The Duchess of Cambridge as Royal Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices


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Empress Merel said:
Can't believe people actually thought that speech was good. There really isn't anything difficult with remembering the lines and then reading them outloud without sounding like a complete fool. She sounds like she didn't even bother, which she probably did. It's a shame, really. And those pauses? Is her team for real?! Talk about insulting your audience, because I would be.
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I have spoken in front of large audiences several times in my life and those were some of the most difficult things I've ever done. Now, I'm a fairly confident and naturally bubbly person but speaking in front of a crowd, knowing your every word is evaluated - it's definitely not easy. No matter how much you rehearse, when the speech time actually comes, all the words flow out of your head.

Kate's first public speech was going to be evaluated not only by her audience, but by media, speech experts, ordinary people like us. The pauses were quite deliberate, to give her time to adjust, express herself clearly and not to make the mistake all rookies do - try speaking too fast.
No one is saying Kate is the new Cicero; however, under the circumstances, she did remarkably well.
 
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:previous: I completely agree Artemisia. I have done public speaking as well and I've even coached people and it is always difficult. Experience helps but not always a guarantee!
 
Thought for the day:

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
 
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She did very well. All the Royal Family give speeches that way...jerky and always having to look down, so no points off for style. I was surprised how short the speech was; 2:32 mins or something like that.

She has a great voice.
 
My opinion was that Catherine wasn't there to flaunt her credentials as a professional speaker. She was there to bring attention to a worthy charity that is raising funds from the public. And it appears that she was quite successful if the EACH bracelets have sold out.
 
Andrew_Goodchild said:
I just want to say thank you for all of you who have brought the EACH bracelet, it really does mean a awful lot to us here in Ipswich and the rest of East Anglia. They really do some fantastic work at this hospice. My younger brother lost a friend of his a few years back and he received absolutely fantastic care by EACH in the last few weeks of his life.

It just shows what having a royal patron can do for a small charity like the one we have here.

Hopefully the Duchess will return sometime in the near future and I will be able to get the day off work to go and see her.
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After seeing what the hospice does, I have to say they do a great job for not only the kids but for the families as well. I think having Catherine as a royal patron Will definitely help make people aware of the hospices needs. Sorry to hear of your brothers friend but its good to know his friend was well taken care of.
 
LadyGabrielle said:
After seeing what the hospice does, I have to say they do a great job for not only the kids but for the families as well. I think having Catherine as a royal patron Will definitely help make people aware of the hospices needs. Sorry to hear of your brothers friend but its good to know his friend was well taken care of.
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It's interesting that the same day I saw the reports about Catherine's visit, I went to a local shop and saw (well, maybe realised) for the first time that they collect money for the Ronald McDonald home at Munich's Großhadern university hospital. Spontaneously I gave them some Euros... I doubt I would have realised this without being in thought about Catherine's speech. So good for her! (And shame on me because I didn't help at an ealier stage....)
 
Baroness of Books said:
Thought for the day:

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
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I totally agree:flowers: I have been a Marriage Celebrant for many years and even now I still get butterflies in my stomach before I officiate at a wedding, so all of those out there giving Kate a hard time about her maiden speech (mho she did really well;)) give her a break, see how well you would do if you had the same task.:jester:
 
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KittyAtlanta said:
She did very well. All the Royal Family give speeches that way...jerky and always having to look down, so no points off for style. I was surprised how short the speech was; 2:32 mins or something like that.

She has a great voice.
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How long are the speeches usually? I just have flash backs of my college graduation where the speech went on and on, but less than 3mins is short.
When I talk in front of people I speed through, know I'm not supposed to but I'm not being graded on it. Also I recall being told that I need to look at the audience, but unlike Kate I never looked up.
 
Giving a good speech is important whether one is being graded or not - there's no point in speaking if one is not comprehended or one annoys the audience.

Kate did neither. She simply showed a bit of nerves. She'll get better and better as years go by, most people do.
 
Thena said:
My opinion was that Catherine wasn't there to flaunt her credentials as a professional speaker. She was there to bring attention to a worthy charity that is raising funds from the public. And it appears that she was quite successful if the EACH bracelets have sold out.
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Couldn't agree more. I think people that love to tear Catherine to shreds at any opportunity should take a good look at what she's doing, rather than at how she's doing it. Yes, delivery is important, but at engagements such as this, it's more important to be successful at one-to-one/small group interactions.
 
