Public Speaking. Two words that used to bring an onslaught of anxiety no matter the scenario. Whether it was was a one-sentence announcement, or a long-winded speech, the end result was constant. This being a state of intense nervousness, to the point where my legs would shake in an uncontrollable manner.
Disastrous memories would come to mind with these mentioned words. Reading Bees where behind the podium my legs would quiver to the point of hitting the podium itself. Tripping over my own words in a rush to be done and over with, happening more times then I'd like.
But those aforementioned paragraphs have proved themselves to no longer be true. And for that, I have my medical program to thank immensely.
For those of you who might be wondering, the fear of public speaking didn't leave me overnight. It was a gradual process where I had support from my classmates and mentors in the program, and I would not be at my current stage without them.
At the very beginnings of being in their program, I'd do my usual fast-paced, incomprehensible talking when it came to group projects, and I'd more or less be able to get away with it. Then came time for the individual presentations where the criticisms came on point and direct.
And on that fateful day last year when it came to presenting my learning style, the most awful yet terrific thing happened. My PowerPoint somehow transformed all my text into bizarre shapes and there was nothing legible.
How could these even be remotely terrific? Everyone in that audience was staring at me with faces showing, "That poor girl." Did I stop and tell them I couldn't do it, knowing that they'd let me go off scot-free? No I didn't. I went through that whole PowerPoint, not skipping over my words once and with an overwhelming amount of confidence I never knew I had, I accomplished something I've never been able to do. A clean-cut presentation in front of a large audience.
So, for all you unfortunate souls who like me, suffer from speaking to large groups of people, here's a few tips I learned from my program:
- Keep your feet planted firmly ok the ground.
- Have your arms placed on gently in front of you.
- Close your eyes and breathe in from you nose, then slowly exhale with your mouth a couple of times.
And the most important aspect of the exercise: Think about a moment where you were so immensely proud of yourself for an action you did. Something that brought your confidence level through the roof. And set your mind to recreating that emotion on that presentation/speech you are going to do.
From a personal view, this exercise has come to aid me in all my projects so forth. Just yesterday, I had to do a skit in front of a large room of people, and after this exercise, I didn't even blink to the idea of talking in front of them.
I wish you all the best of luck with future presentations of any sort, and keep in mind, that only good can come out of public speaking. I can promise you no one will shoot you for stumbling a couple of times.
