Public Speaking Can Make Idiots Of Us

It was all over the internet this morning.

I listened to the question...I came up with an answer in my head, an articulate, thoughtful answer that would have summed up perfectly my feelings about income inequality between genders.

Thankfully, I was not the one actually being asked the question, standing under hot lights, smothering under pounds of blusher and self-tanner, before panel of semi-celebrities, television cameras, and an enthusiastic audience.

I am sure Marissa Powell, Miss Utah, probably thought she could handle any question, any topic that came her way.

Perhaps she even had that perfect answer formulated in her mind.

Unfortunately, what came out was not testament to her impromptu thinking ability.

This poor woman's inelegant answer should not be a reason to question her intelligence, necessarily. Public speaking is so difficult for many people, emotionally and mentally.

I should know. I took speech and debate in high school, and, although it was a great experience, I was humbled ever after.

My first competition was in a very small town in Montana, my subject was individualism. I wrote a great speech, full of wisdom (not my own), humor (very much my own), and a well-rounded opinion on the subject that I learned from some of the best inspirational keynote speakers.

I even had it memorized...until I was facing down five hearty farm girls who had a couple of years more speech experience than I had. I was new. I had never given a speech, and as I began to open my mouth to speak, all of that wisdom and humor, my fascinating opinions, had flown the coop, vanished from my memory.

Throughout the whole ordeal, which only lasted only five minutes but seemed like an eternity, I sputtered, looked back at my notes, brutally destroyed that humor and wisdom until it was barely recognizable.

My friend, watching from the audience, simply looked at me with pity, slowly closed her eyes as I managed to finish. Blushing, I returned to my seat, completely defeated.

I'm not a stupid person, it's just that on -your- feet thinking, in front of even a small group of people, is difficult for me, I formulate much better answers with time to think and consider.

None of that mattered at that first speech meet, where I even had the luxury of memorization and being coached by a male motivational speaker.

The performance anxiety along with hard, unfamiliar faces got the best of me. Marissa Powell is most likely not a stupid person either, just a pretty face under hot lights with butterflies in her tummy.

So much has been made of her unintelligible answer, her real personality, her true abilities are in danger of being overshadowed by this televised embarrassment.

I, for one, hold no judgement. She was nervous and trying to disguise that. She blurted out some nonsense and is now automatically associated with idiocy. No fair, people.

Public speaking, especially the impromptu kind, is incredibly hard for many of us, and out ability or inability to perform gracefully has nothing to do with intelligence. Let's give Miss Utah a pass on this and not be so quick to take delight in someone else's embarrassment.