Practical Lessons From “The King’s Speech” Part 1

My dad (Gene Smith) is one of my biggest fans and helpers. He is always doing things for me, and offering help in all aspects of my life. Specifically for our purpose here, my father is always searching for, and passing to me articles from magazines and newspapers that have to do with public speaking. Recently my dad found a great article in Readers Digest. Discovered in the Work Digest section, dated May 2011 – the article is titled: “Master Your Presentation, Five Lessons from The King’s Speech.”

If you have yet to see the movie “The King’s Speech,” the film is based on the true story of Prince Albert’s struggle to overcome his public speaking challenges. Not only does he have a stammer in his voice, but like most people, he fears public speaking more than death itself! The movie is both an entertaining, and very real depiction of the struggles most people face regarding the challenges of public speaking – not because of the King’s stammer, but because of the fear he experiences, and the steps he takes to overcome.

Prince Albert, be it begrudgingly, seeks help, and embraces the direction of his teacher…his speech coach!

In the article writer Jesse Desjardins offers five public speaking tips she contends are observed in the film: 1) Have faith in your voice. 2) Admit you need help. 3) Put in the hours. 4) Leverage experience. And 5) Be a true version of yourself. I’d like to offer my own thoughts on each of Desjardins five tips.

1) Have faith in your voice.

I always tell me students, “Exploit your gifts.” Everyone…everyone…has unique qualities and strengths that make them special and individual! And more often than not, people often don’t even realize that even special challenges like a stammer in one’s voice can develop into a very enduring quality to be exploited for personal success, rather than to be ashamed of and silenced. While the King did manage to iron out his words for important speeches, the stammer did not completely leave. But it is the stammer that made him so real to his people. Furthermore – the fact that he could stand up and address millions of citizens with a stammer made him appear to be a fearless and great leader.

I myself have dyslexia. For those of you who are unfamiliar with dyslexia – it means my brain misfires! My thinking is scattered, and unfocussed. My spelling and grammar are atrocious, and my mind refuses to calculate any math beyond that needed to balance my check book. However, years ago, when I realized I wanted to be a competitive public speaker in college – I discovered that the only way it was going to happen was that if I was persistent. I even had a speech coach, after reading my first speech, ask me if I was “retarded”! Thankfully, my parents had instilled in me enough self esteem to shrug off the comment, and the work ethic and drive it took to overcome my challenges. Desjardins ends her commentary on having “faith in your voice” with “The secret here is to persist.” I could not agree more. If you are persistent…anyone…can overcome any unique challenges they might have with their voice (specially the fear of public speaking) and be able to stand up and speak with strength and pride.

2) Admit you need help. In the movie, Prince Albert – who would reluctantly become King George VI, which would mean a lot of public speaking – finally “checked his ego,” and took the advice of his wife, Elizabeth, and sought help from a speech coach. If the Prince had not first, listened to the guidance of his wife, and second, embraced the direction of his coach he might have failed as a King. Thankfully for the people of England, their King proved to be both a humble man, and a respected voice for his people.

After my coach (Marty Tarras – thank you!) asked me if I was retarded, he continued, “kid, you might look and sound good in front of an audience, but if you cant write properly you’ll only get so far.” I did not want to get “only so far”! I wanted to excel. So after some soul searching, I decided to enroll in an English class in an effort to improve my writing. I was at Los Angeles Valley College at the time. It was during my 4th attempt at community college. To my surprise I had to take a placement test to establish which English course I would be placed in. I tested to low, I had to begin with English 21. English 21, is the class following ESL (English as a second language), and did not even count for college credit. It was a humbling experience to say the least! Regardless, I submitted (All the while thinking about the “Kid – what are your retarded?” comment) to taking the class. I am fortunate that I did. English 21 combined with my involvement with the speech team, helped me to learn how to properly structure my thoughts. And thank God for spell check! Anyway – had I not submitted to what needed to be done; had I not admitted I needed help, and sought the help…I would not be authoring this blog. I would not be a full time public speaking professor and speech coach! Most likely I would be bartending or selling something! Marty – thank you for calling me “retarded!” You helped me admit I needed help!

3) Put in the hours. Desjardins writes, “It wasn’t until Prince Albert threw himself into the exercises from Logue (his speech coach) that he was able to progress. There is no substitute for preparation.”

Preparation is the key to success. Not only does preparation ensure effective communication via successful presentation, but preparation also gives you the confidence needed to manage the fear of public speaking. Truth be said, there is no getting rid of the fear of pubic speaking, but you can manage it! The fear of public speaking, also called speech anxiety, communication apprehension, or even glossophobia is most effectively managed by being prepared! I tell both my classroom students, and my competitive speakers the three most important things in public speaking are, “preparation, preparation, and preparation.” I really appreciate the words of my church pastor, Jon MacArthur from Grace Community, regarding preparation for effective presentation – Pastor MacArthur says he “practices neglect.” He neglects everything (his wife, kids, eating, the golf course, everything) until his message is properly prepared. There really is not substitute for preparation!

4) Leverage experience. In the King’s Speech, Prince Albert learned that “Nothing improves pubic speaking like doing it.”

Next to “How do I deal with my fear of public speaking,” the most common question I get from my serious students is “How do I become a better speaker.” The answer is “speak!” If you want to improve with your piano playing, you play the piano! If you want to become a fast runner, you run! Whether it’s basket weaving, or brain surgery, or public speaking – if you want to get better at something…you do it! In the 2008 best selling book “Outliers: The Story of Success,” authored by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell contends that anyone can be great at something if they are willing to do the time. Specifically, according to Gladwell’s calculations, 10,000 hours is the rule for greatness. Gladwell offers in his book a wide variety of examples of people who put in 10,000 or more hours developing a variety of skills way before ever being acknowledged for their greatness. In reality most people will not be putting in 10,000 hours of speech practice, regardless however, some experience is much more beneficial than no experience. You should take advantage of any and all opportunities to speak, be it teaching Sunday school, speaking at work, the community center, political rally, or even at a wedding – any and all opportunities mean more time and experience speaking. Every time you speak – you will improve!

5) Be a true version of yourself. Desjardins points out that Prince Albert “spoke to more than 50 countries on live radio. He wasn’t perfect, but he was loved by his people – his stammer humanized him and make him a hero.”

I graduated high school with a 1.9gpa on probation for bad behavior, I flunked the first grade because I could not read, I failed algebra a total of 5 times and never passed it, I failed out of three different community colleges, I even failed the written exam for the LAPD (My father was an LAPD sergeant at the time…). I am clearly not a rocket scientist. However, by the grace of God I have been blessed to realize the value of learning to structure and present my thoughts. By learning and practicing the very basic mechanics of structuring thoughts and information my life have been forever blessed. Furthermore…I own, and make no apologies for who I am – the good, the bad, and even the “retarded!” What you see is what you get. Always be a true version of yourself, while at the same time always striving to improve.

Closing Thoughts

If I had to crystallize a particular theme running throughout Desjardins’ article, it would be that direction, preparation, and commitment are foundational to creating and delivering successful presentations.

Also, I believe Prince Albert is a wonderful example of how people when people focus on their strengths, while at the same time actively acknowledging and confronting their challenges — people can accomplish anything they want to!

Duane

I’m speech coach Duane Smith. I have served groups and individuals in the corporate and academic areas develop and improve their public speaking skills. I'm also a tenured public speaking professor at Los Angeles Valley College.

112 Comments on “Practical Lessons From “The King’s Speech” Part 1

  1. I hope this movie is on Netflix!

    I have not watched this movie. I absolutely enjoy film. It has the ability to let you live a story. I know that this movie won many Oscars, including the best actor award for Colin Firth. A well-delivered movie, especially when critically acclaimed, adds to the credibility of film. It is wonderful when a story leaves an impact in our memories, especially if it is useful to your life. It is important to know that even kings suffer from the same human nature of the fear to fail. Being at a disadvantage only adds to the struggle. The idea behind what I know of the movie is that one must learn to choose to adapt to the situation and put in the effort to make it work. A struggle can become an opportunity for exercise, and even practice.
    The article about the lessons from The King’s Speech emphasizes relation between yourself and the matter at hand. I chose to memorize the theme song to The Fresh Prince of Belair for a presentation because i related myself to it. A show I’ve known for a long time and have enjoyed because of the stories i learned. Having faith and becoming your true self are the steps to executing a confident plan and action. The rules and directions are the guidelines to what is expected, but the sprinkle of your own self is the quality behind any assignment. When you choose to work with something your comfortable with, the activity becomes more enjoyable. Practice is the most important part of preparation to a speech, and to everything else that requires accomplishment. Putting in the hours to design a plan and practice help the most to feel better about speaking publicly.

  2. Professor you have provided us with a lot of useful knowledge by adding to the Desjardin’s advice. Your first point regarding exploiting your gifts is spot on, it is identifying our flaws and figuring our own methods to overcome them that provide us with the character that defines who we are. Also like you mentioned owning these flaws and qualities lend to our authenticity. Community in humanity is the biggest advantage we have as a species and the ability to identify with someone else has an unbelievable motivational stimulus and relatedness. Also, nothing is more appealing or inspiring than confidence, it is confidence exhibited in times of failure and misfortune that lends to inspiration and admiration. Your second point regarding your ego and asking for help I can identify with the most. I can count on my hand the numerous times I have forfeited help due to my pride and inability to ask for help. I recall reading online somewhere a student is expected to ask for help, and although it is great doing everything independently, it is relieving to be reminded asking for help is natural and expected from students. Continuing on to your second point, practice does make perfect. This is a value that was instilled in me by my parents since I was a child. Traits like perseverance which lead to copious amounts of practice are what people don’t think about when they hear perseverance. Perseverance and practice go hand in hand, when one approach does not work, to continue on the task at hand different approaches must be tried and tried again until one of them works. Being prepared and being perseverant all leads to confidence; its easy to be confident when you know the material or task expected of you inside and out. Theres no reason not to be! Your last point may be the most important, authenticity is what gives your life meaning and people who you are authentic with will appreciate you.

  3. That is a fine list of qualities one must adopt for being a great public speaker. I personally can relate with them. I accepted help from another person after spending many hours failing to launch on one of my speeches. Sometimes you just need to get help from others because one cannot know everything. I know I like to be extremely independent, but in reality almost everything we learn has been discovered by someone else. Sharing ideas is what makes everything work in this world. Also putting in the time into my work is one of the greatest gifts that I have learned in all of my schooling. You can accomplish anything that you put the time into. All of those items in that list can bring people very far in life with public speaking and many other others it can also be applied to.

  4. First off Duane, I would like to thank you for being so open with all of your adversities. I think that everyone has them but not everyone is willing to share them because of embarrassment. However, your sharing helps others. You have helped me believe in myself and stay encouraged that I can reach my dreams, whether in public speaking or applying for my Masters in Nursing. I also have gone through adversity in my life at a young age I was diagnosed with OCD because I wanted everything perfect and later in my life I was diagnosed with adult ADD. In my mid twenties I developed an eye disease called Kerataconis and the doctors thought I would go blind. I had to get two eye surgeries and thank GOD I am okay now. So see I have overcome all my adversities as well or figured how to make them work for me. However, sometimes I have doubts in myself but then it is people like you who remind me that if you can do it I can also. I am sure I am not the only student or person that feels this way. You are a role model for the community and society and it sounds like you have overcome and are okay with your adversity. In addition, it looks like you have even used your differences to help others.

  5. 1- What do you think about the movie the king’s speech?

    I think there are many forms of irony with a verbal, dramatic, and situational but the one that surely applied to King George VI was the irony of fate. It was as if the gods or fates were amusing his failings, reminding him that he was very much a mortal. It was after all almost impossible for him to pronounce the letter “K” and thanks to his debilitating nervous stammer, a cruel fate for a king.
    Even crueler with his reign coincided with a revolution in mass communication, for the first time in British history; subjects could listen to their wireless sets, as if he were with them in their living rooms. But the technology didn’t allow George VI to pre-record his broadcast as would be the case for the generations that followed. When he addressed the nation, it had to have done it through a live microphone, without editing an agony for a stammer.

    2- What did you think of the article about of the movie “the king’s speech”?

    I think probably expecting me to say that the king’s speech as spirited and touching and humane as it is cannot compete with the social network as a movie that touches a chord of timely passion. But even I can say that’s not a fair fight since the king’s speech is not trying to touch that kind of chord. It is a movie about one specific and often rather befuddled royal figurehead from over half a century ago and how overcame the stutter that had bedeviled him since childhood an amazing inspiring tale maybe even a timeless tale, but a tale that speaks our time.

    It does not look like one and hardly needs to. And I also think that the king’s speech is a movie that very much tries to speak to our time and the reason I said that because almost no one notices that about it is that film’s timing is something of a just miss its resonant yet, crucially off.

