Just so you know, I'm not planning on making it a habit to write two posts in one day. With the timing of this moment, though, I couldn't wait 'till tomorrow.
I've been attending a conference all weekend, so I've been listening to quite a few different presenters. I guess that's what brought my first experience with public speaking to mind yesterday. I watch (and listen to) them, and can't help but think about what each is doing well - and not so well - and how that enhances or hinders my grasp of the material. I relate it to my own experiences (as a teacher, group leader, event planner, and workshop facilitator, I've had plenty of opportunities to improve since that assignment in 6th grade).
During one session, though, I didn't have to go very far to make that connection. The session was related to stress management, and the presenter tried to "stress us out" so we could talk about the way our bodies reacted to it. She gave a few different scenarios to elicit the stress response, and asked us all to close our eyes and really put ourselves in the situation. There was the first day at a new job, taking a big test, etc. Then she gave us one more situation, and it affected me a bit differently than it did the rest.
For the next one, we had to get up from our seats and stand before a giant microphone. She described the thousands of people in the audience waiting to hear what we had to say. She gave us the topic, and had us close our eyes and begin the speech in our heads.
Others in the group panicked, and described sweaty palms, nervous twitches, upset stomachs, and racing heartbeats just at the thought of doing this. I had to try not to laugh out loud: not at them, but at myself. When I did the speech in my head, I'll give you one guess what my first word was.
At least it wasn't 36 times!
If you like what you read, tell a friend! Actually, tell me too - post a comment below!! If not, well ... I'm all for honesty, but please be gentle!
