Dorythea Anne M.

Delos Reyes 09/29/22

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Megan Washington’s TED Talk is not like other talks I’ve ever seen before; she has a speech
impediment which is a stutter. It is both shocking and impressive that she was able to go on a stage with
such a challenge, give a speech, and touch the hearts of the audience. The content of her speech revolved
around her journey of overcoming the stutter, and although it’s not exactly gone, she has embraced it and
is open about it to everyone. Watching her performance, I have several things to point out.

Megan may have a stutter but she is confident as she kept her pace slow and steady to let the
audience understand. She kept her voice low and calm, and her words were clear and enunciated nicely.
She looked down on her script often which may make her seem unprepared, but when she looks up and
engages eye contact with the audience, it makes her a good public speaker. Megan had an unchanging
stoney facial expression despite cracking up jokes and being vulnerable. However, her body language and
hand gestures that emphasized her words helped in keeping the audience intrigued and interested to look
at her.

She did not panic nor speak swiftly in the duration of the entire speech (and even when she
sang) despite the stutter, which I applaud her for. The content of her speech was my favorite component as
it made me understand the struggles she faced, and it was not all sappy as there were comedic pieces put
together as well. Overall, Megan Washington did a splendid job if we look at a partial perspective and
considering her speech impediment, however if we look at the holistic view of the public speaking
community, she has a lot of room for improvement especially in her facial expressions and body
language.