After helping her young daughter build on her public speaking skills, Ayanna Crawford
realized that learning this skill set may be something that other young girls needed,
as well.
Soon after, Crawford founded the Take the Mic program, which offers sessions for children
to build their confidence and self-esteem by learning the art of public speaking.
Crawford joined me to share more about the program and its impact.
When my daughter was in third grade, she'd come home, you know, nervous -- sort of crying
almost -- about the fact that she wasn't ready to present her project because there was a
portion of her project that she had to present with her peers.
And so, I said, "Oh, no!
We can't have that."
So, I just sat her down.
We talked a little bit, you know, about public speaking.
We talked a little bit about, you know, her fear and then ways that she could use in order
to do this presentation.
So, with that being said, I knew that there is probably other students that might have
needed some help.
So, we actually formed a little group, and we got a couple of her friends, and we did
a couple of like mock presentations just to kind of help them.
And she soared.
Now she's going to be a senior in high school, and she not only speaks in public, but she's
confident.
And so since 2014, this program has helped so many children and young adults build on
their public speaking skill set.
Why is this such an important skill set to acquire and then foster?
We know in business and school and all types of work that we do, you know, the fear of
public speaking, right?
The fear of speaking to people that you might not know, the fear that you might not say
the right words, right?
The fear of not coming across clear and concise.
And so, we all have that fear.
And so, it's important that we start early in schools and in, you know, early childhood
centers talking about public speaking, because it's it affects every walk of life that we
get involved in -- whether you work at the grocery store, whether you work in a college,
whether you are a teacher, a professor, you know, working with what you do as a -- as
a host of a TV show.
You know, everything that we do has to do with speaking.
And so, we want to make sure that we are helping not only young people, but those that might
need some understanding on how do you have those tools, how do you have great ways of
sort of, you know, pausing, taking a moment and breathing and saying, "You know what?
Let me reevaluate or let me take a moment and figure out what I want to say."
You touched on that really nicely, you know, kind of bringing the point that it doesn't
matter what career you choose, public speaking is important.
I was actually really shy growing up and so, when I first decided to pick this career,
I remember, you know, having to do public speaking, being like, "Why am I putting myself
in this position?"
But not really realizing that this is a good skill no matter which pathway you take.
So, can you talk about how the confidence of public speaking helps build self-esteem?
Why do they go hand in hand?
That's a great question!
And I think for our program in particular, what we found was that, when girls have confidence
in what they are saying, when girls have a message to say that they're passionate about,
that builds their self- esteem.
That makes them feel that not only what they're saying that they believe in it, but they convey
it to -- to whomever they're speaking to.
And so, in anything that anyone does, if you're passionate about something and you understand
the idiosyncrasies of what you're saying, and you yourself are very commanding of that
message, then it comes across that way.
So, Ayanna, you currently are working as the state rep for Orlando Ramos, and you've also
had a very successful teaching career in the city of Springfield, as well as being very
involved in the community.
So, tell me, how were you able to build your confidence and grow your skillset in public
speaking?
That's a great question!
And I kind of think about that in terms of my mother, my father, my aunts, my uncles,
my grandmother, and the works that they did.
My mother was a nurse for 40 years.
You know, she had to convey messages.
She had to talk to people.
Whenever we would go to the grocery store, I thought my mother knew everybody in the
world because everybody in the world would always stop my mother in the grocery store
and she would stop her grocery shopping and have a conversation and talk to whomever she
talked to.
And she would always -- for me as a child, she would be warm, she would be smiling, she
would have eye contact, and she would always pause and listen to the other speaker.
And so, that was sort of my interaction.
How do you interact, for one, in terms of when you're talking to people?
But my mother was always caring when she talked and so, I saw that early on.
It was -- it was a warm feeling that I recall growing up and wanting to have that for myself
and then wanting to be able to teach that to others.
Because I think there's an art to public speaking, there's an art to conversations, and there's
an art to listening, because I think we often don't do enough of that, right?
We don't listen enough.
And so, if we listen more than we'll be able to share a message of hope to others because
of what we hear from them.
And Take the Mic is -- has after school sessions as well as summer sessions, and you describe
it as a fun and interactive environment.
So, can you walk us through what a session looks like and how are you able to really
encourage these young adults and students to open up and be themselves during these
programs?
In the beginning, it's sort of a little tricky, but we get them engaged.
So, what we do is, we allow them to do icebreakers.
We know that icebreakers are a way to let your hair down a bit, get engaged, and get
really sort of active.
And once we do that, then we sort of start off with our initial class, which is our introductory
to public speaking.
We do a PowerPoint presentation, we have the girls do interactive activities, role playing,
and also, we give them some additional activities to do to showcase their public speaking.
We might have them read a poem; we might have them read a tongue twister.
We might have them read a short essay, you know, something to engage them and get them
excited.
And then also within the program, we have a creative writing class, we have a computer
class, we have a nutrition class that we do with the girls.
We also have what to wear, what not to wear, health and beauty, because we believe that
all those components, with your presentation and what you're saying, also conveys a message,
too.
You know, and how you take care of yourself is also going to exude some of that positivity
and that -- that understanding in terms of your presentation.
And so, we also have guest speakers at each of the days that we are scheduled.
So, we have professional women speakers that come and share not only their careers, but
also how public speaking has impacted their lives and their careers.
And so, it's a wonderful thing to hear from other women in other perspectives and how
public speaking has come about for themselves.
And then we have a ceremony at the end, where each girl will be able to present a topic
of their choice on community service project, and they present it to their peers.
And we all get to listen to the skills and their presentation at the end.
I can only imagine how powerful that presentation at the end must be, seeing the transition
and the transformation of these children.
What has been maybe one moment from an individual or a group that you've worked with that has
really stuck with you in a moment of transformation that you've seen?
You know, it goes back to my first initial program, and my first initial program was
what we called a seminar.
It was a one day Take the Mic seminar.
We had about 45 girls.
There was two girls that weren't sure if they wanted to come.
They were very, very shy.
Even in their peer groups with their friends, they didn't really talk at all, nothing.
And after our program, the parent and the friend said, "Oh my goodness, my friend is
talking.
She loved your program!
It was almost as if you cured her from being shy.
She loved it!"
And so, from that day on, she gradually gained more confidence in her own public speaking.
She became a better speaker with her friends and her school and her parents.
And for that reason alone, I knew that I needed to continue to do that.
And that was in 2014.
And so now, eight years later, here we are still talking about this program.
How would you like to see it grow and what is the future of take the mic?
I think that we need to have a public speaking course in our schools.
I believe that public speaking should be started at a very young age, whether it be first grade,
second grade, but embedded in the curriculum.
I believe every child and every school around the country should have and offer a public
speaking course.
And I would love for Take the Mic to be in every school, in every district around the
country.
The skills that they gain as a public speaker is going to be so beneficial for them in the
future.