  6. Key of the Successful Speech

    1) The movie about “King’s Speech” is very important for anyone to know how important and inspiring can the speech be in our life. Film transformed history into an approachable dream by giving the faith to anyone to speak. “King’s Speech” is a masterpiece that we should carry in our heart the lesson of the life to success. King ‘s therapist who has done a lot for him trying to help him by identifying his fear, trying to concentrate on Albert’s throat as he struggles to get is words out. Albert’s and Logue’s hard work was very successful while King was having his speech, speech which gave hope and power to his people. The confidence of his voice the moment that he told his nation that it’s at war with Germany. His deep speech which sounded right and clear gave his mother, brother, wife, kids and the nation the strength and the hope during the war.
    2) The movie is very interesting and I think it is very important for everyone to watch. It is very excellent, dramatic , specially while he was working with his speech therapist. It is very important that being King he feels how important his speech is and at the same time, does not agree with his therapist, he comes back again and again to get help to find cure to be successful king for his nation. He tells how his life was full of stress, how he felt that whole his life, but he was Royal he had to succeed in fulfilling his duty. Emotionally hard how his brother was making him to feel stress, while he was trying to talk to him at the time that his brother was the king. Very interesting and successful movie something that give power and inspires everyone to believe that hard work and practice is very important to change many things in live.

  7. Overcoming the fear of speech.
    1) I was really excited to see the movie. I had seen bits and parts of it before but never got to actually sit down and enjoy it without having my little ones running around the house making noise. Watching it brought back memories of my cousin Ulises who also had a stammer. Growing up he had a really hard time in school and socializing with others. I remember in grade school how other kids would make fun of him and I felt so helpless. Although I defended him the teasing wouldn’t stop. Eventually he ended up getting some therapy and now as an adult you don’t notice it as much. What I really liked about the movie was that King George IV did not give up. Although at times he felt frustrated, he still realized he had a problem and made an effort to fix it. His determination to correct it and beat his fear was what really inspired me. He was a person of power and still he was so humbled by it.
    2)I agree with the tips that Jesse Desjardins gave especially the first one “Have faith in your voice”. I have seen some people do tons of research, practice and put in the hours and once they get up there they cant speak. Many times even for myself I dont feel as confident as I should. Some words that our professor used in class for us really helped me. The professor stated that we were “in charge” when we go up to speak and those words actually helped a lot.Desjardins also says that we need to be a true version of ourselves. I strongly agree with that because it makes it a lot easier to speak knowing that you can just be yourself. Be confident and know that you can overcome anything and that by speaking and being youself you can inspire others to do the same and have fun while doing it.

    • I agree with you Soila, the main point for presentation can be to overcome the fear. Think about something good and positive,to speak like we are and just be our self. I also agree with you that is is very important that if we are in charge of that 5 to 7 minutes we take that from everyone and we should do anything possible to make it interesting and meaningful. I think it is very important to feel in charge of the time and the moment of everyone’s life to make it interesting.

  8. Title: An Inspiring King

    Personally I enjoy movies that are based on a true story. The King’s Speech was entertaining yet at the same time it was very inspiring to those who have difficulties overcoming a personal challenge which I believe all of us do. I myself can relate to the difficulties King George had because I have had major insecurities about the way I speak in front of other. I have always been shy and I wasn’t raised in an environment that involved much communication. This has had a big effect on me through the years and its been a challenge to overcome my social and communication difficulties. As I was watching the movie, I observed how some of the King’s attitude was a reflection of how I have acted sometimes when it came down to communicating or overcoming my fears. There’s stubbornness and resistance that needs to be addressed before anyone is really able to be helped. I have been very resistant to taking this class as I have left it for the end of completing my units to graduate. Why? It is all due to my fear of public speaking. I realized though, that if I don’t make the effort to overcome this fear, I am only hurting myself by running away and depriving myself from learning a very important skill that will help improve how I communicate in all areas of my life. I admire the King for his perseverance and for having the courage to speak to thousands of people even with his stammer because I don’t have a stammer or any speech disability yet I would be extremely nervous to present speeches to so many people in different parts of the world.

    The article makes very important points that helps us (speech students) and anyone in general. Have Faith in your voice: Not only should we have faith in our voice but we should have faith in ourselves. We each have something to bring to the table and I believe that is why no one is exactly the same. Admit you need help: This step is very important to anyone who needs to overcome any kind of challenge in their lives or within themselves. You can’t be helped until you are able to recognize that you need help. Put in the hours and leverage experience: I believe those two go hand in hand and it can suck but practicing is what leads to improvement and that in itself takes you in the direction of success. Most humans need repetition to grasp the information and retain it. Be true to yourself: In general, I believe it’s important to be authentic because theres a beauty in our differences. If we were all the same, life would be boring and there wouldn’t be much room for change and improvement. We all learn from each other and when we are true to ourselves we attract others who are like minded or make a positive influence on those who need it. It’s important to relate to others and be part of a group but it is also healthy to embrace your unique self with a sense of confidence of who you are, what you represent, and what you have to offer as part of the collective.

    • Reading your post I was able to relate to you putting off this class till the end. I myself have done the same. There were many times I signed up for the class and right before the class started I would drop it. I did so because of the fear of public speaking. I have always had trouble speaking in front of others, and at work I have to do it at times for special events or meetings. What helped me actually speak in front of the class was I imagined I was speaking to a friend or some of my colleagues and that helped a lot!

  9. I completely agree with Rigberto Guiterriez, had the movie not been a true story it would have been hard to believe that someone that serious of a stutter would be able to fulfill that function, running a county in a time of war. It is really amazing to think about what the human spirit is capable of if a person truly desires something and works at it hard enough and long enough. Prince albert spent days and weeks and months getting rid of his stammer and to no surprise he did, but that’s not what is important, even if he did not get rid of that stammer he still would have done a good job because he worked hard and prepared, and hard work and preparation always shines through anything anybody does. It is very easy to see a speech that was thrown together in five min or one that was worked on for many hours.

  10. Title: A new beginning after defeating the fear

    1.This was the second time I saw this movie. The first time I saw it, it was in translated version, and certainly the profoundness of a movie which its value mostly relies on its dialogues can be strongly affected due to its changes in translation. Therefore, the movie I watched in the class, with its original language, was something totally different. It was inspiring and a good reminiscence to us that all of us have had a same scenario in our lives or will have.
    Sometimes we know how to deal with it, like having a chance to pass one of our boundaries and go for the next level. Sometimes we are sunk in our fears, far from any opportunities we can have by winning this challenge.
    Based on my own experiences, the hardest part is to slap our fears and jump in the deep blue sea of frights, otherwise we will never learn how to swim. Each fear is an obstacle through our success, and inspiring from king George, we need to step forward and face this obstacle to achieve its rewards.

    2. The article was great. It showed us how to deal with our subjective fears related to the public speech, step by step. However, these steps are conditional. Their positive effects on speaker depend on many things, especially the individual’s self. For example a person may not have any problem in her self-confidence and in having faith in her voice, but has a phobia to large masses of people and this psychological fear prevents her from delivering a good speech . In these cases, of course, in my opinion, the other steps can be helpful as solutions. Maybe admitting a counselor’s help is a best way to solve this problem, or increasing the hours of preparation can be helpful as well.

    • These steps are indeed conditional. Some people are gifted with a beautiful voice that can be projected effortlessly. Others may have supreme confidence, but ultimately all steps are fulfilled whether an individual already has the qualities or requires the teaching. As I mentioned in my post I have no problems with my voice but definitely require guidance and structure.

  11. 1.Title:The king who overcame his weakness

    To be honest I’ve seen this movie in red box, so many times I have glanced at it having the urge to rent it, but I never knew what stopped me. After finally watching it I say to myself wow what was going on with me on those moments. What I thought of this movie was how it made me see how even with a rough patch in our life it doesn’t mean we have to give up. What I like most was how the wife knowing her husband had trouble speaking and speaking publicly she was always there supporting him. Also by seeking help for her husband. I can’t imagine how he must have felt speaking in front of his audience having a stammering issue. I think if I was I was in his shoes I would have probably run away or something like that. Throughout the movie I got inspired that there are people who are always willing to help no matter what. Even when you want to give up. For example the therapist Lionel who helped him with his stammer. And later became one of his closest friends. In the end of the movie it said that after the speech the king gave from the war, Lionel was always there with him through all his speeches. It’s crazy how someone can care so much about somebody else that they will be there whenever you need them. What I learned from this movie was courage and friendship, and also to not give up even if we haven’t fully pushed our self to where we can get to.

    2.Title:To practice is to speak.

    One of the most important thing that really got to me by reading the article was in one of the five lessons that I read. Which was leverage experience. The professor talks about one of the questions that many of us “students” tend to ask. How do we become a better speaker? Of course I have never asked this question to the professor before, but it is something I always ask myself every time I hear the professor talk about one of his stories. Such as how he got where he got. This came as a shock to me when professor Smith said if you want to become a great speaker is to just speak. And honestly that is certainly true, obviously I guess something I have to do is just be prepared and always practice and the way I have to practice is just speak. Not only when I have to but whenever I can.

    • I too am impressed with King Charles’s VI ability to overcome the adversity he dealt with. He was able to not only face his fear, but also conquer it. Although his speech wasn’t perfect it would be hard to argue that it wasn’t genuine. I agree with Aracely about not quitting when we hit the rough patches in life. It is funny how some of us who do not have speech impairments fear public speaking but a man who had all odds stacked against him was able to have a nation follow him by simply practicing and being persistent. After watching this movie I will never take my ability to speak for granted again.

    • I agree with you, seeing the wife being supportive with her husband really moved me. It is very hard to overcome a fear or disability by yourself, but when someone, a loved one, helps you and is there for you every step of the way it really makes it a lot easier. Also the therapist was very supportive and did not give up even when King George IV pretty much insulted him, he was still there for him. When professor Smith said to just speak, be yourself that really helped me. During my cultural speech I imagined myself talking to my friends, or colleagues and actually for the first time I felt comfortable speaking in front of a group.

  12. This excellent piece of cinema is about Prince Albert, and his determination to get rid of his horrifying stammer, and get through a speech that he was supposed to deliver in front of millions of people around the world. It showed how although he had a serious speech impediment with time and determination he was able to overcome this very serious handicap and deliver an incredible speech. I liked this film because it relates to me. I don’t have any particular talents and have to work at things to get through them. For example understanding the material in math class may take some extra time and I have to sit there for hours bored and do math problems. Watching this film made me realize that being great does not take talent but instead it requires hard work and determination. If you have these two things anything can and will be accomplished.

    The article is absolutely excellent because it tells everybody that no matter who they are, and no matter what problems life threw at them, they can succeed if they work hard enough. It also gives people confidence because everybody has a flaw which they find embarrassing and don’t want to be made public. The section on embracing your voice addresses this problem. Everybody is human therefore has some sort of flaw and relate to people when they are humanized. Showing your flaw humanizes you and allows everyone to relate to you on a much higher level. Also people respect those who work hard, and when they realize that you are up on the stage and have overcome a multitude of challenges they will respect you even more. I also like enjoyed reading about the professor and his challenges because if he can have dyslexia and still become who he is there is no reason why any of us can’t succeed as well.

    • I can relate to you and the movie when you say that you don’t feel you have a particular talent. I feel the same way about myself. I have tried to discover if I do have any hidden talents but so far I don’t see anything. Professor Smith says we all do, maybe we are just not seeing it within us. Regardless though, even if we don’t have an obvious talent, you’re right, success is not just through talent, it does require hard work and dedication. I think perseverance goes a long way in so many ways. Many people begin something and as soon as it gets tough, they give up, even if they’re close to completion. I am one who’s been guilty of this. King George’s story definitely was inspiring for many of us who easily give up on ourselves. We fear public speaking yet he had to speak to a huge audience with the challenge of his stammer. He demonstrates great courage and perseverance to overcome a major difficulty of himself.

    • The article depicts five great points that not only we can apply to our speech class but to our lives in general. It is important for us to embrace our voices and speak our truths. We were all created differently and for that same reason we should understand each other. I was afraid to take this speech class and I have been avoiding it until the very end. I was looking for a way out of it but it is necessary in order to transfer to a university. As much as I dread presenting in front of people, I see the wisdom within the situation. Ultimately this is helping me learn and grow, and develop important communication skills that will serve me for the rest of my life. When I read our posts and listen and observe our speeches, I realize that we all have our own story to tell and most of us have been afraid at some point. Professor Smith’s story sure demonstrates how someone can significantly turn their life around by being open to the opportunities that are offered and preserving a determination to succeed.

    • I honestly had not heard about the movie but now I want to rent it. However, I agree with your thoughts on “being great does not take talent but instead it requires hard work and determination. If you have these two things anything can and will be accomplished.” One thing I would like to add is; I have realized, as I have gotten older, that everyone except for your parents don’t give a darn “how you got there.” What I mean by this statement is people don’t care what you had to do to give a perfect speech they just want to be entertained. They don’t care if you had to go through hell to write the speech or practiced for 2 months. People only see the final product. However, if you want to be the best you got to do what it takes to be the best. Some people can wing speeches in 5 minutes and make it sound golden and other people it may take them 2 months. Neither is good nor bad. Only you know how long you need to practice and what you need to sacrifice to be the best version of you. To put my point in other terms, some people may be able to conquer math without studying and others like yourself need to put in many many hours to get an A. In the end when you go for college interviews and it comes down to your admission, the admissions counselor is not going to pity you because you spent 100s of hours doing math and the other student didn’t even study. They are only going to see that both of you have A’s. In short what I am trying to state is there are no excuses in life you got to do what you got to do to accomplish the things you want for yourself. It is a hard pill to swallow but unfortunately it is the truth.

