Chapter 12 Preparing and Researching Presentations 353Anecdotes
Although facts and statistics are useful for gaining credibility, they can also be
boring and easily forgotten. An effective way to breathe life into them, and into
your speech in general, is including personal details that give faces to statistics
and facts and make them part of a memorable and cohesive story. Anecdotes are
❶ How does adversity
inspire public speaking
and, indeed, public life?
Why might a victim of a
crime choose to speak
out? Why might he or
she choose not to speak
publicly?
❷ What kind of supporting
evidence would you look
for if you were researching
a speech on human
trafficking? Should a victim
like Elizabeth Smart be
expected to present the
same kinds of evidence
as you would? Why or
why not?
➌ Is Elizabeth Smart’s
religious faith an important
cultural element surround-
ing this discussion? Why
or why not?No Longer a Victim
In 2002, a fourteen-year-old girl named Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from
her Utah bedroom at knifepoint. She was held by her captor, a Salt Lake City
street preacher and panhandler, and repeatedly raped for nine long months.
When she was finally discovered, rescued, and returned to her family, many
wondered how she could ever reclaim her life. Had Smart chosen to retreat
into a quiet, private life, few would have questioned her decision.
But Elizabeth Smart did not retreat. She faced her abuser in court and
testified against him. She returned to school and finished college. She trav-
eled to Paris on a mission for her church. She grew up, got married, and
found a career that is more like a calling: she decided to use her experience
to shed light on the tragic reality of human trafficking and crimes against
children. She became a commentator for ABC News, offering insights into
the lives of abducted children, and penned a memoir. She also became a
public speaker, one who can attest to the true costs of these crimes, and who
speaks as few others can about real steps that might make it harder for chil-
dren to be victimized—and easier for victimized children to escape.
As a woman of faith dealing with this heinous crime and seeking to prevent
others like it, Smart has had to carefully consider the ways in which some of
the cultural norms that shaped her life may have impacted her ordeal. In par-
ticular, she explained how negative perceptions of premarital sex can be easily
mistranslated by children who are victims of sexual abuse. Speaking at a forum
on sex trafficking at Johns Hopkins University in 2013, Smart spoke about how
she remembered the words of a teacher who, in advocating abstinence, had
compared sexual activity to chewing gum. “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m that
chewed up piece of gum.... Nobody rechews a piece of gum, you throw it
away.’ And that’s how easy it is to feel like you no longer have worth, you no
longer have value,” Smart said (Dominguez, 2013). Although her own church
takes care to clarify this is not the case, noting that “victims of rape, incest, or
other sexual abuse are not guilty of sin,” and advising victims, “If you have been
a victim of any of these crimes, know that you are innocent,” in Smart’s young
mind, she was unable to get past the idea that the rape had made her worthless
(Church of the Latter Day Saints Gospel Library, 2013, para. 7). As a speaker,
Smart seeks to correct that misconception, advocating for more practical edu-
cation for children to empower them to fight for their lives and to understand
that victimization does not change how important they are. “If you’re given
choices, if you’re given skills, if you’re given permission to fight back,” Smart
explained, “you don’t have to do what other people tell you” (Fox News, 2013).THINK
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