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By Scott Mims | Community Columnist

Public speaking is, of course, one of the top fears of most people, and it’s understandable why. People love to watch “fail” videos on YouTube of embarrassing moments or of high-profile people stumbling over their words. Put the shoe on the other foot, however, and suddenly nobody wants to be in a position where they could become the butt of the joke. When all eyes are upon you, it’s a different story indeed.

I have plenty of memories of people failing to make their best impression during a speech, to put it nicely. In my college speech class, one young man who came unprepared simply got up and said, “Stupid is as stupid does,” and immediately sat back down. Some might say he was able to save face slightly by using the saying—which is also a famous line from the movie “Forrest Gump”—to laugh at himself, but I doubt he gained much respect from anybody that day.

Another speech, which happened to be in the same class, nearly made me faint as the speaker demonstrated how to draw blood from a donor. I had never been uncomfortable with the topic before; the weak feeling just came out of nowhere.

Then there was my first time to stand before a crowd and speak. It was at church during a Bible Drill competition, when I had to recite scripture from memory—not exactly a speech, but the butterflies I felt as a child were just as real.

During the month of May, many people attend commencement exercises at local schools. One of my favorite things at these ceremonies is to hear the speech from the class valedictorian. The contents of these speeches can run the gamut from monotonous to humorous to “I’m-going-to-speak-quickly-so-I-can-get-out-of-here” to inspirational. But mostly, they are well put together.

I believe attendees of all ages can benefit from such speeches. Younger children and teens can leave inspired, while adults might feel a tinge of nostalgia or experience a sense of renewal when it comes to reaching goals later in life.

With that in mind, let us not forget that we all have a platform. We all influence others, whether positively or negatively. I do not take it lightly that I have been given the opportunity to write this semi-weekly column. I just want to congratulate all of this year’s grads across Chilton County and wish them well in their pursuit of success and happiness.