    • You made a great point Mikhail. You were able to work your way through math by putting in the time. A lot of people I know who complain that they are not good at math are the same ones not exercising the ability to do math or putting in the time to understand it. As you stated anything can be accomplished with hard work and determination. That is where most people fail because they are used to not doing those things and barely passing through life. I know I am guilty of that also. Preparing a speech has instilled both of those qualities into my life and it will be a great attribute to the success of many.

  13. Cynthia points out a subtle point about the movie. As we could notice,The king was a little bit over his head the first time he went to go see the speech coach but realized that he needed this man’s help and direction. Agreeing to the fact that you need help is the crucial step forward. No matter what you have already accomplished in your life, learning new things takes time. we all need to realize that there are other people who know more and are willing to help us. Nobody likes to be told what to do, but only those are successful that put their egos aside and become good students.

  14. Stop…Stammer time!

    The Kings speech was very interesting not only because of the actors talent but because it is a true story. Had I not known that the movie was based on a true story I would find it hard to believe that anyone with that type of psychological challenge would be capable of ruling a nation considered to be a super power. Had this been a fictional story I don’t believe that I would have enjoyed it as much simply because of the continuous stammer that at times extended the scenes. The actors’ ability to stammer and show such emotion when challenged made it feel very real and I think was an accurate depiction of what King Charles VI actually felt. The conclusion of the movie was excellent because it showed that one must not be an excellent speaker in order to receive respect but instead be sincere and relay the emotion. Mr. Smith made a great example when speaking about president Barrack Obama who is an excellent speaker, however does not become memorable due to the lack of punch lines or special moments.

    I absolutely agree with many of the points brought up in the article. Although I have confidence in my voice it is not difficult to tell that I often jump around from subject to subject while speaking. I can admit this because it often happens when I do not prepare. I don’t believe it can be emphasized enough how important it is because even in those times of adversity you can always revert to another point of your speech because you are already comfortable with the subject. Often the reasons I don’t prepare is because I fail to neglect the things that distract me like sports, friends, and cloud formations. I plan on using Pastor MacArthur’s advice for the rest of my life whenever it comes down to preparing. If a matter is not urgent there is no reason why it cannot be neglected in order to complete a speech assignment to the best of your ability. Being prepared should not only be used in speech but in every aspect of life.

  15. response to Zhila_Hafezieh:
    Me and Zhila probably recognized very similar traits in the movie. I related to her as we both had difficulties comprehending fully what is going on in the movie.as she points out, the best way to overcome the obstacles is to face them head -on. You can’t learn to swim without getting wet. Saying on the sidelines won’t take us far. It’s crucial to be brave enough to make mistakes and learn from them. You’ll improve correspondingly as you move along and getting dirty in your field of interest. It can be learning a foreign language or speaking to public.

  16. Title :Fear will make you or it will break you!

    This is a fantastic movie it exposes two sides of speech the role of the student and the role of the instructor. First the instructor approaches his student with confidence, respect, and equality. Second he attempts to get to know his student to help them reach their full potential. Prince Albert wasn’t determined to learn he allowed his fear of speech to interfere with his ability to speak. The prince was close minded which conflicted with the instructors teachings. After various hours of preparation the prince was able to develop and enhance his orale communication. Although he had a stammer his motivation lead him to overcome his fear allowing him to communicate more proficiently to the people. Demonstrating positive characteristics as a leader definitely impacts the way people see you. Conquering ones fear is never an easy task to achieve, but having the proper approach will decide how successful you are in achieving your goal.

    In the article I captured a few key points that will definitely help me improve my speech performance. To most people giving a speech is like walking through a dark tunnel not knowing what can be there. Although it is a tough task, it is very rewarding once you’re able to overcome that fear. Like Jesse Desjardins points out you have to have confidence in your own voice and speak up do not allow fear to intimidate you. We will never know our true strengths are until we reach out of our comfort zone. Being able to do something that you aren’t use to can be very discouraging, but the ability to do it creates confidence. Another factor is if you don’t know your weaknesses are you will never be able to seek for help. Majority of people do not like asking for help, but if you don’t recieve help you will never develop better skills. I dont think that there has been a single athlete that has been great at what they do just by isolating themselves. Every great athlete has seeked for help to improve in areas that they have not yet mastered.

  17. The article helped me to understand that as a human, you need to accept that you have a problem, seek for help, and accept help. It also thought me to have faith in my voice, I remember the first speech we had in class. I was scared, because I didn’t know how I was going to face the audience. Then I told myself I can do it, if other students could do it why can’t I? I believed in my voice. It also taught me that you get better and better in things you invest so much time in doing. Dr. Duane Smith wrote in his book that “the more public speaking hours you acquire the better you get at public speaking”. I totally believe that if you follow the points given in the article, it will guide you through to giving a wonderful speech. It also states that you should be of a good version of yourself before your audience.

  18. No One is Born Perfect
    While I was watching the King Speech, I saw a reflection of myself. When I was growing up my mom talked to me in Japanese, my father spoke to me in Spanish and at school, I was learning English. I eventually would combined those three languages to a whole new language and be the only one to be able to understand it with the exception of my older brother. It became so bad that my school told my parents to stop talking to me in Japanese and Spanish. They did what they school told them, but the damage was still there. I was placed in speech therapy for many years. Also, my brother sometimes had to translate what I was trying to say to my teachers and other students especially when I became upset and frustrated. So when I watch and hear the story about Prince Albert I use him for inspiration to over come my own challenge.
    The 1st day when Professor Smith told us his life story especially about his dyslexia was shocking and unbelievable. In my mind, I was wondering why our professor is telling about his dyslexia?It took me 4 years to tell my close friends about it in high school. It also stated in this article that you need to recognize you have a problem in order t fix it. In order to fix it you have to use your time and energy in order to fix the problem and to be good at something. Also it is good to have to support like Prince Albert’s wife and like professor Smith’s dad because if you didn’t have support you wouldn’t be able to achieve your goals alone. But I think one of the most important statement was to you have to believe in your own voice because if you can not believe in your own voice then who can?

    • I like how you related yourself and Prince Albert together with the stammering. I like how got more in depth about your speech therapy . This statement can be related back to Albert with the various doctors helping him out with stammering , but people still did not hear your voice. That can implemented in the scene where Bertie and Lionel expressed his emotion of not being heard. Moreover, I felt like your brother was like Lionel helping you out with your thought proccess. Additionally, I like the way you related back to speech class on first day . Overall, great response and I enjoyed them.

  19. The King Who Acknowledged and Thrived
    1)“The King’s Speech”, is a movie I had not heard of before until Thursday in class. After watching the movie I found it to be very inspiring and felt connected to it because I have a younger cousin who has a stuttering problem just like the king. In the movie it is mentioned that the king’s stuttering problem turned out to be due to childhood experiences. From having a strict father, a nanny who favored his older brother and would even pinch him while giving presentations to look bad in front of his parent, and living through the death of his little brother were experiences that did not help with his stuttering problem. At the end, the king after accepting his problem and with the help of Lionel was able to improve his stuttering. Just like the king, my cousin’s stuttering was from a childhood experience. When my cousin was little in the middle of the night someone broke into their house and in the robbery one of the burglar fired his gun next to where my cousin was seating. Since then my cousin has stuttered and even after going to therapy his stuttering has not reduced much. Even though it has been difficult for him, he does not let his stuttering affect him on his objectives.
    2)I really enjoyed reading the article, “Practical Lessons from “The King’s Speech,” Part 1,” specifically because it is very inspiring. I found the five points mentioned in the article that were contended from the movie to be completely true. From personal experience I know that by being persistent and putting the hours surely after acknowledging there is a problem anything can be accomplished. When I was going to start college right after high school I knew I wanted to major in something that had to do with math. Before registering for any classes I had to take a placement test to see where I would place in math and English. After receiving the test scores I realize that even though I liked math I was not good at it, I placed in the second lowest math class there is right after the class where elementary math is taught. At that point I knew I needed to get help in math and work hard to pass all the math classes I was planning to take. Today, after putting massive amount of hours studying math I have finished all the math courses required and even tutor students who need help in math.

  20. The King Who Acknowledged and Thrived
    1) The fear behind giving a speech like King George VI demonstrated in the movie completely relates to my speech experiences. Any time I know I have to give a speech I feel an uncontrollable anxiety. I always try to avoid situations where I know presentations have to be made because of the fear I have of speaking in front of an audience. In high school I even made my counselor take me out of a drama class because I knew a lot of the class consisted of presenting in front of an audience. On the inside I knew that if I stayed it would have been very beneficial because it would have helped me when speaking in front of an audience but my fear was greater. Unlike King George VI who acknowledged his situation I did not at that time. Now I have acknowledge that I have an extreme fear for public speaking but if I persist like the king did I will be able to defeat this fear for the most part.
    2) The article, “Practical Lessons From “The King’s Speech,” Part 2” is basically an emphasis not just on having directions but doing as directed in order to prosper. The article points out how Lionel through his directions helped the king improve his speaking skills but it was through the king’s commitment to do as he was directed that led him to succeed in his speech. I do agree that by having and following directions is a great way to be successful especially in public speaking. The challenging part is actually doing what is directed and even more difficult when there is an audience. Despite the fact that it is challenging I also agree that the directions can get done by learning how to manage that what stops one from succeeding. Another factor that contributes to getting directions done is by practice and preparation which is mentioned in the article. By preparing himself through practice and exercises, assigned by Lionel, the king was able to give a successful speech.

  21. Speech, Man’s Number One Fear
    Public speaking is not an easy task, irrespective of what you are. Based on the motion picture “The King’s Speech”. Prince Albert, the Duke of York was never born a stammerer, but it was the fear of public speaking that clipped his wings from soaring amongst his subjects on the day he was asked to give a speech before his people by his father, King George VI. This is because a failed speech is like picking your nose in public. The movie was a great lesson to me. It proved everything my Instructor taught in class. Prince Albert faced his fears with the help of his wife, and his therapist. From my own point of view, I saw that speech created a great fear in the Prince up to the extent that he found it difficult to speak in the presence of others, even when he was to make a simple recital or tell a story to his young daughters. He could not understand the fear he had, because it was baffling to him. The fear made him an angry man after he failed with his speech. When his wife got him help from the therapist, they went on different tasks to overcome his fears of public speaking. My favorite part was when he played the souvenir his therapist gave him, which was a recorded speech of the Prince over a classical music playing from the recorder, and when he was asked by his therapist if he stammers when talking to himself. It was when he listened to the recorded piece at his own quiet time that he got the motivation to go back to his therapist. He could believe how good he sounded, while he was listening to himself. He overcame his fears by practicing. The movie was a great piece, and it also taught me that the only way to overcome your fear of public speaking by creating techniques for preparation. When the Prince prepared the rest was history and he baffled everyone.

  22. A Stammer Is the Least of Your Worries!

    1. When watching the film “The King’s Speech” I was amazed by the historical story, the film depicts the struggle of King Geroge VI speech difficulties. It was interesting to note that for a predominate individual in England during the 20th century would even have speech difficulties. This made the Royal Family more humble and humanize to regular individuals. The film made myself realize that anyone can have their fair share of problems and fears to overcome throughout their life. Even though King Geroge was frustrated with his lack of progress or having to restart from scratch, he still put in the time and effort to improve his speech. My speech difficulties cannot even compare to King Geroge VI, but the one thing we both fear is speaking in front of other people. King Geroge’s fear was due to his stammer while I’m just plain scared to speak since middle school.

    2. When reading the article it discussed five lessons learned from The King’s Speech which are having faith in your voice, admit you need help, put in the hours, leverage experience and be true to yourself. These five lessons are essential for an individual to do a successful speech,which are demonstrated in the film. The article was very informative and providing other experiences that one can relate to. When reading the article the five lessons seem simple but the problem is actually putting those lessons to use. Two of the hardest lesson are admitting you need help and putting in the hours. Many individuals think that when they are faced with a problem, they don’t need help from anyone. The article states that from the film and personal experiences that individuals at one point will need help and should admit it. Putting in the hours is the hard part of a speech because individuals would skip the preparation and assume that they can just do it. But the film and article again states if one doesn’t put in the hours than the speech won’t be successful.

  23. 1) The first five minutes of the movie I thought to myself that we were going to hear the greatest speech ever, so inspirational that we as students, would just look at each other in disbelief. When King George VI had a hard time delivering his speech, I thought he had gone through some sort of panic attack, but later through the movie you find out that he suffers from a speaking disorder. The strange thing about this disorder is that it seems to happen when he delivers speeches, and when he talks to unfamiliar people, when you see King George talking to his wife he seems to have his thoughts gathered enough to have formal conversations. The relationship that they have is truly one to look up to. Lionel Longe’s character is also one to admire, not having a degree he was one of the persons that helped king George the most, without ever seeking recognition. I believe that King George was scared of public speaking because of his childhood, being raised knowing he wasn’t the first one up for the thrown maybe he dealt with some sort of self-esteem issue due to this fact. When king George delivers his speech after Germany declared war against England it was very inspirational because he overcame his biggest fear in order to unite his people. This film goes to show, that even kings in some point of their lives fear public speaking, but with practice one could make it less dreadful.