Artemisia said:
I have spoken in front of large audiences several times in my life and those were some of the most difficult things I've ever done. Now, I'm a fairly confident and naturally bubbly person but speaking in front of a crowd, knowing your every word is evaluated - it's definitely not easy. No matter how much you rehearse, when the speech time actually comes, all the words flow out of your head.

Kate's first public speech was going to be evaluated not only by her audience, but by media, speech experts, ordinary people like us. The pauses were quite deliberate, to give her time to adjust, express herself clearly and not to make the mistake all rookies do - try speaking too fast.
No one is saying Kate is the new Cicero; however, under the circumstances, she did remarkably well.
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I have spoken in public a few times aswell and I thought they were rather easy. But I actually think it's fun to do, so that might be a difference. And also, the whole world is not watching my speech.
But I remain at what I said, those pauses would piss me off as an audience member. And I hate it when people read their notes a lot. It comes across as unrehearsed. Which she probably was, like I said. I'm curious to see how she'll do when she's done a few.
 
Duchess of Cambridge wears smartie-inspired charity bracelet designed by Ed Sheeran's mother

She usually keeps her jewellery to a minimum, wearing discreet stud earrings and plain silver chains.But as she gave her first public address on Monday the Duchess of Cambridge opted for something bolder. As she planted a commemorative tree in the grounds of the Treehouse Hospice in Ipswich onlookers were surprised to see a bright smartie-inspired bracelet dangling from her left wrist.
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I speak frequently to audiences of 50 people or less, and I've found that even if I rehearse a ton, nerves can take over and I become more dependant on my notes. It's only with lots of practice that I've been able to overcome this. I don't think Kate was unprepared, I just think the nerves are a large part of the looking down.

Also, I think Kate cares very much about what she is doing and wants to represent her family well, which only increases the nerves. I think she did very well considering all the pressure and attention and as many have said, she will only improve in time. :flowers:
 
Empress Merel said:
But I remain at what I said, those pauses would piss me off as an audience member. And I hate it when people read their notes a lot. It comes across as unrehearsed. Which she probably was, like I said.
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I prefer that people read their notes and be accurate rather than rushing through and misspeaking. Take the above as an example - the poster writes that the Duchess was probably unrehearsed, yet I suspect that the poster meant the opposite - but incorrect grammer, perhaps due to rushing and thus not proofreading, leaves the reader wondering what the poster was trying to communicate.
I personally despise 'ums,' they drive me nuts, although I don't think less of those speakers who can't speak unless they 'umm' to excess as humans, I avoid listening to their speeches. Thus I was relieved that Catherine was not 'umming,' as she has 'ummed' a time or two in response to casual questions in the past. Far better to pause and say nothing than to use the crutch of 'umm' to get you to your next sentence.

CrownPrincess5 said:
Her speech was quite awkward. I almost couldn't watch it.

Diana's first speech, although it was not perfect, there was still a warmth present. Kate's speech was cold and lacking that special something that connects one to their audience.... all you need is a simple joke to lighten the mood. When you have that connection the words will flow. It's been a year now. It's time she puts her "big girl panties on " and get going!
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What type of joke do you suggest is appropriate when your audience is terminally or severly ill children and their families - the advice to tell a joke to relax your audience is older than the dinosaurs and is bad advice in general as it more often than not drops like a bomb and is particularly bad advice for a first speech thanking a charity for accepting your patronage when the charities' work involves such heartrending circumstances. Moreover, the audience did laugh (which is what a joke is supposed to accomplish, although rarely does) when Catherine referred to wishing her husband was there.

Empress Merel said:
Can't believe people actually thought that speech was good. There really isn't anything difficult with remembering the lines and then reading them outloud without sounding like a complete fool. She sounds like she didn't even bother, which she probably did. It's a shame, really. And those pauses? Is her team for real?! Talk about insulting your audience, because I would be.
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You would be insulted by a 2&1/2 minute speech graciously thanking you for accepting the speaker's patronage and praising the work you do - this would insult you?

