It takes a special kind of person to be a rural heritage speaker. Just being a good speaker is not enough. This involves a true understanding of how important preserving the rural lands of America truly is. This sort of understanding can not be faked and the passion had better be real. There is a lot riding on the people that do this.

There is a degree of speaking involved in a formal political arena. An example of this could be a town hall meeting, or town council. In some rare cases this can go as far as state government. The reasons behind this is needing to convey the reasons for keeping land undeveloped. Protecting rural communities from being overrun with large businesses that would push smaller family run businesses out.

Given the reasons for speaking, the speaker most definitely needs to be able to convey passion. An informative talk about how things will be changed with development is not going to do the job. There has to be passion in order to really reach the audience and cause them to feel a connection with the community in question.

This role is primarily about defending the little guy. Large scale developers really do not care at all about how their plans will affect the surrounding community. It becomes the speaker's job to make others care. More importantly, they need to make people in charge care. While this will often be an uphill battle, it is one worth fighting. A good knowledge base is going to be absolutely invaluable.

Both the history of the land, and the current purposes are extremely important. Preserving an area for historical reasons is noble, but not always enough to keep it from being turning into a supermarket. Knowing the current connections the area has and what purposes it serves is important in showing that the space already has good use. When answering questions the speaker needs to be quick on their toes and very accurate. The knowledge has to be thorough.

When evaluating a person for this role careful attention should be paid to whether or not the individual has any possible conflict of interest. Ties to the developers is an obvious problem. Strong ties to the community in question can also be a problem. The ideal candidate will come from a neutral corner.

This position is not as easy as it appears on the surface. Being a rural heritage speaker carries with it the future of many rural communities. This is no small undertaking. The person fulfilling the role deserves much respect.