Jan D'Arcy's Blog

King’s High School Mock Trial Speech Class September 21, 2009

This morning I was the guest-speaker for Ms Marian Morris’ mock trial class. She had asked me to help the students manage their fears and be more confident during their mock trials. It was a pleasure to see the teen-age students selecting this challenging class as I know it will have a positive effect on any profession they choose.
I started out by telling the class of the time when I was a 17 yr old student at Emerson College in Boston and a fellow female student and I debated 2 murderers at the Walpole prison. Our subject- Rock and Roll music and lyrics have negative effect on the morals of teenagers. The inmates had a lot more time than college freshman to develop their case and pile up evidence from the Consitution and free speech, etc. We started to play objectional lyrics and the 500 prisoners started singing them in loud voices! Then we broke the records over our knees and threw them on the floor. The prisoners rose up and some started for the stage. I backed away from the microphone. I feared for my life! Guards came down the aisles and quieted the prisoners down so we could continue the debate. Obviously, we lost to the two men who had acquired legal finesse over the years and who later went up in front of a judge and won their appeals to be acquited. It was a memorable experience and made our next debate at West Point a piece of cake.
I emphasized to the mock trial class that I had experienced a legitmate fear that I would be bodily harmed. But fear of speaking in public is an imaginary threat to their ego. Speaking is a mental game and once you learn to control your thoughts, you can manage your emotions and your body language and tone of voice.
More later….