By Charlie Aftel

Fred Ashforth came to speak at the Boys State assembly on June 30 to help the citizens with their public speaking skills in the midst of party conventions, and large-role government position elections occurring soon. Ashforth is the president of Ashforth Associates. He has had many experiences throughout his life, such as being a salesman, trainer, writer and consultant. He has presented his ideas to Boys State citizens for more than ten years. 

‘An automatic connection’ 

Ashforth started out by congratulating everyone who was selected and attended Boys State this year. 

“By coming here to Boys State … you’ve taken that first step and hopefully something that will be very, very valuable this week and for the rest of your life,” said Ashforth. “In fact, years from now when you see someone and they mention Boys State … if you find somebody else who went to Boys State, you will have an automatic connection.”

Ashforth talked about how his son went to Boys State and how he hopes the citizens will have a great experience this week that will be remembered for the rest of their lives. 

‘What’s in it for me?’

Ashforth went on to talk about why we should be listening to this speech, and what we can take away from it. 

“Somebody gets up and speaks and you’re thinking, ‘All right, what’s in it for me? Why should I listen?’ I’ll tell you right up front why you should listen: become a good speaker, it will help you your entire life,” Ashforth said. 

Ashforth then went on to talk about the main ideas of his speech to the citizens. 

“We’re gonna learn about how attitude, technique and behavior all come together to relate to speaking and to relate to everything in your life,” he said. 

Ashforth went into depth about these three aspects, saying that you need to have the right attitude, then good technique, and then have good behavior. According to Ashforth, behavior is the hardest aspect because you need to not only talk about what you want to accomplish, but you need to actually do things to achieve your goals. 

“Be that person that gets out of bed and does it. Talk is cheap,” said Ashforth. “Don’t ever be afraid of failing.”

Diving into attitude, Ashforth said that we can all get to the point of loving to speak whenever we get the chance. According to Ashforth, if we are able to speak comfortably, we will have many opportunities in our lifetimes. 

In the technique category of public speaking, Ashforth gave the audience tips on becoming good presenters. One of which was that when speaking, the audience is the most important in the room. 

“I’m not important, you are important. I’m speaking today to help you … always care about your audience,” said Ashforth. 

He also gave other strategies, such as smiling, telling stories, and connecting with your audience. 

Giving the citizens a challenge 

To conclude the speech, Ashforth gave some advice to the citizens, such as encouraging them to speak more if they already do not in order to be comfortable public speaking. He also said that sometime this year, each citizen should go to their American Legion posts and tell the members about their experiences at Boys State. This will not only help the citizens with their speaking skills, but help make the American Legion members proud of the Boys State citizens.