    2. I agree with all the points made in this blog. In order to achieve something you have to realize that you wont always be the greatest on every aspect of life. Asking for help could be the only thing holding you back to achieve your goals. I remember my first semester I would never want to ask my professors for help, assuming that they would get upset that I wasn’t comprehending the material, but then I decided to change that because my future depends on it. I want to transfer with a good g.p.a and that’s not going to happen if I don’t have the courage to know when I need to ask my professors or peers for help. Another point that applies to all aspect is that in order to become good at something it’s important to practice it. In sports you practice 5 days a week in order to win games, in school it’s important to do homework assignments in order to get good grades at school, and in work you try your best to do your job everyday in order to get promotions. You can’t get better at something if you don’t constantly do it.

    • I concur with you on the grounds that some people are just naturally good, while others require additional help. I believe that we can all achieve greatness, but some just might have to work harder than others, for like I have said in the previous statement, others just need additional help, which means that they just have to work harder than the naturally talented individuals, or sometimes it can be the false obstacle you make for yourself mainly being excuses. My mother would always say, if you want something so much you’ll do the impossible, if not everything in your power to persevere.

  24. 1)This outstanding piece of cinematography depicts the events prior to WW II as King George V of United Kingdom is reaching last days of his reign, leaving the throne of England to his elder son as he becomes Edward VIII. Unfortunately, the new king is a man who is more concerned with his love for twice divorced Wallis Simpson than the politics of the age. Edward VIII takes the throne but soon abdicates to marry Wallis. The throne passes to the overly diligent but severely stammering Prince Albert (Colin Firth). The King’s Speech is about an unlikely prince who is terrified of facing his subjects because of his speech defect. Now enters his wife Elizabeth, played Helena Bonham Carter. She is the main force behind his man that encourages him to address his problem through a series of speech mentors. The enormous task of preparing the King for an extremely important broadcasted speech falls on the shoulders of Australian émigré Lionel Logue. Logue, a poor actor, has gained his knowledge for correcting speech defects by teaching returning WW I soldiers in his home country of Australia. Through a series well-planned lessons Logue helps the Prince learn to speak, and then excel in sublime art of public speaking. The King’s Speech is one of few great recent movies that captures the struggles we all face in our daily life, and tells a great story.

    2.)Jesse Desjardins uses The King’s Speech as a platform to convey the essentials of public speaking. These tips are intended to help anyone interested to excel in public speaking. Jesse’s first point is all about self-confidence as she directs all future public speakers to “have faith in your voice”, after all no one will do it for you. The audience will look for signs of be confidence more than what the speaker says. You need to be a good salesman, selling your ideas with confidence. we all know that no one is born a perfect speaker. To start solving problems, Jesse’s solution is to admit that one has problems and seek help. To be real good in something we need to look for assistance. Her next step is “Putting in the hours”, you need to practice. Practice makes perfect. As we can see in the movie not only guidance helps us alot but a caring and supporting character along can push us far beyond our limits. In the end what I would carry away from Jesse’s blog is to be a true version of myself. The easy way out of a predicament is to be genuine.

  25. This outstanding piece of cinematography depicts the events prior to WW II as King George V of United Kingdom is reaching last days of his reign, leaving the throne of England to his elder son as he becomes Edward VIII. Unfortunately, the new king is a man who is more concerned with his love for twice divorced Wallis Simpson than the politics of the age. Edward VIII takes the throne but soon abdicates to marry Wallis. The throne passes to the overly diligent but severely stammering Prince Albert (Colin Firth). The King’s Speech is about an unlikely prince who is terrified of facing his subjects because of his speech defect. Now enters his wife Elizabeth, played Helena Bonham Carter. She is the main force behind his man that encourages him to address his problem through a series of speech mentors. The enormous task of preparing the King for an extremely important broadcasted speech falls on the shoulders of Australian émigré Lionel Logue. Logue, a poor actor, has gained his knowledge for correcting speech defects by teaching returning WW I soldiers in his home country of Australia. Through a series well-planned lessons Logue helps the Prince learn to speak, and then excel in sublime art of public speaking. The King’s Speech is one of few great recent movies that captures the struggles we all face in our daily life, and tells a great story.

  26. The “Kings” Predicament
    1. The movie itself is very fascinating because in my opinion “the king” is any individual that is afraid of public speaking (we are all kings, kings of ourselves). The movie starts off with the Duke, soon to be king, giving a speech, which in reality was a message from the king. Lets take a minute to analyze this, so the Duke steps up to the microphone like Eminem in the movie “8 mile” as they introduce them, they cant help to feel intimated by all of the onlookers gazing at them, but this isn’t necessarily bad, for this is what a public speaker must deal with threw-out his whole career. What they both lacked here clearly is Directive 3 (a public speakers’s preparation is key to presentation success). Speech impediment at the time the movie took place was considered to be an actual illness, where Mr.Johnson’s physician put 7 glass marbles in the Duke’s mouth in hoping to “cure” him. In reality speech impediment is just a figment of our imagination, which if the said individual can get over him/her self then true progression can and will occur, like it is said in our workbook, “stay humble or you will stumble”, but most importantly it is what you make of it.

    To conform or not to conform
    2. I concur with the article to a certain extent, for the main message from this blog that my mind perceived from this is motivation, or drive as other call it, which in reality are the same thing, but just synonyms to each other. Once true motivation is reached the possibilities are endless in the eyes of the beholder, but one must have the proper motivation in order to strive to success. Motivation can work in two different manners, which one being to conform to achieve a desired result, or the other being that you’ll deny what they have presented you and find an unorthodox or undocumented way of doing things while achieving the same desired result without changing (conforming) one bit. But that’s not the case with this article, for we are being presented 5 not only valid, but helpful points that can help us on our road to riches. Almost like anything that has been brought forth to you, either you can do what you want with this desired if not newly attained knowledge, or simply leave it as it is, which for the main part the reason might be followed by fear.

  27. So, this is my second time watching this movie; however, as a lecture piece. Additionally, its not just another period piece or costume drama that I tend to watch for fun. It’s an actually slice of history with a very real problem that many people deal with in this society that is stammering (i.e. stuttering). In this historical movie, it’s King George VI of England or in this case,Prince Albert, showcasing his biggest fear,public speaking .And how he is demonstrating or imagining the hardship that he would have been in and how to make a complete dialogue during his reign. His loving wife found an upstart speech therapist ,Lionel, to help him address his fears. Even through the struggles, the story is told with an upbeat slant and plenty of humor. The cast is uniformly strong and charismatic.The movie is really inspirationally,many people can relate to this as they can find their associates helping them push through a difficult fear and overcome it .

    The article is helpful beyond word, as it has various concept/ steps that demonstrate the ideal of understanding a flaw (like stammering) can ultimately lead to an achievement and great success. There is a parallel compared to article and the movie, both the Prince and the Professor’s livelihood is greatly inculcated as they accept there is a flaw and looks out for a way to fix their faults. By this, they can fight the obstacle that is presented in front of them.Additionally, the author points out lessons, as stated above, that can be helpful for anyone to achieve success.The next thing that Jesse Desjardins mentions in her five lessons, is be a “true version of yourself “, that others will embrace you for being yourself; this can be related to the first speech in class. The other lesson is to have faith in your voice and put in the hours. If an individual puts in the hour , it will lead to their success like the Prince. Overall, the article is an outline. to be a better speaker but uses the film to demonstrate to the reader an example of the steps.

    • Ayesha brings up a point that i guess i overlooked while analyzing the movie. Not only is King George dealing with his own demons, but so is Logue. He is trying to help those that suffer from speaking disorders but he strives to be an actor. We see him get rejected from a role he was sure to get. I feel like this shows us that even when he went through rejection he didn’t give up or allow himself to feel bad. I also now see that one of his kids seems to be embarrassed of him, and instead of showing off how he is helping King George he decides to stay humble.

      • I liked how you demonstrated that it was your second time watching this movie. Moreover, you talked how it was common problem that many indivisual – like myself face with. I could help with noticing Lorena’s post , and agreeing with her. The king was facing his own demon, but he had a team helping out with pressure of speech . Which ultimately lead his queen to find the doctor that was suited for his needs. That the support system around him can be illustrated in the article also, that will lead a great outcome.Overall, I thought you had awesome response , I wished you had brought more perspective on the article. Despite that , great job.

  28. Title: The Power We Carry

    1) The movie was interesting and actually caught my attention. A king with a problem in speech, what are the odds, never had I experienced a movie depicting the life of a person in such high-power with this dilemma. In the movie we experience this man transform from a stuttering prince into a great respected king. We saw his problem while speaking, and personally I thought to myself “what is wrong with the way he talks”, obviously judging before I even realized what was happening in the movie. Prince Albert felt a tremendous fear towards public speaking, it is scary when one is not confident in his own voice, specially in front of a while nation who you’ll soon reign over. I could understand the stress bestowed upon this man, but all he needed was practice and motivation. His wife and speech coach were of great assets to his succesful transformation in public speaking.

    2) The article was inspiring and very easy to follow. No matter the obstacle, it can be overcomed with practice and your total commitment. The tips discussed in this article have a different meaning to eachother although they all derive from a person needing to believe in them selves. To want something you must work on it until you get there. Believing, admitting, practice, and delivering. Believe in yourself,the most important one in my perspective.When you believe in yourself, you are confident that you know know your are right to speak your mind and deserve to be heard.Putting hours is practicing numerous of times because once you are up there in stage speaking to all the people you may feel nervous and block your mind. Finally, I agree with this article because it helps understand the steps into becoming a better public speaker.

    • Gwendy’s comment i liked it so much for she has reviewed the article and the subject in a very unique and clear angel and has described very simplified way so the reader can grasp the whole story in few words and in a very expressive way she has describe The king with the fear of speech in front of a crowed a King’s primary duty is to lead his people, his government and his army to the direction he thinks is the most beneficial for his country and the article writer has clearly explained this complicated subject in a very clear and understandable matter and words.

    • As both of these articles and the film have concluded confidence and preparation are the key to overcome any challenge. Your willingness to commit to direction and allow yourself to be helped is crucial to your improvement. Sharing one universal feeling about speech is so empowering knowing you’re not alone and it can be managed and improved if taken the proper steps. Implementing the steps in this article will most definitely help me improve.

  29. 1. The “King’s Speech” movie was very inspiring, especially in the last part when he successfully gave a speech without mistakes. It inspire me to take my insecurities and work with them instead of trying to hide and never show my face. I love the part when Lionel (the speech coach) starts to train the king because it shows that the king’s attitude was pessimistic, maybe because nothing had worked before. Well this coach turned that pessimistic attitude to a positive one and they even became pratically like family. I do believe that people that are not blood related can become as close as family especailly when they receive a support from them that is unbelievably amazing. Lionel offered the king unconditional loyalty and support which helped the king overcome his fear of speaking in public. Therefore, the king was able to accomplish his goals as a king and first of all be true to himself by bringing up his self-esteem, and believing in his capabilities. The wife was a huge weight of support as well because she was the oe that introduced the king to Lionel. Moreover, she was there for him even when he had his anger outbursts, and when he wanted to give up. I hope to one day or maybe even after taking this class my self-esteem can boost up, and I can be able to deliver fantastic speeches in future classes.

    2. The article of Desjardins, states that a successful speaker has to acknowledge five critical points. I agree with all of them but one that caught my attention was that we should accept who we are and be proud of what we have to offer to this world, like professor Smith says, everyone has “unique qualities” and I strongly agree with that. We are all special in our own way; I have an accent and was always embarrassed of it until I heard professor Smith say that it was ok to have an accent because it makes us who we are. The moment I heard that I realized that he is right and that I should not be ashamed of having my accent because I am different and special because of it. I have had astrocious experiences with public speaking, yet the one that I remember and will always remember is the time when I was in seventh grade. I had to get up in front of my Health class and talk about what my food pyramid consisted of, well yikes that was a fail because I did not even give myself a shot at trying. The moment I heard my name I put my head down and started crying; I did not put my head up until the whole class left and ended up doing the presentation for my teacher only. That experience marked my life and until this day I am afraid of crashing and burning in front of fellow classmates. Therefore, the tip of being prepared comes in handy because as much as a person has knowledge and a personality that is out there, they fail to achieve a successful presentation because of no preparation. I do believe that preparation is key and will do my best to prepare my speeches to nearly perfection to achieve a clean yet entertaining speech.

    • Cynthia you are right, I feel like most of our lives we try to be other people or be someone who society expects us to be instead of fully embracing who we are in this world. I believe that the media plays a huge role on this because the type of people in Hollywood who we idolize aren’t your regular Joes, therefor it must mean that there is something wrong with us and not our society. If people loved themselves more and where they come from and what makes them unique I believe we could become a better society. I love how Professor Duane’s view regarding peoples accent, “welcome to LA” at this point in time someone without an accent would be hard to come by in LA.

