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Speaking to the Amish
The Amish are one of my most ardent fan groups. Over the past 25 years I’ve spoken to 200
Amish groups. The most common speeches I have done for the Amish are at the employee
Christmas dinners almost every Amish company holds each December or January. Lately, I
have been honored to be asked to speak to Amish schools across Ohio and Pennsylvania.
This past April 20, I spoke to two Amish schools near Ronks, PA, and literally had the children and adults roaring with laughter for most of two hours each time. They especially liked my stories of eating a cantakerous live lobster in Japan, of being treed by wild pigs in Africa, and of communicating with disbelieving natives in places like Africa and India. But unquestionably, the hughest outburst (and one that goes on for a minute or more) came with my wildly animated “flight” from the dreaded “two-step” snake in the Australian outback.
My wife, Darci, can only shake her head. She is convinced I am the Amish’s “Steve Martin,” for I can get the Amish laughing at the drop of a (straw) hat. However, the truth is I just feel a great kinship to them after having been so warmly accepted into their communities and homes and hearts for almost 25 years. Thus, I know what they want to hear and how to say it in a way that spurs a burst of surprise and laughter.
I know many of the Amish feel almost as if I am one of the family, because even before we meet they have likely journeyed around the world with me already. So many of the Amish have read my Letters From Steven book that I dare say hardly an Amish home is without it. So, inevitably, I am greeted at my Amish programs with several persons (usually men) who want to hear the story of……. Which I am all too happy to tell.