From time to time, a very good model of public speaking skills presents itself. Fairly recently, one exceptional example showed up on the radar.
The Dallas Independent School District had Dalton Sherman, a 10-year-old 5th-grade student, deliver the keynote speech at the back-to-school convocation for all staff.
You may have seen this before. I did a quick Google search and it is all over the place! If you have, that’s great. View it often.
If you haven’t, you have to take a look! It is an experience you will not regret. Especially if you are working on your own presentation skills. Dalton worked the crowd. Appealed to the individual sub-groups. He used repetition. He was natural. And yes, ladies & gentlemen, he was very likely coached.
You may ask, “Why did you mention coaching?” One of the first comments I heard, when showing this video to others was, “He must have had an adult coach him.” I was shocked!
Yes, he probably did. Don’t the Pittsburgh Steelers get coached? The Bills, Bengals, or Buccaneers? Don’t the Pacers, Bulls, or Magic? Didn’t Michael Phelps, Nastia Liukin, or Shawn Johnson get coached? They all have coaches. That doesn’t disqualify their ability. As a matter of fact, it reinforces my own need for a coach.
Let’s face it, we are not going to be a football, basketball, or Olympic star. At least I’m not, at my age and condition. Mostly, it’s just not my interest. Without the passion and dedication to commit all my time to that endeavor, I’m not going to the Olympics in four years. No matter how much coaching I have.
But what about presenting and public speaking? Are you trying to be a public speaking Olympian? Or would you just like an edge up on your competition? Maybe you would like to be the manager that your boss can count on when he needs to address the media or lead a group discussion. Maybe you’d like to be the salesperson of the year. Or maybe when you are asked to address hundreds and try to raise funding and support for your local public library, children s hospital, or Habit for Humanity chapter… You will be the one that can do it better than anyone else.
For that… a coach can help you. A coach can help you for as long as your desire keeps you improving. A coach can take you to a certain level and teach you to keep improving on your own. A coach can move you from your current skill level to a higher one, then match you with the next coach to keep you improving.
A coach can do any of those things. Which would you like to do?
