Why It’s Worth Fighting Your Dragons And Start Public Speaking! August 16, 2007
Posted by janey in : self esteem , trackbackEveryone hears about being nervous when speaking, and when you overcome it, you become confident and very successful. What you don’t hear from successful speakers is about the journey itself. For example, when I started in the field of speaking, I was a corporate employee. As a project engineer, I had to develop concepts and designs to solve problems within the plant. I was good at this and yet my career progress was slow because I simply couldn’t speak well, and I needed to present my proposals to obtain funding. I would become nervous, tongue tied and confused.
So when I started my Public Speaking career I was so scared and terrified, that even the thought of being in front of a group of people, made me feel physically sick, and would make my heart race so much, I thought I was having a heart attack. Clearly, I didn’t want to go through my life like that so I did some training and got ready for my Maiden speech. With this speech I was competing for a prestigious Silver Cup and I was excited because I thought I was going to win it. I walked out onto the stage in front of 200 people and arrived at the podium. Suddenly my legs started to shake so much I thought I was going to fall down. So I grabbed the lectern, which also began to shake, and then, at that moment, the butterflies in my stomach turned into dive-bombers and I started to feel sick. While shaking the lectern so much, I watched with horror, as my notes slid onto the floor. In total confusion now, I decide to start my speech without picking up the notes. My voice quavered as I stated my name, and then my mind went completely blank. After what seemed an eternity, I grabbed my notes from the floor and fled the stage.
All I achieved that day was to let people know who I was and that I was one pathetic speaker. Needless to say, I didn’t get the prize or even a polite or sympathetic applause from the audience. It was such a horrifying experience that I had to make a decision to quit or do something about it. (I was unable to get into the witness protection program to lose my identity!)
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry