Turner, K. J., Osborn, R., Osborn, M., & Osborn, S. (2018).

Public &leeches for Analysis

Speaking: Finding Your Voice (11th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson.

SELF-INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 2:
LADY WITH A GUN
BETH TIDMORE
Reprinted with permission from Elizabeth Tidmore.
Beth Tidmore presented this self-introductory speech to her honors class in oral communication at
the University of Memphis. The speech, offered as a tribute to her mother's faith in her, describes
her dramatic development into a shooting champion. Beth's speech is noteworthy for its use of
narrative design, especially dialogue. Her graphic descriptions, engaging her listeners' senses of
sight, sound, touch, and smell, also helped her establish a vital, direct contact with her audience
and transported them to the scenes she depicted. By the end of that semester, Beth had won the
National Junior Olympic Championship Women's Air Rifle competition and had been named to
the All-America shooters team.
 374 Appendix B

I'm sure everybody has had an April Fool's joke played on them My father's favor­
ite one was to wake me up on April first and tell me, " School's been canceled for
the day; you don't have to go, " and then get all excited and say, "April Fools!" I'd
get up and take a shower. Well, on April first, 2000, my mother said three words
that I was sure weren't an April Fool's joke. She said, "We'll take it." The "it " she
was referring to was a brand-new Anschutz 2002 Air Rifle. Now, this is $2,000
worth of equipment for a sport. that I'd been in for maybe three months-not
long. That was a big deal! It meant that I would be going from a junior-level to an
Olympic-grade rifle.
Someone outside of the sport might think, "Eh, minor upgrade. A gun is a gun,
right?" No. Imagine a fifteen-year-old who has been driving a used Toyota and who
suddenly gets a new Mercedes for her sixteenth birthday. That's how I felt.
And as she was writing the check, I completely panicked. I thought, "What if I'm
not good enough to justify this rifle? What if I decide to quit and we have to sell it,
or we can't sell it? What if I let my parents down and I waste their money?" So later
in the car I said, "Momma, what if I'm not good enough?" She said, "Don't worry
about it-it's my money." Okay ...
So my journey began. Most shooters start out when they're younger, and they
move up through different rifles. Most of my peers had at least four years' experience
on me. I had to jump right in and get a scholarship. And to get a scholarship I had
to get noticed. And to get noticed I had to win, and to win, I had to shoot great
scores immediately.
So my journey was filled with eight-hours-a-day practice, five days a week. On
weekends I shot matches and I traveled. I had to take my homework with me to
complete it before I got back to school. I had to do physical training, I had dietary
restrictions. When all my friends were out at parties and at Cancun for Spring Break,
I was at the shooting range. My free time-if I had any-was spent lifting weights
and running.
At times I really resented my friends, because I thought they must have all the
fun. But you know what, it was worth it' My friends don't know what it's like to
feel the cold, smooth wood of the cheekpiece against your face. And they don't
know the rich smell of Hoppe's No. 9 [oil] when you're cleaning your rifle. And
they've never been to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado and seen how they
embroider the little Olympic logo on everything from the mattresses to the plates.
And they don't know the thrill of shooting in a final and having everyone
applaud when you shoot a ten or even a center ten, or standing on the podium
and having them put a medal around your neck, and being proud to represent
your school, your country ....
There's a bumper sticker that says, "A Lady with A Gun Has More Fun." After
three years in this sport, I have had so much fun! I've been all over the U.S., I've been
captain of a high school rifle team, I've been to matches everywhere, I've won med­
als, I've been to World Cups and met people from all over the world. And I've gotten
to experience so many different people, places, and events through my participation
in shooting sports.

---�
So not long ago, I asked my mother, "Mom, how did you know?" She said,
��. �......
-. "Ah, I just knew." I said, "No, Mom-really. How did you know that you weren't
going to waste your money?" She got very serious and she took me by the shoul­
ders and she squared me up. She looked me right in the eye and she said, "When
you picked up that gun, you just looked like you belonged together. I knew there
was a sparkle in your eye, and I knew that you were meant to do great things with
that rifle."
So, thanks, Mom.