Giving a Speech!

Great news! I've been invited to give a speech at George Jackson Academy in the fall (and to attend their first ever graduation next Monday). I wrote about GJA in a previous post and for the past few months I've really been in awe of what they do and how they have so many motivated young men at the school.

In honor of the news, I wanted to touch on public speaking. Many people are afraid of public speaking but there are ways to overcome the fear. There are groups such as Toastmasters (which actually has over 200,000 members). Public speaking is a critical skill and I highly encourage anyone afraid of public speaking/presentations to get assistance from Toastmasters or from one of College Knowledge's mentors. For free advice, I think this is a pretty good document they provide with 10 tips for successful public speaking.

For me, public speaking is actually fun. I make sure to know my material, practice it beforehand, but also stay loose. You should provide an initial benefit statement after the hook in the beginning of your presentation/speech. You should also be interacting with the crowd as you go along and sometimes you even need to improvise. Most importantly, for public speaking to become fun for you requires practicing it a lot until it becomes second nature!

GJA inspires CK

Great news - I'm currently in contact with GJA (George Jackson Academy) to potentially speak to their young boys about seizing opportunity and overcoming adversity, among other things. You can read this great article in which the NY Times profiles the school to get a better idea of what they are about.

Based on what I've read in articles about GJA and based on what I've heard of their students, I think I may learn more from them than they would from me. However, here's to a win-win situation; I'll keep you all posted as more details are finalized and hopefully something gets planned.