Public speaking focus of workshop

Adrienne Packer

Friday, May 28, 1999 | 11:36 a.m.

Most residents who appear before Clark County Commissioners march to the podium knowing exactly what they want to say: The massive stucco shopping center, for example, will generate too much traffic and simply is not suitable for their quiet rural neighborhood.

But once the homeowners open their mouths "rural" suddenly becomes "woowall" and the only sentence they can muster through their nervousness is: "We don't want it."

"People feel strongly about opposing, but they're not used to doing this kind of thing," Mary Jane Harvey, chairwoman of the Paradise Town Board, said. "These people are scared and intimidated. Experience will make a difference."

Harvey has worked closely with the county's Neighborhood Services Department to organize a June 16 workshop to polish residents' public speaking skills, priming them for presentations before government boards.

Harvey said aside from herself and neighborhood services liaisons, Las Vegas attorney Mark Fiorentino -- who represents many of the developments people protest -- will offer tips on how to speak more efficiently.

Clark County Commissioners have lost patience with people who repeat themselves or continually shuffle around papers trying to find the one that demonstrates their point.

"I just wanted to help people when they address the boards to be as effective as possible," Harvey said.

The workshop will take place from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Pueblo Room at the Clark County Government Center.