BY Burwell Stark: Special to The Pilot

The O’Neal School this past quarter was paid a visit by one of America’s, and perhaps the world’s, greatest living orators.

Reid Buckley spoke to the Upper School and Middle School 7th -8th graders. His topic: public speaking and presentation. Mr. Buckley, brought to O’Neal by Laurie Holden and Penny Terry, is founder and head of The Buckley School of Public Speaking, located in Camden, South Carolina, where the motto, according to the web page buckleyschool.com, is “Tied tongues unknotted/ Stuffed shirts unstuffed/ Stage fright banished/ Muddled thinking set straight”.

Buckley was a champion debater while studying at Yale, and traveled to college campuses in the 1960s and 1970s debating columnist Max Lerner. Mr. Buckley is also an author of both novels and non-fiction. His Strictly Speaking: Reid Buckley’s Indispensable Handbook on Public Speaking is a “how-to” guide to speaking well in public. Most recently he has written USA Today: The Stunning Incoherence of American Civilization, which examines the diminishing of American moral values. He founded the Buckley School of Public Speaking in 1988, which, according to the web site, has provided “speaking and writing instruction, private coaching and media training for nearly 2000 first rank executives and political leaders.”

For the assembly, several previously selected students and faculty give brief talks on topics of their choice. Even O’Neal Headmaster Jay St. John, speaking on his long-term love of the Boston Red Sox, was among those who were scrutinized. As they spoke, Mr. Buckley took notes, and then gave his critiques. He addressed all issues ranging from pose to prose, the proper use of hand gestures and humor, as well as proper decorum in all speaking situations. His comments were often droll and always discerning. His words were viewed as jewels by those who attended, made more precious by the fact that Mr. Buckley only speaks outside of his school six times a year.