# Help With Speech

Category: Let's talk

## Post 1 by ILoveS33 (my ISP would be out of business if it wasn't for this haven I live at) on Wednesday, 08-Apr-2009 5:42:55

I'm going into a high school to give a talk. I've written it up but want to get other's opinions on it.
Do you think I should change anything? Add anything? Do you think it'll reach the high school audience?
For background, check out my profile, QN, PM, or email me.
Thank you for looking it over in advance!!
When I decided to become a public speaker, what I wanted to accomplish
was to inspire people. I wanted to reach out & connect with others, to
make them stop & think about our world, & the way they treat each
other in that world.
I've been doing this for a while off & on ever since I started school.
However, this is my first "inner-city group". To be blunt, I was kind
of freaked out about speaking. Not for any other reason then that I
wasn't sure how I would connect with you all. Both of my main goals
are to inspire & connect with people. So if I can't do that, I need to
get out of the game now, because I'm not achieving my goals.
Then I thought about public speaking itself. I remember sitting there,
listening to some man or woman talk & thinking: "What do they know
about me? Have they had 63 surgeries? What do they know about wanting
to give up & just quit everything? What do they know about taking care
of your family? Were they supposed to have been born dead? Who do they
think they are trying to come in here & talk to me about life?"
(Note: possible better wording, what do you think? "What do they know
about me & my struggles?")
After thinking about that, I came up with one conclusion. I wanted to
find a way to connect with you, but on an honest level. So here it is.
I wasn't born & raised in the inner-city. I don't know what your life
is like or has been like in the past, I can only guess at it. But,
having said that, I'm going to do my best. I know what it's like to
spend all your time "proving" to people that you can "do something"! I
know what it's like to be bullied, to be kicked around by your peers,
in the literal sense. I know what it's like when you have people
saying: "You'll never make it. Your just a blind girl." (Fill in your
own "your just a" type of statement here). So that's why I'm here.
This is the beginning for me. It's the beginning of fighting back in a
way that doesn't harm anybody else, but that also builds me up. That's
why bullies bully, to feel power, to feel bigger & better & stronger
then the rest. Well, this is my form of fighting back against that.
It's non-violent & it's all my own. When I leave here today, that's
what I hope to have achieved here. I hope that just one of you,
hopefully more then one, but that at least one of you will realize
that you're better then any stereotype. Not only are you "better then
that", but you can walk out of here proving that you're better then
that. Forget whatever anyone else says, it's all about you, & the
strength to overcome is in you. Don't look to friends or TV, look
inside yourself. Not that you can't be inspired by someone outside of
yourself. I've been inspired by singers, actors teachers. . . But when
you're alone, in your room at night or walking down the street feeling
like there's no point to all this "stuff" that we call life, it's all
gonna be on you. There's always helping hands somewhere, but you've
got to find them, & you've got to help yourself before anyone else is
going to take a chance on you.
I know all that is "cliched", but do you know how a cliche becomes
one? It becomes one because it's true. Whether we like to hear it or
not, it's true. I haven't found a single cliche that isn't true. I
would love to find one just to be able to prove that they aren't all
right, that's just the type of person I am! But so far no luck!
The surgeries are just half of my story. In fact, they may not even be
half. My parents are divorced, I live with a blended or as a part of a
step-family now. My sister & I don't see eye to eye, she's 18 & I'm
23, & I don't understand her "teenage dramas" to be perfectly honest
with you. Their just something that I can't get my head around because
I'm too busy thinking about how I can help the starving & save the
neglected. I usually lack transportation, I wasn't even sure how I was
going to get here this morning! I have a family member who's
struggling with an addiction that they can't seem to overcome. There's
a serious money shortage in our household so I'm helping out with my
measley SSI Disability payments every month. So it's not all rosy from
where I'm sitting.
But you know the biggest difference between me & my Father (whom I am
fortunate to live with & whom I love dearly) is? Hope. He sees his
life as over. My Father isn't old! In my book, he's still young! He
could go back to college, he could accomplish anything he wants to!
But he won't. You all are probably about 35 years or so younger then
he is. Your lives aren't over either! I don't care what you've been
told before now, I'm telling you that you can do or be anything. Don't
mistake my words. I'm not saying it'll be easy. I'm not saying it's
going to come to you. Truthfully, you're going to work at least twice
as hard. That's how I've felt. Someone sees me carrying this big 2 ton
elephant on my shoulders, & do they stop to help? Oh no, of course
not! They add weight to it! "So, you can carry that. Well here, can
you handle this? Let's see you carry that!" I always imagine them
having some devious laugh or something. But I get up & carry it.
Someday when I come back to Michigan, when I come back to Saginaw
High, I'm going to have a business! I'm going to be a Life Coach, & I
will have published my autobiography, & I will have done public
speaking around the world. You mark my words, I WILL do it, because
noone is going to stop me. I don't care who they think they are, noone
will stop me. And that's the kind of attitude all of you need to
adopt. I don't care what your home life situation is, I don't care
what's going on here in school, I don't care if your friends laugh at
you & make fun of you. And that's how you need to be. Go home & think
about who & what you want to be. Then start figuring it out. How are
you going to get there? What are you going to do to achieve that goal?
And then, do it! Start putting it in motion. I'm not saying you can do
it all at once, take baby steps. Baby steps add up to big steps, & big
steps add up to change, & change snowballs into more change &
eventually, one day, you'll look around & realize that you've made it.
You are somewhere, right where you wanted to be in fact. You may take
detours, you may fall & you may get banged up in the transition. We
all do. That's what keeps us together. We always look for the degrees
of separation among ourselves. That's what I said at the beginning.
"Who does this person think they are coming in here to talk to me
about life?" Well, scrap the "degrees of separation"! What makes us
similar? We've all got blood in our veins, we all have hearts, minds,
feelings right? That's what brings us together. Having an accent or a
limp or a speech impediment or a disability, that's all external
nothingness. It's not who we are. It's the difference between owning a
pitbull & a Chihuahua. Their both dogs, correct? Well, we're all
people. We all have hopes & dreams & things we want to aspire too.
That's what makes us who we are. Not the mistakes we've made or the
other people who tell us we can't achieve. Their just temporary road blocks. That's all they are.

## Post 2 by turricane (happiness and change are choices ) on Wednesday, 08-Apr-2009 11:40:28

you ought to be a public figure. bravo!!!!! great job!!!!!! Your presentation was clear, well organized, personal, and well thought through. Let me know how it goes.

## Post 3 by ILoveS33 (my ISP would be out of business if it wasn't for this haven I live at) on Wednesday, 08-Apr-2009 12:52:24

Thank you, I really appreciate that! (smile) I'll definitely keep you updated.