"Still Standing"

by Ramona J. Smith
Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking

In this speech of Ramona J. Smith, she won the 2018 World Championship of Public Speaking
surprisingly. She's always had an interest in public speaking and wanted to perfect her skills that's why
she persevered to join the competition. Smith got her start at the public speaking competition in 2015.
That year, she made it relatively far in the competition but was defeated in the district levels.

One thing she believed to be her mistake during her past speeches is about her sharing all the bad things
that had happened in her life. She talked about her dropping out of school for four times, marriage
failures which resulted to divorce, and her son's fight with cancer. Smith learned from this and decided
to still talk about her life's struggles, but instead find a way to make her message uplifting.

She inspired a lot of people through this speech. By means of creating a boxing themed talk about her
life, with the use of body-language tricks she learned from the past winners, she had delivered her
message to the people as if giving them a complete knock on their heads with her clenched fist. Opening
your palms conveys vulnerability to the audience and allows them to connect better with the speaker,
she said. It's a subtle piece of body language that Smith said helped draw her audience in and relate to
her. "If my hands are open to the audience, and my fists are not closed, and my arms are not too tight
toward my body, it just makes the audience feel more connected, like I'm really open," Smith told
Business Insider. "I'm vulnerable, and I want to give you all of me. And it makes me look relaxed and
comfortable."

The speech wanted to tell people that "you're going to take hits and get bumps and bruises. But you
learn from past fights how to maneuver." A connection she built from her minds to the audience make
her delivery really effective through relating her experiences in life which the people might also are
experiencing.

Principles of Effective Communication Used

All of the principles I think were embedded in her speech, her purpose to inspire was truly achieved. She
had established connections to the audience and had extended her message well. On the ethical
responsibility, she did not just stand there to show that she's a good speaker, to deliver a winning piece
but she stand there with the power of words to give an eye opener to those people who are
experiencing great problems.

Gyne Mary S. Abon

BSChE-1A