Kate Middleton speaks at The Treehouse

On Monday, March 19th Kate Middleton gave her first public speech as the Duchess of Cambridge during the formal opening of The Treehouse, a children’s hospice in Ipswitch. She spoke thoughtfully for about three minutes. You can find the text of her speech here.

I saw a lot of first “Icebreaker” speeches in Toastmasters. A lot can go wrong with them, but this one went rather well.

Kate did:
1. Smile
2. Make eye contact
3. Pause appropriately (after mentioning William)
3. Thank her audience
4. Brush her hair aside (once)

She didn’t:
1. Have a wardrobe malfunction
2. Slip, trip, or fall
3. Freeze in terror
4. Faint on stage
5. Only look down at her script or notes
6. Lose her place
7. Lose her voice
8. Stutter

Nick Morgan and John Zimmer have discussed her speech in more detail.