By: Abigail Moore

Judge Mark Drummond was determined to crush the nation’s most common fear on Quincy University’s campus, Monday October 30, in the Hall of Fame Room. This common fear is public speaking.

Drummond arrived at Quincy University with a hope and an acronym, that would take students’ communication skills to the next level. His acronym was ‘Persuade’. Each letter of the word ‘persuade’ represented a ‘key’ to persuasive speaking. Drummond began his presentation with the first key, ‘Primacy’. He followed the remaining key points with; ‘Emphasize on the Receiver’, ‘Remembered Facts alone persuade’, ‘Simplify’, ‘Understand the power of notebooks’, ‘Address’, ‘Delivery’, and ‘Emphas(eyes) and Visual(eyes) the story’.

“I took the word ‘Persuade’ and shot eight bullet points off of it,” Drummond said. “I just thought about the fundamentals of trial persuasion and tried to fit it into the template of persuade.”

Drummond has been teaching since 1986, giving him a plethora of experience in public speaking. Drummond encourages students to always take the opportunity to speak in front of a crowd. He says that those who can communicate well, will rise to the top and gain more opportunities in their field.

“There are so few people who do it well. You can set yourself apart in any profession you choose if you are an excellent communicator. I don’t care if it’s a profession such as law or working in a factory and you’re able to give a speech about safety, you will be sought out and will lead you to next level management,” Drummond said.

Political Science and pre- law majors were encouraged to attend the event. Seth Beatty, Quincy University junior majoring in pre-law, was able to tie the persuasive speech back to what he could accomplish as a future lawyer.

“It made me more relaxed to be in court by the time I am a lawyer and even in mock trial now, it helped me know more about what people are looking for,” Beatty said. “I’m looking to be a prosecutor, where I word everything the right way to persuade them to my side.”

Drummond’s speech influenced him in more ways than one. His plans to be a top-notch persuader in his future career have expanded since learning the eight keys of public speaking. Beatty said he would recommend that people go every year they can.

“I thought it was awesome. It was insight on how to act in the court room and in general how to be a better speaker, how to approach public speaking,” Beatty said.

Sophomore student Wendell Bias attended and found the speech useful in other ways. Not only can it be helpful for students studying law, but also for students looking to broaden presentation, interview and speech skills.

“It gave us a lot of ideas for opening statements,” Bias said.

Drummond’s hope for the students attending was to leave the Hall of Fame Room with new ideas and a greater understanding of how to master public persuasive speaking. He said that speaking well is a gradual learning experience.

“I hope I can give them at least two or three good ideas on how to be comfy. Speaking in front of a group, in order of importance, have a great beginning that captures attention and memorize the first two minutes; the rest of the speech will flow,” Drummond said. “I also hope they learn the value of silence and the value of pausing, emphasis and retention. And I hope they learn that it’s good to mix the message.”

Drummond encouraged students to never turn down and opportunity to give a speech. He said that a person will never be asked to give a speech about a topic they know nothing about.

“The only way to get good at it, is to just do it,” Drummond said.