Page 74 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 2 Your First Speech 41

Some time passes and a sad little boy grows into an angry young man. Adolescence comes.
I’m hurt, lonely, and confused, and now it has all led to rage. I turn to baseball and football to
deal with my anger. I’m doing pretty well. Pretty proud of myself—I’m starting on both teams.
It’s pretty fun, but there’s some problems. I started drinking when I was 13; started drinking
pretty heavily; and now I’m 17. Grades have gone down; I’m getting in a lot of fi ghts. I actually
recall this one time I was walking down the hall, someone said something about my mother,
I didn’t let it slip for 2 seconds out of their mouth. I slammed his head into a pole. He began to
slide down. Worst thing about it was that I started laughing at him. He was unconscious. I had
an apathetic attitude; I didn’t care. I was tired of the hurt, tired of the pain, and tired of the con-
fusion. I didn’t feel anything anymore.
Back to where we started. What had happened was, junior year, I was playing in a football
game and dropped back to pass and I had a heart attack. They’re loading me into the ambu-
lance and all I could hear was, “Stay with me kid,” slap me in the face, “stay with me kid,” slap
me in the face. And they brought out those paddles. Clear, boom, nothing. Clear, boom, the
whole world was fading to white. What was happening was I was dying. For the fi rst time I felt
at home with myself, at peace, this mess was over. I could move on.
This turned my life around. Coming out of the hospital, I looked in the mirror and realized
what I was doing to myself. Told myself, Montana, you can no longer hold this against yourself.
Get over it, move past it, and move on. And I did.
If one good thing came out of all this, it’s my independence. Growing up, I grew up by
myself and I learned to be an independent young man. I set goals and I attained them. If I see
something I want, I usually get it. I walked through fi re twice, once when I was 3 years old and
once when I was 17. What hasn’t killed me has only made me stronger.
Forgiving is easy, forgetting is harder. But I feel I have. Abe Lincoln once said, “People are
just as happy as they want to be.” I fi rmly believe that. Don’t let the emotions get the best of
you. Just remember when you wake up and you’re having a rough day, and you look in that
mirror, and you feel like the whole world has let you down, you feel like you can’t go on any
longer. Just realize it’s never too late to turn yourself around. Get back on that horse and keep
riding. Thank you.

Tips and Tactics
Ways to Close Your Speech Effectively

• Present a short, memorable quotation.
• Use an anecdote or a brief story that illustrates your point and leaves a lasting
impression on your audience.
• Make a direct appeal or “call to action.”
• Return to your opening. This is one of the best ways to end a speech because it
brings the listeners full circle.

So, conclude your speech by summarizing your main points and closing with
impact.
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