[vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Randy Harvey has a larger-than-life presence, one that has earned him accolades for public speaking and speaker training over the course of a long career. After spending 30 years in education—in various turns as a teacher, principal, and special education director—Dr. Harvey went back to school for a law degree. He has been a practicing attorney since 2008. He also authored the book, “Messages that Matter.”
Public speaking is our greatest fear next to dying. This fact was not lost on most in the audience, who sat in rapt attention as Randy played a YouTube video of his award-winning 2004 Toastmasters speech: Lesson from Fat Dad. Of that speech, he recalled a naysayer in the audience who decried his win, saying it was just a bunch of stories. In response, Mr. Harvey gave various examples of famous storytelling, including Jesus in the Bible. That audience roared its approval and the naysayer was silenced.
The reason most people fear public speaking is that we all worry about what others will think of us. We are all familiar with our school speech teacher’s instruction to imagine the audience in its underwear. Randy Harvey thinks of it a bit differently; he instructs pupils to think of a speech as a gift that we are excited to give, like the kindergartner who learned a song, or made a casting of his little hand for his mother. Those of us who have children know well the bright smile, the rush into our arms, the pride felt by the giver who prepared something especially for us. Who wouldn’t be excited?! Why should a well-prepared speech be any different?
On preparation, Dr. Harvey suggested that you’ll never become a great speaker by writing out your speech and you’ll never become a great speaker without writing out your speech. The reason for the “speaker’s paradox” is this: most of us write in formal English, but we speak in informal, oral English. A speech given in formal language sounds stiff, stilted, and monotonous. He recommends instead that we write a speech in bullet form and record ourselves talking about the bullet points. Afterwards we can transcribe our oral speech and memorize this version. He also suggests writing with line-breaks where natural pauses occur instead of writing in paragraph form. These pauses become very important when delivering the speech and give us the opportunity to make eye-contact with individual members of our audience.
The bottom line is that people are interested in what we have to say. If we speak from the heart, people will listen.
Randy Harvey’s father was front and center in his 2004 Toastmasters speech. After his death, Randy happily took on the nick-name “Fat Dad” that has been in his family for generations. The license plate on his car is even personalized with the moniker. His beloved father must have set a good example because in 2013, OregonLive named Randy Harvey “Best Dad Ever.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]