  30. Effective preparation equal success .

    1. Life! life!! life!!! Firstly; try to discover who you are, looking back at Prof. Smith story, he was having difficulty to accomplished his objective, frustrated and tired academically, with the help of Prof. Betty Ballew who inspired him to celebrate the strength and address his challenges, He was able to discovered himself and his life was changed forever, i am opportune to have him as my prof. because his story is a motivation for me.
    2. It was a great honor watching this movie, King’s speech in the class, Thank you Prof. Duane for the opportunity. I was motivated. I learnt that, whatever your background, race, ethnicity or gender, with steadiness and hardworking, you can become what you want to be. All it takes is perseverance and focus. The articles by Jesse Desjardin, five public points was an hint. The five tips is enough to achieve your goal as a motivational speaker. Bertie, the king George VI reluctantly assume the role of monarch offered by his brother Edwards because He knew England biggest goal was a strong leader. He stammered and stuttered all his life, was afraid to involved himself into this very public role.
    3. He depicted his triumph when he believe in his voice. Admitted he needs help and offer non accredited speech therapist as his coach because He believed in him, Put in hours and dedication, stayed humble even though he has a voice as a King. Leverage experiences because he believed practice makes perfect also become a true version of himself and this made a hero.

  31. Title: The King’s first speech

    1.This was the second time that I saw this movie. The first time I saw it, it was in translated version, and certainly the profoundness of a movie which its value mostly relies on its dialogues can be strongly affected due to its changes in translation. Therefore, the movie I watched in the class, with its original language, was something totally different. It was inspiring and a good reminiscence to us that all of us have had a same scenario in our lives or will have.
    Sometimes we know how to deal with it, like having a chance to pass one of our boundaries and go for the next level. Sometimes we are sunk in our fears, far from any opportunities we can have by winning this challenge.
    Based on my own experiences, the hardest part is to slap our fears and jump in to the deep blue sea of frights; otherwise we will never learn how to swim. Each fear is an obstacle through our success, and inspiring from King George, we need to step forward and face to this obstacle to achieve its rewards.

    2. The article was great. It showed us how to deal with our subjective fears related to the public speech, step by step. However, these steps are conditional. Their positive effects on speaker depend on many things, especially the individual’s self. For example a person may not have any problem in her self-confidence and in having faith in her voice, but has a phobia to large masses of people and this psychological fear prevents her from delivering a good speech. In these cases, of course, in my opinion, the other steps can be helpful as solutions. Maybe admitting a counselor’s help is a best way to solve this problem, or increasing the hours of preparation can be helpful as well. By the way, we need to start from somewhere and these step by step instructions can be our first step en route our salvation from one of the most important fears of human being .

    • That is very interesting that the language would have a profound effect on what was being portrayed in the movie without the original dialogue. To me using a different script is akin to a rewrite and redirect of the entire film. I am glad that you got to see the film with it’s original language and content because it was nominated for 12 academy awards and won 4. I like how you use the allegorical phrasing to describe jumping into a Sea of Frights in order to learn how to swim. Very real and vivid use of your writing skill. I’m not so sure that the use of a speech coach isn’t in some way similar to counseling. It’s expert advice, which you usually pay a great sum to a counselor for counseling, given that submission and commitment are needed to succeed in this endeavor a great deal of confidence and trust is required. If you don’t trust your counselor, you won’t tell them the truth, and if you don’t trust your speech coach, you most likely will not do what he asks.

  32. 1) I thought the movie was very inspiring it gave me motivation and hope to be able to accomplish obstacles. I learned that struggling with your vocal cords isn’t an obstetrical to be able to communicate with people. With a little hard work, dedication and extra effort you could accomplish anything you set your mind to. Relating the movie I liked how the “doctor” gave a variety of things to be able to get your words flowing. For example, he explained that doing exercise, saying tough twisters, screaming or simply breathing in and out are all good and easy ways your able to communicate. I feel the movie could really benefit any type of individual because communication is the key to success. Am grateful I saw this movie because despite of who I am I learned that have problems with your words isn’t am excuse to not do something nor is it an obstacle to stop you from accomplishing what you want.
    2) “Have faith in your words” and “Be a true version of yourself” is my favorite advice from the article. Because it emphases to have confidence in both yourself and what you say. The article addresses how everyone is different and everyone has different struggles like the author who had dyslexia. Despite of having dyslexia he was able to have found a solution to be able to communicate. And that it’s self I feel is the key point. Accepting who you are as an individual with your flows and qualities and knowing your opinion counts and know how to express it. Public speaking is scary just thinking about it but knowing what you want to say and how you’re going to say it is two different ideas. And this article addresses and helps you, help yourself in how you could accomplish and surpass public speaking fears.

  33. The King that Could

    1) This is the second time I’ve seen his movie and the second time is always better. It shows the obstacles in the prince that is to become a King’s life, not only the present but the past and the future. The fear of speaking in public due to his stutter and his lack of confidence. This movie has a lot of perfect points on how to not ever give up on public speaking and that practice is always part of the process. It provided a lot of great key points on how perseverance pays off at the end. The King gave up for a moment, but understood that his strength was not in that of public speaking, but he reached out for help. Being the king that he was to become, he humbled himself to reach a goal for his people. Understanding that public speaking was part of everyday life for this king, he took that correct steps for his success and took the advise of his speech coach. Realizing that events in the past affected his future, he spoke about the brother that passed away and how his stutter came about due to such drastic events.

    2) I found the five points in article by Jesse Desjardins very interesting. If you cannot find your own personal faith in your voice, you will fail to succeed in public speaking. The strength of a person’s voice comes from within and faith is part of pushing the voice out. As human beings we really are stubborn at fault, we believe that we do not need help and that we can do it all. I’m one of those people, that sometimes criticism gets taken the wrong way. I will ask for help at the very last minute after I have failed miserably. Understanding that if the time is not put into this subject one cannot be successful, it is one of the steps at times gets taken for granted. Perfection is not achieved without the right tools. It would be like telling a mechanic to figure how to fix the car without the proper tools and locale. For the forth point, as one gets more experience the speech process will become easier and it will improve dramatically. One cannot do a single speech and expect perfection. It is a process of ironing out the form of in which one speaks and improves upon those mistakes or errors. We are all different and we need not to apologize for who we are. On a personal level, all the positive or negative events in my life have molded me to be the person I am today. I will take all those points presented and broken down by the professor with me for every time I need to a quick refresher on the importance of keys to success.

    • Esparza’s article has a different approach to the matter, Esparza has also mentioned the use of the human voice to express the power of the word because just not stuttering or talking fluently is not enough to impress and deliver one’s ideas and thoughts to the audience a person is addressing to. Since the subject of the matter is not being timid but to stand up in front of a crowed and guide a whole nation to a stronger and brighter future is a huge responsibility for a king who has no margin to make mistakes or damaging decisions specially in crucial war times.

  34. The King and his Eccentric Speech Therapist.

    1. The movie, King’s Speech has an inspiring message. Our topmost step back in life are the voice in our head that tell us all our failures and imperfections. They are just voices and our objectives most be higher than our fears. The movie has some special qualities that categorized it as a historical context zone. Prince Albert’s speech therapist, Lionel Logue was not accredited, but for the fact that he believed in himself so much, this made him brings out the true self in King George VI from his persistent and troubling condition of stammered and stuttering .

    2. The queen show us, behind a successful man, there is a consistent and unconditional love of a woman, she was so supportive with deep, best effort and abiding love without an attitude throughout the prince struggled. King George VI brother Prince Edward’s renounced from the throne because of his involvement with a divorcee, Wall Simpson then married her eventually, this shows what true love was, despite the fame, attention and opportunity. In conclusion, never say never, even though bertie was so accustomed for being teased and ignored by the his family but his steadiness and humble self in him made him achieve his desire, gave his speech to various countries and became a strong leader.

      • Sorry, it is the continuation to the post above ,but I was wondering if you can give an scene that you like a lot. Or maybe, at what did part got you hooked on the movie.Moreover, I thinked how you talked about the fim and gave inside view of how you perceived it. I really like your response, as stated before. Yet, where is the the second part of your response with the article. Is it the Wall Simpson part, if so… That was part of the movie not the article. Nonetheless , I think did a great part in the the first responses.

  35. Prince Albert in the canny hand of Lionel
    In Iain Canning’s film the King’s Speech, his spin on the biography of King George IV focuses us on the debilitating impediment suffered by the stammering Prince Albert. I found the movie to be superbly performed. When Colin Firth rages on the screen, I cannot help but feel a great kindred understanding of how fear makes us turn to anger so quickly. I am not royalty and I have never had to address more than a room full of people, so my understanding doesn’t entirely encompass his difficulties from that regard. But when Geoffrey Rush asks the King, “what are friends for?”, to which he responds “I wouldn’t know”, resembles me all too well. Being that I do not make friends very easily at all has led me to be bookish and all sorts of naive in knowledge of conversational topics that won’t put my audience to sleep. It has also had the unintended side effect of expanding my vernacular farther than the normal neighborhood homie’s vocabulary. I feel bad when I am speaking and it becomes apparent with an out of place response or a glossed over look I receive that the person is either lost, or on a mental holiday. This repeated reaction to my words has led me to be a recluse. I act for the individuals around me when I am on campus, but deep down I am petrified of letting my conversational knowledge lead me down an off-the-beaten-path world of blank stares and disdain. Overall I agree with the academy’s decision to honor this film because it’s a very vivid display of acting and brilliant use of historical fact to bring such a realistic portrayal to the big screen.

    When I read the article by Professor Smith, I was reminded of our first meeting in class when Duane stepped in front of the class and began to give an oration to us of his life’s accomplishments. It was a laundry list of his early life failures and how he empowered himself through the use of Speech. I found many humanizing qualities in his speech to us on that first day as I did in the article he penned. However in the article he does not go into great detail over his Masters in Speech, so you may read the article with the feeling of “why am I listening to THIS guy, who couldn’t pass the LAPD written exam?” . What stands out to me is that in all of the points that are made he can draw very clear illustrations as to why you should listen up. For example when he mentions Desjardins first example in where you ‘have faith in your voice’, Duane informs us that he is dyslexic. Even with the foreknowledge that his brain can misfire, he still ensures us that proper employment of public speaking practice activities still enabled him to deliver confident speeches without having to use a different brain. It’s a very powerful message that is elaborated more in his classroom, which I recommend you take if you ever get the chance. I only make this recommendation on the fact that this article feel is like a condensed version of the enlightening performance you’ll get. This only barely scrapes the surface of the psychology behind the fear of public speaking and on what actions or frames of mind the speaker should posture themselves when writing, practicing and even giving their speech. It’s not to say that the article is not informative, but only so much information can be compressed into article it only takes about fifteen minutes to read. Even though on the surface Professor Smith could never calculate the area under the curve of x squared between points 1 and 2 on the x axis, I think you would do well to take the advice given by Duane and Desjardins in this article if you are thinking of trying to advance the powers of your own speech.

    • My heart goes out to you in that you have a hard time with making friends and with conversations. I also am not a conversationalist and I don’t have many friends. Interestingly enough though I work in a very social atmosphere and because of it don’t spend much of my free time with other people. I don’t think of it as a bad thing and I also have become “bookish” during the course of my life. I am just not good with conversation. But learning to entertain an audience with scripted words has helped me in relating to others so that they don’t get “glossed over”. You are not alone so don’t be afraid.

  36. In Iain Canning’s film the King’s Speech, his spin on the biography of King George IV focuses us on the debilitating impediment suffered by the stammering Prince Albert. I found the movie to be superbly performed. When Colin Firth rages on the screen, I cannot help but feel a great kindred understanding of how fear makes us turn to anger so quickly. I am not royalty and I have never had to address more than a room full of people, so my understanding doesn’t entirely encompass his difficulties from that regard. But when Geoffrey Rush asks the King, “what are friends for?”, to which he responds “I wouldn’t know”, resembles me all too well. Being that I do not make friends very easily at all has led me to be bookish and all sorts of naive in knowledge of conversational topics that won’t put my audience to sleep. It has also had the unintended side effect of expanding my vernacular farther than the normal neighborhood homie’s vocabulary. I feel bad when I am speaking and it becomes apparent with an out of place response or a glossed over look I receive that the person is either lost, or on a mental holiday. This repeated reaction to my words has led me to be a recluse. I act for the individuals around me when I am on campus, but deep down I am petrified of letting my conversational knowledge lead me down an off-the-beaten-path world of blank stares and disdain. Overall I agree with the academy’s decision to honor this film because it’s a very vivid display of acting and brilliant use of historical fact to bring such a realistic portrayal to the big screen.

