The Dreaded "um"

Growing up my dad was a stickler for public speaking. If you ever observe my causal speaking habits you will notice that I keep my "ums" to a minimum. During a public speaking event my dad and I would sit in the crowd, and some times still do, and count how many "ums" that speaker says. A silly game, but the reason behind it stuck. I may shake, I may stutter but during a speech you will never hear me say the dreaded word. 

For this week's post I chose the article "The Truth About Public Speaking, Someone is Watching You" by Ed Barks. The article talks about how during speeches the author will not only listen to the speech but analyze the manner which it has been given. It is my dad's little game all over again but more in depth. The author takes in account the delivery, audience attention and whether or not the audience bolts for the door after the completion of the speech. The title of the article is perfect. Someone is watching you, possibly my dad and I or this author. 

Watch out and watch your "ums", I'm counting!

The Article can be found here:     http://aboutpublicrelations.net/ucbarks1.htm