2025, Government, Uncategorized

Testimony

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I never imagined when I was in High School speech that it would come in handy when I was in my late 60’s and had to talk to a bunch of State senators. Serious Dramatic Interpretation actually came in pretty handy last week.

I was pretty anxious on the drive to Bismarck, mainly because of the cold weather and the fear that my sciatica, which leads my left leg to unexpectedly give out on me, would cause me to not only take the floor when I had to speak, but also put me on the floor. I was also anxious about the lack of parking at the Capitol and how far I would have to walk to get into the building. Just in case, I brought along a hiking stick we had at home to give me some stability. I was lucky to find a parking spot in a parking lot just outside the front door, and I used the walking stick for support on the way into and when I walked the long corridors to the conference room the committee I was speaking to met.

The committee was made up of about six senators, and there were various technical assistants in the room as well. There were about ten public members along with our board attorney and office manager. The senator who sponsored the bill we were opposed to presented the bill to the committee. Then the committee chair asked for those public attendees who were in support of the bill to speak. There were none. Then the chair asked for those opposed to speak. I jumped up at once took the podium.

There are strict rules of addressing the committee. You have to start out with “Chairman_______ and members of the committee”. If you are asked a question by a committee member you have to start out by saying “Chairman________. Senator_________, and members of the committee” before you answer the Senator who asked the question.

I had five pages of testimony written by a fellow board member. It had been sent to the committee the day before, and the testimony was live broadcasted on the internet and also recorded. I spoke confidently, but I know I spoke too quickly. Only one Senator asked me a question. I was able to have some witty and friendly repartee with the committee chair who has an even odder Dutch name than I have. It went well, overall. We will have to see how it goes.

Were you in speech or debate in high school? How do you feel you do at public speaking? What is the largest group you ever spoke to?

30 thoughts on “Testimony”

  1. i cant remember the name of the speech class i took . it was creative something or other. i liked it so well i asked if i could sign up for it again the following year. the teacher hadnt fotten that request before. he said there would be some duplication of the stuff we did last year. iwaa all duplication and turned out to be fun but much less stimulating than i had assumed.
    im a talker and a rock star on a small level so when it comes time to speak to a group at a conference or to a group of managers or department heads i know how to get it out in a manner that gives the info but doesnt bore you to death. i did get asked to be a guy on one of those sell stuff on tv channels and was surprised how much i tensed up. i got it dine but was very wooden. i laugh when i allow the pressue i am feeling to overwhelm me. when i delivered fo shiptt they had deadlines to hit in terms of getting the shopping and delivery done. when i had trouble finding a product or had a chatty customer who wanted to discuss the different options available in candle scents or shampoo choices. my shoulders would tense snd i could physically feel my body begin turning inside out right before my very eyes. so interesting. glad your presentation went well renee. let us know the final result

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  2. I was not in a speech or debate club in high school. The largest group in front of which I spoke was an English class, but I actually liked it. I took public speaking at community college and enjoyed that, too.

    I landed in ecclesia, and became a preacher. The largest group in front of which I’ve ever spoken was about 500 people in Tam-sui in Taiwan, and the sermon was in Taiwanese.

    Retired now, (and glad to be so), I can be ready in very few minutes to give a speech, in either English or Taiwanese, but I’m glad that I no longer have to. I think that’s a mercy to those who would be forced to listen to me, too.

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  3. Wow, impressive experiences so far, baboons!

    I didn’t take speech class till freshman year of college, and then I was surprised that it wasn’t too awful. I remember my first speech was on REM sleep – dreams.

    I’ve done several things over the years that involved speaking to groups… usually around 40 people or so, as at our UU Annual Meeting. I do tend to talk too fast when I have a microphone in front of me.

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  4. I don’t recall if I’ve ever taken a speech class. I would have been horrible in school. Even reading a book report out loud in 6th grade was a struggle.

    But after being a jr-sr high band director for six years and needing to speak extemporaneously to 50+ band students every day, I got quite comfortable speaking in front of larger groups.

    I used to teach community education courses in financial planning and wine appreciation. Maybe 20 people, tops.

    I do a fair amount of speaking as an author. Biggest group was probably 100. I think I’m decent at public speaking. Sometimes I feel like I talk too fast, and other times I think I sound like a monotonic drone. But I’ve usually gotten at least polite thanks and compliments on my presentations.

    I’ve got perhaps the biggest crowd to address in May when I speak to a book club in Osseo that claims to have 250 or so members. I don’t know if all will show up, but they’re paying me to speak, so the pressure will be on no matter how many show up. *gulp*

    Chris in Owatonna

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  5. High School Extemporaneous speech competition back in 1968. There was a blind draw for topics and I got defending the Black Panther Party’s tactics which included confrontation with police. Okay. A punk white kid is supposed to understand the Black Panther’s grievances?! I started by acknowledging little experience in the matter but included the 99% white audience in a shared desire to listen honestly. It was natural to highlight For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield. A lifetime of bad experiences can lead to paranoia.
    Pretty weak. Thank goodness it wasn’t a debate. I would have been destroyed.

