Lesson 1 Speaking in Public
Logan’s Speech
“The assignment ____ to write a speech about someone who you admire.
It could be a historical figure, a celebrity, or even someone you personally ____ in your life,” Ms. Harper told the class.
My classmates began brainstorming a list of people they ____ pick — mostly athletes, singers, and actors.
____ I knew right away who my speech was going to be about.
Grandma is the person ____ admire the most. Writing a speech about her would be a piece of cake.
A few days later
A few days later, ____ Harper talked about how to deliver a good speech.
This reminded me that it wasn’t just a writing assignment, but a speech I would have to give in ____ of my classmates!
The thought of standing ____ front of the entire class made my palms sweat.
I’m too shy to raise my hand in class ____ when I know the answer.
How on earth can I speak in ____ of everyone? I couldn’t sleep at all that night.
The big day for the speech ____ arrived, and I felt more anxious than ever.
I had spent the previous week ____ how my classmates would react to my speech.
I ____ still mostly thinking about what my classmates might think. I wasn’t putting much thought into what I was actually going to say.
I figured I could just speak ____ the top of my head.
After all, I ____ going to talk about my grandmother.
I didn’t need any notes.
I was sweating as ____ walked up to the front of the class.
My heart was racing so fast that ____ thought it might fly out of my chest.
I could feel my face turning red. I ____ know where to look.
I blanked out. I just stood there silently. Ms. ____ tried to help me out.
“Start by telling us a bit ____ your grandmother, Logan.”
I spoke ____ what kind of work my grandmother used to do, but I quickly ran out of words to say.
Then Ms. Harper said, “How about telling us a bit about ____ you admire her so much?”
I barely managed to share a ____ story about her.
After that, I just rushed to my seat and put my head in my ____
I knew I had messed up. I hadn’t said ____ the things I wanted to say.
The next day
The next day, I met ____ Harper after school to talk about the speech.
____ said, “I’m embarrassed about the speech.
I must have looked like a fool. I know I could have done ____
“It’s quite all right to fall short of your own expectations as long as you learn something from it,” she said in a warm ____
“What was bothering you the most while you prepared for ____ speech?”
“I was ____ the other students would laugh at me if my speech wasn’t good enough.”
She replied, “You certainly can’t control what others think about your ____
That means you should be focusing on the one thing you can ____ — how you give your speech.”
That woke me up from the depths of despair. Of ____ that was it!
I wouldn’t have been able to make my classmates ____ what I wanted to say.
I ____ should have focused on my performance.
A couple of weeks later
A couple ____ weeks later, the class was given another speech assignment.
I didn’t want to drop the ball like the first time. So this time, I practiced delivering ____ speech.
I stood in front of the mirror every ____ for a week and went over all the things I wanted to say.
I used cue cards which contained key phrases ____ important facts.
I rehearsed how I would stand, how I would make eye contact with the audience, and even when ____ would pause.
____ felt nervous again when the big day finally arrived.
But when the ____ called my name, I noticed that my nerves had actually calmed down a bit.
I ____ way better than the last time, for sure!
I walked up to ____ front of the class and looked out into the audience.
My heart began to race, and I ____ a deep breath to calm it down.
While my voice trembled from time to time, I managed to get my ____ message across.
When I was done, I felt so proud of myself that I barely noticed ____ loudly everyone was clapping for me!