Claire Duffy's blog about public speaking and communication (in real life). Speak well, do well!
This is a brilliant speech by a brilliant woman -the video version is below.
She tells about joining the astronaut program, her Dad’s response to having an astrophysicist in the family, she shows remarkable video of the world from space, and is fun as well as serious about what she has done. She also presents the science in an entertaining way. It’s a great example of how to inspire, inform and connect to an audience.
Update: Sally Ride died on July 24th 2012. Here is Time’s list of her colleagues, the 10 women who first conquered space.
[Reblogged from The Eloquent Woman, with permission.]
This Saturday marks Sally Ride Day, honoring the first American woman in space. It’s been nearly 30 years since Ride, a physicist, flew aboard the Challenger space shuttle, but she’s still one of the most recognizable astronauts and women scientists in the world.
There’s nothing like being first, of course, and Ride’s fame and popularity stems in part from her place in history. But Ride hasn’t coasted since returning from low orbit. After the Challenger explosion in 1986, Ride was appointed to the Presidential Commission that investigated the accident. Her work on the Commission proved so valuable that she stayed at NASA headquarters to develop an influential report on the future of the space program that offered many reasons to look beyond the shuttle disaster.
Since retiring from NASA, Ride’s passion has been science education and finding new ways to bring more women in science and math fields. Her company Sally Ride Science provides teaching materials to K-12 classrooms that showcase real-life role models among women and minority scientists. She’s also in high demand as a speaker on science education, and her “Shoot for the Stars” lecture is one of her most-requested speeches. This version below shows why she’s been asked to pilot the podium so often, and what you might be able to borrow for your own solo flights:
Here’s the full speech, just in time for your Sally Ride Day celebrations. What do you think of this famous speech?