Award Winning Speaker!
You know, most people would take their 3rd place trophy in defeat and put it in an obscure place and hope that they do better the next time.
Well, not me! I am happy to display my 3rd place trophy. I've come a long way in 3 years. I absolutely disliked speaking in public. I would do anything not to speak in public. It was so obvious, the tremor in my voice. I even believe my face betrayed me.
Today? I am still nervous before a speech. But it is not a reason to not get up and speak. I realize that 9 of 10 speakers still have butterflies, jitters and nervousness before a speech. A wise person once said, "courage is not the absence of fear. It is moving forward in spite of it." I understand that now. Besides, I've also realized what "fear" really is:
F- false
E- evidence
A- appearing
R- real
You may stumble over your words from time to time; you may feel butterfiles in your belly; you may even forget part of your speech; worst of all: your hair (that you paid handsomely for) may fall onto the floor in the middle of your speech, but it is not life-threatening. It is life. And life is meant to be lived. Not tolerated, not survived, not endured. Lived and lived to its fullest. This I work on each day. Living.
So here it is, in all it's glory:
Why the yarn? It is competing with the knitting. There may sometimes be a contest scheduled during my normal knitting night with my friends; it competes with knitting when I have a speech that has to be written for my normal meeting so that I can advance my speaking skills ( I am currently working on my advanced designation). My dream?
Well, not me! I am happy to display my 3rd place trophy. I've come a long way in 3 years. I absolutely disliked speaking in public. I would do anything not to speak in public. It was so obvious, the tremor in my voice. I even believe my face betrayed me.
Today? I am still nervous before a speech. But it is not a reason to not get up and speak. I realize that 9 of 10 speakers still have butterflies, jitters and nervousness before a speech. A wise person once said, "courage is not the absence of fear. It is moving forward in spite of it." I understand that now. Besides, I've also realized what "fear" really is:
F- false
E- evidence
A- appearing
R- real
You may stumble over your words from time to time; you may feel butterfiles in your belly; you may even forget part of your speech; worst of all: your hair (that you paid handsomely for) may fall onto the floor in the middle of your speech, but it is not life-threatening. It is life. And life is meant to be lived. Not tolerated, not survived, not endured. Lived and lived to its fullest. This I work on each day. Living.
So here it is, in all it's glory:
Why the yarn? It is competing with the knitting. There may sometimes be a contest scheduled during my normal knitting night with my friends; it competes with knitting when I have a speech that has to be written for my normal meeting so that I can advance my speaking skills ( I am currently working on my advanced designation). My dream?- To become a professional speaker (yes, I want to be paid to speak). This is important to me because I want to use that money to help others. In the right venue, you can make a fair amount of money. I will be able to have wells dug in the countries I visit where I see the need--clean drinking water is something I think many of us take for granted.
- To win the International world champion of speakers award. It is the highest award that you can win as a speaker in Toastmasters. It means you go to the annual International Convention and you've won numerous other contests to get there (this year it's being held in Calgary, Alberta CANADA). I would absolutely like to take this from dream status to goal status to reality. Hmmm.
The tag line? I've decided in order to become what I want, I should look at myself as I want to be seen by others. Technically, I am an award winning speaker. Now, did I say contest wining? No. So, I haven't lied, now have I? Aaah, that poetic license. Beautiful. It is all about marketing oneself.
Enough dreaming for now. I actually have a very long to-do list today.
Labels: purl of wisdom
posted by aknittykitty at 7:20 AM
4 Comments:
I love the quote. I will definitely have to add it to my repetoire. That is great mantra to live by. Do you know who it is attributed to? Thank you sharing that. I could always use a little inspiration.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, it is moving forward in spite of it."
P.S. - I get my new Macbook Pro next week. So I probably wont get any rest during the next week or perhaps the next few months.
I am no longer in contact with the person who gave me those words of encouragement. It may be possible to google it and find out. He could have possibly come up with that gem himself--we had a doctor/patient relationship.
I am so blessed to have tech savvy friends like you who has the latest gadget that I am only considering of acquiring! ;)
Enjoy that new toy~ let me know how it works out for you!
Don't know if this helps, but I've heard that the best reason NOT to be nervous when speaking in public, is that a speech, presentation, or interview isn't really about the presenter or interviewee. It's all about the listener's experience. Take the pressure off a bit.
Now that would put more pressure on me. Not everyone, but it would for me. I think that I tend to be too conscious of how I perceive the audience is receiving my message/presentation. There have been times when I look out on the group and if I see one too many disinterested faces, I begin to wonder if my speech is stinking beyond belief. I've learned, however, that most of the time, it is not about me or my speech. Sometimes, people are reviewing their day, replaying the conversations of the day, etc. Now, it never hurts to have such an engaging speech that your audience is hanging on your every word. I am working on being that speaker. Each time I speak. That is the goal at this point.
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