Page 16 - voices-2024-06

Quarter Notes
Who’s Your Inspiration?
David Freedman
In your life, who has inspired you to be your
best?
It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that
I’m a writer. A very early sign of my giftedness
was when I taught myself to read at the age of
four. My mother distinctly remembers me trying
to tell her how to create stories, and according
to her, I was dissatisfied with her results. Soon
afterwards, she started creating booklets by
stapling together typing paper so I could write
in them.
As I was a voracious reader, I rapidly sped
through any book given to me. In short order,
I knew that science fiction and fantasy would
always be my genres of choice as that’s where
I found my greatest inspiration as a writer.
I enjoyed the wisdom, sagacity, and prose
of Ursula K. Le Guin. I deeply appreciated the
incredible juxtaposition of mythology and
science fiction that Roger Zelazny created,
particularly in his Amber series and his novel,
Lord of Light. As I grew older and branched out
in my interests, I discovered the works of other
authors including Octavia Butler, Ray Bradbury,
and Gaiman, all of whom had an impact on my
growth as a writer.
Much later in life, I would discover the joy of
reading essays by different authors. I consider
this rather ironic as I always had a love-hate
relationship with essays in my school years.
As my tastes changed, I started reading essays
and opinion pieces by different columnists,
including Dean Obeidallah and Frank Bruni.
16 Voices!
One of the main reasons that this column
even exists now is the fact that I’ve started
taking essay writing more seriously thanks to
being drawn to different literary styles. More
importantly, essays in turn helped me develop
a better understanding of public speaking,
namely, that the speech should be as eloquent
as possible while still being accessible to the
audience.
In Toastmasters we often talk about what
inspires us, but perhaps the focus can also be
on whom. Before the first speech is developed,
whether by the neophyte learning public
speaking for the first time or a master of the
craft, knowing your sources of inspiration can
be enormously helpful. Sometimes that source
may be as close by as a family member, while
at other times public figures such as Nelson
Mandela or Martin Luther King are the people
who open the doors to our creativity, however
inadvertent that may seem. Just as in writing,
it’s imperative to know who inspires you as a
speaker. Perhaps a politician like Bill Clinton or
John F. Kennedy motivated you to do more for
your community, or Oprah Winfrey inspired you
with her generosity towards others as well as
her interview skills. Or maybe those sources of
inspiration hit closer to home with a community
leader or schoolteacher who encouraged you
to excel, regardless of whatever obstacles were
in your way. Those are the people who you’ll
begin to emulate before you find your own
voice as a public speaker.
There’s an important point to make about