NoorMeansLight said:
Yes, she really needs to do that because all these looooooong pauses to look at the text nearly killed me - I was struggling not to fall asleep! :sleeping: :lol: And she was so nervous, I wonder why... I mean, she's been a princess for a year now, how much more time is she going to need in order to get used to her new role?
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I have suffered through speeches where the pauses were longer than the Duchess' entire speech, and come to think of it, I've noticed audience members dozing off. IMO, most people require a little more than 2&1/2 minutes to doze off when laying down in a dark room in their own bed and speeches a lot longer than this one to bring on the snores.

christinacg said:
I thought her speech was very awkward and unnatural to the point that I couldn't finish watching it, but since it was her first she gets a pass. I'm sure she'll get better with time.
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How does the writer know how awkward and unnatural the speech was, since they report they 'couldn't finish watching it,...'

2 & 1/2 min.s isn't usually long enough to offend anyone, unless the offended person is already biased against the offending person, in which case, it reveals a great deal about the 'offended' person, but nothing about the offender.
I've seen better on first attempts, I've seen worse. It was the verbal equivelent of a short thank you note with the added goal of helping to generate funds for a truly special group of people, and as such the Duchess was successful, IMO.
I'm not saying the performance was flawless and that Catherine is destined to be the world's next great orator, but I question the spite with which some criticisms are made. As my brother once said about a writer who wrote an unflattering news article about me "what'd you do, steal her boyfriend?" I wonder what nerve the Duchess seems to touch in some.
 
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I did mean she probably was rehearsed, but it came across as she didn't. I didn't proofread, indeed.

And I would be insulted. I like a speech that grabs you, not something that takes a long time to even get to the point. I would die out of either frustration or boredom.
 
Empress Merel said:
I did mean she probably was rehearsed, but it came across as she didn't. I didn't proofread, indeed.

And I would be insulted. I like a speech that grabs you, not something that takes a long time to even get to the point. I would die out of either frustration or boredom.
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I'd say that her speech probably grabbed those who were present, since it dealt with the organization the people were working with/receiving services from. It all depends on the audience, location, as well as the purpose of the engagement. I don't know how people can find what she said boring. It certainly had me listening because it was sincere. She emphasized that she cared about what the hospice was doing and glad that she could be a part of that. Her pauses, reading of the notes, being nervous (and admitting to it, if I recall correctly) show us that she's first and foremost, a human being, who will not always do things perfectly. But then again, in my opinion, perfection is in the eye of the observer.
 
The people who attended EACH on Monday, and were in the audience to hear Kate speak, most certainly were not 'insulted'. They gave her a very enthusiastic round of applause at the end, and you could hear several people actually shouting their appreciation.

All this discussion bemuses me somewhat. I once has the 'pleasure' of hearing the CEO of the company I work for - one of the biggest banks on the planet - give a speech in person. This man is one of the most successful executives of his generation, drawing an enormous salary in the multi millions. And he was one of the worst public speakers I've ever heard. Just truly awful. In fact the only speaker I've heard in person who was worse than him was one of our local MPs, a woman whose husband had been knighted and who had served in public office for many years. She gave a speech at one of my school's prize days and was absolutely abysmal.

My point is, not being a particularly strong public speaker is no barrier to success. Unless you're a newsreader or something.
 
Yes, Kate is certainly a major draw as patron of her charities. Nice to see these results.
 
ghost_night554 said:
BBC News - Duchess of Cambridge's lasting impact at children's hospice
Duchess of Cambridge is given £300,000 thank-you by Buckingham Palace - Telegraph
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I liked the comment in the first article that Catherine's presence changed the attitude of those people the charity is aimed at. That they are now looking actively for support, that she reached them and now help can be offered. That's an important aspect of Catherine's media work, not only collecting mopney but make people aware. Thos who can help but those who could need this help as well.
 
A very touching and very supportive letter from HRH for EACH. I bet they are happy that their Royal Patron is helping highlight their worthy cause.
 
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Daria_S said:
This is such a moving speech. This woman has a heart of gold.
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Agreed! Indeed she does, and that is putting it very mildly!:wub:
She and Robert Hardy need to do a hospice visit together!;):prettyplease:
 
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