Just saw a couple of Y10 kids deliver speeches in a speech competition type deal. Y10 means they were probably 14, maybe 15 years old. Damn they were good. The first speech, all about zoos, was pretty well written and delivered. Talked about pros and cons, actually seemed to have some thought behind it, and was delivered with way more confidence and flair than I could manage today.
The second speech, on wanting things you can't have, was not quite as thoroughly researched or cleverly written, but the delivery was outstanding. How a 14 year old can possibly be that good at delivering a dramatic performance escapes me. Quite the opposite of film acting too, which is more subsumed and subtle a beast. This was in-your-face, full intensity stage acting styles, and it was very impressive. I am quite envious of these talented youngsters. When I was at school, I felt like I knew what was required, but was generally incapable of delivering when it came to speeches. I had one or two speechifying successes, but mostly I went with what was safe, dull, and easy to do. Pushing oneself leads to failure as often as not, and failure in front of a whole class of your peers is one of the worst situations little teenage me could imagine. Now I get to make an ass of myself in front of classrooms full of kids on a daily basis, so I tend not to sweat it so much ;)
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