Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Studying history's great communicators can teach children to be great public speakers themselves. HSLDA President Mike Smith tells you how on today's Home School Heartbeat.

Mike Smith:
Winston Churchill once said, "The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may destroy it; but there it is."

The words of a master public speaker still inspire us, especially in a world where few sound bites are rarely remembered past the evening news. Studying the communication styles of history's greatest orators is one of the most effective ways for homeschool students to become better public speakers.

Dr. Jeff Myers, author of the book From Playpen to Podium, has studied the persuasive strategies of the world's most influential speakers. For example, when Winston Churchill prepared a speech, he focused on the fact that people don't remember speeches, they remember phrases. Each of his speeches included carefully chosen phrases that were designed to drive a point home to each member of his audience.

Myers also studied former president Ronald Reagan and says Reagan understood that people crave personal contact. Adapting to the more intimate modes of communication in the late 20th century, Reagan had a style that made television viewers feel that he was speaking to them personally, rather than the most-often-seen political speech that is written for a crowd.

By combining your homeschooler's history lessons into a study of the world's most effective speaking styles, you may just find that your own household produces one of tomorrow's greatest leaders. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.