    When I read the article by Professor Smith, I was reminded of our first meeting in class when Duane stepped in front of the class and began to give an oration to us of his life’s accomplishments. It was a laundry list of his early life failures and how he empowered himself through the use of Speech. I found many humanizing qualities in his speech to us on that first day as I did in the article he penned. However in the article he does not go into great detail over his Masters in Speech, so you may read the article with the feeling of “why am I listening to THIS guy, who couldn’t pass the LAPD written exam?” . What stands out to me is that in all of the points that are made he can draw very clear illustrations as to why you should listen up. For example when he mentions Desjardins first example in where you ‘have faith in your voice’, Duane informs us that he is dyslexic. Even with the foreknowledge that his brain can misfire, he still ensures us that proper employment of public speaking practice activities still enabled him to deliver confident speeches without having to use a different brain. It’s a very powerful message that is elaborated more in his classroom, which I recommend you take if you ever get the chance. I only make this recommendation on the fact that this article feel is like a condensed version of the enlightening performance you’ll get. This only barely scrapes the surface of the psychology behind the fear of public speaking and on what actions or frames of mind the speaker should posture themselves when writing, practicing and even giving their speech. It’s not to say that the article is not informative, but only so much information can be compressed into article it only takes about fifteen minutes to read. Even though on the surface Professor Smith could never calculate the area under the curve of x squared between points 1 and 2 on the x axis, I think you would do well to take the advice given by Duane and Desjardins in this article if you are thinking of trying to advance the powers of your own speech.

    • Steve Ruiz, I could not have worded it better. I did not see it until I read your entry. Professor Smith indeed has given us many great examples of overcoming failure and overcoming fears. His wonderful true and personal stories on the first day of class, have also given me a view of the very fact that we are all humans no matter of what we have or have achieve in life. His humbling beginnings have truly given me hope to see myself as a better speaking in the very near future, just have to put the tools given to us to practice. I agree with you; Professor Smith’s words and life stories are truly powerful and inspiring. He is giving us the tools and is up to us to put them into practice. Like you, am also truly inspired by his humbling experiences in life that has taken him to find himself.

  37. The King and a Common Challenge
    1. The King’s Speech in my own opinion is a great movie that highlights a common fear amongst the audience and people of all kinds. I believe that this movie shows a great amount of courage and self will to overcome ones fear. Like Prince Albert, in the movie was seen willing to seek treatment for his speech problem. This movie also shows that even royalty have problems with the biggest fear in life public speaking. In my opinion there are two events in this movie that I really enjoyed. The first one was seeing the transformation in the King’s speech and the second one was seeing him enjoy some little things in life which is his friendship with his speech coach. Overall I really enjoyed this movie and the message that it gives to the audience, because it shows with hard work and courage the most challenging things in our lives can be achieved.
    2. To me the article had multiple great points that if embraced one can surpass our faults and achieve many great things. The article also has many examples on how Prince Albert’s and Professor Duane’s lives get transformed when they accept their faults and seek to better themselves in order to overcome them. The article also highlights 5 lessons that writer Jesse Desjardins gives that Professor Duane infuses with his own challenges as author Jesse Desjardins , does to the Prince. Both Professor Duane and now King George VI’s lives were transformed because they chose to better themselves and not let their challenges get the better of them. One last thing that Jesse Desjardins mentions in her 5 lessons from the King’s Speech was be a true version of yourself and others will embrace you for being yourself. Overall this article shows that with courage and one’s will to surpass the challenges in life one can accomplish many great things.

    • Adding to your point the movie was a great lesson to eliminate our fear, the voice in our head that tell us of all our failure and imperfections. Whatever our background, ethnicity, and gender, We shall always believe in ourself. The eccentric speech therapist Lionel logou with no credentials believe in himself and that made King George VI triumph . If you are persistent and determine, we can overcome any challenges. Prince Albert admitted and seeked for help, with the support from his beloved wife and the his speech therapist, he did it and that made him a great leader and was able to communicate with 50 countries with no fear.

  38. The Royal Impediment

    1. Having the opportunity of watching this movie in class was inspirational. Not only to me, but everyone else in the world that share the same fear. As its been stated many times before public speaking is truly the number one fear other than death for everyone and coming from a royal family is no different. This movie has depicted the anxiety and frustration that comes along with public speaking. As I watched this film I couldn’t help but be captivated by the relatable story line and characters portrayed. Watching the King’s struggle and journey to deliver a radio- address speech ultimately despite his speech impediment (stammer) is inspirational. Furthermore, through adversity and everything the King had to overcome he progressed despite of his limitations and succeeded with the appropriate help and commitment to preparation and discipline to get better.

    2. This article by Jesse Desjardins is extremely helpful. The five tips she was able to obtain by watching ” The Kings Speech” can help anyone overcome/manage public speaking. Overall, having the courage to speak in public has to be built from your inner confidence which should be your foundation. If you don’t believe in yourself you can’t expect your audience to believe you. Building on top of confidence should then come easy, practice and preparation like Professor Duane emphasizes in class! As these five tips also state believe in yourself and prepare, seize every opportunity to get better even if that means seeking help from family, friends or even a professional. Desjardins broke down five easy steps in which we can all can follow as long as we commit to the process and progress we can make!

    • I am totally agree with you that the scientific value of this movie is more understandable when we are watching it in our rhetoric class, and as speech students, than regular viewers, in a typical place. As the speech class students, we perfectly understand the meaning of fear in front of the audiences . Therefore, we can have the same situation, as he had, in our class speeches, with this difference that we already know about directions and the basic solutions en route our dealing with our anxiety, and we are physically and verbally healthy. So, the way he overcame with his fear can be a good inspiration for us in our progress to a better public speaker, and in our usage from our knowledge .

  39. The Power of Committed Preparation

    1-The “King Speech” is a very powerful movie that connects the audience directly with the fears of public speaking. Personally, I believe the movie is a great example of courage, because it shows us the life of Prince Albert, and the fear to give a speech that haunted him all of his life, until the moment he became King George VI. Were he had no choice but to overcome the stuttering problem that was stopping him from expressing properly on the speeches he needed to give to the people. The best part of the movie was seeing the magnificent transformation he accomplished with the amazing help of his coach Logue. A coach who was able to find the spark the King needed to find the strength to deliver a powerful speech. Overall the movie is an example of how the fear of public speaking can be overcome with preparation and commitment, and also how failure can teach us to find that courage to reach success.

    2- I believe the article indicates how a person can succeed in life with continuous preparation and commitment. The story of Professor Duane and Prince Albert gets transformed by their “speech coach” and dedication to achieve success. It is important to remark the amazing five public speaking tips given by Jesse Desjardins because it teaches us the structure to follow to achieve success in public speaking. From having confidence on your potential, to be yourself once you are up for a speech. As Professor Duane mention multiple times that preparation is the key to a great performance, that is exactly what happen with Prince Albert. The soon to be king has a very noticeable deficiency, the stuttering, that makes even more difficult to gain that self confidence that Desjardins talks to us about on his five tips. Finally the most impressive thing to witness is the outcome of Prince Albert, which regardless of the many issues he had, he was able to give an impressive perform on his speech.

    • I truly enjoyed your response to the movie and the article. I also received the same message from the movie as well as the article. You gave a brief description of the article that gives it justice and clarity. I also enjoyed how you mentioned Professor Duane in your response and his instructions on how to be successful in delivering a speech. I see you also compared both Price Albert’s and Professor Duane’s transformation due to the help of their speech coach and their constant dedication. Once again I truly enjoyed your response.

      • So, this is my second time watching this movie; however, as a lecture piece. Additionally, its not just another period piece or costume drama that I tend to watch for fun. It’s an actually slice of history with a very real problem that many people deal with in this society that is stammering (i.e. stuttering). In this historical movie, it’s King George VI of England or in this case,Prince Albert, showcasing his biggest fear,public speaking .And how he is demonstrating or imagining the hardship that he would have been in and how to make a complete dialogue during his reign. His loving wife found an upstart speech therapist ,Lionel, to help him address his fears. Even through the struggles, the story is told with an upbeat slant and plenty of humor. The cast is uniformly strong.The movie is really inspirationally,many people can relate to this as they can find their associates helping them push through a difficult fear and overcome it .

        The article is helpful beyond word, as it has various concept/ steps that demonstrate the ideal of understanding a flaw (like stammering) can ultimately lead to an achievement and great success. There is a parallel compared to article and the movie, both the Prince and the Professor’s livelihood is greatly inculcated as they accept there is a flaw and looks out for a way to fix their faults. By this, they can fight the obstacle that is presented in front of them.Additionally, the author points out lessons, as stated above, that can be helpful for anyone to achieve success.The next thing that Jesse Desjardins mentions in her five lessons, is be a “true version of yourself “, that others will embrace you for being yourself; this can be related to the first speech in class. The other lesson is to have faith in your voice and put in the hours. If an individual puts in the hour , it will lead to their success like the Prince. Overall, the article is an outline. to be a better speaker but uses the film to demonstrate to the reader an example of it.

        • So, this is my second time watching this movie; however, as a lecture piece. Additionally, its not just another period piece or costume drama that I tend to watch for fun. It’s an actually slice of history with a very real problem that many people deal with in this society that is stammering (i.e. stuttering). In this historical movie, it’s King George VI of England or in this case,Prince Albert, showcasing his biggest fear,public speaking .And how he is demonstrating or imagining the hardship that he would have been in and how to make a complete dialogue during his reign. His loving wife found an upstart speech therapist ,Lionel, to help him address his fears. Even through the struggles, the story is told with an upbeat slant and plenty of humor. The cast is uniformly strong.The movie is really inspirationally,many people can relate to this as they can find their associates helping them push through a difficult fear and overcome it .

          The article is helpful beyond word, as it has various concept/ steps that demonstrate the ideal of understanding a flaw (like stammering) can ultimately lead to an achievement and great success. There is a parallel compared to article and the movie, both the Prince and the Professor’s livelihood is greatly inculcated as they accept there is a flaw and looks out for a way to fix their faults. By this, they can fight the obstacle that is presented in front of them.Additionally, the author points out lessons, as stated above, that can be helpful for anyone to achieve success.The next thing that Jesse Desjardins mentions in her five lessons, is be a “true version of yourself “, that others will embrace you for being yourself; this can be related to the first speech in class. The other lesson is to have faith in your voice and put in the hours. If an individual puts in the hour , it will lead to their success like the Prince. Overall, the article is an outline. to be a better speaker but uses the film to demonstrate to the reader an example of it.

          • Your response was truly enjoyable to the movie and article. As Ruben has state above, it feels like there is parallel between both the article and movie. The brief explaination to both of the response seemed to be articulated very well and it gave justice to how people most people perceived it .I loved how you talked about lionel and the influential impact he had on Bertie, I can still reply that conversation between them. Moreover, you talked about the comparison between the Professor and Prince – it mention how their live had transformed due to them realizing their faults and others helping them that transformed their fault into a success. I really like your response and Ruben as well…can not wait to read your other responses.

        • I enjoyed your idea about the movie. At the first glance, hearing about a king’s speech, and also dark, foggy and gray background of the movie, was suggesting that this was going to be a boring movie, all about a typical speech. But the rhythm of the movie with plenty of humors, struggles, efforts and loves changed my idea about the movie, and somehow I got fascinated by the simplicity and also the straight of the dialogues. Therefore, it was proven to me that sometimes the power of the word can be more effective on the audiences than the mere action. We can feel the passion, sincerity, love, fear and almost any human traits in a voice. Therefore, this movie, relying on its strong dialogues, and strong performance of their tellers, innervated us more than an ordinary action or drama movie.

    • I agree that preparation is the key to succeeding in any goal you set for yourself. Professor Duane gave us a great example of his personal experience with success. Every time we set a goal we have to comprehend that there will be obstacles. The most important thing you can do is figure out how to adapt to changes and mounter around them in order to get to ones goal. Fear will only set you back if you allow it to. In the scenario of professor Duane he adapted to change and he allowed fear to encourage him. I believe he used it as his motivation because he knew that the most important thing to do is not to fail.

  40. 1)The king’s speech movie is an excellent educational story about a person who has limitations to express him self publicly and specially in front of a large crowd despite his teachar’s huge efforts to give him the self confidence that all public figures need to express them selves about the ideas that they want to transfer to the general public,in the movie tried so hard to over come this difficulty and he kept saying he’s part of speech over and over again but in vain.
    They advised him not to look directly to the crowd to keep his concentration on the words of his speech after so many trails he finally was able to utter words with great difficulty.
    This clip is a great example for us students to learn standing in front of any size of crowed to express and deliver our thoughts to the masses and gain their confidence towards.

    2)This article is a great example for everybody to be self expressive regardless what line of work he because we humans express our selves with words and specially now when times are changing so fast a new age is in front of us that we can call it the age of communication,where people must have wide range of select words to express them selves in this vast networks of communications all around the word or in front of crowds big or small to a a achieve to the ability of good speech and good expression techniques we must learn all we can from our teachers our mentors and speech coaches as King Albert sough help even from his wife Elizabet.
    being humble and meek our great virtues to gather all kinds of informations and knowledges from our surrounding because each individual might have communication abilities or the self confidence that we need to learn from this education is specially important for the students who have intentions to become reporters news anchors public speakers or radio hosts.

