As most people are, I am a bit nervous when it comes to giving speeches. However, I recognize that I have it a bit easier than most — I have willingly chosen to do public speaking events numerous times.
The first of which (that I can remember) was my last Cross Country banquet. I gave a speech in front of roughly 160 kids and parents to my coach, Mr. McDowell. I was shaking, dry mouthed, and stuttering through the first paragraph, but I was determined to give this speech. After all coach McDowell had done for me, it was only fair that I return the favor by highlighting his greatest qualities… including his awful puns.
The more nerve-wracking speech was the one I gave for the talent-portion of the Chillicothe Days “Miss Chillicothe” pageant. Now, I’m no pageant girl, but upon learning that the winner would take home a whopping one-thousand dollars, well…I was all in. It took a few weeks of preparation; getting a dress, rehearsing with the other girls, finding heels that wouldn’t trip me, all the fun stuff. Unfortunately, there was one part of the pageant I was at a loss on. The talent show. I was nowhere near confident in my vocal abilities at that time, and I couldn’t exactly pass around my iPad and have people look at digital art, so I decided to go with the next best thing — writing.
It took me a long time to find a topic. I wanted to appeal to the audience, but I found it difficult to reason out what would be the most appealing. After an off-hand discussion with my parents, I figured that there was at least one thing I was knowledgeable about — ADHD. Having suffered from it my entire life, I knew the ins and outs of the disorder. I knew there were many younger people at the event, and thought that it would resonate with other kids who went through, or were going through what I did at their age.
Please listen to my speech about living with ADHD:
Speech delivered June 17, 2023
I was diagnosed with ADHD later in life (at a whopping 17 years old) due to the differences in girls and boys with ADHD. Boys are often the stereotypical “bouncing off the walls” kids, who get diagnosed almost immediately. Girls, however, often suffer silently. They can internalize a great deal of their emotions and are often picked on for being weird. If I could reach some of these kids, to comfort them perhaps, that was a good enough reason to put aside my worries and give the speech.
Surprisingly, it went great. My voice only shook the first few sentences in, and I managed to maintain eye-contact with the judges most of the time! After the pageant, a mother came up to me and expressed that her daughter was going through the same thing. I felt a pang of sadness but a wave of pride. I had finally found something that I could make a difference in, if only to console the young girls or boys who felt just like I did.
Several weeks later, when visiting the doctor who helps me manage my ADHD, I told her about my speech. She was delighted, and said that a family had come in to her office and mentioned a young woman who gave a speech recently, about how different ADHD looks in girls. To say I felt some validation in that moment is an understatement.
Lauren with a childhood friend who also competed in Miss Chillicothe 2023.