, going to writing conferences, and volunteering for events and projects related to books and writing, not just your own.
I can’t say speaking has become my favorite thing, like writing has, but I am not as afraid of it anymore. Like it or not, a decent speaking ability is important if you are a writer. Don’t worry; nobody will expect you to be Miss America. They will know you are just a writer, so start stepping out.
If you remove the focus from yourself and look for small ways to enrich others with your love of the written word, you might find yourself at the next ribbon cutting ceremony, minus the crown.
This article appeared in the July issue of Rocky Mountain Writer.