    • I agree with 100% that we live in the world where communication is key. Where we are given the ability to communicate with almost anybody anywhere in a matter of seconds before it took weeks or even years. We can speak to people through the World Wide Web or satellite just by using our phone or computer. Also, i believe being able to give good speeches well give that person more opportunities if you didn’t give that speech. That goes a long way in this very competitive job market. This is why we should be asking for help and use every advantage you have.

  41. The Former Angry Stuttering Prince Who Became King

    1. I always heard so many great things about the King’s Speech; I saw it get so may awards, but i always shrugged it away because it never appealed to me. just in the title alone i thought it was a boring film, until i actually saw it. it was a great movie. i always use to think that royalty and celebrity figures never really had problems speaking and being the center of attention, because most of them are egotistical and love the spotlight. specially with royalty they have divine power and i believed it would be easier for them. But prince Albert took all of my ideology and shredded it to pieces.the film shows us that even the great divines have flaws. the idea that you fear public speaking, have a stutter, and must lead a nation terrifies me. the film does a great job depicting all of that with a great sense of humor in Lionel’s outrageous teaching methods. the film was truly a gem because it is relate-able with many, in the number one fear of public speaking.

    2. The article was great. it is the emphasis that anyone should follow when public speaking. it should be the emphasis in getting the fear out of public speaking. These steps would not just help you become a great public speaker but i believe they can be applied to life. 1. have faith in your voice- have faith in everything, have faith in life. 2. admit you need help- shrug the ego/pride aside and if you are down ask for help. 3. put in the hours- if you want to be great at anything this it what it takes. 4. leverage experience- just do it and do it and it will begin to feel better. 5. be a true version of yourself – someone will always like you for you. That is exactly what professor smith did. he took this article and related it to his own life. he took a good article and by relating it to life made it better.

    • Your opinion of the article is great. because you do not just point out the very fear of public speaking, but you also state the key to find the solution to it. the way you expressed about the five amazing tips given by Jesse Desjardins so the young readers could understand them better and hopefully apply them to their life. it is also amazing the conclusion you gave to your comment in how the movie can be related to so many different life situations, difficult situations. Maybe that can be the reason why the movie won awards. Just like professor Duane found a connection with the movie, the same way millions of people who were going through hard times were able to se to positive outcome of the movie and the amazing inspiration to get up from whatever is stopping you and keep moving forward. Great comment Mario.

    • After reading your response to the movie I saw many similarities in my reaction to the tittle of the movie. But, after seeing the movie I am glad that I have seen it because it addressed many of my public speaking fears. I also agree that the film was great because it showed that even royalty can be affected by the same fears that civilians have. I have greatly enjoyed that you incorporated the five steps that Desjardins mentioned she received from the movie and you give a great summary in your response to both Professor Duane’s and Prince Albert’s life. Thank you again Mario.

    • We share similar views in the sense of shaking the fear, for what causes fear to begin with is lack of knowledge. Now that you, and our professor as well have shed some light to this age old fear. Like you have just stated “having faith” does have a lot to do with this, for if you cannot have faith in yourself, you will never get out of your comfort zone, thus never growing into new uncharted experiences. Sometimes one might question their own faith, but there is more to just being a mindless zombie just doing the same things over and over again.

    • It is always easier to look at someone who seemingly has it all and think that they have no problems. As Mario said this movie made him look at royalty and celebrities in a different light, we should all remember that we everyone is human and we all have faults and challenges. Professor Duane mentioned that public speaking is the great equalizer. But life is always going to be filled with problems and it is how we respond to them and hopefully conquer them that lets the world know what kind of a person we are. We also need to remember Mario’s 5 points which all revolve around humility in order to overcome our adversities.

  42. 1.I had seen The Kings Speech once before we watched it in class. I liked it the first time and the second time. It is inspirational. It is funny. You can apply that message to almost anything. The film shows you can start with what seems like a weakness and turn it into a strength. I also like that the king is a bit resistant to help and wants to do things his own way. I suppose we can all be stubborn sometimes! He finally gives into to his instructions and techniques used by the speech therapist and succeeds. The king is still nervous but, he takes a deep breath and slowly gives his important speech a shot. I also liked his quote ” I had to stammer on the “w” so they would know it was me.” He takes that part of him that is a problem and slows it down and turns it into a trademark! Great film. I understand why it was won awards.

    2.The article is a good read. It explains parts of the movie better and relates them to a current place in time. The part about dyslexia is pretty cool too. I don’t think I have it, but I feel like my brain organizes things very quickly, but out of order. When practicing math problems with a friend he saw how I did them and asked if I was dyslexic! I of course said no, but it made me think about it! I also agree that preparing is super important. I can get a bit neurotic about preparing and wanting more time to do more work to make things perfect, but usually if you put in the work you will have a favorable outcome. I also agree with the more you do something the better you get at it. I think its rare you do something for the first time and are automatically amazing at it. Its taken me 5 years to become really great at my job, and I still have plenty of room for improvement.

    • Amy, I agree with your respond to the article as well, it is a good read. I like how you mentioned that preparing is super important and how you feel about it, because myself like you I always feel I need more time. I never feel 100% prepared even if I have been preparing for a long time. Also you are completely right when you say if you put in the work a favorable outcome will be achieved, “Hard Work Pays Off.” I do believe that the more you do something the better you get at it as well, “Practice makes perfect.”

  43. comments on “Practical Lessons From “The King’s Speech” Part 1”

    Title: Have faith and you will never fail
    1. The movie is so inspiring. “The King’s Speech” is based on the true story of the struggling King George VI to overcome a speech problem as he is preparing to take the throne as King George VI. The King faced a challenge to make positive change to his life and to make something good come out of him because of his negative believe and fear that he has had since his childhood. The movie teaches us so many lessons that if we all embrace, we can all become good public speakers. Few examples of the lessons from King George that has inspired me, is His courage and boldness to acknowledge his own problem. He didn’t shy away nor did he hide from his problem. This shows me that when we face obstacles in our own lives, we should look them in our eyes, and take ownership of them, and try to find the solution to the problem. In the movie we see how King George rose from being a fearful stammering King to being a great King. The King’s success was because of his boldness to take challenges and accepting himself the way he was, whatever you want to achieve in life, requires believing and having faith in yourself. The encouragement from his wife, family and his speech therapists led him to success. Perseverance and practice are another things the King embraced and did it with his coach day by day really helped him overcome his obstacles, Being prepared means practice often, this helps you know your subject both inside and outside and this is what King George exactly did., when you practice often, you will achieve your goal.

    2. The article is very interesting and easy to understand. When you follow instructions step-by-step, you will always deliver your speech well and you will always achieve your goals. Just be yourself and say yes! I can do it, and you will really be perfect at the end of the day. What a lovely story and how brave George VI was to persevere all those years to improve himself. The depiction of the King in the movie is well illustrated and educative. I watched the movie and I loved it. The acting was very good and brilliant. The King was portrayed in a very nice and positive way. What I like about the article is that, the ability of the King to trust himself, the confidence and the courage. “The King’s Speech,” was very moving. The movie illustrates various aspects that teach me quite a lot. It gives very many examples that tell us what we can do to become successful in our professional if we follow the directions, and also what we can’t do. The way the article is written, there is no violence at the movie and the rating is good that even a 1 year old can see it, and I’m pretty sure it’s the same all over the globe. What is good about the movie is that, the acting is great; the movie is enjoyable to watch. “The King’s Speech” depicts the stammer as a hero and, in the movie we see an individual faced with the pressure of ascending to the throne while continuously struggling with fear which disrupted his interactions and attempts to communicate, but he was motivated to become fluent and he eventually achieved his success with the help of his speech therapists.

    • i too really like the film. i liked how you said just be your self. and i like that the movie did just that it showed us the future kings true self. yeah at times he was reluctant to even attempt to get better but then we get to see the change in his attitude and in himself becoming more outgoing and doing anything it takes to vanquish his fear. i also like how you said that King George rose from being a fearful stammering King to being a great King, because that’s exactly what he did and the film depicts. it shows us what really happened being the scenes and that a great king isn’t just born he is made.

    • I totally agree with what you said, perseverance and commitment is what makes a person reach their goals and make it through difficult situations. Also like you state practice is also an important factor in any situation and that has to do with preparation. Preparation is key in a successful speech or for any life experience. We have to be prepared for difficult situtations, job interviews, tests for school, preparation is one of the most important things. Moreover, I did not think about what was mentioned in your response and that was that the king did not have much interaction with people because of his speech problem. I could imagine how hard it must have been to overcome his fear of public speaking but even more his fear of speaking in general. The pressure he must have felt must have been inmense and I admire his strength and hunger to succeed.

    • I completely agree with your post. As most people would see his stammer as a curse it makes his story that much more intriguing and fascinating. To watch the King’s struggle and journey to manage his stammer and overcome his public speaking fear was brilliant! Having a speech impediment can be discouraging but finding the confidence and commitment to improve can make all the difference. Despite the challenges he faced, he committed to becoming the best king ultimately. I agree with ” Be yourself, and just say yes you can do it!” because you really can. Commitment to improve can never fail, as this film has reassured us all.

  44. 1)Working in the film industry, I’m recommended many films, including this one, unfortunately because of so many movies, I’m unable to watch them all. Being able to watch “The King’s Speech” in class was a great take away that I was happy to finally enjoy. With the angry, stuttering to-be king, his always encouraging wife and family and strict teacher, he was able to give the big speech about the war that I’ve heard recordings of prior to seeing this film. It was like giving a face (and backstory) to the famous speech I’ve heard before and give it much more emotion with the progression of his practice. But more importantly his daughter had corgis, so that makes the movie awesome on its own.
    2)The article is a great reference point to have printed out and kept with copies of blank outlines. The step-by-step instructions are always a helpful guide when preparing for a speech and in need of reminders to “Have faith in your voice.” There are times in lone preparation that one needs to be reminded of their ability to control the room when it is their voice when given the stage. I’ve also read Malcom Gladwell’s book and agree with the idea that 10,000 hours can constitute a master of ones craft, but with speech that may be a bit excessive, though with practice and opportunity I believe anyone can give a great speech.

    • I feel the same way about films but from a post stand point because I have about a decade of experience as a recording engineer. It’s a good way to connect with art from the entertainment industry because you understand just how much work is needed to accomplish such a feat as putting together a movie like The King’s Speech. Especially when he addresses the massive crowds, it seems that such a task would have been very daunting to reproduce without sounding like a crowd roaring today. I like to think I can control the audience when given the sound stage. I’m not completely in agreement that anyone can give a great speech with practice and opportunity. I am not of the faith that practice makes perfect… I do believe practice makes what is being practiced easier to recall and commit to muscle memory. But if you are not practicing correctly than you can still learn a skill wrong. For example I love technology I could talk to you for hours about sensors and writing code for sensors. To me that would be very interesting, but until I brought it up to Duane, who informed me I’d knock people out trying to go on about that topic I didn’t understand. I feel I could practiced giving a speech about sensors but even if the delivery was spot on, I still would have lost you all.

    • Yeah that is true, i am glad you mentioned her daughter, aside being a leader, who struggled and wanted to get aways from his fear and imperfection, he still have time for his children even read them a bedtime story, what an humble gesture. Prince Albert had much with failure in several speech program but with his pertistent and determination he overcomes his stuttering. The articles share by Prof. Duane was impressive. It was a great hint, have faith in your voice. Admit you needs help, Bertie did that and archive his goal, Put in hour, hardworking and determination equal success, he leverages experiences and that made him a true version, a hero and a great leader.

  45. 1) Ever since I saw its preview, i’ve taken interest in this movie. I had many questions about it. The title was what really made an impression on me. What was the main problem in this movie? Was the speech itself significant in the movie or was it the king? I’ve never gotten the chance to watch it before and i’m happy that we were able to watch it in class. Turns out, it was about how Prince Albert, later to be known as King George IV, had a speech impediment, a stammer. He had a speech coach to help him overcome the impediment. Even if it never went away completely, he was able to let go of the stubborn ego he had and learned how to become a stronger speaker then before. He was able to be the strong leader that his people needed during a time of war. It was an absolutely great movie. I never really knew anything about the English Monarchy, let alone that one of its kings had such a hard time speaking. I’m always confident when communicating with people on daily tasks, and this movie allowed me to understand that along with the physical difficulties that come with a speech impediment, there was also phycological difficulties as well. The people who have worked on this film deserved the Academy Awards that they have won in 2011. Colin Firth had won an Academy Award for Best Actor and it was well deserved. He was very believable and just amazing. I would definitely watch this movie again and I would also recommend it to my family and friends. This film made me laugh and made me feel sympathetic to its characters. It was satisfying and very relatable.

