Dance with the Butterflies!

We are living in an era of marketing. Marketing ourselves. We need to sell ourselves in order to get ahead in life, be it professional, personal or social.

One of the requisite of selling ourselves is to speak in public. And sadly, this is the one thing which many of us fear from. The fear of speaking in public makes us tongue tied & nervous wreck.

before

In my school days I used to be very enthusiastic. I did not have any qualms in speaking in public. I always used to take part in Elocution competition, Debates & even singing competition in spite of me not being a very good singer πŸ˜‰

But then life changed its course. I was not myself & inferiority complex had set in. Let alone speaking in public, I used to shy away speaking to anyone. I was almost living a life of a recluse.

Life keeps taking turns & I once again found myself in public eye. There was no escaping public speaking now. I remember there were some changes in our Project structure & we had to introduce ourselves to the team in a team bonding session. When it was my turn, I gave my introduction but I was shaking a lot & had rested my hands on the glass table. At one point, I thought the table would break out of sheer pressure. I was that nervous. This happened couple of times & it made me really worried.

Working in a BPO ensures that there are several training programs conducted to improve your skills. Fortunately I was part of a Personality Development Program (No, my awesomeness is not related to any training program πŸ˜‰ ) I asked the trainer about my fear of public speaking & the remedy to correct that.

He gave me the best advice. He said practicing in front of mirror is futile as you know you are speaking to yourself. If you want to overcome that fear you have to face that fear head on. Take as many opportunities you get to speak in public & you will gain confidence automatically.

I followed his advice to the T. I never shied from the opportunities that came in my way & I sometimes created opportunities as well. (No, I am not using this advice to overcome my fear of dogs, ok? πŸ™ )

One more thing I learnt is if you know the subject well, you have won half the battle.

I am still not an excellent public speaker, however, I can rate myself as above average. I have become pretty good in giving presentations, at times without notice & at times without any preparation. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get nervous. I still get butterflies in my stomach. But these butterflies don’t stop me from taking the bulls by the horn πŸ˜‰ Instead, I dance with the butterflies πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

Businessman Smiling and Pointing - Isolated

2 thoughts on “Dance with the Butterflies!

  1. This is good. And very rightly said that speaking in front of mirror is never the trick to overcome the fear of public speaking.

    I myself am kind of a good public speaker and rumors are that I should not be given the mike otherwise I wont stop. I guess i got it from my dad but that doesnt mean i was fearless from the start.

    I remember I started as a student itself through elocutions and recitations. I used to be scared too to face the public and then I devised a plan. I started speaking by looking straight at the wall behind the audience. Then over period I started looking at the audience too and now I make sure that when I am on the stage and I start Speaking i hv my audience’s rapt attention. πŸ™‚

    You have a lovely voice laddoo. And I am damn sure that its would be utmost fun to listen to you.

    Sorry for playing my one bugle here πŸ˜› its just that this is one of my favourite subjects. πŸ™‚

    • mirchiladdoo says:

      Arre why sorry?? Stupid girl. You should always speak “The Truth” πŸ˜› Awesome to know this thing about you, you know? I always picture you as a shy girl. πŸ™‚

Your thoughts please? :)