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  6. I took one college speech class. I didn’t enjoy it. I’ve never enjoyed being on a stage in front of people, even when I played in a band. I was the North Grove Stage emcee for several years, and I think I did all right, but I didn’t really enjoy it – especially the parts about buying t-shirts or buttons, or donating to the Festival, or picking up the litter around you. I would just watch the people as they stopped listening and moved away. I’m happy I don’t speak or sing in front of audiences anymore.

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  7. No speech or debate classes were offered in high school, but my sophomore year in college it was a requirement.

    I was wracked with anxiety about the possibility of being called upon to speak in front of my peers, and spent every class trying to blend in with the woodwork. Our teacher was a young redheaded fellow from the deep south somewhere and was fantastic in demonstrating for us the various forms of speechifying.

    About five weeks into the course, I had yet to be called upon by the teacher, and then all hell broke loose after the shootings at Kent State. After violent protests and the National Guard being called in to restore order, the school closed for the quarter and students were sent home. If you had a passing grade at the time of the closing, that’s what you got and credit for having fulfilled the requirement of the speech class. I don’t think I uttered one word in that class except “here” when there was roll call.

    Later on a took a Dale Carnegie course, and that was quite a confidence builder. I also joined Toastmasters and participated in several speech tournaments. More experience boosted my confidence further, and I discovered that I could actually talk in front of a group and enjoy it. The largest group I’ve talked in front of is probably around 250 people.

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    1. My dad was the most uncomfortable public speaker you ever saw. He never appeared nervous to me, and I saw him lead and speak at a lot of small farm meetings and such. But, boy, give him a mic in church to read the litany, and he was terrible. He joined Toastmasters, late in life, because I had to be old enough to milk alone in the mornings so he could make the 7:30AM meetings. He seemed to like that. I’m not sure I saw him do any public speakings after that though.

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        1. High school was in Denmark. College in the US. So no speech classes until I had been in the US roughly four years. I’m wondering why this makes a difference to you?

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      2. I guess I was a little surprised that Denmark would shut down their colleges because of the kent state situation. I’m actually surprised that your college shut down his classes because of the incident atKent State.

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        1. The riots that followed the killing of four students at Kent Sate in Ohio were widespread at most major universities all over the country. The National Guard was deployed to Carbondale following a demonstration that saw several buildings burned and every single store window on the main business drag smashed. It was incredibly violent, and tension between the local rednecks and the students was high.

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  8. Afternoon-
    I joined debate club late my senior year. I think it was just to hang out with friends. Went to one tournament. Don’t remember much except the bus ride and my friend Dave and I getting the giggles over giving everything a ‘Mc’ prefix. McBus, McDave, McBen, McDick.

    I had speech class in middle school with Mr. Kueker. He was a good teacher, and I had already done some 4H one act plays, so I was fairly comfortable talking. 30-some years later, I’m at a funeral for my aunt and Mr. Kueker is part of the kitchen help. He remembered me and told me what a good speaker I was. That was sure nice.
    I did a lot of presentations about farm stuff. One speech, on baling hay, was for the Mayor at the time. I know I had note cards, and the Mayor told me I didn’t need the note cards. Hmmm, I wonder if that was an influence on me?
    Did 4H demonstrations for the club, so that was practice too.

    I’m pretty good at winging it. I’ll think about it a lot beforehand, and a lot afterward about what I SHOULD have said, but generally I get the point across. It’s never been important like speaking to the senate, but at theater openings, board meetings, ect.

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  9. Better Late than Never, Baboons,

    I was not in debate or theater classes, but had to make a speech sometime for an English class. I really obtained the most experience speaking in 4H doing demonstrations and running for County Office. That was fun. If I am teaching I can stand up and say anything and teach for days. If I give a speech I am nervous. I am not sure what the difference is, but somewhere deep in my psyche there is a difference. I have done a lot of teaching and training in my psychotherapy and Social Work field. I do not remember the size of groups.

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        1. My biggest fear was the van’s electrical sytem freezing up in the bitter cold as we drove over the Buffalo Ridge in northern SD, especially as the TPMS light was on due to freezing up. Just as we got to Fargo the engine had warmed up enough after 200 miles
          and that hazard light went off. The drive from Fargo to Dickinson went very smoothly.

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  12. I also did dramatic Interp for a couple of years in high school. One year I worked with a great partner and we did a scene from The Chalk Garden. (I did the Hayley Mills character.) We wiped up at all of our competitions and we got so good at it that we could do each other‘s parts interchangeably. The next year, my partner wasn’t as committed and we didn’t get quite the accolades.

    I’ve done plenty of little speeches in my lifetime to various different kinds of groups. The one that stands out the most was the valedictorian speech when I graduated from Metro State. That was quite a large group.

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