    2) The article is absolutely helpful, it went into deeper detail on the five tips that Desjardin has obtained from the film, “The Kings Speech.” The article has allowed me to understand that when trying to overcome any speech obstacle you can use the methods that King George VI had maybe used as seen in the film.You can only help a person so much but if they don’t want the help there’s really no point. Therefore, admitting that you need help is extremely important. Once you have faith in your voice and in what you are trying to accomplish you’ll then have the confidence to put in the work and the practice needed when becoming a better speaker. Take every opportunity and experience different situations because then it’ll help you better yourself. When all these steps have been met, you will be a better and true version of yourself. In my opinion, I think that the tip of having faith within yourself was the most significant. Confidence is a big thing for me. From experience I know that when you don’t believe in yourself you will find yourself at a low point. You must find the strength and courage within to bring you up from a dark place. Having faith in speech, in your own voice, or in anything that you set your mind to, will allow you to accomplish even the most challenging obstacles.

    • I second the idea that you need to believe in yourself and have faith in your speech. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Having strength and courage is not always easy when you feel you aren’t doing a stellar job. That’s a great time to pull out some of these really great ideas and tips for becoming a better speaker. I think in pair with the easy to understand outlines we can be much better set up for success. I have had several professors just expect you to already know what they want. This makes it difficult to do well in a class. I really appreciate the clarity we have and the clear direction we are to go in.

    • I’m in total agreement. The title of this movie does not provide much information as to what the movie will be about, it keeps you on your feet and wanting to not leave your seat for anything to see the ending. This great movie teaches us many lessons and one is to be humble no matter your status in society. The questions in this movie were nicely answered throughout the movie without overwhelming the viewer and leaving more for the great ending. This is my second time watching this movie, and every time it gives me a hope as a student to be a better speaker. It also taught me that such great man as King George VI became truly humble in order to achieve greatness.

  46. When a movie makes you care about the characters and want them to succeed, then you know it is a good movie. Colin Firth’s portrayal of King George VI of England makes you care deeply for him as well as root for him and rejoice when he finally succeeds in the end. At no point are you given the opportunity to drift away despite the quiet moments. These moments are used to build anticipation for what will be coming next. The director is able to evoke emotions through his use of close-up shots during the characters times of discomfort mimicking the discomfort of scrutiny and long shots when the characters are more at ease duplicating the ease of quiet moments. The costumes and locations add to the beauty and feel of the film. When fog is present, there is uncertainty in the characters. Top hat and tails add to the regal-ness of the king.

  47. 1) I was really excited to see the movie. I had seen bits and parts of it before but never got to actually sit down and enjoy it without having my little ones running around the house making noise. Watching it brought back memories of my cousin Ulises who also had a stammer. Growing up he had a really hard time in school and socializing with others. I remember in grade school how other kids would make fun of him and I felt so helpless. Although I defended him the teasing wouldn’t stop. Eventually he ended up getting some therapy and now as an adult you don’t notice it as much. What I really liked about the movie was that King George IV did not give up. Although at times he felt frustrated, he still realized he had a problem and made an effort to fix it. His determination to correct it and beat his fear was what really inspired me. He was a person of power and still he was so humbled by it.

    2)I agree with the tips that Jesse Desjardins gave especially the first one “Have faith in your voice”. I have seen some people do tons of research, practice and put in the hours and once they get up there they cant speak. Many times even for myself I dont feel as confident as I should. Some words that our professor used in class for us really helped me. The professor stated that we were “in charge” when we go up to speak and those words actually helped a lot.Desjardins also says that we need to be a true version of ourselves. I strongly agree with that because it makes it a lot easier to speak knowing that you can just be yourself. Be confident and know that you can overcome anything and that by speaking and being youself you can inspire others to do the same and have fun while doing it.

    • I’m really sorry to hear that your cousin was teased about his stammer. This is not acceptable. I’ve had gotten into arguments with other people when they would tease my friend for his accent since he came from another country earlier that year so I can sort of understand where you’re coming from. I hope that your cousin no longer has to deal with the ignorance of others. Anyways, I also liked how King George VI was persistent when trying to correct his stammer. I thought it was really cool how he could handle the pressures of ruling a country that was entering a war and the difficulties of his speech at the same time. I also agree with the tips that Jesse Desjardins gave and I actually wrote in my response that I like the tip “Have faith in your voice.” too! Great minds think alike! Anyways I really liked your post and glad i got a chance to read it!

    • I’m glad to hear your cousin sought help, reminds me of one of the tips Jesse Desjardins provides us; to seek help. I can see why this movie brought you memories about you cousin. It’s unfortunate he was teased and bullied but I’m sure he came out of it a better person. Your cousin is like the King in that he too didn’t give up through the hardships of his “flaw”. I love that the King wasn’t “perfect”. Often we as humans think that royalty is somewhat better, and that’s why they’re royalty, but obviously this isn’t the case. The king accepted his flaw, and worked to better himself. He was his own enemy the beginning of the movie and in the end became his own conquerer.

  48. To be able to watch this movie in class was a privilege. It was able to show me even the most popular people in our society, the ones known to be most powerful or most intelligent people, even the prettiest or stylish people and just about anyone we look up to have insecurities. This was a great reminder to how people are never perfect. King Albert grew his insecurities from life experiences from a young age. This shows how everyone is a like no matter what. Even though, he has discouraged by his father and brother for so many years, there were people who believed in the king. Besides the advice of King Albert’s wife and the encouragement of his speech coach, the King’s determination and preparation were what had him succeed. The Webster’s dictionary defines skill as the ability to do something from training, experience, or practice. So anyone you see who is skilled in any subject is only skilled because they strive for it. Skilled people have allowed themselves to work and train for what they want to be able to do. The definition did not say anything about expert or the best. So all of us only can do something if we allow ourselves to put in the effort of trying. And that is exactly what King Albert did. Even though, he wasn’t happy with the idea of being king, he did, though, work towards his speech difficulties. I do not think there is another better example to watch than this movie to understand we all can be great speakers and anything else we work towards.

    The article is a great way to give us step by step ideas or instructions to be able to grasp what King Albert did and allow us to use the same techniques to overcome our own speech difficulties. Not only is it wonderful that our own professor allows us to know his imperfections of the past but it is just another example that working towards bettering ourselves comes from within. We all need to allow ourselves to know that acknowledging our roadblocks and getting us to succeed and improve. Allowing others to help us through criticism and assistant is another advantage to overcoming our challenges. And most importantly thing about improving or accomplishing is the trying. Trying means working towards it, putting hours into it and taking every opportunity to do it. The article says we should be ourselves. A great advice to understand. If we let ourselves be who we really are, we wouldn’t let anxiety stand in our way of speaking. Using this examples, and five tips we should all start believing in ourselves.

    • I love your idea about media portraying most people of power as perfect. The film was excellent reminder than everyone is flawed and perfect in their own way. With our constant bombardment of people who have perfectly photo shopped pictures, 12 speech writers, stylists, and agents to make sure they do everything as perfect as possible its easy to forget they are human. One maybe silly example to help me remember this is well is Britney spears. Honestly, after she went a bit crazy and showed she was a human I liked her a lot more. She is not really my style, but it was kind of refreshing to see her real, imperfect and vulnerable. Im not suggesting we all go crazy to be real but the idea of being true to yourself and embracing flaws is what I take away from it.

    • I like how you added the definition of skills into this. i couldn’t agree with you more. i use to think that celebrities and royalty were born with the natural abilities to make them comfortable in the spotlight. this movie was a privilege to watch for me as well because it took my understanding of royalty and blew it away. i also like how you said that we should Allow others to help us through criticism and assistant is another advantage to overcoming our challenges, because it relates to our class. And I’m starting to think of Professor Smith as our Lionel, our speech Coach.

    • I enjoyed reading your blog the concept behind it is right on point. Im sure most of us think that if you have the position of fame or the position of power that person does not have any flaws. We all have something that we are afraid of majority of the time it is a mental challenge that is why I believe our biggest nemesis is our own mind. The film did a great job exposing the kings fear with his speech problem. Allow he had a fear and he was intimidated by the public it benefited him in the long run. People saw this as an act of valor it demonstrated the true meaning of a leader. The prince went above and beyond to show his commitment to his people and although he had a stammer he did not let that get in the way of reaching his goal.

    • I agree with you Elsie,it is very important to overcome our challenges, to understand our weak points and improve to be successful. It is very important how you bring up the point about trying and putting hours into it and use every opportunity we can to speak.It challenging how you talk about anxiety being in our first fear, which continues through the speech and sometimes effects and improves us by making our speech strong, because we realize that we are trying to overcome that fear.

  49. 1. I heard of this movie when it first came out, wanted to watch it but never got around to it, so I’m glad we watched it in class. I feel as though I could watch this movie over and over again. I thought that this movie perfectly portrayed the daily struggles of a stutterer. This movie taught me that stuttering affects more than just the physical aspects in life but also, internally, psychologically, and socially as well. Further, I also found it interesting that stuttering can happen by being forced to change writing hands! I’d like to mention that the actor Colin Firth, who plays the British King George VI, did an outstanding job. His stuttering was so authentic that I almost believed he stutters in his personal life, but then I remembered he plays, coincidentally, a royal/politician in the movie, What A Girl Wants, with Amanda Bynes. Many times throughout the movie I experienced the King’s anger, pain, humiliation, and self-doubts. It was a great movie portraying one’s ability to defeat his own worst enemy: himself.

    2. I agree with all the tips Jesse Desjardins says the film King’s Speech provides. Further, these are all great tips to help anyone succeed in public speaking. I believe her first tips “have faith in your voice” can be interpreted equally to, be confident. If you are confident in YOURSELF, your audience will be confident in you as well. It’s like working in retail. If you’re going to sell an item, sell it. Like everything else, if you have a problem the first step is admitting you have a problem and seek help. It’s only common sense; you’ll never be good at something if you don’t seek assistance. “Put in the hours”, simply put, no great surgeon became a surgeon overnight. Great surgeons got the title of “great surgeon” by practicing their skill, by putting in their hours. “Leverage experience”, just like Nike, “just do it”. Just get up and do it! Whether you fail or succeed, you will take home with you tips to help you improve for your next time up. “Be a true version of yourself” is probably, in my opinion the most important tip. No one can light up any room from a memorized speech, rather by who they are and what you bring to the table. Be you, have fun, and be genuine.

    • Sandra, I really enjoyed reading your post! Especially the second response and how you thought the tip, “Be a true version of yourself.” was the most important tip in your opinion. I thought that using the well-known slogan, “Just Do It,” was really clever and it’s also a great way to get to the point and to clarify that tip. I also would never expect that a stammer can come from an early childhood experience and I didn’t notice that this was reason why King George VI had the speech impediment until I read your post so I thank you for that! He really is an outstanding actor and I thought that his stammer was realistic too. That proves that he is indeed a really great actor and that he deserved the awards that he won. Thank you for the chance to read your post!

    • I like the way you said that the king’s own enemy was himself, that is so true and it’s astonishing how sometimes our enemies can be ourselves because we do not believe in ourselves. Self esteem and self reliance is such an important key to being a successful speaker but most importantly being a successful human being. Also, having confidence in yourself will make people be confident in you, when I see that the person that is talking in front of the class is nervous, I get nervous with them and honestly looking for him/her to fail or do something that will ruin their speech. On the other hand, when a person looks confident and prepared up there it is a totally different story, you smile with them and look forward to seeing them succeed. I feel fed and entertained, and I also feel a little intimidated to go after such a great performance. I mean nobody wants to go after a great speaker especially if we are not prepared like they are. Therefore, I do agree that nobody can be entertaining from a memorized speech, being who you are and being prepared will get you far in public speaking.

    • Sandra, I really liked your response to the article and the way you clarified the points made through the article. You are definitely right when you say that if you are confident with yourself your audience will be confident in you. The confidence that you give your audience will be the same confidence received from the audience. The example you gave about the surgeon I found to be great because it is absolutely true. No one gets an honorable title overnight and certainly not without putting any hours of work. This was demonstrated in the movie where the King became a recognizable king after giving his speech he had worked hard for.

  50. When someone takes the opportunity to rise above a label that someone or society has labeled them, it’s inspiring. I love to root for the underdog and in both the cases of Prince Albert and Professor Duane we find inspiration. As a teenager I was an acting student and usually performing in two or three plays at any given time. I was given an opportunity to speak and I loved to take those opportunities. I also loved to procrastinate. The night before my ten minute talk I had not even started my preparation. I sat down to do my work and finished within a half hour. Needless to say, it was a disaster. I was embarrassed and didn’t want to be seen by anyone. What a humbling experience. I was determined to never let it happen again. Preparation (and obsession with preparation) have been a part of my life ever since. I don’t remember ever being labeled negatively, but this experience left an indelible imprint on my life.

    • I agree with Christine in that with failures we find true inspiration and motivation. Though it’s unfortunate Christine’s ten minute speech didn’t turn out as well as she hoped it would I’m glad it happened because through it, she learned that we can’t just “wing” it. We can’t just hope for the best we didn’t practice to be the best. I’m sure she’s proud of herself, and I glad she didn’t shut down after that incident. She could have easily broken down and let her past disaster keep her from ever braving an audience, but she didn’t! I also like how she mentioned “obsession”. I feel like only those who really want to succeed in life are the one’s who feel as though their best is good enough. The one’s who succeed in life are the one’s who put everything they have into anything they put their mind to. Anyone who can be obsessed with something is key to success.

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